Documentary of the Week

Despite the saturation coverage of O.J. Simpson's murder trial, director Ezra Edelman proves there is a lot more to understand about this story. His new ESPN documentary spans five episodes, examining the full scope of Simpson’s football and acting careers and the context of race relations in Los Angeles. New interviews with key players such as defense attorney Carl Douglas and LAPD officer Mark Fuhrman bring layers of nuance to a story that’s about a lot more than one celebrity on trial.

— Thom Powers and Raphaela Neihausen

For more information, click here to visit the official film web site.

In "The Music of Strangers," Oscar-winning director Morgan Neville ("20 Feet From Stardom") profiles several members of the Silk Road Ensemble, the international music group founded by Yo-Yo Ma. Their stories take place against the back drop of upheavals in Syria, Iran, China and beyond as they search to find meaning in their music.

— Thom Powers and Raphaela Neihausen

For more information, click here to visit the official film web site.

In the documentary The Witness, director James Solomon follows Bill Genovese as he investigates the notorious 1964 murder of his big sister Kitty. The New York Times famously reported that 38 people witnessed the crime without calling the police. But the film reveals a more human story.

— Thom Powers and Raphaela Neihausen  

For more information, click here to visit the official film web site.

Steve Wise is a crusading attorney trying to change human minds over animal rights. In the documentary "Unlocking the Cage," filmmakers DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus follow Wise and the Nonhuman Rights Project as they file a lawsuit on behalf of four chimpanzees held captive in New York state.

— Thom Powers and Raphaela Neihausen  

For more information, click here to visit the official film web site.

Directors Josh Kriegman and Elyse Steinberg follow New York mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner as he spirals down from the top of the polls over a sexting scandal. The film's candid portrait of Weiner and his wife Huma Abedin won it the Sundance Grand Jury Prize for Documentary.

— Thom Powers and Raphaela Neihausen 

  For more information, click here to visit the film web site.

Cleveland holds a sports record as the only city with three professional teams that hasn’t won a championship in 50 years. Director Andy Billman explores the history of Cleveland’s fans keeping their faith in the ESPN documentary BELIEVELAND.

— Thom Powers and Raphaela Neihausen

For more information, click here to visit the official film web site. 

Before Saturday Night Live or The Simpsons, American comedy talent like Michael O’Donoghue, John Belushi, Chevy Chase and many others sharpened their skills under the banner of a magazine called National Lampoon. Director Douglas Tirola explores this overlooked chapter of pop culture history, pushing the boundaries of good taste, in the documentary Drunk, Stoned, Brilliant, Dead.

— Thom Powers and Raphaela Neihausen

For more information, click here to visit the official film web site.

In 1960, when the documentary Primary captured John F. Kennedy on the campaign trail in Wisconsin, it also represented a breakthrough in technology for hand-held camera crews, bringing cinéma vérité to non-fiction filmmaking. Three years later, Kennedy allowed the same team and cameras into the White House for the film Crisis, about the administration's civil-rights showdown with segregationist Gov. George Wallace. Now these films have been restored by Criterion as The Kennedy Films of Robert Drew & Associates.

 — Thom Powers and Raphaela Neihausen

For more information, click here to visit the official film web site.

In Streit’s: Matzo and the American Dream, director Michael Levine captures a pivotal era inside a beloved family-run business that’s operated for five generations in New York’s Lower East Side. We watch as the forces of gentrification, competition and technology put pressure on the owners to make tough decisions over the future of their matzo-making tradition.

— Thom Powers and Raphaela Neihausen

For more information, click here to visit the official film web site.

In National Bird, director Sonia Kennebeck profiles three whistleblowers who worked inside the US military’s drone program and now fear a government backlash for speaking out. The film makes its U.S. premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival.

 — Thom Powers and Raphaela Neihausen

For more information, click here to visit the official film web site.