Screen Time is your curated weekly guide to excellent documentaries and nonfiction programs that you can watch at home.
Forty-five years after it revolutionized abortion law in America, the landmark 1973 US Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade is once again at a crossroads. In their timely new documentary Reversing Roe, which premieres September 13 on Netflix, filmmakers Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg present a deeply illuminating look of the state of abortion and women's rights in America. Drawing from a wealth of historical footage, it charts the period leading up to the Roe decision—and documents the opposition that has followed ever since.
Making its DVD premiere on September 11 through IFC Films, Göran Olsson's That Summer, a prequel of sorts to the Maysles brothers' classic Grey Gardens, assembles long-lost footage from the summer of 1972, with the dynamic mother-daughter duo of Edith and Edie Beale engaging in a steady stream of loving squabbles, quotable bon mots and impromptu musical numbers as their iconic domicile crumbles in its celebrated state of squalor.
Premiering September 16 on Starz, Warriors of Liberty City, from director Evan Rosenfeld and executive producers Lebron James and Maverick Carter, takes viewers into Liberty City, a rough neighborhood in Miami that is arguably the NFL's largest, most successful football factory. The series follows a season with the Liberty City Warriors, a youth football program that teaches kids skills and life lessons both on and off the field.
The Oslo Diaries, premiering September 13 on HBO, takes viewers back to 1992, when a small group of Israelis and Palestinians held secret meetings in Oslo that came to be known as The Oslo Accords. Directors Mor Loushy and Daniel Sivan bring a riveting account of 1100 days of secret talks as told by the people who were there at the table. The participants’ detailed and often emotional diary entries recount the political intrigue, fiery rhetoric, unlikely friendships, and overwhelming desire for peace that were the heart of the negotiations.
Just in time for the midterm election campaigns, The Circus returns to Showtime. The series pulls back the curtain on the Trump era of presidential politics, revealing the intense, inspiring and infuriating stories behind the headlines.