The BEST episodes of HBO Documentary Film Series

#1 - Back Nine At Cherry Hills The Legends Of The 1960 U.S. Open

Season 2008 - Episode 2 - Aired 6/11/2008

On a Saturday in June of 1960, at a golf course just outside of Denver, Colorado, three of the sport’s all time greatest and most colorful players found themselves locked in a battle. The climactic events of that day’s U.S. Open hit the newspapers the following morning, how Arnold Palmer staged one of the greatest comebacks in the tournament’s history to defeat a field that included 4-time champion Ben Hogan and a 20 year old upstart, Jack Nicklaus. But there was a deeper, underlying story that would come to fruition that afternoon.

#2 - My Depression (The Up and Down and Up of It)

Season 2015 - Episode 19 - Aired 7/13/2015

Through inventive animation and music, this documentary short explores writer/director/composer Elizabeth Swados’ personal struggle with lifelong depression, as well as her efforts to keep her “cloud” at bay.

#3 - Manhunt: The Search for Bin Laden

Season 2013 - Episode 10 - Aired 5/3/2013

An espionage tale from inside the CIA's long conflict against Al Qaeda, as revealed by the remarkable women and men whose secret war against Osama bin Laden started nearly a decade before most of us even knew his name.

#4 - Hard Times: Lost on Long Island

Season 2012 - Episode 7 - Aired 7/9/2012

Explorers the impact of the shrinking of the middle class by telling the story of four families' struggle to find employment during the summer of 2010.

#5 - Gideon's Army

Season 2013 - Episode 16 - Aired 7/1/2013

An official selection of the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, this documentary follows idealistic young defenders in the deep south who face particularly difficult challenges due to high bonds, mandatory minimum sentencing and a culture that is traditionally “tough on crime.” Despite low pay, long hours and staggering caseloads, these young professionals, with the help of the Southern Public Defender Training Center (SPDTC), take on the job in the name of public service.

#6 - American Winter

Season 2013 - Episode 5 - Aired 3/20/2013

Produced and directed by Emmy award-winning filmmakers, Joe and Harry Gantz, American Winter is a documentary feature film that follows the personal stories of families struggling in the aftermath of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Years after the recession began, millions of families are struggling to meet their basic needs, and many formerly middle class families are finding themselves in financial crisis, and needing assistance for the first time in their lives. Meanwhile, the social safety net that was created to help people in difficult times has been weakened by massive budget cuts, creating a perfect storm of greater need and fewer resources to help families in trouble. Filmed over the course of one winter in Portland, Oregon, American Winter presents an intimate and emotionally evocative snapshot of the state of our economy as it is playing out in many American families. Working together with the nonprofit organization 211info in Portland, the filmmakers were given full access to monitor and record calls from distressed families who were calling 211’s emergency hotline in search of help. They then began following the stories of some of these callers in more depth over several months. The film follows multiple families in their daily struggle to keep their heads above water, while facing overwhelming challenges and dwindling resources available to help them, creating a powerful firsthand view of Americans caught in today’s financial undertow. The experiences of the families in American Winter are a vivid illustration of what has been happening to families across America, including working families losing their homes, people who remain jobless or underemployed, children going hungry, families getting their heat shut off in the dead of winter, and people with health issues overwhelmed by medical costs. Framed through the personal stories of eight families, American Winter puts a face on the country's economic

#7 - The Education of Mohammad Hussein

Season 2014 - Episode 2 - Aired 1/9/2014

"The Education Of Mohammad Hussein" is an intimate look at how the largest Muslim community in the U.S. responds to the provocations of an antiIslamic preacher. Through the eyes of children, the film examines what it is like to come of age as a Muslim in the United States a decade after the 2001 terrorist attacks.

#8 - Mondays At Racine

Season 2013 - Episode 26 - Aired 10/14/2013

Mondays At Racine-- visits a Long Island beauty salon that welcomes women with cancer.

#9 - Toe Tag Parole: To Live and Die on Yard A

Season 2015 - Episode 21 - Aired 8/3/2015

In 2000, a California State Prison inmate serving Life Without Parole (LWOP) approached the warden to request a dedicated yard for men serving life sentences that would break the code of violence dominating prison life. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) subsequently transformed Yard A at California State Prison into The Progressive Programming Facility, which inmates call The Honor Yard. The only one of its kind in the United States, this experimental prison yard is free of violence, racial tensions, gang activity and illegal drug and alcohol use.

#10 - David Bowie The Last Five Years

Season 2018 - Episode 1 - Aired 1/8/2018

In the last years of his life, David Bowie ended nearly a decade of silence to engage in an extraordinary burst of activity, producing two groundbreaking albums and a musical. David Bowie: The Last Five Years explores this unexpected end to a remarkable career.

#11 - Pimps Up, Ho's Down

Season 1998 - Episode 1 - Aired 10/18/1998

This HBO documentary looks at the lifestyle of the modern day pimp, without any condemnation or real depth. These swaggering men (and one woman) discuss how they control their 'hos' as if they were regular businessmen. Although no regular businessman would dress in their flamboyant style which seems a parody of those 'Blaxploitation' characters in the 1970's movies. We see them preparing, with great seriousness of purpose, for 'The Pimp of the Year' competition, while guest star Ice-T tells of how proud he is of his pimp background, which he sees as little different to the record or film industry. Pointedly, violence towards the women is never addressed. All we see is a troupe of apparently adoring (and often skanky looking ) acolytes. As far as we learn from this, the prostitutes need a good pimp to look up to and 'take of them'. These fellows wax philosophical about their calling while seemingly lacking any moral view. Having said all that, the pic is lively and colorful, with a lot of amusing characters on display. Remember---never make eye contact with your pimp.

#12 - Andre the Giant

Season 2018 - Episode 10 - Aired 4/10/2018

A documentary examining the life and career of one of the most beloved legends in WWE history, from Andre’s upbringing in France to his celebrated WWE career and forays into the entertainment world.

#13 - A Dangerous Son

Season 2018 - Episode 14 - Aired 5/7/2018

One in 10 American children suffers from serious emotional disturbance and more than 17 million have experienced a psychiatric disorder. A Dangerous Son focuses primarily on three families in crisis, each struggling with a child’s severe mental illness, desperately seeking treatment in the face of limited resources and support.

#14 - John McCain: For Whom the Bell Tolls

Season 2018 - Episode 15 - Aired 5/28/2018

Produced and directed by six-time Emmy winner Peter Kunhardt, along with Emmy winners George Kunhardt and Teddy Kunhardt, this documentary about Senator John McCain is an illuminating, exclusive profile of one of the most influential forces in modern American politics.

#15 - Believer

Season 2018 - Episode 17 - Aired 6/25/2018

Directed by Don Argott, Believer follows Mormon Dan Reynolds, frontman for the Grammy Award-winning band Imagine Dragons, as he takes on a new mission to explore how the Mormon Church treats its LGBTQ members. With the rising suicide rate amongst teens in the state of Utah, his concern with the Church's policies sends him on an unexpected path for acceptance and change.

#16 - It Will Be Chaos

Season 2018 - Episode 16 - Aired 6/18/2018

An epic, yet intimate portrait of lives in transit and the human consequences of the refugee crisis spanning the Mediterranean. It Will Be Chaos unfolds between Italy and the Balkan corridor, focusing on two unforgettable refugee stories of human strength and resilience in search of a better and safer future. The film is directed by Lorena Luciano and Filippo Piscopo and debuts in conjunction with World Refugee Day, June 20.

#17 - Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind

Season 2018 - Episode 18 - Aired 7/16/2018

A funny, intimate and heartbreaking portrait of one of the world’s most beloved and inventive comedians, Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind is told largely through Williams’ own words, and celebrates what he brought to comedy and to the culture at large, from the wild days of late-1970s L.A. to his death in 2014. The film explores his extraordinary life and career, revealing what drove him to give voice to the characters in his mind. With previously unheard and unseen glimpses into his creative process through interviews with Williams, as well as home movies and onstage footage, this insightful tribute features in-depth interviews with those who knew and loved him, including Billy Crystal, Steve Martin, Pam Dawber and his son, Zak Williams.

#18 - Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills

Season 1996 - Episode 2 - Aired 6/10/1996

Berlinger and Sinofsky's documentary of a gruesome triple murder in West Memphis, Arkansas and the subsequent trials of three suspects, takes a hard look at both the occult and the American justice system in 'small-town' America. Three teenagers are accused of this horrific crime of killing three children, supposedly as a result of involvement in Satanism. As in their previous documentary, things turn out to be more complex than initial appearances and this film presents the real-life courtroom drama to the viewer, as it unfolds.

#19 - Paradise Lost 2: Revelations

Season 2000 - Episode 2 - Aired 3/13/2000

Horrific, disturbing and absolutely fascinating, Paradise Lost 2: Revelations revisits the chilling mystery at the heart of HBO's award-winning hit, Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills. Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky bring new insight to the controversial case of a trio of Arkansas teenagers convicted of murdering three 8-year-old boys.

#20 - Unlocking The Cage

Season 2017 - Episode 6 - Aired 2/20/2017

Unloclking The Cage explores animal rights lawyer Steven Wise’s unprecedented challenge to break down the legal wall that separates animals from humans. After 30 years of struggling with ineffective animal welfare laws, Wise and his legal team, the Nonhuman Rights Project (NhRP), are making history by filing the first lawsuits that seek to transform an animal from a “thing” with no rights to a “person” with legal protections.

#21 - Nothing Left Unsaid: Gloria Vanderbilt & Anderson Cooper

Season 2016 - Episode 12 - Aired 4/9/2016

#22 - Mapplethrope: Look At The Pictures

Season 2016 - Episode 11 - Aired 4/4/2016

#23 - Three Days of Terror: The Charlie Hebdo Attacks

Season 2016 - Episode 15 - Aired 9/26/2016

#24 - Mavis

Season 2016 - Episode 4 - Aired 2/29/2016

Mavis! chronicles the ascension of gospel and soul music legend and civil rights icon Mavis Staples and her family group, The Staple Singers. An intimate look at a tight-knit family, the film reveals their struggles and successes, featuring dynamic live performances and rarely-seen archival footage, as well as modern-day interviews with Bob Dylan, Prince, Bonnie Raitt, Jeff Tweedy and Chuck D

#25 - Living With Lincoln

Season 2015 - Episode 7 - Aired 4/13/2015

In the years following the Civil War, ancestors of documentary filmmaker Peter Kunhardt collected a treasure trove of photographs, rare books and other artifacts relating to Abraham Lincoln. Over the decades, their descendants carried on the work, helping to preserve an essential part of America’s past