While the end of 2023 and first months of 2024 have yielded a trove of ambitious, frightening, and heartbreaking documentaries (see: Occupied City, Dario Argento Panico, 20 Days in Mariupol), along with a soupçon of celebrity dish (see: Frida, Steve! (Martin) A Documentary in 2 Pieces), the spring and summer seasons promise a hodgepodge of nonfiction films that are similarly insightful, scandalous, activist, or unmistakably bizarre. Here, our quick guide to a few of the most exciting documentaries coming soon to a theater or streaming service.
Kim’s Video
Kim’s Video tells the quirky true story of how New York dry cleaner Youngman Kim founded Kim’s Video, a downtown institution that inspired a generation of cinephiles, filmmakers, and hipsters with its catalog of 55,000 independent, obscure, and bootlegged films. When Kim decides to close his chain of stores in 2008 and offer his video collection to buyers, a small Sicilian town with artistic aspirations purchases it intact, only to bury its location. Directors David Redmon and Ashley Sabin travel to the small Italian town to find out what became of Kim’s collection—and hopefully return it to New York.
How to watch: In select theaters