Award-winning filmmaker Ross McElwee discusses his deeply personal documentary Remake, the story of his relationship with his son, Adrian, who was a presence in many of the director's earlier films. Adrian possessed talent and an original way of thinking, but drug addiction would claim his life. Remake, which McElwee says may be his final film, has emerged as a strong Oscar contender.

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We are joined by the director and protagonists of Oscar-contending documentary American Doctor on a special edition of the Doc Talk podcast recorded live before an American Cinematheque audience in Los Angeles. Physicians Mark Perlmutter, Thaer Ahmad, and Feroze Sidhwa tell us what they saw in the emergency room and operating theaters at Gaza hospitals where they treated Palestinian children severely injured in attacks by Israel's military. Filmmaker Poh Si Teng explores the impact of her film in a rapidly shifting political environment since its premiere in January at Sundance.

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TIFF documentary programmer Thom Powers previews the Toronto Film Festival's nonfiction lineup as the 51st edition of the event approaches. There are films on Palestinian scholar and activist Edward Said, soccer star Megan Rapinoe, the plastic surgery boom in Iran — and Alex Gibney's highly anticipated documentary on Elon Musk. Powers tells us what to key an eye on, including some hidden gems.

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Rebecca Miller calls Martin Scorsese "the maestro," and who would disagree? She explores the life and work of the extraordinary filmmaker in her 5-part Apple TV documentary series Mr. Scorsese, which is nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series. Miller joins Doc Talk to share what she learned about Scorsese, from how he course-corrected after making 1972's Boxcar Bertha, the drug problem that nearly killed him, and the origins of his long association with actor Robert De Niro.

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The documentary Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man! is up for six Primetime Emmy nominations — tied for the most of any nonfiction project this year. Filmmakers Judd Apatow and Michael Bonfiglio tell us how they crafted their two-part doc on the legendary actor-director-writer-songwriter, who turned 100 years old in June. They got Mel to open up in ways he's never done before.

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The National Geographic documentary Ocean with David Attenborough has earned six Primetime Emmy nominations, tied for the most of any nonfiction project this year. One of them is for Outstanding Narrator for David Attenborough, the naturalist and author who turned 100 years old in May. We speak with one of the directors of the film, Keith Scholey, about working with Sir David, and about the revelations in the Ocean documentary — some to do with hopeful indications of the ocean's capacity to recover from environmental damage.

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Oscar-nominated filmmaker Sara Dosa joins the show to discuss her new documentary, Time and Water, an exploration of the dramatic shift in Iceland’s landscape, where melting glaciers threaten to wash away not only the ice but family and cultural history. Dosa enters the terrain through the work of Icelandic poet and science fiction writer Andri Snær Magnason, who wrote an obituary for the first glacier in his country that was declared moribund.

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We speak with filmmaker Gordon Quinn, cofounder of Kartemquin Films, on the 60th anniversary of the institution known for producing Hoops Dreams, Minding the Gap and countless other vital documentaries. We are also joined by Prof. Patricia Aufderheide, author of Kartemquin Films: Documentaries on the Frontlines of Democracy. Together, we explore the origins of Kartemquin, its role in a democratic society, and the evolution of nonfiction filmmaking in the last six decades.

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Filmmaker Sasha Waters discusses her new documentary Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World, about the prize-winning poet who became a lecture circuit sensation late in life. Waters reveals how she got Stephen Colbert, Helena Bonham Carter, Steve Buscemi, as well as Hairspray director John Waters (no relation to Sasha) to take part in the film.

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As we move deeper into the second half of the year, cohosts John Ridley and Matt Carey examine the documentaries that have emerged as early contenders for Oscar recognition. American Doctor, Closure, Nuisance Bear, Everybody to Kenmure Street, To Hold a Mountain — they're in the running. So are two dozen more, many of them having premiered at Sundance. We dig into what's gaining traction as Oscar season inches closer.

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