From Cauleen Smith’s trilogy on volcanos to Philippe Parreno’s intimate exploration of Goya, here’s what to watch.
Documentary
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The Tumultuous Journey of Faith Ringgold’s Rikers Mural
Catherine Gund’s Paint Me a Road Out of Here uses the artwork to tell truths about the US carceral system.
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At Sundance, Films Tackled Sex, Love, Gender, and the Law
Whether it’s catfishing clueless rich guys, catching sex predators on YouTube, or assisting a woman in conceiving a child, questions of legality often have little to do with morality.
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The Existential Crisis of Free Leonard Peltier
The film was made to agitate for the release of the wrongly imprisoned Indigenous activist. Despite last-minute edits after his clemency, it still shows some cracks.
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Zodiac Killer Project Is a Parody of the True Crime Genre
The documentary is an incisive critique of how cliché-bound the genre has become, encouraging viewers to ask more from it.
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The Story of the Godfather of Asian-American Media, Told by His Son
“The best film I could make was one that only I could tell as his son,” Tadashi Nakamura told Hyperallergic about legendary director Robert Nakamura.
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Not-to-Miss Documentaries at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival
Several nonfiction works playing at the festival are timely, whether in their current subject matter or relevant reflections on the past.
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Art Spiegelman Won’t Shrink Back From Controversy
The artist has illustrated more than one contentious New Yorker cover in his career, chronicled in a new film, and his next project will be no less gutsy.
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The Beautiful Infinity of Tetris
A new documentary-game includes an interactive timeline, interviews, and of course, playable versions of the game.
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Social Bonds May Save Our Lives
Join or Die is part of a cresting wave of cultural production circling around the intertwined issues of loneliness, divisiveness, and our political right turn.
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Recreating Nellie Mae Rowe’s Dreamlike World
A documentary screening in NYC this week combines animation, interviews, and archival material to tell the self-taught artist’s fascinating story.
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How Did a Pro-Democracy Activist Become a Trump Supporter?
Over seven years, director Nanfu Wang documented Cuban activist Rosa María Payá’s fight for a democratic Cuba — and her journey to endorsing the MAGA movement.