HBO Documentary Films

Jackie "Moms" Mabley was an African-American stand-up comic and showbiz pioneer who emerged from the Chitlin' Circuit of African-American Vaudeville to become a mainstream star on the stage and TV. Mabley pushed the boundaries of comedy by tackling topics such as gender, sex, and racism, making her one of the first taboo-pushing comedians on the comedy circuit. Once billed as "The Funniest Woman in the World," she performed up until her death in 1975....

"Acclaimed filmmaker Marc Levin explores the effects of hyper-gentrification and rising economic disparity in the NYC neighborhood of West Chelsea. On one side of the intersection of 10th Ave. and 26th St. sits Avenues: The World School, an elite, state-of-the art private school (pre-K through 12th grade) with a $40,000 plus per year price tag. On the other side sits the Elliott-Chelsea public-housing projects, home to thousands of underemployed and...

Directed by Spike Lee, this two-part, four hour documentary revisits New Orleans five years after Katrina, and four years since the premiere of Lee's landmark, triple Emmy-winning HBO documentary, When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts. Featuring many of the principals seen in the first documentary, the new film opens with February's celebratory Super Bowl parade before delving into such issues as relocation, rebuilding, mental-health concerns,...

"Though the U.S. Supreme Court's 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade protected a woman's right to choose, abortion remains one of the most divisive issues in America today. In the last several years, many states have imposed restrictions on access to abortion, including Missouri, where only one abortion clinic remains open in the entire state. In "Abortion: Stories Women Tell", awarding-winning director (and Missouri native) Tracy Droz Tragos sheds new light...

"Steven Spielberg has built an unrivaled catalog of groundbreaking films over the course of nearly 50 years. In the exclusive HBO documentary, Spielberg steps out from behind the camera to open up about his directorial influences and motivations, while sharing little-known stories behind some of his most iconic films. Acclaimed producer/director Susan Lacy charts the evolution of this iconic filmmaker, having conducted nearly 30 hours of exclusive...

The world watched in horror as Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans on August 29, 2005. Many were shocked, not only by the scale of the disaster, but the slow, inept and disorganized response of the emergency and recovery efforts. Structured into four acts, each dealing with a different aspect of the events that preceded and followed Katrina's catastrophic passage through New Orleans. Tells the heartbreaking personal stories of those who endured this...

The Declaration of Independence, The U.S. Constitution and The Bill of Rights represent much more than the words used by America's Founding Fathers to define a fragile, nascent country. They're the living, breathing realization of America's democratic ideal, the bedrock of a society that its people have built over nearly two-and-a-half centuries, and they provide a blueprint that is, was and will be a template for democracy around the world.To celebrate...

In 1997, actor Morgan Freeman, a resident of the small town of Charleston, Miss., offered to pay for the senior prom at Charleston High School under one condition: the prom must be racially integrated. His offer was ignored. In 2008 he offered again, and the offer was accepted, changing the tradition of two separate proms for blacks and whites that had endured since the high school was integrated in 1970. Shows the problems and lessons learned as...

Chronicles the life and career of Marty Glickman, a Jewish-American athlete turned broadcaster who pioneered many of the techniques, phrases, and programming innovations that are commonplace in sports reporting today.

"An Apology to Elephants explores the beauty and intelligence of elephants as well as threats to their survival. Focusing on the lives of elephants in captivity, the documentary tells the troubling story of what happens to elephants in the name of entertainment. An Apology to Elephants is an eye-opening film about the exploitation of elephants. It features beautiful footage from nature juxtaposed with disturbing behind-the-scenes video of the training...