When his older boyfriend loses interest in him, filmmaker Isidore Bethel looks for a way forward.…
Leon & Mary Strauss Documentary Spotlight
Sponsored by Mary Strauss
“Alien on Stage” tells the unlikely story of a unique crew of Dorset bus drivers whose amateur dramatics…
Chicago gun violence has made national headlines for decades. While the city responds with aggressive…
During these locked-down pandemic times, we all can appreciate an ode to the open road, and “Alumination”…
Brothers Manuel and Valente Valenzuela both volunteered and fought in Vietnam. Now, 50 years later, they…
“And So I Stayed” offers a moving profile of three domestic-violence survivors who served steep prison…
A stellar documentary from SLIFF alum Margaret Byrne (“Raising Bertie”), “Any Given Day” follows a trio of…
The animated essay film “Archipelago” is partly documentary but mostly fiction, with poetry perhaps the…
“The Art of Rebellion” follows blunt, sarcastic, but ultimately lovable Lydia Emily — an LA-based street…
“Beijing Spring” tells a story about underground filmmaking, radical art, and censorship that’s…
Some 50 years before BLM and March for Our Lives — before computers, cell phones, and Facebook — priests…
As the war in Vietnam raged, one of the largest and most successful youth-led resistance movements in…
“A Choice of Weapons: Inspired by Gordon Parks” explores the power of images in advancing racial, economic…
“Citizen Ashe” is the story of sports legend and social activist Arthur Ashe. Known to most by his stellar…
A documentary by acclaimed filmmaker Andrea Arnold (“American Honey,” “Fish Tank,” “Red Road”), “Cow” is…
“El Father Plays Himself” chronicles expat filmmaker Jorge Thielen Armand’s return to Venezuela to make a…
How does a father find purpose in pain? In 2014, Michael Brown Sr.’s son was killed by White police…
Why are we still able to watch moving images captured more than 125 years ago? As we move ever further…
"The Final 19" tells the harrowing true story of Sgt. Dan Hefel, one of the final 19 prisoners of war to…
“A Fire Within” documents a U.S. court case brought by a trio of Ethiopian women against the man who…
“The First Step” — directed by SLIFF alum Brandon Kramer (“City of Trees”) — explores the divisions within…
Directed by Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning filmmaker Matthew Heineman (“Cartel Land,” “City of Ghosts…
“Flee” — winner of Sundance’s Grand Jury Prize in the World Cinema Documentary section — tells the story…
Co-directed by SLIFF Lifetime Achievement Award winner Gordon Quinn, “For the Left Hand” profiles Norman…
Running in the 2020 Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate seat held by Mitch McConnell, Charles Booker…
In Minnesota’s unforgiving North Country, a tradition of grit has been forged in the mines and on the ice…
Ella is not your average 98-year-old. Her magnetic personality makes her past even more surprising. “I Am…
An offbeat, heartwarming portrait of the world’s least likely rock star, this documentary-narrative hybrid…
“Into the Light” profiles painter Chuck Connelly, who received serious critical and commercial attention…
Growing up gay in the South is hard enough, but to be an openly gay woman in country music is nearly…
“Julia” — directed by Julie Cohen and Betty West, who also helmed the Oscar-nominated “RBG” — brings to…
A moving biopic of Pedro Zamora, “Keep the Cameras Rolling” — co-directed by Mizzou professors William T…
Kinloch is a town on life support, with fewer than 200 citizens still residing in the area, a budget…
“Magic in the Mountains” tells the remarkable underdog story of how Squaw Valley, a little-known ski area…
“Medicine Man” recounts the incredible life story of Stan Brock, a British-born Amazonian cowboy turned U.…
“Missing in Brooks County” provides a clear-eyed, heartbreaking look at the deadly cost of the U.S.’s…
“Mission: Joy” — co-directed by Oscar winner Louie Psihoyos (“The Cove”) and Peggy Callahan — provides…
Journalist David Dufresne’s first documentary is a devastatingly timely investigation of the place of…
In “My So-Called Selfish Life,” filmmaker Therese Shechter examines an oft-undiscussed social taboo: women…
Smart, funny, and thoughtful about issues of race in America, “The Neutral Ground” follows comedian and “…
After the death of his infant niece, filmmaker Angelo Madsen Minax returns to his rural Michigan hometown…
Although set in McAllen, at Texas’ southern tip in the Rio Grande Valley, the film doesn’t deal with…
A hybrid of animation and live action, “A Once and Future Peace” provides an engrossing exploration of…
“One Pint at a Time” — a feature expansion of the short “A Fresh Perspective,” which screened at last year…
In “Procession,” six men from Kansas City, Mo. — all survivors of childhood sexual assault at the hands of…
Filmmaker Alex Liu, a 36-year-old gay man who grew up with years of sexual shame, hits the road to learn…
SLIFF viewers with long memories will recall Abraham Lim’s first work as a director, “Roads and Bridges,”…
“Since I Been Down” follows a group of prisoners as they break free from their fate and create a model of…
Former New Filmmakers Forum winner Van Maximilian Carlson (2019’s “Princess of the Row”) returns to SLIFF…
“Solutions” offers important insight into the visions and concrete ideas that will pave the way for…
In 2017, the Vocal Vidas, an all-female Cuban quartet, were invited to perform their first show in America…
“Target: St. Louis Vol. 1” serves as a valuable history lesson with sadly continuing relevance. The film…
Climate change is huge, scary, and highly politicized, and the relentless bad news can prove overwhelming…
On Oct. 5, 1999, legendary climber Alex Lowe was tragically lost in a deadly avalanche on the Himalayan…
“Try Harder!” offers an engaging portrait of five young adults as they navigate a quintessential rite of…
In “Twenty Pearls” — deftly narrated by Phylicia Rashad — two-time SLIFF alum Deborah Riley Draper (“…
In the smart, joyous “We Are the Thousand,” a handful of Foo Fighters fans in Cesena, Italy, led by band…
“When Claude Got Shot” follows the multi-year struggles of Claude Motley, a non-traditional-age Black law…
Directed by Sarah and Emily Kunstler — who previously helmed the well-received “William Kunstler:…
An intelligent combination of civics lessons and environmentalism, Christi Cooper’s “Youth v. Gov” tells…
“Zero Gravity” follows a diverse group of middle-school students from San Jose, Calif., who compete in a…