Advertise on podcast: Documentary of the Week

'Antidote' profiles the Bulgarian journalist Christo Grozev, who's uncovered hundreds of Russian secret agents. Filmmaker James Jones follows Grozev after European authorities inform him that he's being targeted by assassins.  

'River of Grass' profiles a range of figures who interact with the Everglades in the past and present, including a Miccosukee educator, a python hunter, and the pioneering environmentalist Marjory Stoneman Douglas. Filmmaker Sasha Wortzel will attend the film's New York premiere at the Margaret Mead Film Festival at the American Museum of Natural History.  

'Drop Dead City' is a deeply researched history of New York's financial crisis in the mid-70s. Filmmakers Peter Yost and Michael Rohatyn interview a wide range of people who were involved at many levels.  

'One to One: John & Yoko' uses archival footage, including telephone calls heard for the first time, to capture the radical politics and performances of New York in the early 1970s. Filmmaker Kevin MacDonald frames the story in a way that has eerie echoes in the present.  

'We Want the Funk' explores several decades of the highly danceable music genre, ranging from James Brown to Fela Kuti. Filmmakers Stanley Nelson and Nicole London combine dazzling performance footage with sharp analysis of the politics and artistry of funk.  

'Secret Mall Apartment' profiles a group of Rhode Island artists who created a hidden sanctum inside the Providence Place shopping center where they lived for four years. Filmmaker Jeremy Workman interviews the key participants, many of whom have never spoken publicly before.  

'Aum: The Cult at the End of the World' looks back at the religious fanaticism behind the deadly Tokyo subway attack in 1995. Filmmakers Ben Braun and Chiaki Yanagimoto explore how Aum grew in popularity and wasn't taken seriously as a criminal enterprise.  

'Art Spiegelman: Disaster is My Muse' profiles the Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist who crafted the classic Holocaust memoir 'Maus.' Filmmakers Molly Bernstein and Philip Dolin use Spiegelman's career to reveal a hidden history of comics.  

'Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius)' profiles the 1960s band Sly and the Family Stone and the pressures on its leader. Oscar winning filmmaker Ahmir 'Questlove' Thompson ('Summer of Soul') interviews musicians who were part of the group and others who took inspiration from it.  

'Paint Me a Road Out of Here' tells the story of a painting that Faith Ringgold created for the women's house of detention at Rikers Island in 1971. Filmmaker Catherine Gund explores how the jail became a dangerous place for the painting's survival.  

The four-part series 'The Fall of Diddy' explores multiple accusations against Sean Combs of violence and sexual abuse. The filmmakers interview an array of his former associates, some who are speaking on the record for the first time. In a statement sent to Variety, Combs’ lawyer called this documentary series “one-sided and prejudicial” and says the accusations against Combs are “pure fiction.” The case goes to trial in Manhattan in May.     

'Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story' chronicles the highs and lows of an extraordinary career in show business. Filmmaker Brian David Klein captures multiple perspectives on Liza Minelli from longtime friends including Michael Feinstein, Mia Farrow and Ben Vereen.  

'The Only Girl in the Orchestra' profiles Orin O'Brien, the first female musician hired full-time by the New York Philharmonic in the 1960s. The film, directed by Orin's niece Molly O'Brien, is one of 15 short documentaries selected to contend for the Oscar nominations.  

'Obsessed with Light' explores the history and legacy of the trail-blazing the American performer Loïe Fuller who took Europe by storm in the 1890s with her Serpentine Dance. Filmmakers Sabine Krayenbühl and Zeva Oelbaum evoke Fuller’s work through archival footage and interviews with contemporary artists she influenced.  

'Space Cowboy' profiles the sky diving cinematographer Joe Jennings as he attempts to pull off the most difficult stunt of his career. It's among over 200 films playing this week at the DOC NYC festival in Manhattan theaters and online.