Kirsten Johnson

Sabbath Queen (2024)

Sabbath Queen is a remarkable 20 year journey in the life of Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie, a 39th generation Orthodox rabbi — and drag queen. ...

Helen and the Bear (2024)

As her storied and rebellious Congressman husband enters his final years, civil rights activist Helen H. McCloskey reflects on their unusual decades-long relationship, the pressure of living in the public eye, and what the two of them had to leave behind t ...

A Photographic Memory (2024)

A filmmaker ventures into the archives of her photographer mother to construct a personal story of love, loss, and finding someone in the work they leave behind. ...

Arctic Summer (2021)

ARCTIC SUMMER is a poetic meditation on Tuktoyaktuk, an Indigenous community in the Arctic. The film captures Tuk during one of the last summers before climate change forced Tuk's coastal population to relocate to more habitable land. ...

The Viewing Booth (2020)

Provocative in its cinematic simplicity, THE VIEWING BOOTH recounts an encounter between a filmmaker and a viewer, exploring the way meaning is attributed to non-fiction images in today's day and age. ...

On the Record (2020)

The haunting story of music executive Drew Dixon as she grapples with her decision to become one of the first women of color, in the wake of #MeToo, to come forward and publicly accuse hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons of sexual misconduct. A gripping and prof ...

Dick Johnson Is Dead (2020)

With this inventive portrait, director Kirsten Johnson seeks a way to keep her 86-year-old father alive forever. Utilizing moviemaking magic and her family's dark humor, she celebrates Dr. Dick Johnson's last years by staging fantasies of death and beyond. ...

Elliott Erwitt - Silence Sounds Good (2019)

Elliott Erwitt has spent his entire adult life taking photographs, of presidents, popes and movie stars, as well as regular people and their pets. His work is iconic in world culture while his life is largely unknown. ...

Museum Town (2019)

A rural American town suffering economically from factory closures finds an unconventional route to recovery with the help of MASS MoCA. ...

Cradle of Champions (2018)

Three extraordinary young people battle to change their lives through the three-month odyssey of the New York Daily News Golden Gloves - the biggest, oldest, most important amateur boxing tournament in the world. ...

A Thousand Thoughts (2018)

Filmmaker Sam Green, in collaboration with writer and editor Joe Bini, takes the stage with the legendary classical-music group Kronos Quartet to create a "live documentary" that chronologically unfolds the quartet's groundbreaking, continent-spanning, mul ...

Crime + Punishment (2018)

Over four years of unprecedented access, the story of a brave group of black and Latino whistleblower cops and one unrelenting private investigator who, amidst a landmark lawsuit, risk everything to expose illegal quota practices and their impact on young ...

Brooklyn Inshallah (2018)

Khader El-Yateem, an Arab American Pastor from Palestine, and Linda Sarsour, organizer of the Women's March on Washington, come together in the wake of President Trump's anti-Muslim policies. With Sarsour's support, El-Yateem runs for New York City council ...

32 Pills: My Sister's Suicide (2017)

Traces the life and mental illness of New York artist and photographer Ruth Litoff, and her sister's struggle to come to terms with her tragic suicide. ...

Atomic Homefront (2017)

Revealing St. Louis, Missouri's atomic past as a uranium processing center for the atomic bomb and the governmental and corporate negligence that lead to the illegal dumping of Manhattan Project radioactive waste throughout North County neighborhoods. ...

Risk (2017)

Capturing the story of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange with unprecedented access, director Laura Poitras finds herself caught between the motives and contradictions of Assange and his inner circle in a documentary portrait of power, betrayal, truth and sa ...

A Thousand Mothers (2016)

Set at an ancient nunnery above the majestic Irrawaddy River, A THOUSAND MOTHERS is an unprecedented look at the lives of Buddhist nuns in Sagaing, Myanmar. ...

The Joy of Extreme Possibility (2016)

Work in progress. ...

Audrie & Daisy (2016)

A documentary film about three cases of rape, that includes the stories of two American high school students, Audrie Pott and Daisy Coleman. At the time of the sexual assaults, Pott was 15 and Coleman was 14 years old. After the assaults, the victims and t ...

Cameraperson (2016)

As a visually radical memoir, CAMERAPERSON draws on the remarkable footage that filmmaker Kirsten Johnson has shot and reframes it in ways that illuminate moments and situations that have personally affected her. What emerges is an elegant meditation on th ...

Betting on Zero (2016)

Controversial hedge fund titan Bill Ackman is on a crusade to expose global nutritional giant Herbalife as the largest pyramid scheme in history while Herbalife execs claim Ackman is a market manipulator out to bankrupt them and make a killing off his bill ...

Trapped (2016)

TRAP (Targeted Regulations of Abortion Providers) laws have been passed by conservative state legislatures in the US and clinics have taken their fight to the courts. Follow the struggles of the clinic workers and lawyers who are on the front lines of a ba ...

The Above (2015)

A U.S. military surveillance balloon floats on a tether high above Kabul, Afghanistan. Its capacities are both highly classified and deeply mysterious. ...

Very Semi-Serious (2015)

The New Yorker is the benchmark for the single-panel cartoon. This light-hearted and sometimes poignant look at the art and humor of the iconic drawings shows why they have inspired and even baffled us for decades. Very Semi-Serious is a window into the mi ...

The Armor of Light (2015)

Following the journey of an Evangelical minister trying to find the courage to preach about the growing toll of gun violence in America. Reverend Rob Schenck, anti-abortion activist and fixture on the political far right, breaks with orthodoxy by questioni ...

A Woman Like Me (2015)

A WOMAN LIKE ME is a hybrid documentary that interweaves the real story of director Alex Sichel, diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer in 2011, with the fictional story of Anna Seashell, who struggles to find the glass half full when faced with the same ...

Buffalo Returns (2015)

Native American Natural Foods is one of the only private enterprises on the Pine Ridge Reservation. When their new energy bar gains national distribution, it gives new hope to a struggling community. ...

Once a Month on Sunday (2015)

For the past 15 years, a group of accomplished New York women, artists and writers in their eighties and nineties, gather at the Westbeth Artists Housing for a monthly salon. ...

That Film About Money (2014)

What is the real value of a dollar? You think that a dollar bill is money and that banks are where your cash is stored and safeguarded. Well, you're wrong. Like, really wrong. ...

Citizenfour (2014)

In June 2013, Laura Poitras and reporter Glenn Greenwald flew to Hong Kong for the first of many meetings with Edward Snowden. She brought her camera with her. ...

The Wound and the Gift (2014)

The Gift is a feature-length film exploring a major transformation in peoples' relationships with animals. ...

1971 (2014)

Forty years before WikiLeaks and the NSA scandal, there was Media, Pennsylvania. In 1971, eight activists plotted an intricate break-in to the local FBI offices to leak stolen documents and expose the illegal surveillance of ordinary Americans in an era of ...

Born to Fly: Elizabeth Streb vs. Gravity (2014)

Born to Fly pushes the boundaries between action and art, daring us to join choreographer Elizabeth Streb and her dancers in pursuit of human flight. ...

Seeds of Time (2013)

Seeds of Time follows agriculture pioneer Cary Fowler's global journey to save the eroding foundation of our food supply in a new era of climate change. ...

Fatal Assistance (2013)

Haitian born filmmaker Raoul Peck takes us on a 2-year journey inside the challenging, contradictory and colossal rebuilding efforts in post-earthquake Haiti. ...

ANNIE: It's the Hard-Knock Life, from Script to Stage (2013)

The documentary follows the revival production of the Broadway musical including casting, rehearsals, and opening night. ...

Here One Day (2012)

When filmmaker Kathy Leichter moved back into her childhood home after her mother's suicide, she discovered a hidden box of audiotapes. Sixteen years passed before she had the courage to delve into this trove, unearthing details that her mother had recorde ...

The Program (2012)

Filmmaker Laura Poitras profiles William Binney, a 32-year veteran of the National Security Agency who helped design a top-secret program he says is broadly collecting Americans' personal data. ...

Virgin Tales (2012)

Evangelical Christians are calling out for a second sexual revolution: chastity. As a counter-movement of the attitudes and practices of today's culture, one in six girls in the US has vowed to remain 'unsoiled' until marriage. But the seven children of th ...

A Place at the Table (2012)

Using personal stories, this powerful documentary illuminates the plight of the 49 million Americans struggling with food insecurity. A single mother, a small-town policeman and a farmer are among those for whom putting food on the table is a daily battle. ...

The Invisible War (2012)

An investigative and powerfully emotional documentary about the epidemic of rape of soldiers within the US military, the institutions that perpetuate and cover up its existence, and its profound personal and social consequences. ...

I Came to Testify (2011)

Sixteen women who had been imprisoned and raped by Serb-led forces in Foca, Bosnia, testify in an international court of law. ...

Yelling To The Sky (2011)

As her family falls apart, seventeen year old Sweetness O'Hara is left to fend for herself in a neighborhood where her survival is uncertain. ...

The Lady Is a Fighting Lion (2011)

By exploring the life of political activist Marie Runyon, we encounter a woman motivated not only to fight against injustice, but to also inspire victims of injustice to fight for themselves. ...

The Oath (2010)

Tells the story of two men, Abu Jandal and Salim Ahmed Hamdan, whose fateful encounter in 1996 set them on a course of events that led them to Afghanistan, Osama bin Laden, 9/11, Guantanamo, and the U.S. Supreme Court. ...

No Woman, No Cry (2010)

Women all over the world must struggle to receive proper care in order to survive pregnancy and childbirth. ...

The Edge of Joy (2010)

The Edge of Joy follows an ensemble cast of Nigerian doctors, midwives and religious leaders as they battle the world's highest maternal mortality rate. ...

Waiting for Mercy: The Case Against Mohammed Hossain and Yassin Aref (2009)

This documentary tells the story of an FBI sting that took place in Albany in 2004. The idea was to entrap Yassin Aref, 37 and Mohammed Hossain, 51. In 2006, the two men were sentenced to 15 years in prison. The documentary asks; was this sting a set-up to ...

Outrage (2009)

An indictment of closeted politicians who lobby for anti-gay legislation in the US. ...

Throw Down Your Heart (2008)

A film crew follows the well-known banjo player Bela Fleck on his travels to Africa, where he learns about the instrument's origins. ...

Pray the Devil Back to Hell (2008)

Pray the Devil Back to Hell chronicles the remarkable story of the Liberian women who came together to end a bloody civil war and bring peace to their shattered country. ...

Oscar's Comeback (2008)

Through a unique, "mom-and-pop" style film festival, a small town in south Dakota celebrates its most famous native son, Oscar Micheaux, a pioneering African American filmmaker of the early 1900's. ...

Lioness (2008)

The untold story of the first women in U.S. history to be sent into direct ground combat. ...

Darfur Now (2007)

This acclaimed documentary follows the story of six people who are determined to end the sufferings in Sudan's war-ravaged Darfur. The six - an American activist, an international prosecutor, a Sudanese rebel, a sheikh, a leader of the World Food Program a ...

Slacker Uprising (2007)

Michael Moore visits colleges in swing states during the 2004 election with a goal to encourage 18–29 year olds to vote. ...

Small Steps: Creating the High School for Contemporary Arts (2007)

This film follows students, staff and parents through the first four years of the High School for Contemporary Arts, an experimental "small school" housed within one of the most dangerous schools in the Bronx. ...

How Much Is Your Life Worth? (2007)

Documentary looking at the work of the attorneys and adjusters involved in cases of wrongful death, a moving and enlightening story of how tragedy and injustice are computed and integrated into financial considerations that make it impossible to give a hum ...

Election Day (2007)

Forget the pie charts, color-coded maps and hyperventilating pundits. What's the street-level experience of voters in today's America? In a triumph of documentary storytelling, ELECTION DAY combines eleven stories--all shot simultaneously on November 2, 20 ...

Crime Fiction (2007)

Will you kill for a good story? If you are James Cooper, a 28 year old copy editor with dreams of literary stardom, you will. After all, your girlfriend was just crowned the "voice of a new America" by the New York literati, and you waste your days editing ...

This Film Is Not Yet Rated (2006)

Kirby Dick's provocative documentary investigates the secretive and inconsistent process by which the Motion Picture Association of America rates films, revealing the organization's underhanded efforts to control culture. Dick questions whether certain stu ...

Welcome Back to the Barrio (2006)

A film that chronicles a young mans return to the streets where he grew up and the events that unfold after he reunites with a childhood friend. ...

Project Leap: Learning Out Loud (2005)

An innovative project in South Florida is raising academic achievement in public grammar schools by partnering teachers with artists to work together in the classroom. ...

Red Hook Justice (2005)

Deadline (2004)

In 2000, Illinois Gov. George Ryan ordered a moratorium on the death penalty after university students uncovered new evidence proving the innocence of 13 men on death row. This documentary follows the hearings held by a panel Ryan appointed to study the is ...

The Venetian Dilemma (2004)

Few can resist Venice's magical allure, but with more than 14 million visitors a year, Italy's glorious city of canals faces a number of threats. This documentary examines issues at the heart of Venice's precarious future. Interviews reveal a city in crisi ...

Ladies First (2004)

In the new Rwanda, women are at the forefront of change; transforming the country from the ground up and planning for a peaceful future. ...

Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)

Michael Moore's view on how the Bush administration allegedly used the tragic events on 9/11 to push forward its agenda for unjust wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. ...

Building to Extremes (2004)

Rokia: Voice of a New Generation (2003)

Documentary about the life and career of Rokia Traoré, a musician from Mali, an African country, who is one of the few women in her country, perhaps the only one, who manages to have a career in music. She's recorded with Kronos Quartet, and lives between ...

India (2003)

A Nation on Edge (2003)

Chasing the Virus (2003)

Starring Osama Bin Laden (2003)

A Decade Under the Influence (2003)

A documentary examining the decade of the 1970s as a turning point in American cinema. Some of today's best filmmakers interview the influential directors of that time. ...

Asylum (2003)

Baba, a young Ghanaian woman, goes in search of her father for his blessing on her impending marriage. This turns to a nightmare as he insists she a different man, and that she undergo female genital mutilation as is the custom in his tribe. She is forced ...

Boys Will Be Girls (2003)

For these lipstick Cinderella's, balls are a real drag. With their duct tape D-Cups, these torch songbirds crown the drag queen within. From dudes to divas, these boys will be girls. ...

Risk/Reward (2003)

A 2003 documentary film about women on Wall Street following the lives of four Wall Street women - a research analyst, a currency trader, an NYSE floor broker and a rookie investment banker. ...

Heart of America (2003)

It is the last day of high school and the unthinkable is about to happen. Distraught at the constant abuse and bullying they have been subjected to, two students have made a suicide pact. But before they take their own lives, they are determined to cause c ...

Ancient Poison, Modern Cure (2002)

It's a medical breakthrough that might never have happened - if not for the persistence of one man. A woman is fighting cancer - with the help of a deadly poison. This is the story of a life-saving connection between ancient wisdom and modern science: arse ...

Derrida (2002)

Documentary about French philosopher (and author of deconstructionism) Jacques Derrida, who sparked fierce debate throughout American academia. ...

Two Towns of Jasper (2002)

Using two separate filmmaking teams (an all-white crew filming white residents and an all-black camera crew filming black residents), TWO TOWNS OF JASPER captures very different racial views by townsfolk in Jasper, Texas, the location for a racially motiva ...

American Standoff (2002)

The Teamster's Union goes on strike against Overnite Transportation, a nationwide freight company that has resisted unionization. The Union, however, faces its own internecine battles as factions inside the organization, one led by James P. Hoffa (son of t ...

Trembling Before G-d (2001)

A portrait of various gay Orthodox Jews who struggle to reconcile their faith and their sexual orientation. ...

Profit & Nothing But! Or Impolite Thoughts on the Class Struggle (2001)

Documentary about the effects of market economy and globalization on director Raoul Peck's homeland, Haiti. ...

Perpetua 664 (2001)

Six years after I left my country, Brazil, I was sent an old sound reel in the post and I discovered a recording of my parent's wedding ceremony. I was twenty-six. It was the first time I'd ever heard my mother's voice as she died when I was a year old. I ...

Journey to the West: Chinese Medicine Today (2001)

Journey To The West is a contemporary exploration of the ways in which Chinese medicine - including acupuncture and herbal remedies - is being practiced today. ...

Innocent Until Proven Guilty (1999)

James Forman, a 31-year-old public defender and son of a civil rights leader, provides representation for black youth in Washington, D.C., who can't afford their own attorneys in this riveting documentary that goes inside the criminal justice system. Direc ...

Il faut que je l'aime (1994)

A young woman named Juliette reminisces a series of recent confrontations. We hear, off-screen, the voices of her loved ones, her mother, her former lover, who burst in just as she was making the decisions that affected her life. ...

The Arc of Oblivion (2023)

"The Arc of Oblivion" explores a quirk of humankind: in a universe that erases its tracks, we humans are hellbent on leaving a trace. Set against the backdrop of the filmmaker's quixotic quest to build an ark in a field in Maine, the film heads far afield ...

Subject (2023)

In the golden age of documentaries, who benefits? SUBJECT reveals the unintended consequences – good, bad, and complicated – of having your life shared on screen. Featuring the protagonists of acclaimed documentaries The Staircase, Hoop Dreams, The Wol ...

Dick Johnson Is Dead (2020)

With this inventive portrait, director Kirsten Johnson seeks a way to keep her 86-year-old father alive forever. Utilizing moviemaking magic and her family's dark humor, she celebrates Dr. Dick Johnson's last years by staging fantasies of death and beyond. ...

ROOM H.264: Brooklyn, NY, June 2016 (2018)

Made from footage captured at Brooklyn's BAMcinemafest in June 2016 in which filmmakers were left alone in a hotel with a camera and a question: "Is cinema a dead language, an art which is already in the process of decline?" An homage to Wim Wenders's docu ...

In the Service of the Film (2017)

The following roundtable conversation features director Kirsten Johnson along with documentary filmmaker Gini Reticker and sound recordists Wellington Bowler and Judy Karp, frequent collaborators of Jonhson's whose work is featured in CAMERAPERSON. It was ...

Cameraperson (2016)

As a visually radical memoir, CAMERAPERSON draws on the remarkable footage that filmmaker Kirsten Johnson has shot and reframes it in ways that illuminate moments and situations that have personally affected her. What emerges is an elegant meditation on th ...

This Film Is Not Yet Rated (2006)

Kirby Dick's provocative documentary investigates the secretive and inconsistent process by which the Motion Picture Association of America rates films, revealing the organization's underhanded efforts to control culture. Dick questions whether certain stu ...