Documentary

Mediafeature

New documentary sheds light on artist Eric Ravilious, a romantic visionary lost in war

Ravilious was the first artist to be killed on active service during the Second World War

AI uncovers Warhol’s true voice in Netflix documentary

The Andy Warhol Diaries foregrounds the Pop artist’s personal relationships and struggles—with an artificial intelligence Warhol as narrator

Filmsreview

At Sundance, new films tackle painful legacies through archaeology, urban design and more

Also featured is a visually stunning documentary about bird rescuers in Delhi and a cinematic essay about the sexual power dynamics of cinema

Artist Andres Serrano debuts film placing Capitol attack footage in context of US’s violent history

Serrano’s debut film montages the footage created by Capitol attackers with earlier recordings, creating a portrait of a nation at war with itself

The top four art documentaries at DOC NYC

The documentary festival includes films about Jesse Krimes, Eadweard Muybridge and the fraught power dynamics of making money from art

Afghan Girl cameraman Steve McCurry fears for a world without photojournalism

Fabled Magnum photojournalist expresses continued belief in Western documentary photography as film on his life premieres at DOC NYC

Simon Bainbridge
JR news

JR takes on borders and prisons in new film

The French artist’s special gift is to make subversive images seem not just unthreatening, but irresistible

Troubled skies behind the happy little clouds: an interview with Joshua Rofé, director of Netflix's new Bob Ross documentary

The film-maker behind Bob Ross: Happy Accidents, Betrayal & Greed discusses what makes the artist an enduring icon who saw the beauty in life despite personal tragedy

Whimsy and memory on cardboard: Bill Traylor documentary assembles the fragments of an extraordinary life

A new film explores the work of the artist born into slavery who gained recognition in his eighties

HBO documentary illuminates how Black artists shaped US art history

The show centres on a landmark 1976 exhibition by the late curator, scholar and artist David Driskell

Covid-19 delays long-planned documentary on Black Abstract Expressionist painter Beauford Delaney

The Tennessee-born artist, part of the Harlem Renaissance before settling in Paris, was largely neglected during his lifetime

Criminal claims 13 works from legendary Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum heist are hidden in a Dublin house

BBC4 documentary—released today—unpicks theory that the stolen art was shipped to Ireland

Are you a Turner or Constable man? David Hockney weighs in on Britain's greatest art rivalry

In behind-the-scenes footage from an award-winning documentary, the British artist talks about being part of the great landscape painting tradition

‘I transformed it’: watch David Hockney’s painting process by the side of a Yorkshire road

In behind-the-scenes footage from an award-winning documentary, the British artist shows his en plein air painting style

‘I like perversity’: David Hockney on not being mainstream and why he doesn't care

In behind-the-scenes footage from an award-winning documentary, the British artist discusses why he pursued illustration when others deemed it unworthy

Caravaggio used a camera? David Hockney's controversial claim reframes narrative of Western art history

In behind-the-scenes footage from an award-winning documentary, the British artist discusses how mirrors and lenses were used by Old Masters to create proto-photographic images

Who is the most famous US artist of the 20th century? David Hockney explains his choice

In behind-the-scenes footage from an award-winning documentary, the British artist talks about the art he believes remains fresh and memorable today

‘There might be another life after death’: David Hockney on mortality

In behind-the-scenes footage from an award-winning documentary, the British artist talks about religion, spirituality and what happens when you die

'Women love my work': David Hockney on his fans

In behind-the-scenes footage from an award-winning documentary, the British artist ponders what it is about his paintings that appeals more to female viewers

David Hockney’s secret to interesting images

In behind-the-scenes footage from an award-winning documentary, the British artist explains why one should never concentrate too much on a central subject

Attracted to the uncaptured: David Hockney on how he chooses his subjects

In behind-the-scenes footage from an award-winning documentary, the British artist discusses what the scenes of Yorkshire and California have in common

‘Painting, reading and a few nights of nice sex’: David Hockney on his daily life

In behind-the-scenes footage from an award-winning documentary, the British artist discusses how his life is much more sedate than people imagine

'It engulfs everything': David Hockney on nature

In behind-the-scenes footage from an award-winning documentary, the British artist discusses the woodland setting of one of his plein-air paintings

'It was full of dreamy surfers': David Hockney on 1960s California

In behind-the-scenes footage from an award-winning documentary, the British artist reminisces about his arrival in Los Angeles

Our friend Keith Haring: in new BBC documentary buddies of the late artist draw back the curtain

Street Art Boy debuted recently on BBC2 and uses unheard interviews to document Haring's upbringing and work

Filmsnews

Ai Weiwei will address the Rohingya refugee crisis in a forthcoming documentary

The Chinese dissident artist and director of Human Flow is also currently filming a new documentary about the coronavirus pandemic

'Universally admired' arts patron Agnes Gund stars in new documentary at MoMA

The film, directed by her daughter Catherine, shows the roots of the collector's social activism

Civilisations: how the BBC's new series takes on Kenneth Clark's legacy

Documentary breaks with many of the assumptions in the art historian’s seminal series, but it also owes a great deal to it

Filmsarchive

The art of warfare: new documentary on practical applications of art installation during WWII

Rick Beyer’s “The Ghost Army” is the story of the artists who worked to throw the German army off the scent of the real location of Allied troops