Film Festival Watch: See These 18 Sundance Institute-Supported Docs at the 2026 True/False Film Fest

Barbara Hammer appears in Barbara Forever by Brydie O'Connor, an official selection of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by The Estate of Barbara Hammer.

By Jessica Herndon

Each March, the college town of Columbia, Missouri, transforms into a hub for documentary lovers as the True/False Film Fest returns with some of the best in nonfiction cinema. Now in its 22nd year, the festival has become a hotspot for cinephiles looking to explore stories rooted in reality.

We're excited to see that this year's edition, kicking off today and running through March 8, will feature 18 films supported by Sundance Institute Labs and the 2026 Sundance Film Festival. Among the selections are several Festival award winners, including Aanikoobijigan [ancestor/great-grandparent/great-grandchild], Barbara Forever, Nuisance Bear, Soul Patrol, and the short film The Boys and the Bees.

Explore the Sundance Institute-supported titles screening at True/False Fest below, and if you're attending, be sure to add them to your schedule. To learn more about the artist programs behind these films, click here.

A still from Aanikoobijigan [ancestor/great-grandparent/great-grandchild] by Adam Khalil and Zack Khalil, an official selection of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Shaandiin Tome.

FEATURE FILMSAanikoobijigan [ancestor/great-grandparent/great-grandchild] - 2026 Sundance Film Festival (winner of the Audience Award: NEXT)

Logline: Trapped in museum archives, Ancestors bend time and space to find their way home. History, spirituality, and the law collide as tribal repatriation specialists fight to return and rebury Indigenous human remains, offering a revealing look at the still-pervasive worldviews that justified collecting them in the first place.

American Doctor - 2026 Sundance Film Festival

Logline: When three American doctors - Palestinian, Jewish, and Zoroastrian - enter Gaza to save lives, they find themselves caught between medicine and politics, risking everything to expose the truth.

Barbara Forever - 2026 Sundance Film Festival (winner of the Jonathan Oppenheim Editing Award: U.S. Documentary)

Logline: An archive-driven exploration of the life, work, and legacy of iconic, pioneering lesbian filmmaker Barbara Hammer.

Broken English - 2026 Sundance Film Festival

Logline: A portrait of the inimitable singer, songwriter, and icon Marianne Faithfull.

Closure - 2026 Sundance Film Festival

Logline: After his teenage son goes missing, Daniel scours the depths of the Vistula River, torn between the dread of a fatal leap and the hope that his son may still be alive.

How to Clean a House in 10 Easy Steps - Documentary Film Program

Logline: A mother and daughter create a shared fantasy to explore their intertwined experiences of immigration, labor, and womanhood.

Noe appears in Jaripeo by Efra n Mojica and Rebecca Zweig, an official selection of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute.

Jaripeo - 2026 Sundance Film Festival; Documentary Film Program Grant, Sony Music Vision Initiative, Documentary Edit Residency, 2025 Filmmakers Fund Sponsored by Chase Sapphire Reserve

Logline: A journey to Michoac n's hypermasculine rodeos descends into the subconscious of memory, queer desire, and longing, leading to a reckoning with the wounds and beauty of a home left behind.

Pinball - Documentary Film Program

Logline: Soon after the U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003, Yosef and his family fled their home to begin anew - first to Egypt, then gaining asylum in Louisville, Kentucky.

Powwow People - Documentary Film Program

Logline: An immersive v rit portrait of contemporary Native powwow culture and a vibrant celebration of community and culture captured from inside the circle.

Nuisance Bear - 2026 Sundance Film Festival (winner of the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary)

Logline: A polar bear is forced to navigate a human world of tourists, wildlife officers, and hunters as its ancient migration collides with modern life. When a sacred predator is branded a nuisance, it becomes unclear who truly belongs in this shared landscape.

Seized - 2026 Sundance Film Festival

Logline: When the small town of Marion, Kansas, is thrust into the international spotlight after a police raid on the Marion County Record and the death of its 98-year-old co-owner, a fierce debate ignites about the abuse of power, journalistic ethics, local journalism, and the United States Constitution.

Ed Emanuel, Jerry Brock, Ellis Gates, Thad Givens, Franklin Swann, Lawton Mackey and Donald Mann appear in Soul Patrol by J.M. Harper, an official selection of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute.

Soul Patrol - 2026 Sundance Film Festival (winner of the Directing Award: U.S. Documentary)

Logline: From deep behind enemy lines, a hidden chapter of American military history is uncovered, prompting the question of whether reckoning with the past can bring peace to those who lived it. The Vietnam War's first Black special operations team reunites to tell their story.

The Bend in the River - Documentary Film Program

Logline: Robb Moss completes his Riverdogs trilogy, returning to five friends in their 70s as lifelong friendship meets the sharp edges of memory, loss, and mortality.

The Great Experiment - Documentary Film Program

Logline: A collage of arresting black and white vignettes chronicle everyday political life from 2017-2020 in the United States.

The Oldest Person in the World - 2026 Sundance Film Festival

Logline: A decade-long global journey chronicles the ever-changing record holders of the title of oldest person alive. What begins as a portrait of longevity becomes a meditation on the passage of time, the randomness of fate, and the joy and profound human experience of b

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