With The Encampments, directors Kei Pritsker and Michael Workman forge a counter-narrative to the mainstream media. Embedded with the encampment at Columbia University, which became a particular focal point in this controversy, they let the students speak for themselves. The Encampments pulled in the largest single-theater opening ever for a documentary (it was also the second-highest opening PTA) before expanding to over 50 markets last weekend. Amid the film’s early theatrical success, we sat down with Pritsker over Zoom to discuss the making of the film, its context in current political events, and adjusting the distribution timetable.
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The narrative content division of independent music rights company Concord develops unique fare in a sea of music documentaries: Although any project about Stax Records or featuring their music would legally and logistically require Concord to be involved, 'Stax: Soulsville U.S.A.' is unique in that it actually originated from the company itself. Officially launched in 2021, Concord Originals produces and develops projects based upon the million copyrights the company owns and represents, such as the music of Creedence Clearwater Revival, Rodgers & Hammerstein, and Cyndi Lauper.
Today, Peace Is Loud and UFO announce the Peace is Loud x UFO Post/Impact Residency, which combines more traditional residency perks of a post-production workspace and support with impact strategizing. The pilot residency went to Wood Street, directed by Caron Creighton, which “follows members of Oakland’s Wood Street homeless encampment as they organize against dual evictions from both the city and state.”
Shot over three years, Flophouse America is the unflinching debut feature by Norwegian photographer-turned-filmmaker Monica Strømdahl. The documentary offers an intimate, often harrowing portrait of Mikal, a boy growing up in a crumbling motel alongside his parents, Jason and Tonya, both trapped in cycles of addiction and poverty. In her conversation with Documentary Magazine, Strømdahl reflects on the ethical challenges of filming such vulnerable subjects over an extended period, the responsibility she felt toward Mikal and his family, and how her background in photography shaped the film’s aesthetic. With Flophouse America, she not only delivers a powerful creative statement but also raises urgent questions about systemic neglect, resilience, and the role of the documentary filmmaker as both witness and storyteller.
I have been producing projects with director Dylan Sires since 2017. Our latest project, 'ChiefsAholic: A Wolf in Chiefs Clothing' (2024), is an Amazon Original documentary about Kansas City Chiefs superfan Xaviar Babudar, aka “ChiefsAholic,” who rose to fame with his social media antics. But a secret life came to light when he was arrested, unraveling a series of unsolved bank robberies committed across the Midwest. ChiefsAholic was the first time we were given money to develop something—US$60,000, in fact. That only covered two weeks to capture enough of the story that we could use to sell. It was naive of us to think that having a budget made things any easier. At the time of writing, 'ChiefsAholic' carried a U.S. number one position on Amazon Prime for four days and generated a wild response from true crime fanatics and Chiefs Kingdom.
The International Documentary Association (IDA) and five other venerable filmmaker support organizations are deeply concerned by the news that DOGE is immediately cutting U.S. National Endowment for the Humanities grant programs. The NEH’s vital support of documentaries in the U.S. includes the NEH Media Projects grant program and documentary funding grants from many U.S. state humanities councils. For decades, they provided meaningful arts programming for general audiences, bridging scholarly research, documentary-making, and the public. Since Wednesday, we have received reports of dozens of grant terminations from filmmakers, affecting their ability to pay contracted crew and deliver quality programs for audiences all over the U.S.
In 2024, 7 million livestock died in Mongolia due to what some say was the country’s harshest winter on record. Australian filmmaker Kasimir Burgess witnessed the disaster firsthand while making his third feature documentary, Iron Winter. The film documents two young herders, Batbold and Tsagaanaa, upholding a rural Mongolian tradition of winter herding—protecting horses from severe dzud and wolves by amassing them by the thousands and migrating for several months in search of better pastures. Ahead of its world premiere, over a video call Burgess shared with Documentary the appeal of the winter herding story, the challenges involved in telling it, and his hopes for what audiences take away from the film.
Despite the fact that CPH:DOX has emerged as a highly successful and thriving destination for the documentary industry every spring, this year’s event was shrouded by global economic and political turmoil. If previous year’s editions rehashed familiar complaints about financing and distribution woes, this year’s threats were both more urgently physical and existential. American documentary filmmakers looking for life preservers in Europe in the face of the “MAGA-ification of U.S. gatekeepers”—as Variety called it in a festival report—found the consensus in Copenhagen was that it wasn’t going to be easy.
Now a quarter-century old, the Museum of Modern Art’s Doc Fortnight has developed into one of the most sharply curated showcases for nonfiction film in the United States. In a climate of festivals fixated on acquiring flashy premieres, MoMA’s programmers instead focus on finding the new and recent titles that interest them most to give New York a taste of the international doc scene. This year, many of Doc Fortnight’s picks significantly repurpose existing media to new ends: Eight Postcards From Utopia, B.F. Skinner Plays Himself, John Lilly and the Earth Coincidence Control Office, Give it Back: Stage Theory, Henry Fonda for President, and An Unfinished Film.
Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival’s industry platform Agora has gained prominence among documentary professionals and become one of the key events in the winter calendar. Documentary Magazine spoke to Vergou and several professionals in attendance to take stock of this year’s market, examining content trends and the current climate for business. When discussing content trends, Vergou focuses on the growing conversation about supporting filmmakers who lack access to national funding due to political reasons or who have been forced to flee their home countries due to persecution. This year, Agora, in collaboration with DOK Leipzig’s DOK Industry, launched the Doc Together initiative to provide practical support.