Documentary Archives

Home Documentary

PS Picks: Documenting the Artifice of North Korea in ‘Under the Sun’

PS Picks is a selection of the best things that the magazine's staff and contributors are reading, watching, or otherwise paying attention to in the worlds of art, politics, and culture.

Rebecca Worby

The Lede, Issue #30: Ohio Governor John Kasich Expands Medicaid, the Militarization of Police, Documenting Life in North Korea, and More

An exclusive newsletter that gives premium members greater access to Pacific Standard stories, staff, and contributors in their inbox every Sunday morning.

Pacific Standard Staff

Documentary Filmmaker Amy Ziering’s Politics of Empowerment and Change

We spoke to Amy Ziering about what she recommends reading, watching, and listening to.

Katie Kilkenny

A New Netflix Documentary Addresses Police Brutality With Personal and Political Force

Pacific Standard recommends Strong Island, more cinematic memoir than true-crime investigation.

Kristina Kutateli

Social Justice

A Cinematic Homage to the Civilians Saving Lives in Syria

A new documentary profiles the ordinary people who sprang into action as soon bombs began to fall on their beloved homeland.

Carlos Aguilar

News in Brief

Ava DuVernay and the Rhetoric of Resistance

The documentarian offers blueprints for how communities under threat can carve out their own cultural narratives — and fight back.…

Pacific Standard Staff

Director Joshua Oppenheimer on Thinking Differently and Challenging Your Assumptions

We spoke to Joshua Oppenheimer about what he recommends reading, watching, and listening to.

Katie Kilkenny

Social Justice

A Conversation With ‘Prescription Thugs’ Director Chris Bell

The director of a new documentary about America's prescription drug epidemic talks Big Pharma and opens up about personal struggles with pill addiction.

Katie Kilkenny

Social Justice

‘It’s a Very Exciting Time to Be Making Documentaries’: An Interview With Davis Guggenheim

The director of He Named Me Malala explains the difference between factual and emotional truth in filmmaking, and why he believes buying a ticket is a form of activism.

Katie Kilkenny