Browse Movies : Completed : 2022 : Documentary

By the time Johnny Cash released his iconic “Man in Black” album in 1971, the international superstar was broken down, hollow-eyed, and wrung out - often torn between Jesus and the “Cocaine Blues.” Johnny Cash: The Redemption of an American Icon tells the true story of a music legend’s spiritual quest, and his ultimate return to an “unshakeable faith.”

Rabble rouser or activist? Opportunist or trailblazer? During his six-decade journey from pastoral prodigy to racial justice firebrand to elder media statesman, the Reverend Al Sharpton has been a polarizing figure on the national stage

A documentary about internationally renowned artist and activist Nan Goldin told through her slideshows, interviews, photography and rare footage of her fight to hold the Sackler family accountable for the overdose crisis.

8-year-old Aaron Averhart was just a year shy of being able to move up from Cub Scout to Boy Scout when he received a special request from an admired Boy Scout leader William (Bill) Sheehan. As Aaron rose up the Boy Scout ranks he slowly became aware of Sheehan’s grooming techniques and began to realize he had much more sinister intentions in store for him.If Aaron’s parents had known that since the 1920s the Boy Scouts of America had been keeping hidden files on dangerous pedophiles in their ranks while failing to warn the public the police the scouts their parents or even fully removing them from the Boy Scouts program they would have never allowed young Aaron to be part of such a complicit and corrupt organization.Aaron now tells his four year harrowing account of the pain and horror he suffered at the hands of Boy Scout leader Bill Sheehan. After spending decades thinking he was alone a late night internet search for his abuser leads to the uncovering of dozens of additional victims in a town 1500 miles away.

Dave Stevens was a once-in-a-lifetime artist who created the hit comic book series The Rocketeer that reintroduced the world to ’50s pin-up queen Bettie Page and was adapted into a beloved feature film. Dave carried with him a style born of 1930s American Pop Culture, an era he never experienced firsthand, but lived on in his heart and through his illustrations. His award-winning, 35-year career spanned advertising, comics, animation, movies, and TV working with luminaries like Jack Kirby, Doug Wildey, George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, John Landis, and Joe Johnston. Widely considered one of the best illustrators of his generation, Dave Stevens lived life the way he drew, meticulously pursuing a perfection he saw in his mind. His elegant brush work and iconic imagery continue to attract fans and inspire new generations of artists.

A feature length documentary that digs deep into the psyche of enigmatic West Australian ‘slab wave’ surfer Kerby Brown, a man whose connection with the ocean runs as deep as his love for his family. This film is far more than just a surfing story. It’s an unapologetic musing into the essence of Kerby and his family as we join them on his quest to ride a ferocious slab wave in the deep southern ocean that no one on the planet has surfed before. It’s a film about fear, addictions, and family bonds as we explore what drives Kerby, what anchors him and why he’s obsessed with pitting himself against one of nature’s most intimidating forces.

The pseudonymous Agnes was a pioneering transgender woman who participated in an infamous gender health study conducted at UCLA in the 1960s. Her clever use of the study to gain access to gender-affirming healthcare led to her status as a fascinating and celebrated figure in trans history. In this innovative cinematic exercise that blends fiction and nonfiction, director Chase Joynt (No Ordinary Man) uses Agnes’s story, along with others unearthed in long-shelved case files, to widen the frame through which trans history is viewed. Through a collaborative practice of reimagination, an all-star cast of trans performers, artists, and thinkers – including Angelica Ross (Pose), Jen Richards (Mrs. Fletcher), and Zackary Drucker (Transparent) – take on vividly rendered, impeccably vintage reenactments, bringing to life groundbreaking artifacts of trans history.

Good Night Oppy tells the inspirational true story of Opportunity, a rover that was sent to Mars for a 90-day mission but ended up surviving for 15 years. The film follows Opportunity’s groundbreaking journey on Mars and the remarkable bond forged between a robot and her humans millions of miles away.

Steve Williams is considered a pioneer in computer animation. This intimate account examines his life story and events surrounding the historical moment when digital dinosaurs walked onto the silver screen in Jurassic Park. Steve and a chorus of expert witnesses recount a dramatic tale of rebellion and revolution at Lucasfilm's Industrial Light & Magic in the early 1990s-- a time when creating realistic creatures with a computer was considered impossible. Decades later, Steve struggles to reckon with his chaotic past.

Tells the story of a new mother whose memories of her own youth prepare her to navigate motherhood in the increasingly challenging world that polar bears face today.

Every summer, a horde of professional Santas, Mrs. Clauses, and elves descend on a campsite in the New Hampshire woods to learn the tricks of their trade. But this year is different. The organizers, members of the one-hundred strong New England Santa Society, have decided to tackle a complicated and historic problem – the lack of diversity in the Santa industry. They enlist a Black Santa, a Santa with a disability, and a transgender Santa, each with their own surprising Santa origin story.

Broke, brave, and brash, Richard Davis shot himself 192 times. Why? To invent the modern-day bulletproof vest and launch a multimillion-dollar company. He was a hero to police and the military, until tragedy brought him down. His is an American story of guns, violence, lies, and self-deception.

Bad Axe captures a closely knit Asian-American family living in a rural Michigan community as they now fight to keep their American dream alive. As owners of a local prominent restaurant, they reckon with a global pandemic, racial tensions, and generational scars from Cambodia’s “killing fields.”

There is no New York without Broadway. It’s both a landmark and a community, an industry and a people. During the pandemic, over 96,000 people lost their jobs, and an entire industry was brought to a standstill. Broadway Rising tells the story of the Broadway community and its harrowing journey back to the stage following the COVID-19 shutdown. Herculean challenges are not new to Broadway. It has weathered 9/11; the arrival of the motion picture industry; and the devastation of AIDS on a generation of artists. Even amidst the pandemic, many Broadway organizations helped forge a path towards racial equity in the wake of BLM movement. But when employees whose livelihoods depend upon Broadway found themselves unemployed – it was a steep hill to climb back to opening night. This is their story, from early quiet moments of anxiety and self-reflection, to the determination that “the show must go on,” and finally the triumph of September 12, 2021; opening night.

José Luis Barbero, one of the world’s most famous dolphin trainers, is at the peak of his 30-year-career. He has just been hired as a Vice-President by the prestigious Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta (USA), when a 99-second blurry video is released online. It allegedly shows him abusing the dolphins under his care.

A scandal ensues, but Barbero claims he doesn’t recognize himself in the video. He says he is innocent and a victim of a revenge scheme by some ex-employees. The affair breaks in the news across the globe dividing those who fight to defend or denounce the master dolphin trainer. The dolphin trainer receives a wave of online hate, including death threats. A few weeks later Barbero disappears. This documentary thriller charts the epic rise and fall of Barbero until the moment of his disappearance. With footage from inside the marine parks where he worked, the film reveals the dark side of the industry from an insider’s perspective.

Was the video of Barbero an attempt to bring down an outdated and cruel industry, or was its real intention a personal vendetta? Those at the heart of this dark and tragic story share their version of events for the first time.

This incredible fish-out-of-water story follows the adventures of Steve Glew, a small-town Michigan man, who boards a plane for Eastern Europe soon after the fall of the Berlin Wall. His mission is to locate a secret factory that holds the key to the most desired and valuable Pez dispensers. If he succeeds, he will pull his family out of debt and finally be able to quit his job of 25 years. Steve becomes the hero of his own adventure, smuggling the rarest of goods into the U.S. and making millions in the process. It was all magical, until his arch-nemesis, The Pezident decided to destroy him.

Lion vs The Little People uncovers the shocking truth behind one of the greatest internet hoaxes of all time.

The documentary tracks Salvatore Ferragamo’s fascinating personal, artistic and business story, from his childhood in Bonito, where he made his first pair of shoes, to his journey to America to seek his fortune, from his experiences in Hollywood to his return to Italy, from the verge of bankruptcy to resurgence in his Florence factory and rise to definitive acclaim.

In the tense and gripping documentary feature The Volcano: Rescue From Whakaari, Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Rory Kennedy tracks the minute-by-minute unfolding of the tragic volcanic eruption off the coast of New Zealand in December of 2019, ultimately claiming 22 lives. During a routine sightseeing day-trip to a remote volcanic island, 47 tourists and guides were trapped in the epicenter of a boiling pyroclastic surge of toxic dust and ash. Both terrifying and inspiring, the film uses first-hand accounts to convey the experience of living through such a lethal eruption.

Offering more than a startling and brutal portrait of mother nature’s profound indifference, The Volcano also serves as testimony to human nature’s innate generosity. Guided by survivors — men and women who were tested in ways they never imagined — as well as the courageous and quick-thinking ordinary citizens who sprang to action that day, the viewer comes to understand the value of our human connection.