Documentary films

It Takes a Family review – a family broken by the Holocaust unpick their trauma

Susanne Kovács’s investigation into her Jewish Hungarian family’s past reveals untidy truths about memory and history

Phuong Le

04, Jul, 2022 @8:00 AM

Eric Ravilious: Drawn to War review – fascinating portrait of the great British artist

With contributions from family, friends and fans including Grayson Perry, this vivid documentary argues that Ravilious should be as famous as Turner and Constable

Wendy Ide

03, Jul, 2022 @11:00 AM

Accepted: behind a US college admissions scandal and the students affected

A new documentary observes the warped system of college admissions through the eyes of four minority students at a scandal-ridden school in Louisiana

Adrian Horton

01, Jul, 2022 @6:17 AM

‘There were plans to poison Julian’: Ithaka, the film charting Assange’s fight for freedom

From his Belmarsh wedding to his skateboarding round Ecuador’s embassy, Ithaka tells the story of the WikiLeaks founder’s extradition battle, through the eyes of his hard-campaigning father

Duncan Campbell

30, Jun, 2022 @5:00 AM

The Princess review – Diana’s story remains captivating – and agonising

We know what happens but, even so, Ed Perkins’s skilfully edited documentary on the dazzling outsider royal is utterly and unerringly compelling

Peter Bradshaw

29, Jun, 2022 @12:00 PM

Blacks Can’t Swim: Rewind review – a deep dive back into troubled waters

The third in a series of films that asks why swimming at all levels in the UK is such a stubbornly white activity

Cath Clarke

29, Jun, 2022 @10:00 AM

Eric Ravilious: Drawn to War review – rediscovery of an untortured genius of a painter

A well-crafted study of a neglected artist who died after the plane he was flying disappeared during the second world war

Cath Clarke

29, Jun, 2022 @8:00 AM

‘More than a song’: the enduring power of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah

In a new documentary, fans and experts explore the legacy of a song that was originally shunned before becoming a timeless classic

Rob LeDonne

29, Jun, 2022 @6:19 AM

We (Nous) review – a tender homage to the unnoticed

French-Senegalese film-maker Alice Diop offers a sensitive portrayal of the disparate communities that live along one of Paris’s commuter rail lines

Peter Bradshaw

27, Jun, 2022 @12:00 PM

Discipline, teamwork, acceptance: why football is a lifeline for queer Cambodian teens

A new documentary tells the story of the Lotus Sports Club and Pa Vann Sovann, its much-respected transgender coach

Fiona Kelliher

27, Jun, 2022 @10:00 AM

The Balance review – film about Muslim entertainers treads a fine line

The rise of an Islamic arts industry is celebrated by its screen, music and comedy stars, but the view rarely strays beyond a western perspective

Phil Hoad

27, Jun, 2022 @8:00 AM

The Princess review – Diana documentary offers a cautionary tale

Director Ed Perkins’s film, composed of archive material, shows how press and public fed on each other’s appetite for the royal