Far East Deep South - 2021 SAAFF Documentary Review

The Documentary: Far East Deep South

The Director: Larissa Lam

The Story: When a Chinese-American family travels from California to Mississippi to visit the grave of their ancestors, they stumble upon surprising revelations.

Anatomy of Wings - 2021 Slamdance Documentary Review

The Documentary: Anatomy of Wings

The Directors: Kirsten D'Andrea Hollander and Nikiea Redmond

The Story: What is only supposed to last 10-weeks turns into a 10+ year journey for 10 Baltimore City Girls who frame how their cinematic story is shared with the world.

18th & Grand: The Olympic Auditorium Story - 2021 Slamdance Documentary Review

The Documentary: 18th & Grand: The Olympic Auditorium Story

The Director: Stephen DeBro

The Story: Home of 18th & Grand: The Olympic Auditorium Story, a documentary film telling the story of a city through a historic fight palace. Boxing, wrestling, roller derby, music, L.A. history and culture.

Bleeding Audio - Slamdance Documentary Review

The Documentary: Bleeding Audio

The Director: Chelsea Christer

The Story: Bleeding Audio is an intimate portrait detailing The Matches' promising career, defeating break up, and inspiring reunion as they reflect on what success truly means for musicians in today's digital industry.

End of the Line: The Women of Standing Rock - Slamdance Documentary Review

The Documentary: End of the Line: The Women of Standing Rock

The Director: Shannon Kring

The Story: Indigenous women unite to stop the oil pipeline that threatens their land, water, and very existence.

Try Harder! - Documentary Review

The Documentary: Try Harder!

The Director: Debbie Lum

The Story: In a universe where cool kids are nerds, the orchestra is world class and being Asian American is the norm, seniors at Lowell High School compete for the top prize: admission to the college of their dreams.

Woman in Motion: Nichelle Nichols, Star Trek and the Remaking of NASA - Documentary Review

The Documentary: Woman in Motion: Nichelle Nichols, Star Trek and the Remaking of NASA

The Director: Todd Thompson

The Story: Nichelle Nichols' daunting task to launch a national blitz for NASA, recruiting 8,000 of the nation's best and brightest, including the trailblazing astronauts who became the first African American, Asian and Latino men and women to fly in space.

The Dissident - Documentary Review

The Documentary: The Dissident

The Director: Bryan Fogel

The Story: When Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi disappears in Istanbul, his fiancée and dissidents around the world piece together the clues to a murder and expose a global cover up.

The Donut King - Documentary Review

The Documentary: The Donut King

The Director: Alice Gu

The Story: This documentary tells Ted Ngoy's story that is one of fate, love, survival, hard knocks, and redemption.

The Interview:

76 Days - Movie Review

The Documentary: 76 Days

The Director: Hao Wu, Weixi Chen, Anonymous

The Story: Raw and intimate, this documentary captures the struggles of patients and frontline medical professionals battling the COVID-19 pandemic in Wuhan.

Dear Santa - Documentary Review

The Documentary: Dear Santa

The Director: Dana Nachman

The Story: Dear Santa shines a light on the 100- year-old Operation Santa Program of the United States Postal Service. Each year, hundreds of thousands of letters to Santa arrive at Post Offices around the country.

TwoOhSix Podcast - 2020 LAAPFF Interview with Ramona S. Diaz Director of A Thousand Cuts

Belushi - Documentary Review

The Documentary: Belushi

The Director: R.J. Cutler

The Story: Using previously unheard audiotapes recorded shortly after John Belushi's death, director R.J. Cutler's documentary examines the too-short life of once-in-a-generation talent who captured the hearts and funny bones of devoted audiences.

Collective - Documentary Review

The Documentary: Collective

The Director: Alexander Nanau

The Story: Director Alexander Nanau follows a crack team of investigators at the Romanian newspaper Gazeta Sporturilor as they try to uncover a vast health-care fraud that enriched moguls and politicians and led to the deaths of innocent citizens.

Koshien: Japan's Field of Dreams - Documentary Review

The Documentary: Koshien: Japan's Field of Dreams

The Director: Ema Ryan Yamazaki

The Story: Baseball is life for the die-hard competitors in the 100th annual Koshien, Japan's wildly popular national high school baseball championship, whose alumni include U.S. baseball star Shohei Ohtani and former Yankee Hideki Matsui. But for Coach Mizutani and his players, cleaning the grounds and greeting their guests are equally important as honing their baseball skills.

Leap of Faith: William Friedkin on the Exorcist - Documentary Review

The Documentary: Leap of Faith: William Friedkin on the Exorcist

The Director: Alexandre O. Philippe

The Story: A lyrical and spiritual cinematic essay on The Exorcist, exploring the depths of William Friedkin's mind's eye, the nuances of his filmmaking process, and the mysteries of faith and fate that have shaped his life and filmography.

Coded Bias - Documentary Review

The Documentary: Coded Bias

The Director: Shalini Kantayya

The Story: An exploration of the fallout of MIT Media Lab researcher Joy Buolamwini's startling discovery of racial bias in facial recognition algorithms.

Director Interview:

I Am Greta - Documentary Review

The Documentary: I Am Greta

The Director: Nathan Grossman

The Story: Documentary follows teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg on her international crusade to get people to listen to scientists about the world's environmental problems.

Fireball: Visitors From Darker Worlds - Documentary Review

The Movie: Fireball: Visitors From Darker Worlds

The Directors: Werner Herzog, Clive Oppenheimer

The Story: A new documentary from Werner Herzog about meteors and comets and their influence on ancient religions and other cultural and physical impacts they've had on Earth.

In Case of Emergency - Documentary Review

The Documentary: In Case of Emergency

The Director: Carolyn Jones

The Story: Follows emergency nurses and their patients in seven unique settings across the U.S from urban to rural, shedding light on some of the biggest health care crises facing Americans today.