#documentary

#documentary

In what seems to be the most uniting moment since Chardonnay was invented, older white Republican women flocked to movie theaters this past weekend to watch Melania, the nearly two-hour-long documentary about the First Lady financed by Jeff Bezos and directed by accused sex pest Brett Ratner. The film allegedly follows her during the 20 days leading up to Trump's second inauguration in 2025, though the trailer basically just showed her wearing sunglasses.

I wondered if I was letting people too far in. Are they no longer going to believe in the action star or the Marvel character? And do I want people to know my fears and insecurities to this level?

Best documentary has become the toughest Oscar category to predict in recent years, especially when it comes to nominations. The documentary branch has become famously quirky in recent years, passing over such populist, acclaimed, and decorated titles as Won't You Be My Neighbor? , American Symphony, and Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story . Past performance is no guarantee of success-I've even heard rumors that some voters will refuse on principle to nominate a film by a previous Oscar winner-and geography is not destiny.

"With the widespread use of social media, the global spread of 'fake news' has become a serious social issue," Masahiro Yamamoto, the documentary's director, said in an email. " In Japan as well, information of mixed accuracy is circulating widely, and the situation continues to worsen. Against this backdrop, we felt there was much to learn from PolitiFact, which has been conducting fact-checking for nearly two decades."

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground.

Paris Hilton here presents us with an unbearable act of docu-self-love, avowedly a behind-the-scenes study of her second studio album, Infinite Icon, and where she's at as a musician, survivor and mom. But maybe there is, in fact, nothing behind the scenes; judging by this, the scenes are all there is: Insta-exhibitionism, empty phrases and show. Hilton's second album no doubt has its admirers and detractors, and her fans are perfectly happy with it.

In Need of Seawater is not simply a documentary about poetry-it is an experience shaped by memory, voice, and lived history.

Montana's largest annual cinematic event will roar back to life in Missoula from February 13 through 22, and this year's program features a slew of world premieres, along with a large handful of films set to debut at Sundance later this month, among them Brydie O'Connor's Barbara Forever, Efraín Mojica and Rebecca Zweig's Jaripeo, Rachael J. Morrison's Joybubbles, and Sam Green's The Oldest Person in the World.

Eric Melvin is not here today with us because of the following reason: at 8 a.m. on Monday morning, after the final NOFX show ever, Eric Melvin's lawyers served Fat Mike legal papers accusing him of financial malfeasance. Ten hours earlier we finished playing the final show of our 42-year career. It was the most amazing and emotional send-off ever, nothing but love, family, tears and love.

Filmmaker Simplice Ganou, from Burkina Faso, spends his time documenting people and relationships, but when he travels to Winterthur, Switzerland, he faces a new challenge: nobody wants to talk to him.

I was so disgusted. Like, no, you can't have a murder in this sea of people already dying - that's not right, not fair. We can't let this go.

"When we left to get in the car to come to the premiere, I was saying that I really wish I could be in every one of these episodes," she said. "I definitely would love to keep at it. I think when people see this show, they will remember that I'm able to do stuff like this."

In the wake of a slew of artist cancellations, Kennedy Center leadership says it wants to book "performers who aren't political." Apparently, that ethos doesn't extend to its film programming, as the Washington, DC venue is set to host the premiere of a new Melania Trump documentary on January 29th. The film, simply titled Melania, will be released in theaters worldwide by Amazon MGM on January 30th, 2026, reportedly as part of a $40 million licensing deal.

There's a theory that the world spun off its axis with the passing of David Bowie, 10 days into January 2016. It was also two days after his final, death-infused album Blackstar appeared from nowhere. As an artistic statement it was prophetic and impeccably theatrical. A feature-length documentary now shines a black light on that album's recording, which some call Bowie's creative resurrection.

50 Blue Moon Ethan Hawke plays with campy brilliance and criminal combover the lyricist Lorenz Hart as he spirals into vinegary jilted despair after his split from Richard Rodgers in this latest collaboration with Richard Linklater. Read the full review. 49 Happyend Dysfunctional Happyend Teen romance and paranoid surveillance collide to dysfunctional effect in Neo Sora's beguiling debut feature set in an oppressive near-future Japan. Read the full review.

The first is The Thinking Game (free on YouTube) - a five-year portrait of Demis Hassabis, co-founder of DeepMind. On one level, it's a fascinating account of how a small group of researchers pushed the limits of artificial intelligence and produced genuine breakthroughs. Beneath the surface, the film is really about long-term thinking. AI can feel like it appeared out of nowhere sometime around 2022. This documentary shows how misleading that impression is.

We begin with the American Samoa national soccer team's worst ever day at the office: a world record 31-0 drubbing at the hands of Australia in 2001, still the worst loss in international soccer history. Goalkeeper Nicky Salapu is the only player that remains from that fateful day, and despite his upbeat persona, the scars remain. The cloud of defeat still follows the team everywhere.