Documentary Films
From delicately rendered, intimate portraits to thrilling reconstructions of historical events and everything in between, SIFF’s Documentary Films program selections are grounded in thorough research and executed with exquisite cinematography. Depth and range define this collection of remarkable films.
1-800-ON-HER-OWN
USA | 2024 | 78 min. | Dana Flor
Strum a tune with folk singer-songwriter and activist Ani DiFranco through the making of her 2021 album “Revolutionary Love.”
Baby Doe
USA | 2025 | 100 min. | Jessica Earnshaw
Nearly 30 years after Gail abandoned her newborn son, the police came and arrested her for infanticide.
BAR
USA | 2025 | 89 min. | Don Hardy
Five students head to the Culinary Institute of America in hopes of becoming some of the world’s greatest mixologists.
Between Goodbyes
USA | 2024 | 96 min. | Jota Mun
A Dutch adoptee and her Korean birth parents try to build familial bonds across languages and cultural differences.
Billy
Canada (Québec) | 2024 | 107 min. | Lawrence Côté-Collins
Lawrence Côté-Collins inspects the life of former friend Billy Poulin, now in prison, through his own stockpile of video footage.
Blue Road: The Edna O'Brien Story
Ireland | 2024 | 100 min. | Sinéad O'Shea
The boldly feminist Irish author Edna O’Brien shares journal entries and provocative insight into her trailblazing career.
Cat Town, USA
USA | 2025 | 73 min. | Jonathan Napolitano
An aging Floridian couple spends their last days running a retirement home for senior and aging cats.
Chain Reactions
USA | 2024 | 101 min. | Alexandre O. Philippe
Five horror luminaries—Stephen King and Takashi Miike among them—discuss the impact 1974’s THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE.
The Chef & The Daruma
Canada | 2024 | 90 min. | Mads K. Baekkevold
Seattle loves its sushi, but did you know the cuisine’s North American popularity is thanks to a man named Hidekazu Tojo?
Coexistence, My Ass!
USA | 2025 | 95 min. | Amber Fares
A documentary about Israeli comedian Noam Shuster-Eliassi.
Come See Me in the Good Light
USA | 2025 | 104 min. | Ryan White
Poet Andrea Gibson and their dedicated partner Megan Falley face a cancer diagnosis head-on with humor and grace.
Drowned Land
USA | 2025 | 86 min. | Colleen Thurston (Choctaw Nation)
The Choctaw Nation fights against cultural displacement and the developers who wish to dam and divert the Kiamichi River.
Flamingos: Life After the Meteorite
Mexico | 2024 | 83 min. | Lorenzo Hagerman
An unforgettable journey of the Caribbean flamingo in its most delicate period of existence.
Freeing Juanita
USA | 2024 | 74 min. | Sebastián Lasaosa Rogers
An Indigenous couple make a treacherous journey across Guatemala and into Mexico to demand the emancipation of their niece.
The Gloria of your Imagination
USA | 2024 | 98 min. | Jennifer Reeves
In 1963, a divorced woman named Gloria agreed to be filmed working with three different therapists.
Heightened Scrutiny
USA | 2025 | 85 min. | Sam Feder
ACLU lawyer Chase Strangio argues to overturn Tennessee’s bigoted attempt to ban gender-affirming care for trans youth.
How to Build a Library
Kenya | 2025 | 100 min. | Maia Lekow, Christopher King
Two women set out to decolonize Nairobi’s formerly whites-only McMillan Memorial Library and turn it into a multicultural hub.
Jean Cocteau
USA | 2024 | 94 min. | Lisa Immordino Vreeland
An astonishing portrait of polymath Jean Cocteau told in his own words using his journals, letters, and artistic works.
Khartoum
Sudan | 2025 | 80 min. | Anas Saeed, Rawia Alhag, Brahim Snoopy, Timeea Mohamed Ahmed, Phil Cox
Five refugees use green screen technology to reenact their lives leading up to the military coup that forced their evacuation.
Know Her Name
Canada | 2024 | 80 min. | Zainab Muse
Learn the legacy of women directors who have fought to be seen and heard and have their films preserved.
The Librarians
USA | 2025 | 88 min. | Kim A. Snyder
Librarians fight tooth and nail to protect us from the pervasive conservative censorship that threatens to eliminate free thought.
Monk in Pieces
USA | 2025 | 95 min. | Billy Shebar, David Roberts
Avant-garde multihyphenate genius Meredith Monk approaches her final project, the immersive “Indra’s Net.”
Paul Anka: His Way
USA | 2024 | 99 min. | John Maggio
The life and career of Paul Anka, the Canadian-born heartthrob who rocketed to the top of the charts as both singer and songwriter.
Remaining Native
USA | 2025 | 87 min. | Paige Bethmann (Haudenosaunee)
Ku Stevens wants to become a cross-country runner in memory of his great-grandfather, who escaped from an Indian boarding school.
Riefenstahl
Germany | 2024 | 116 min. | Andres Veiel
A gripping portrait of controversial filmmaker and propagandist Leni Riefenstahl (THE TRIUMPH OF THE WILL).
Sally
USA | 2025 | 103 min. | Cristina Costantini
A peek into the life of astronaut Sally Ride, who kept a nearly three-decade romance with author Tam O’Shaughnessy a secret.
Salsa Lives
Colombia | 2025 | 101 min. | Juan Carvajal
The rhythms, passion, and energy of Salsa music do not recognize borders.
Seeds
USA | 2025 | 122 min. | Brittany Shyne
Multiple generations in the lives of Black farming families, from social challenges to financial straits and their dedication to one another.
Starman
USA | 2025 | 85 min. | Robert Stone
NASA engineer and science fiction author Gentry Lee discusses his views on the possibility of extraterrestrial life.
Suburban Fury
USA | 2024 | 118 min. | Robinson Devor
A probing biography of Sara Jane Moore, the FBI informant and single mother who tried to assassinate President Gerald Ford.
Transfers
Argentina | 2024 | 90 min. | Nicolás Gil Lavedra
A poignant documentary about Argentina’s onetime military dictatorship’s use of the infamous and brutal Death Flights.
Unclickable
Greece | 2024 | 74 min. | Babis Makridis
Follow the creation and devastating impact of a digital advertising fraud operation.
Viktor
Denmark | 2024 | 89 min. | Olivier Sarbil
Join a deaf Ukrainian war photographer Viktor on the frontlines in this wholly immersive and terrifying documentary.
Wolf Land
USA | 2025 | 71 min. | Sarah Hoffman
“Wolf-protecting cowboy” Daniel Curry and rancher Jerry Francis try to find common ground between their conflicting interests.