Lauren Wissot

Sundance: Sara Khaki and Mohammadreza Eyni’s precisely lensed film follows Sara Shahverdi, the first councilwoman in the history of her remote village.

"The Loneliest Planet" filmmaker Julia Loktev returns with this five-and-a-half-hour documentary thriller about the brave Russian journalists who risk their lives to report the truth.

TIFF: Leila Amini’s intimately focused film about how Iranian women struggle to balance motherhood with ambition should resonate around the globe.

TIFF: Olivier Sarbil's latest is a highly stylized excursion, filmed over nearly two years with an eclectic team that included Ukrainian-speaking and Russian-speaking Ukrainians, as well as both hearing individuals and those from the Deaf community.

Venice: Andrei Ujica's magical all-archival documentary about the Fab Four and the world they forever changed is both elaborately crafted and a heck of a lot of fun.

SXSW: Adrianne Blue Wakefield St. George once declared "I am my own art," and Shannon Walsh's movie about her proves that claim true on all counts.

The comedy legend co-stars in an amiable and well-intentioned documentary about "SNL" and "Eurovision" writer Harper Steele, who came out as trans in her 50s.

Gregory Kershaw and Michael Dweck's latest documentary is a highly cinematic tribute to Argentinian gauchos who live off the land.