This month’s picks look at the art of directing, the joy of walking and the complexities of racial identity.
Category: Documentary Films and Programs
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‘Carlos’ Review: Santana’s Soulful Legacy
In Rudy Valdez’s poignant but shortsighted documentary, the guitarist’s magic comes alive in performances and childhood recollections.
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‘Fire Through Dry Grass’ Review: Unsafe Space
This enlightening, troubling documentary chronicles life (and death) among residents in a long-term care facility during the heights of the pandemic.
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Pearl Bowser, Expert in Early Black Filmmakers, Dies at 92
She aided in the rediscovery of Oscar Micheaux and others who were telling stories for Black audiences early in the last century.
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The Best True Crime Podcasts and Documentaries to Stream Now
By and large, women and girls are the victims of violent crimes, not the perpetrators. But not always. Here are four picks across TV, film and podcast that turn the tables.
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‘The Trial’ Review: Seeking Justice for Argentina
Ulises de la Orden carves a documentary from film of the 1985 prosecution of the military leaders who had seized control of the government.
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‘The Storms of Jeremy Thomas’ Review: A Transgressive Producer
Thomas’s dedication to pushing the envelope of big-screen entertainment is the focus of Mark Cousins’s latest documentary.
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‘Neither Confirm Nor Deny’ Review: Exhumation at Sea
A 1970s submarine recovery operation by the C.I.A. is the subject of this documentary, which prioritizes the excitement of undercover work over any serious consideration of the agency’s legacy.
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‘26.2 to Life’ Review: Running in Circles
Christine Yoo’s new documentary follows the inmates of San Quentin Prison in California who train to run a grueling marathon inside its yard.
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‘Paul Robeson’ Review: A Tribute to an Entertainment Titan
The film’s subtitle is drawn from one of the performer’s quotes in his autobiography “Here I Stand”: “I’m a Negro. I’m an American.”
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‘The Saint of Second Chances’ Review: Baseball Inferno
This documentary from Morgan Neville and Jeff Malmberg reconsiders the troubled career of Mike Veeck, a son of the M.L.B. impresario Bill Veeck.
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‘Superpower’ Review: Sean Penn Chronicles the War in Ukraine
This documentary, which Penn directed with Aaron Kaufman, includes Penn’s interview with the Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky on the first day of Russia’s invasion.