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In this PBS NewsHour interview, director Raoul Peck speaks about his new documentary Orwell: 2+2=5, which examines the writings of George Orwell and interweaves clips, readings from the author’s diary, cinematic references, and modern-day footage to propose how prophetic his novels and work have become.
Watch the trailer for The Librarians, a documentary directed by Kim A. Snyder which focuses on the escalating book bans in public libraries and the harassment, threats, and laws aimed at criminalizing the work of librarians and how they are rallying and standing up for the freedom to read. The film is screening in selected theaters throughout the United States and Canada.
Directed by Ebs Burnough, this documentary explores the influence that Jack Kerouac’s 1957 novel, On the Road, has had on writers, actors, storytellers and artists, and follows the lives of Americans who set off on their own journeys in the footsteps of the famous author, who died in 1969 at the age of forty-seven.
In this PBS Independent Lens documentary codirected by Dawn Logsdon, who also narrates, and Lucie Faulknor, the history of public libraries is uncovered, from the quiet revolutionaries who opened these doors to all, to today’s librarians who service the public in an age of closures and book bans. “Libraries are not just about books. They’re about people, and they’re about stories.”
In this interview for The Thread documentary series, Pulitzer Prize–winning author Viet Thanh Nguyen talks about his childhood experiences as a refugee and overcoming trauma, his parents’ complicated reaction to his writing career, and how storytelling and writing changed his life from an early age. Read about Nguyen’s essay collection To Save and Destroy: Writing as an Other (Belknap Press, 2025) in our Best Books series.
Watch the trailer for After: Poetry Destroys Silence, a cinematic performance film directed by Richard Kroehling and starring Cornelius Eady, Edward Hirsch, Melissa Leo, Géza Röhrig, and a cast of celebrated award-winning poets who respond to the Holocaust and talk about the importance and necessity for poetry in a world that still grapples with genocide.
“I remember what’s important and I make up the rest. That’s what storytelling is all about.” This HBO Original documentary takes a look at the life of legendary poet and activist Nikki Giovanni. The award-winning film is directed and written by Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson, and includes readings by executive producer Taraji P. Henson.
“He’s been such a mirror for pop culture, but now he’s his own pop culture.” In this trailer for King on Screen, a documentary about the many film and television adaptations of Stephen King’s stories and novels, directors and screenwriters discuss what makes King the master of horror.
“The things I discovered about writing were so important to me; it was the notion that you could write and find out what you really believed in.” Amy Tan speaks about her creative process in this video from PBS and American Masters previewing her documentary Amy Tan: Unintended Memoir directed by James Redford.
“This is where our story as Black Americans begins.” Watch the trailer for The 1619 Project, a six-part Hulu docuseries adaptation of the book of the same name hosted by Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and author Nikole Hannah-Jones.
