Documentary of the Week

Many stories get told about Mount Everest, but the film SHERPA stands apart for focusing on the local guides from Nepal who take the biggest risks. Director Jennifer Peedom bears witness to the tragic 2014 avalanche that killed 16 Sherpas and changed the dynamics on the mountain.

— Thom Powers and Raphaela Neihausen

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

For over 30 years, art forger Mark Landis has been fooling museums by faking works in the names of masters. In Art and Craft, filmmakers Sam Cullman, Jennifer Grausman and Mark Becker gain Landis’ trust, and get access to the process of forgery and conning museum curators. They follow his nemesis Matthew Leininger, a museum registrar on a multi-year mission to expose Landis, and raise questions about the meaning of art versus its value.

— Thom Powers and Raphaela Neihausen

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

In 1975, Sheriff Dub Lawrence founded his county’s first SWAT team. Thirty-three years later, he stood by as that very same SWAT team killed his son-in-law, propelling him on a crusade to hold police accountable for appropriate use of force. 

Directors Scott Christopherson and Brad Barber take a close look at police militarization in their documentary, "Peace Officer."

— Thom Powers and Raphaela Neihausen 

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

Janis Joplin, Yo-Yo Ma and Sharon Jones are just some of the musicians who are the subjects of documentaries at this month's Toronto International Film Festival. The festival also features the world premier of a new film featuring Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards. It opens on Netflix next Friday, Sept. 18.

— Thom Powers and Raphaela Neihausen. 

This week's report discusses Keith Richards: Under the Influence, Miss Sharon Jones and Janis: Little Girl Blue.

In “Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution,” director Stanley Nelson explores the complex history of the radical organization that spread rapidly across the country and drew a harsh backlash from the FBI and local police forces. The film's clear-eyed approach to the past deepens our understanding of present struggles.

— Thom Powers and Raphaela Neihausen 

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

In 2011, music legend Glen Campbell released a new record and was also diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. He went public with the diagnosis and spent the next year and a half on a  “goodbye tour” of 151 shows, supported by adoring audiences and a loving family — including three of his kids who played in the band.

— Thom Powers and Raphaela Neihausen

For more information, click here to visit the official film wep page.

In the early '80s, long before reality TV, directors Joel DeMott and Jeff Kreines captured this raw and intimate documentary portrait of teens in Muncie, Indiana. The depiction of interracial romance and rebellion proved too hot to handle for PBS; they refused to broadcast it. Now new audiences can discover it on DVD and download.

— Thom Powers and Raphaela Neihausen

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

“Meru,” directed by Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, chronicles three American mountain climbers attempting to summit the Himalayan peak known as the “Shark’s Fin” on Mount Meru. With stunning cinematography, their epic journey takes us to perilous heights while also probing the psyche of these risk-takers.

— Thom Powers and Raphaela Neihausen

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

In the new documentary Homme Less, 52-year-old fashion photographer Mark Reay has style and swagger. He's also been living undetected on a Manhattan rooftop for several years.

— Thom Powers and Raphael Neihausen 

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

In 1968, in a desperate bid for ratings, ABC News enlisted right wing magazine editor William F. Buckley to debate left wing novelist Gore Vidal over ten nights during the Republican and Democratic conventions. Television viewers had never seen anything like it. Filmmakers Morgan Neville and Robert Gordon draw upon a treasure trove of archival footage to revisit this pivotal chapter in cultural history.

— Thom Powers and Raphaela Neihausen

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