Bogancloch review - every frame a work of art

★★★★ BOGANCLOCH Living off grid might be the meaning of happiness

Living off grid might be the meaning of happiness

Director Ben Rivers is primarily an artist, and it shows. Every frame of Bogancloch is treated as a work of art and the viewer is given ample time to relish the beauty of the framing, lighting and composition. Many of the shots fall into traditional categories such as still life, landscape and portraiture and would work equally well as photographs.

The Last Musician of Auschwitz review - a haunting testament

★★★★★ THE LAST MUSICIAN OF AUSCHWITZ A haunting testament

When fine music was played in a death factory

“It is so disgraceful, what happened there,” says Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, in a comment that is the understatement of the century. She is referring to the genocide perpetrated by the Nazis in concentration camps like Auschwitz-Birkenau, where she was held prisoner.

Formula E: Driver, Prime Video review - inside the world's first zero-carbon sport

F1's electric baby brother get its own documentary series

The success of Netflix’s Drive to Survive not only provoked a viewer-stampede towards the world’s most expensive sport, but also triggered a chain reaction of similar behind-the-scenes sports documentaries. Suddenly we had Break Point (tennis), Full Swing (golf) and Tour de France: Unchained (cycling, obviously), hotly pursued by series on rugby, soccer and American Indiecar racing.

Neil Young: Coastal review - the old campaigner gets back on the trail

★★★ NEIL YOUNG: COASTAL Young's first post-Covid tour, documented by Daryl Hannah

Young's first post-Covid tour documented by Daryl Hannah

As well as generating a ceaseless stream of albums, whether live, studio or culled from his copious archives, Neil Young has also amassed a fairly hefty body of film work, either as director, star or both. Like his music, his movies are created with a kind of confrontational spontaneity, grabbed on the run with rough edges and non-sequiturs still intact. His directorial debut, 1973’s only fleetingly coherent Journey Through the Past, gave early warning of what to expect.

Manhunt, Royal Court review - terrifyingly toxic masculinity

★★★★ MANHUNT, ROYAL COURT Robert Icke turns to a modern 'monster'

After his Olivier Award win for Oedipus, Robert Icke turns to a modern “monster”

Are we really in “a new era of male anger, societal discontent and rage”? This is what Royal Court artistic director David Byrne claims in the programme of Manhunt, Robert Icke’s new documentary play about Raoul Moat. Weak thought, because surely there has never been a decade in which toxic masculinity was not a problem.

Twiggy review - portrait of a supermodel who branched out

★★★ TWIGGY Sadie Frost's documentary captures Twiggy's extraordinary versatility

The face of 1966: Sadie Frost's documentary captures Twiggy's extraordinary versatility

When Twiggy burst on to the scene in 1966, she was a beacon of hope for all flat-chested, short-haired, skinny girls. Of course we couldn’t look as fabulous as she did, with her enormous eyes and high forehead and long legs, but we could try.

Surviving Black Hawk Down, Netflix review - the real story behind Ridley Scott's Oscar-winner

Documentary series looks at the 1993 'Battle of Mogadishu' from both sides

Ridley Scott’s 2001 film Black Hawk Down was a technically superb blockbuster bristling with thunderous action sequences and famous actors, though its gung-ho depiction of the heroics of American special forces during the appalling Somalian civil war always felt a little uncomfortable.

Vietnam: The War That Changed America, Apple TV+ review - painful and poignant stories from a terrible conflict

★★★★ VIETNAM: THE WAR THAT CHANGED AMERICA, APPLE TV+ Painful and poignant stories from a terrible conflict

Fifty years later, the wounds still haven't healed

It’s been 50 years since the USA bowed to the inevitable and pulled out of Vietnam, in the midst of harrowing scenes of anguish and chaos.

Merchant Ivory review - fascinating documentary about the director and producer's long partnership

★★★★ MERCHANT IVORY The director and producer's long partnership

Stephen Soucy examines Ismael Merchant and James Ivory's complicated relationship with input from many stars

“Shoot, Jim, shooot!” Simon Callow does a fine impression of producer Ismail Merchant desperately trying to get director James Ivory to bring urgency to the proceedings.

The received wisdom was that Ismael thought Jim was going to bankrupt Merchant Ivory Productions commercially by insisting on perfection, while Jim was sure that Ismael would bankrupt it artistically by insisting on every possible economy.

Mediha review - a brutalised Yazidi teen comes of age with a camera

A documentary frames the video diary of a Yazidi girl who suffered horrific abuse

The plight of persecuted minority groups around the world seems to be growing worse. As one form of response, a non-fiction film like Mediha works to make vivid the individual stories of people who might otherwise be reduced to statistics from places that are scarcely on the west's radar.