This unconventional and sometimes indulgent investigation of Frida Kahlo’s psyche via her paintings highlights the key themes of her life and workHere is an intense, almost painfully reverential film about Frida Kahlo, the Mexican artist who – as this …
‘She went her own way’: the tragic and unusual life of folk singer Karen Dalton
In a new documentary, the underrated singer’s life of depression, addiction and poverty is told while her incredible talents are celebratedThe outlines of the life led by singer Karen Dalton tell a heartbreaking tale. It was one scarred by consistent p…
On thin ice: how The Alpinist captured the terrifying climbs of Marc-André Leclerc
Climbing solo without ropes, the Canadian adventurer would scale stratospheric walls of ice that could crack and fall with one wrong move. We meet the makers of a gripping, heartbreaking new filmAn insect-like creature is climbing a wall. The wall is m…
First trailer lands for Netflix’s explosive Britney Spears documentary
Film, directed by Erin Lee Carr and due 28 September, will explore legal and ethical issues of singer’s conservatorshipThe first full trailer of Britney vs Spears, the Netflix documentary by Erin Lee Carr that will explore the legal battle over the pop…
Saintmaking: the canonisation of Derek Jarman by queer ‘nuns’
Director Marco Alessi speaks about the genesis of the documentary Saintmaking and working with the Sisters of Perpetual IndulgenceA new Guardian documentary, Saintmaking, tells the tale of a group of queer “nuns” in 90s London who decided to canonise D…
On These Grounds: a shocking film about police brutality within US schools
In a new documentary, the story of a 16-year-old Black student who was assaulted by a white police officer exposes a broken systemIn On These Grounds, an expansive, insightful and infuriating documentary about police brutality in the public education s…
My Name Is Pauli Murray review – the legacy of a fearless campaigner
Having made pivotal early contributions to civil rights and women’s liberation, the activist gets a blander documentary than they deserveThe new film from Betsy West and Julie Cohen, the directors of RBG, is about Pauli Murray (1910-1985), a Black acti…
The Lost Leonardo: has a new film solved the mystery of the world’s most expensive painting?
Is the $450m Salvator Mundi a fake? This film – featuring tearful sycophants, sneering experts, dodgy dealers and a secretive superyacht – may finally settle the great da Vinci controversyIt is almost exactly 10 years since Salvator Mundi was unveiled,…
Il Buco review – unhurried meditation on the beauties of geological time
Ten years after village doc Le Quattro Volte, Michelangelo Frammartino returns with an observational piece centring on a deep-cave system in CalabriaIn 2011 Italian artist Michelangelo Frammartino scored a small indie hit with a film called Le Quattro …
‘Parts of my brain light up when he’s talking’: Nigella Lawson and Mark Cousins in conversation
The cook and the film-maker, who struck up a friendship on Twitter, discuss aesthetics, watching and being watched, and the benefits of ageingMark Cousins and Nigella Lawson seem, at first, an unlikely pairing. He is an author and film-maker from North…