Robin Barnwell

This deeply affecting documentary follows a small number of Israelis and Gazans through the most dramatic and tragic year of their lives. Using personal and previously unseen footage, it tells the story of the war in Gaza and the October 7 attacks through deeply emotional stories from both sides of the conflict. In Gaza, the film follows three individuals from reaction to the October 7th attacks to the start of the bombing by the Israeli military and to the loss of family members that all three suffer. In Israel, we witness footage of the Israeli characters, as they and their family members are attacked by Hamas on October 7th and then follow their stories through the year.

This documentary, filmed and told by residents, shows how the city was ravaged and what it was like to live through the Russian attacks. Hear from those who survived the bombing of the Donetsk Academic Regional Drama Theatre and a maternity hospital, who hid in the bunkers of the Azovstal plant, and who escaped the occupied city, only to return to save family members.

With unique access inside the battle for Hong Kong, FRONTLINE follows five protesters through the most intense clashes over several months of pro-democracy protests. The film examines their struggle against what they say is growing influence from the communist government of mainland China.

In “A Year of War: Israelis and Palestinians,” Israelis describe what it was like to experience the deadliest day for Jews since World War II as the Oct. 7 attacks unfolded, with around 1,200 people killed and 251 taken hostage. And in Gaza, where more than 40,000 people have reportedly been killed in Israel’s retaliation against Hamas, Palestinians describe — and record — the horrors of large-scale devastation.

Much of the suffering wrought by COVID-19 has played out where we cannot see: in closed hospital units. With unprecedented access, award-winning filmmaker Sasha Joelle Achilli goes inside a hospital during the coronavirus crisis in northern Italy, capturing an unforgettable look at the harrowing, heroic fight doctors and nurses are waging against the disease. “We have few weapons. The virus has them all,” says Dr. Francesca Mangiatordi, a senior ER doctor at Cremona Hospital. “But with the few we have, we are trying to resist and fight back.” Achilli’s camera follows Mangiatordi, her staff and the patients they’re treating, creating an intimate and profound portrait of those at the front lines of a global pandemic.

The race against time to find Ukrainian children abducted by Russian forces. A poignant documentary, between the distress of the families, propaganda and bitter negotiations for their return.