A still from “When A Witness Recants” by Dawn Porter, an official selection of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival. (Courtesy of Sundance Institute | artwork by Dawud Anyabwile)
By Lucy Spicer
The countdown to the 2027 Sundance Film Festival is on — in-person and online passes and ticket packages are on sale now, and the films comprising the 2027 Festival’s Legacy program have been announced! But even as we look forward to more exciting news about the upcoming Fest, we’ll keep celebrating releases we’ve been waiting for from Festivals past.
November brings eight new releases that premiered earlier this year at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, including five award winners — and now they’re finally coming to a big or small screen near you. Fans of nonfiction are in for a treat this month, with six documentaries poised to reach theaters or streaming services. These include a long-distance love story between journalists, a view of the changing relationship between polar bears and the humans that live near them, an overdue look at the first all-Black special ops team to serve in Vietnam, a filmmaker’s mixed media approach to familial love and loss, a spotlight on the wrongfully convicted Harlem Park Three, and an ode to the athleticism and activism of Billie Jean King. And for lovers of fiction: a woman’s dreamlike night searching for answers through time in Hong Kong, and a hard-hitting drama about the emotional aftermath when an 8-year-old witnesses an assault.
Birds of War — Co-directors Janay Boulos and Abd Alkader Habak chronicle their own love story in Birds of War. In 2016, Boulos, a Lebanese journalist working for the BBC in London, contacted Syrian photojournalist Habak asking for footage from Aleppo for a story. That initial inquiry led to the first of many collaborations — as well as a romance documented through years of voice memos, video calls, and text messages, even as violence continued to shake their respective home countries. The couple’s film premiered at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Journalistic Impact. Coming to select theaters November 4.
Nuisance Bear — Gabriela Osio Vanden and Jack Weisman’s documentary gives audiences a bear’s-eye view of Churchill, Manitoba, where tourists flock to get a glimpse of polar bears in their natural habitat. But as polar bears become more accustomed to human proximity and noise, their own behaviors change — only for people to brand them a “nuisance” when they wander into human territory. Narrated by the late Mike Tunalaaq Gibbons, Nuisance Bear premiered at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary. Coming to select theaters November 6; expanding December 4.
Soul Patrol — Based on Ed Emanuel’s memoir about the first all-Black long-range reconnaissance patrol in the Vietnam War, J.M. Harper’s hybrid documentary explores the experiences of a group of veterans whose contributions have gone largely unacknowledged. Combining striking reenactments and dreamlike sequences with archival photographs, Super 8 footage filmed by the soldiers themselves, and contemporary interviews with members of the “soul patrol” gathering for a reunion 50 years later, Harper gives a voice to a group of men who risked their lives for a country that treated them less than gratefully upon their return. Soul Patrol premiered at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Directing Award: U.S. Documentary. Coming to select theaters November 6.
zi — Past, present, and future seem to blur together for Zi (Michelle Mao), an accomplished violinist wandering the streets of Hong Kong as she awaits the results of a biopsy that will tell her whether or not she has a brain tumor. A chance meeting with two strangers (Haley Lu Richardson and Jin Ha) has the potential to change her life. Written and directed by Kogonada, this dreamlike, experimental film premiered at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival. Coming to select theaters November 6.
TheyDream — Employing a treasure trove of artistic techniques, filmmaker William David Caballero and his mother journey through decades of memories with their Puerto Rican family. Using voice recordings, animations, dioramas, and more to bring late family members to life, Caballero shares the cathartic experience of creation with his mother while acknowledging the evolving role of caretaker over the years. Supported by Sundance Institute’s Humanities Sustainability Fellowship, Theydream premiered at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the NEXT Special Jury Award for Creative Expression. Coming to select theaters November 13.
When A Witness Recants — In 1983, a 14-year-old student was shot and killed inside a Baltimore junior high school during a robbery. Teenagers Andrew Stewart, Ransom Watkins, and Alfred Chestnut were convicted of the murder and sentenced to life in prison after they were identified as the culprits by child witnesses. Thirty-six years later, recanted witness testimony and accounts of police coercion among other exculpatory evidence resulted in the three men’s release. Dawn Porter’s documentary, executive-produced by Ta-Nehisi Coates and incorporating animation by Dawud Anyabwile, features new interviews with Stewart, Watkins, and Chestnut and follows the impact that the case had and continues to have on the community. When A Witness Recants premiered at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival. Airing on HBO and streaming on HBO Max November 17.
Josephine — After 8-year-old Josephine (Mason Reeves) witnesses a violent assault in Golden Gate Park, she is forced to reckon with the turbulent emotions that follow as her well-meaning parents (Channing Tatum and Gemma Chan) attempt to address her fears and confusion while wishing to shield her from further trauma. Writer-director Beth de Araújo’s sophomore feature was supported by Sundance Institute’s Feature Film Program before premiering at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the U.S. Grand Jury Prize Dramatic and the Audience Award: U.S. Dramatic. Coming to theaters November 20.
Give Me the Ball! — Filmmakers Liz Garbus and Elizabeth Wolff use contemporary interviews and rare archival footage to create a dynamic portrait of athlete and activist Billie Jean King in Give Me the Ball!, which premiered at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival. The documentary traces King’s rise to success in her tennis career as well as her fight for equity at a time when many believed women in sports didn’t need to be paid — let alone be paid the same as men. Airing on ESPN November 22.
