JUST LOOK UP | SEIZED | ASH AND CRAYONS | BUCKS HARBOR | JANE ELLIOTT AGAINST THE WORLD | TUTU | THE CYCLE OF LOVE | TRACES OF HOME | THE LAST MESSAGE
JUST LOOK UP – Feature Documentary
Logline: A defiant young visionary, part stand-up comic, part young Bob Dylan, part brilliant mind, leads a disruptive climate movement reinventing protest, channeling civil disobedience, and demanding a livable future.
Distributor: Distributor and release plan to be announced shortly
Available for interview: Co-directors Betsy Hershey and Emma Wall (Guerrilla Habeas), participant Michael Greenberg of activist group Climate Defiance
To Note: Premiered at CPH:DOX, where it won the F:ACT Award. Additional festivals include IDFA, Tribeca, Sydney and Thessaloniki. Executive produced by Adam McKay and Joshua Oppenheimer.
SEIZED – Feature Documentary
Logline: A stranger-than-fiction newsroom thriller that unravels the shocking police raid on a small-town Kansas newspaper, exposing the power struggles, secrets, and constitutional stakes that turned a local scandal into a national flashpoint.
Available for interviews: Director Sharon Liese (The Flagmakers), Participants Eric Meyer and Finn Hartnett
Distributor: HBO – Theatrical release Friday, November 6 | HBO airdate December 1
To Note: Premiered at Sundance earlier this year and has screened at True/False, Full Frame, DC/DOX, Bentonville and many more. Was selected for Deadline’s “For the Love of Docs” series.
ASH AND CRAYONS – Feature Documentary
Logline: In ASH AND CRAYONS, Ukrainian children prove age and size have no bearing on inner strength. The 2022 Russian invasion changed their lives, yet they continue to pursue their dreams. Part live-action, part animation.
Director: Academy Award–nominated documentary filmmaker Evgeny Afineevsky (Winter on Fire, Cries from Syria, Francesco)
Distributor: Briarcliff Entertainment - In theaters on November 20, World Children’s Day, established by the UN in 1954 to promote children’s welfare and rights.
Recognition and Impact: The film received the Cinema for Peace Award in Berlin, presented to Afineevsky by Hillary Clinton, and has screened at the Vatican, the UK Parliament, the Italian Parliament, the Council of Europe and the U.S. Congress. An impact campaign will accompany the theatrical release, with partners including the Ukrainian World Congress, Bring Kids Back UA (President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s initiative to return abducted children) and War Child International.
BUCKS HARBOR – Feature Documentary
Logline: In a remote village on the northern coast of Maine, three generations of fishermen offer a raucous and tender look at manhood in a changing world. BUCKS HARBOR weaves a portrait of a community shaped by brutal winters, the harvest of the ocean’s bounty, and the rigid codes of previous generations.
Release Date: TO BE ANNOUNCED: December 4, 2026 in NYC
Available for interviews: Director/Producer/Co-cinematographer Pete Muller
To Note: Acclaimed documentary photographer Pete Muller makes his heartbreaking and humorous feature debut with BUCKS HARBOR. The film world premiered at Berlinale, where it won the Ecumenical Jury Prize in the Panorama section. It has since won awards at the Margaret Mead Film Festival, Camden and Zurich, and screened at True/False, DC/DOX, Deauville American Film Festival, Hamptons International Film Festival and more. The film will screen as part of DOC NYC Winner’s Circle this November.
JANE ELLIOTT AGAINST THE WORLD – Feature Documentary
Logline: In 1968, Jane Elliott divided her all-white Iowa classroom by eye color, creating a lesson in discrimination that made her a national icon and lightning rod in the fight against racism. Now in her nineties, she takes on a new battle over censorship in schools while reckoning with the cost of a lifetime spent refusing to back down.
Release Date: TO BE ANNOUNCED: In theaters December 4 in NYC & LA | Independent Lens (PBS) national broadcast and streaming March 29, 2027
Available for Interviews: Director Judd Ehrlich, Jane Elliott (select virtual press)
To Note: The film world premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and has gone on to win Best Documentary at the Bentonville Film Festival in Arkansas and audience awards at the Boulder International Film Festival, Cleveland International Film Festival, Sonoma International Film Festival, and Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, among other festival honors. The film will screen at DOC NYC on November 15 at 8:00 PM.
TUTU – Feature Documentary
Logline: A powerful portrait of Desmond Tutu, the rebel Archbishop who helped end Apartheid, changing the soul of a nation and inspiring generations worldwide.
Distributor: Universal & Freestyle - December 18, 2026 (US)
Available for interviews: Director Sam Pollard
To Note: Premiered at the 76th Berlin International Film Festival in 2026, where it received the independent Peace Film Prize and a special mention from the Berlinale Documentary Award jury.
THE CYCLE OF LOVE – Feature Documentary
Logline: In 1977, PK, a 23-year-old Delhi street artist from a poor, ‘untouchable’ family, picked up a handful of paintbrushes and a second-hand bicycle and set off across 6,000 miles and nearly a dozen countries. His mission: to find Lotta, the woman who had captured his heart on a visit to India.
Distributor: Variance - Opened in theaters August 28 | Now available on TVOD
Available for Interviews: Oscar-winning director Orlando von Einsiedel (The White Helmets, Virunga), film participants P.K. Mahanandia and Lotta Von Schedvin (select, virtual)
To Note: Premiered at Telluride, has since played CPH:DOX, Sheffield DocFest and DC/DOX, and opened in theaters August 28 with a nationwide expansion, kicking off its Academy campaign. The film returned to theaters nationwide for a special one-night-only screening event on November 2 and is now available on TVOD. Executive produced by Priyanka Chopra Jonas. It has received two CCA Documentary Awards nominations, for Best Director and Best Cinematography.
TRACES OF HOME – Feature Documentary
Logline: In her award-winning debut feature film TRACES OF HOME, filmmaker Colette Ghunim embarks on journeys with her parents to find the ancestral houses they were forced to flee as children in Mexico and Palestine. Colette’s initial desire to heal her disconnect from her cultures and her parents reveals an internal quest to discover home within herself.
Distributor: Watermelon Pictures - Currently in select theaters | Now on digital
Available for interviews: Director Colette Ghunim
To Note: Won the Grand Jury Prize at DOC NYC 2025 as Colette’s feature debut. Executive produced by Melissa Barrera and John Leguizamo.
THE LAST MESSAGE – Feature Documentary
Synopsis: In THE LAST MESSAGE, Kelsie Kimberlin travels to Ukraine to uncover why her 21-year-old cousin Andrii Rachok was killed by Russian forces during their full-scale invasion. Kelsie, a popular American-Ukrainian singer, struggles to record her song Star in his memory, realizing she must first seek absolution and witness Ukraine’s fight herself.
Release Date: Opened October 9, 2026 in LA
Available for interviews: Doc Subject Kelsie Kimberlin
To Note: In January 2026, Kelsie and her family sued Russia, Iran, North Korea and Iran’s IRGC/Quds Force in federal court over Andrii’s death, a case that could set a precedent for other American families who lost relatives in Ukraine. Full background available on request.