Documentary Magazine

Documentary magazine is a quarterly magazine published by the International Documentary Association, and it stands out as the sole U.S. publication focused entirely on documentaries. It attracts an international audience of more than 20,000 individuals, including filmmakers, producers, distributors, professionals from network, cable, and OTT platforms, educators, students, and fans of nonfiction content. The magazine's distribution reaches IDA's 2,000 members, over 200 libraries at universities and public institutions, as well as newsstands in cities like Los Angeles, New York, and other major locations across the U.S. and Canada.

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Qumra’s Quiet Strength: Championing Documentaries from the MENA Region and Beyond

1 week ago | documentary.org | Davide Abbatescianni

Back in February, I received my first invitation to attend Qumra.
Making a Production: Concord Originals

1 month ago | documentary.org | Vikram Murthi

Making a Production is Documentary’s strand of in-depth profiles featuring production companies that make critically-acclaimed nonfiction film and media in innovative ways. These pieces probe the creative decisions, financial structures, and talent development that sustain their work—revealing both infrastructural challenges and industry opportunities that exist for documentarians.
Producer’s Diary: ‘ChiefsAholic: A Wolf in Chiefs Clothing’ (December 2022-December 2024)

1 month ago | documentary.org | Kristian Day

I have been producing projects with director Dylan Sires since 2017. Our previous true crime docuseries, Taken Together: Who Killed Lyric and Elizabeth? (2024), took seven years to complete before it was sold to Warner Brothers Discovery at the end of 2021. I was also a producer of the Discovery ID series Queen of Meth (2021) and the showrunner of The Last American Gay Bar (2024) on OUTtv.
Existing Next to Each Other: Monica Strømdahl Turns a 15-Year Photography Project Into ‘Flophouse America’

1 month ago | documentary.org | Davide Abbatescianni

Shot over three years, Flophouse America is the unflinching debut feature by Norwegian photographer-turned-filmmaker Monica Strømdahl. Premiering in the DOX:AWARD competition at this year’s CPH:DOX and earning a Special Mention, 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.
“A Brutal Kind of Beauty”: Kasimir Burgess on His Visions du Réel-Premiering ‘Iron Winter’

1 month ago | documentary.org | Amarsanaa Battulga

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.
Thessaloniki Docfest’s Agora Remains a Beacon of Hope Despite Geopolitical Turmoil and Broadcasters’ Retreat, Says the Industry

1 month ago | documentary.org | Davide Abbatescianni

The 27th edition of the Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival closed on March 16. From March 7–15, the Greek gathering hosted Agora, an industry platform for developing projects and fostering collaborations, headed by Angeliki Vergou. Agora featured a rich program of panel discussions, masterclasses, and networking events, with 33 new projects showcased across the Agora XR Lab, Agora Boost, Docs in Progress, and Pitching Forum sessions.
PBS and NPR Leadership Face Accusations of News Bias During U.S. House DOGE Subcommittee, While Documentaries Mostly Escape Scrutiny

1 month ago | documentary.org | Natalia Keogan

At Wednesday morning’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) subcommittee hearing, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, joined by several House Republicans, argued for rolling back federal funding of PBS and NPR due to alleged bias in their content and reporting. The brunt of the heat was concertedly directed at NPR, which GOP members lambasted for allegedly “violating journalistic integrity” due to the outlets’ coverage of topics that range from COVID-19 to Hunter Biden’s laptop controversy.
SXSW 2025: Made in the USA

1 month ago | documentary.org | Lauren Wissot

Gail in court, in Baby Doe. Courtesy of Baby Doe, LLC Film festivals are all about discoveries, but in recent years, it’s gotten ever so hard to find true under-the-radar gems in U.S. nonfiction filmmaking. While Sundance long provided the latest crop of American documentaries to rave about, it’s now SXSW that increasingly seems to be taking up the national mantle. To be clear, Sundance is still the first stop for top-notch international surprises on these shores.
“You Couldn’t Have a City Without a School”: Claire Simon on ‘Elementary’

1 month ago | documentary.org | Natalia Keogan

Makarenko, a public school in the Parisian suburb of Ivry-sur-Seine, is the subject of Elementary, the latest vérité study from renowned French documentarian Claire Simon. While the film is replete with tender and surprising observations on today’s young people, it also treads similar ground for Simon. Récréations, her breakthrough documentary feature from 1992, captured the schoolyard antics of kindergarteners.
West Lake IDF 2024: What’s in a Name

1 month ago | documentary.org | Amarsanaa Battulga

The closing night party at West Lake IDF. Courtesy of West Lake IDF Although few people outside China have heard of it, the West Lake International Documentary Festival—locally known as IDF, which stands for “I Documentary Fact”—has quickly become the country’s leading documentary festival since its inception in 2017.