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Docs to Watch

Celebrate culture, unpack history and find timely perspectives with these essential, IDA-recommended docs from past to present. 


Doc To Watch

Tue, 08/11/2020 - 18:15
In celebration of International Youth Day on August 12, we’re highlighting five documentaries that showcase the (pre-COVID) lives of youth from the US and around the world. We Are the Radical Monarchs (Linda Goldstein Knowlton) Meet the Radical Monarchs, an Oakland-based alt-troop composed of young girls of color, with members earning badges for completing units on social justice, including being an LGBTQ ally, the environment and disability justice. An IDA-fiscally sponsored project, the film follows the first troop of Radical Monarchs for over three years until they graduate, and documents
Sun, 08/09/2020 - 23:47
If every documentary tells a story, then one of the most critical issues in our community today is who gets to tell that story, and to whom. IDA has engaged in debates surrounding self-representation and power dynamics in storytelling for a long time–from discussing the pressing need to decolonize docs to “ the inequity of unchallenged filmmaker bias and motives , of the chasm between the subject and audience (and) of film as a tool of racialized colonial power and empire.” August 9 is recognized as International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples. While documentaries have attempted to
Tue, 05/26/2020 - 01:26
During the month of May, we celebrate the culture and history of the United States' diverse and expansive Asian-American and Pacific Islander-American communities. The documentary landscape in particular has an incredibly rich offering of stories, many of which can be viewed online. Celebrate Asian and Pacific Islander American Heritage Month by checking out these documentaries from current IDA members and past IDA Documentary Awards winners and nominees! Asian Americans PBS' documentary series Asian Americans is a five-episode saga of the fastest-growing racial/ethnic group in American
Thu, 04/30/2020 - 05:59
Most of us find ourselves spending an unprecedented amount of time at home, and cities seem to have come to a standstill. However, thousands of individuals have been waking up and going to work throughout the pandemic, for their loss from the workforce would be devastating for our daily lives. Many of us have the luxury to continue our professional lives from the comfort and safety of our homes, but essential workers are truly at the frontlines of the crisis, ensuring that we remain fed, housed and, if sick, taken care of, during these times. Whether it's medical staff working in emergency
Mon, 04/20/2020 - 03:15
While the planet's human population reels from the devastating impact of the COVID -19 crisis, many have become aware of their immediate natural environment responding to the sudden drop in activity. With social media and news articles discussing bluer skies , cleaner water and a resurgence in wildlife activity , among other phenomena, the possibility for slowing down climate change has been one of the more positive topics of discussion of late. At the same time, our optimism has to be tempered, since the amount of plastic waste generated has increased significantly, alongside the loosening of
Thu, 04/16/2020 - 02:31
Get to know some of IDA's Fiscally-sponsored projects that are available to stream from the comfort of your home, on widely available platforms! We hope you'll continue to support bold, brave and informative storytelling by exploring these titles on Amazon Prime. You can also donate to our current roster of fundraising projects at documentary.org/sponsored-projects . Behind the Bullet (Heidi Yewman) Behind the Bullet explores a side of gun violence that’s rarely talked about- the impact a shooting has on the shooter. The shooters tell the story of how the pull of a trigger changed them
Fri, 04/10/2020 - 02:34
Get to know some of IDA's Fiscally-sponsored projects that are available to stream from the comfort of your home, on widely available platforms! We hope you'll continue to support bold, brave and informative storytelling by exploring these titles on Hulu. You can also donate to our current roster of fundraising projects at documentary.org/sponsored-projects . Best of Enemies (Morgan Neville and Robert Gordon) Best of Enemies is a documentary feature about the legendary 1968 TV debates between two great public intellectuals, Gore Vidal and William F. Buckley and how TV changed the way we talk
Fri, 04/03/2020 - 02:34
Many of you in our community are parents of young and teenage children, and you’re negotiating the tricky balance between keeping the cash flowing and keeping the kids at bay. We came up with a list of docs that just might help achieve that balance! Watch these documentaries that are sure to entertain, inform and spark curiosity in viewers both young and old. They're not just kids, though; adults can always stand to learn or revisit something about themselves with these films. Won't You Be My Neighbor? (2018) Morgan Neville's 2018 box office hit profiles the Presbyterian minister-turned-PBS
Mon, 03/30/2020 - 02:36
Get to know some of IDA's Fiscally-sponsored projects that are available to stream from the comfort of your home, on widely available platforms! We hope you'll continue to support bold, brave and informative storytelling by exploring these titles on HBO. You can also donate to our current roster of fundraising projects at documentary.org/sponsored-projects . Foster (Deborah Oppenheimer and Lisa Remington) With one in eight American children suffering a confirmed case of neglect or abuse by age 18, there are currently more than 400,000 children in foster care in the U.S., a number that
Thu, 03/26/2020 - 23:26
The documentary community is no stranger to the devastating impacts of COVID-19 in the arts and media world. With festivals, screenings and any kind of production completely on hold for the time being, filmmakers and film lovers must turn to digital avenues as a means to support and circulate meaningful work. Luckily, there's a tried and tested method in place already: streaming! We'll be doing a blog series introducing IDA's Fiscally-sponsored projects that are available to stream from the comfort of your home, on widely available platforms. We hope you'll continue to support bold, brave and