Farihah Zaman

Amid the nation’s ongoing debate over health care reform, this bracing new documentary examines the everyday realities of Americans who lack access to affordable medical treatment. Filmed during three days in the operation of a “no-cost” clinic set up annually at Bristol, Tennessee’s NASCAR speedway, Remote Area Medical documents the range of medical care the eponymous organization provides to low-income patients in the heart of Appalachia.

A poetic documentation of the Long Beach Island, NJ community as they battle local politics, cope with personal tragedy, and band together after Hurricane Sandy.

Narrated by Rami Malek and Michelle Williams, and based on classified NSA documents, the film reveals the inner workings of a windowless skyscraper in downtown Manhattan.

Capturing the story of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange with unprecedented access, director Laura Poitras finds herself caught between the motives and contradictions of Assange and his inner circle in a documentary portrait of power, betrayal, truth and sacrifice.

High in Lake Titicaca in the Andes Mountains, a large and homely frog once thrived, a species endemic to altitude and cold water named Telmatobius culeus. But over-collecting for human consumption, pollution and predation by introduced species have devastated the Titicaca water frog — which has a hard enough life as is, given its resemblance to a certain human sexual organ and the many unflattering nicknames that has spawned. In 2016, 10,000 frogs died all at once, and it wasn’t the first mass die-off this critically endangered species has experienced. This short film from The Redford Center shines a new light on these underappreciated animals, showing their amazing adaptability, crucial role in the aquatic ecosystem and what’s at stake — unless humans intervene.

Field of Vision and The New Yorker have created a six-part episodic documentary, filmed in 2015, that immerses us in the Syrian refugee crisis. Matthew Cassel, an independent multimedia journalist and filmmaker based in Istanbul, follows the seven-month, obstacle-laden 1700-mile journey of Aboud Shalhoub, a Syrian refugee who has fled the dangers of wartime Damascus in order to build a better life for his family in the Netherlands. Cassel's colleague Simon Safieh remained in Damascus with Aboud's wife and two children, who eventually join him in Europe.

Abby, a 20-something Brooklynite, prepares to throw an intimate dinner party, a meticulously planned evening that takes an unexpected turn when the guest of honor shows up and raw emotions rise to the surface.

Donald Trump has become a beloved cult figure for many Russians. The short film uses found footage, fake news and state-controlled political programming to reveal the variety of ways Trump's newfound Russian supporters express their devotion.

Since taking office last June, President Rodrigo Duterte has been waging a deadly anti-drug campaign. In the past year, police and vigilantes have reportedly killed over 7,000 people suspected of participating in the drug trade.

For the past 20 years, ex-Army Ranger and “killology” expert Dave Grossman has been traveling across the US to train police officers on his philosophy of killing. Footage from one of Grossman’s seminars is juxtaposed with stark, brutal images of police brutality—including the shooting of Philando Castile by a Minnesota police officer.

Meet two women fighting against race-based gerrymandering in North Carolina: Val Applewhite, a plaintiff in a landmark Supreme Court case, and Moon Duchin, a mathematician who empowers organizers to use data to advocate for fairly drawn electoral maps.

In Luling, the "toughest town in Texas", two Latina high school girls compete to be the next Watermelon Thump Queen.

Shocked when their friend embraces extremism, a group of Muslim Americans in Texas recount their time with him and theories about his fate.

See how alt-right icon Steve Bannon’s years as a documentary filmmaker catapulted him to Breitbart News and the Trump White House.

See how alt-right icon Steve Bannon’s years as a documentary filmmaker catapulted him to Breitbart News and the Trump White House.

See how alt-right icon Steve Bannon’s years as a documentary filmmaker catapulted him to Breitbart News and the Trump White House.

Focus Forward: Short Films, Big Ideas is an award-winning series of 30 three-minute stories about innovators—people who are reshaping the world through act or invention—directed by the world's most celebrated documentary filmmakers.