HBO Sets New Doc Highlights

HBO has lined up a number of new unscripted programs, including the docuseries The Lady and the Dale from Mark and Jay Duplass and Seen & Heard, executive produced by Issa Rae.

The Lady and the Dale marks the latest HBO partnership with the Emmy Award-winning Duplass brothers (Room 104). The docuseries traces the story of Elizabeth Carmichael, who rose to prominence when she released a fuel-efficient three-wheeled vehicle during the 1970s gas crisis. As she wins over major carmakers and investors, mysteries unfold regarding the car’s technology and Carmichael’s past.

HBO Documentary Films is currently in production on Seen & Heard, a two-part documentary exploring the history of Black television as seen through the eyes of trailblazers who wrote, produced, created and starred in groundbreaking series of the past and present. The two-part documentary is produced and directed by Phil Bertelsen (Who Killed Malcolm X?) and executive produced by Issa Rae (Insecure) and Montrel McKay of Issa Rae Productions (Insecure), 3 Arts Entertainment and Ark Media.

HBO has also revealed multiple upcoming documentaries for the second half of 2020, including The Vow, a documentary series by Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning directors Jehane Noujaim and Karim Amer, which takes a nuanced look behind the headlines of the self-improvement organization NXIVM. Yusuf Hawkins: Storm Over Brooklyn, debuting August 12, directed by Muta’Ali, tells the story of Yusuf Hawkins, a Black teenager who was murdered in 1989 by a group of young white men in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. Siempre, Luis, from the first-time filmmaker John James, is a portrait of Luis A. Miranda Jr., a Puerto Rican migrant who helped shape New York politics for over three decades. It follows his mission to bring his son Lin-Manuel Miranda’s award-winning production of Hamilton to his home island of Puerto Rico.

Starting in November, HBO will feature a weekly anthology of crime-focused documentary films, including Crazy, Not Insane, directed and produced by Academy Award winner Alex Gibney (The Inventor: Out For Blood In Silicon Valley); Baby God, directed by Hannah Olson and executive produced by Academy Award nominees Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady; The Mystery of DB Cooper, directed by John Dower; and Alabama Snake, directed by Theo Love and produced by Bryan Storkel.

Additional upcoming fall HBO documentary titles include the return of Axios, as well as Transhood, following the lives of four young people and their families as they navigate growing up transgender in America’s heartland, and The Soul of America, a documentary film based on Jon Meacham’s 2018 bestseller.