The documentary The Hunt for Planet B, directed by Academy Award nominee Nathaniel Kahn follows scientists as they build and plan for the December launch of NASA’s Webb Space Telescope, a massive machine that will be able to peer more than 13 billion light-years into deep space, towards the very first stars and galaxies in the universe. It will also yield new data into the search for possible signs of life on “exoplanets,” planets outside of our solar system.
Coinciding with the 25th anniversary of the recording of the landmark Cuban album “Buena Vista Social Club,” Cuban-American director Hugo Perez is set to premiere his latest feature documentary Omara on the life of Afro-Cuban singer and cultural icon Omara Portuondo in the Sonic Cinema section at the 12th edition of DOC NYC, taking place in-person and online from November 11-18, 2021. Notably, Perez will also have a second title in its world premiere at this year’s festival, the documentary Once Upon a Time in Uganda, co-directed with Cathryne Czubek.
Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh’s Writing With Fire is a powerful documentary about the fearless journalists behind Khabar Lahariya, India’s only newspaper run by Dalit (“untouchable”) women.
HBO takes viewers to 1995, when a 21-year-old Alanis Morissette burst onto the music scene with the first single off her ground-breaking album, “Jagged Little Pill” with the new documentary Jagged, directed by Alison Klayman (“The Brink,” “Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry”).
Showtime Sports released the official trailer for Kevin Garnett: Anything is Possible, a new documentary chronicling the life and legacy of one of the NBA’s all-time greats, Kevin Garnett, who was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame this year. The documentary premieres on Friday, November 12 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Showtime
IFC Films will release the searing police reform documentary Hold Your Fire by Emmy-nominated director Stefan Forbes (Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story). Hold Your Fire puts a spotlight on the longest hostage siege in NYPD history and the people instrumental in an event that birthed modern hostage negotiation and that could provide hope for repairing America’s broken policing system.
Following its theatrical run, the documentary Simple as Water, from Academy Award winning filmmaker Megan Mylan (“Lost Boys of Sudan,” “Smile Pinki”), debuts Tuesday, November 16 (9:00-10:40 p.m. ET/PT) on HBO. The critically acclaimed film celebrated its world premiere on closing night of the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival.
From award-winning directors Peter Middleton and James Spinney (Notes on Blindness) and narrated by Pearl Mackie (Doctor Who), the new documentary The Real Charlie Chaplin, described as a kaleidoscopic portrait of a man who became an immortal legend, whose life was as extraordinary as his art, begins its theatrical run at Cinema Village (New York) and Laemmle Monica (Los Angeles) on Friday, November 19. Following its theatrical run, the documentary will premiere on Showtime on Saturday, December 11, at 8 p.m. ET/PT.
Amazon Prime Video released the official trailer for A Man Named Scott, the new documentary on rapper and actor Scott Mescudi aka Kid Cudi. Directed by Robert Alexander and featuring Kanye West, Timothée Chalamet, Shia LaBeouf, Willow Smith, Jaden Smith, Lil Yachty, along with Pharrell Williams, the film premieres globally on November 5, 2021 on Prime.
YouTube Originals debuted the official trailer for the documentary, Tom Petty, Somewhere You Feel Free: The Making of Wildflowers, premiering for free globally on November 11 in full 4K resolution only on Tom Petty’s YouTube Channel.
IFC Films released the official trailer for Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time, a biography of author Kurt Vonnegut, and the 25-year friendship with the filmmaker Robert Weide, who set out to document it. The documentary plays at DOC NYC from November 11 – 19, 2021 and opens in theaters and on VOD on November 19, 2021.
The official trailer dropped today for Mayor Pete, the new documentary film directed by Jesse Moss that follows Pete Buttigieg as he runs for President of the United States.