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Screen Time: Week of January 8

By Akiva Gottlieb


David Bowie in 'The Last Five Years,' airing January 8 on HBO. Courtesy of HBO

Screen Time is your curated weekly guide to excellent documentaries and nonfiction programs that you can watch at home.

Premiering tonight, Monday, January 8 on HBO is Francis Whately's David Bowie: The Last Five Years. In the last years of his life, David Bowie ended nearly a decade of silence to engage in an extraordinary burst of activity, producing two groundbreaking albums and a musical. This new documentary explores this unexpected end to a remarkable career. 

Premiering tonight, Monday, January 8, on Independent Lens (and then streaming on Netflix) is Jennifer Brea's Unrest, a powerful and intimate video diary from a filmmaker who was a Harvard PhD student soon to be engaged when she was struck down by a mysterious fever that left her bedridden. The film has been shortlisted for the 2018 Oscars.

Premiering Tuesday, January 9, is Episode 2 of Chuck Braverman's WestDoc Online: compelling informative conversations on filmmaking subjects from the people you need to see and hear. The new episode focuses on documentary distribution.

Premiering Friday, January 12, on Filmstruck is Lionel Rogosin's Black Roots, which gathers a number of African-American folk and blues musicians in a room, where they share stories and songs about the black experience in America. Starring Jim Collier, Gary Davis, Larry Johnson and more.