Documentary of the Week

"To the End" follows young activists with the Sunrise Movement and Justice Democrats as they join forces with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to push the Green New Deal. Filmmaker Rachel Lears examines the idealism, road blocks and breakthroughs as the activists face pushback from the fossil fuel industry and its political supporters.

"2nd Chance" profiles the complicated life Richard Davis whose invention of body armor saved lives while he ducked scandals. Filmmaker Ramin Bahrani explores American myth-making around guns, retribution and redemption.

"Descendant" explores the legacy of the last known slave ship that arrived in Mobile, Alabama in 1860. Filmmaker Margaret Brown profiles the descendants of enslaved Africans who were aboard the ship and the family that financed it.

Before there was Robert Downey Jr., there was his namesake father, an underground filmmaker, who's profiled in "Sr." Documentarian Chris Smith follows the two generations of Downeys as they seek to become closer and the father feels his mortality.

"Fragments of Paradise" celebrates the life of Jonas Mekas, co-founder of New York's Anthology Film Archives, who left a lasting legacy on the New York film world. Directed by KD Davison, the film premieres among nearly 200 films at the DOC NYC festival in theaters and online.

"Fragments of Paradise" premieres Saturday, Nov. 12 at DOC NYC.

"The Best Chef in the World" profiles Sally Schmitt, founder of the legendary restaurant The French Laundry. Oscar-winning filmmaker Ben Proudfoot captures her history as a trail blazer when it was rare for a woman to run a restaurant.

"Louis Armstrong's Black & Blues" explores the legendary trumpet player and singer in all his complexity. Filmmaker Sacha Jenkins draws upon Armstrong's private audio diaries and interviews to tell his own story.

Filmmaker Nausheen Dadabhoy interviews American Muslims from diverse backgrounds to create a mosaic of voices in "An Act of Worship." The film shows how love can serve as an antidote to discrimination and hate.

"The Last Out" follows several Cuban baseball players trying to emigrate to the United States to follow their major league dreams. We watch them be challenged physically and mentally in a competitive marketplace where raw talent alone isn't enough.

In "Last Flight Home," director Ondi Timoner chronicles her entrepreneur father Eli, creator of Air Florida, in the final weeks of his life. The film captures their family's experience as the 92-year-old patriarch chooses to exercise California's legal right to end his own life.