Overview: The Season 27 premiere features Jason DaSilva's "When I Walk," in which the filmmaker chronicles his life for five years after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at age 25. By happenstance, a family member records the moment when the diagnosis hits home: while vacationing in the Caribbean, his legs give out. Yet, not all is bad: he meets Alice Cook, whose mother also has MS, at a support group. The two fall in love, marry and collaborate on completing the documentary.
Overview: A profile of 98-year-old Grace Lee Boggs, a Chinese-American social activist in Detroit who has spent much of her adult life fighting for civil rights and female equality.
Overview: Filmmaker Niko von Glasow profiles participants at the 2012 Paralympic Games in London, including a one-handed Norwegian table tennis player, the Rwandan sitting volleyball team, an American archer who uses his feet and a Greek paraplegic boccia player. Along the way, von Glasow—who was born with severely shortened arms—sees his preconceptions and stereotypes about the Paralympics and sports in general upended.
Overview: The changed realities of post-Katrina New Orleans, including a population that is less African-American and less poor than before the storm, are examined in this documentary, which focuses on the 2010 re-election campaign of city councilwoman Stacy Head, a polarizing figure, and her aide, Barbara Lacen-Keller.
Overview: The world of professional ballroom dancing in Denmark, where participants often look beyond the country's borders for the perfect partner, is examined. The documentary follows Egor, a 15 year old from Russia, as he adjusts to life in Denmark and to his 14-year-old Danish partner, Mie.
Overview: After Beichuan, China was destroyed in an earthquake, buildings are rebuilt more quickly than the community. Official Selection of Sundance 2013.
Overview: The story of a 15-year old sentenced to four life sentences. Does society benefit from incarcerating young teens to a lifetime in prison?
Overview: A family's experience living in a Lebanese refugee camp for multiple generations. Love and family are tinged with desperation. Official Selection of the 2013 Berlin International Film Festival.
Overview: Explorers the world of backroom negotiations and deal making in Ghana's oil business.
Overview: The story of the four abortion doctors that remained in Wichita, Kansas after the assassination of George Tiller in 2009.
Overview: Pam White and her family struggle to retain her memories and life by recording their interactions in the face of an Alzheimer diagnoses.
Overview: The mayor of New York City from 1978 to 1989, Ed Koch fought crime and financial difficulties during a difficult period for the City of New York.
Overview: Joshua Oppenheimer visits men accused of playing a key role in the killing of over one-million Indonesians in 1965. Initially, the men explain their actions as patriotic and necessary. But over time, some question their actions. 2013 Oscar nominee. 2014 BAFTA Best Documentary.