Documentaries

Originally published on Oct. 7, 2021: We first met Italian scientist Monica Gagliano while watching the documentary Aware: Glimpses of Consciousness, directed by Frauke Sandig and Eric Black; later, we had the opportunity to interview all three of them as journalists of the Hollywood Foreign Press.

There are those who proudly showcase their collections of stamps, magnets, porcelain plates, old coins, baseball cards and even cat figurines. But do they dedicate a room in their house solely to display their assemblage? Darren ‘Dags’ Maxwell has done just that for his obsessive assortment of everything Batman – a buying spree begun in the 1990s that saw him collect more than 1,300 items.

If – as the adage goes – we are what we eat, how could that impact the future of our planet? Australian filmmakers Kate Clere and Mick McIntyre have been looking for answers in their upcoming six-episode docuseries, Eating Plants. The couple traveled to six countries (United States of America, Germany, Israel, United Kingdom, China, and Australia) to explore the plant-based movement and find the best food products, restaurants, influencers, chefs, experts, and benefits.

Tribal sovereignty is the concept of the inherent authority of indigenous tribes within the borders of the United States to govern themselves, while remaining under federal control. If that sounds somewhat confusing and even a little contradictory to international readers, it is a system even more poorly explored and explained in American schooling — even in higher education.

Truly big ideas — advances that overturn hundreds if not thousands of years of conventional thinking — are in general notoriously difficult to distill in nonfiction reportage, even for an audience who might be receptive to the change they offer. But director Liz Marshall’s Meat the Future, executive produced by Moby and celebrated filmmaker Chris Hegedus, among others, does just that.

The unfolding impact of the internet can be glimpsed, somewhat paradoxically, not only in social media backbiting but also in an expanded social conscience. Over and over, we see examples of issues that were not necessarily ever deeply considered by previous generations framed in a new light, capturing the activist attention and imagination of those who consider themselves global citizens.

Mixing dramatization and documentary, The Last Forest depicts the indigenous Yanomami tribe’s way of life - and their struggle to preserve it. Brazilian filmmaker Luiz Bolognesi’s latest documentary, The Last Forest, was released on Netflix in 2021.

Conclusion of a three-part series on filmmaker Celine Parreñas Shimizu's documentary The Celine Archive on the true story of a Filipina immigrant who was buried alive in 1932 - a true history of violence against women, and more: racism, pioneering feminism, community silence, grief, and trauma. Among the relatives of Celine, you met Lucia Navarro, Tootsie Reyes, and Henie Navarro.

Second of a three-part series on filmmaker Celine Parreñas Shimizu's The Celine Archive, a documentary on the true story of a Filipina immigrant who was buried alive in 1932. - a true history of violence against women.

First of a three-part series on filmmaker Celine Parreñas Shimizu's The Celine Archive, a documentary on the true story of a Filipina immigrant who was buried alive in 1932. - a true history of violence against women.