SCAD Savannah Film Fest: Directors of 10 of 2025’s Top Documentaries Set for ‘Docs to Watch’ Panel (Exclusive)

Liam James3 weeks agoLast Updated: 9 October 2025

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2000 Meters to Andriivka The Alabama Solution Apocalypse in the Tropics Come See Me in the Good Light It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley My Mom Jayne Natchez The Perfect Neighbor Riefenstahl The Tale of Silyan

The SCAD Savannah Film Festival and The Hollywood Reporter have revealed the names of the 10 documentary features that will be represented on this year’s edition of Docs to Watch, the fest’s sidebar of screenings and panel discussion about the challenges and rewards of documentary filmmaking, which has become an important stop on the road to the Oscars for nonfiction films.

This year’s Docs to Watch panel will take place over 90 minutes at the Lucas Theatre on the afternoon of Wednesday, Oct. 29, and, for the 12th year in a row, will be moderated by yours truly. The films and filmmakers represented there will be:

2000 Meters to Andriivka (PBS), represented by Oscar winner Mstyslav Chernov (20 Days in Mariupol) — a filmmaker embeds with a Ukrainian platoon as it attempts to cross a mile of forest and liberate a Russian-occupied village, capturing the horrors and toll of a still-unfolding war
The Alabama Solution (HBO), represented on the panel by Oscar nominee Andrew Jarecki (Capturing the Friedmans) or Charlotte Kaufman — a depiction of the bleak conditions and corrupt governance of Alabama prisons made in collaboration with incarcerated inmates operating contraband cell phones
Apocalypse in the Tropics (Netflix), represented on the panel by Oscar nominee Petra Costa (The Edge of Democracy) — a study of the rise of Christian Nationalism on the far-right in Brazil in the wake of the nation’s own version of Jan. 6
Come See Me in the Good Light (Apple), represented on the panel by Ryan White — a portrait of Colorado poet laureate Andrea Gibson and their partner Megan Falley confronting Gibson’s diagnosis of incurable cancer
It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley (Magnolia), represented on the panel by Oscar nominee Amy Berg (Deliver Us from Evil) — a chronicle of the extraordinary rise and tragic death at 30 of a generation-defining singer whose only released album was a highlight of 1990s music
My Mom Jayne (HBO), represented on the panel by Mariska Hargitay — a filmmaker endeavors to learn more about her movie star mother Jayne Mansfield, who died when she was just three, and decides to share a long-held family secret
Natchez (Oscilloscope), represented on the panel by Suzannah Herbert — an exploration of a small Mississippi town’s antebellum history with slavery and its racial reverberations in the present day
The Perfect Neighbor (Netflix), represented on the panel by Geeta Gandbhir — an illustration of the dangers of Florida’s “stand your ground laws” using police bodycam footage of the leadup to and aftermath of a tragic confrontation
Riefenstahl (Kino Lorber), represented on the panel by Andres Veiel — a filmmaker granted exclusive access to the archives of Leni Riefenstahl, Hitler’s go-to propagandist, presents new evidence that suggests she wasn’t honest in her lifetime about how much she knew during World War II
The Tale of Silyan (Nat Geo), represented on the panel by Oscar nominee Tamara Kotevska (Honeyland) — an account of a struggling North Macedonian farmer and an injured White stork that he saves and bonds with, interwoven with a folktale about a boy who quarrels with his father and turns into a stork

Over the past 11 years, 24 films that were represented on the panel went on to receive an Oscar nomination for best documentary feature, and eight of them ultimately won that award: 2015’s Amy, 2016’s O.J.: Made in America, 2017’s Icarus, 2018’s Free Solo, 2019’s American Factory, 2021’s Summer of Soul, 2022’s Navalny and 2023’s 20 Days in Mariupol.

“Now in its 12th year, Docs to Watch has become a cornerstone of the SCAD Savannah Film Festival, shining a spotlight on the most compelling and timely documentaries of the year,” Christina Routhier, the fest’s executive director, said in a statement. “We are honored to welcome these visionary filmmakers to share their work and insights with our audiences. With the guidance of Scott Feinberg and The Hollywood Reporter, this roundtable continues to provide our students with extraordinary access to artists whose stories illuminate the world in profound and powerful ways.”

Source: Hollywoodreporter

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