Sundance Award-Winner Soul Patrol Opens in Theaters with Hidden Story of Vietnam’s First Black Special Ops Team

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A documentary uncovering one of the Vietnam War’s most overlooked stories is coming to theaters. Soul Patrol, which won the Directing Award for U.S. Documentary at Sundance, follows the first all-Black special operations team to operate behind enemy lines.

Director J.M. Harper sat down with the surviving members of this elite unit, who reunite in a hotel room 50 years after the war. Using raw Super 8 footage, photographs, and audio recordings from their personal archives, the film reconstructs their mission with an intimacy rarely seen in war documentaries.

The setting becomes surreal as the men grapple with memory, brotherhood, and unresolved trauma. At the core is a painful contradiction: fighting for freedom abroad while facing inequality at home.

Harper adapted the film from Ed Emanuel’s memoir. The project was produced by Sam Bisbee, Harper, Danielle Massie, Peter Bittenbender, and Nasir Jones.

Critics are calling it essential. The Hollywood Reporter praised it as “jolting and heartbreaking,” while Variety noted its contribution to understanding both the Vietnam War and Black history.

Soul Patrol opens November 6 at IFC Center in New York, then expands November 13 to LA and nationwide through Kino Lorber. For indie filmmakers tackling buried history, this is a master class in reconstruction and access.

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IMDb Adds Michif as Official Language, a First for Métis Cinema

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IMDb just made history for Indigenous filmmakers. The platform officially added Michif to its list of recognized title languages, giving the Métis language the same structural standing as English or French.

The update comes after years of advocacy led by Métis filmmaker Jordan Waunch, whose anti-western series Shadow of the Rougarou is now the first production credited with Michif as an official title language on the site. Set during the 1885 North-West Resistance, the series features dialogue in Michif, Cree, and Chinook Wawa, weaving a dark story of survival rooted in oral tradition.

“For a long time, Michif has been absent from the systems that catalogue and classify screen work,” Waunch says. “Seeing it recognized on IMDb gives our language a visible place in the global record of cinema.”

He credits the milestone to Elders and Language Keepers including Stella Erasmus Johnson, Bruce Dumont, Don Campbell, Theodore Starr, Lisa Shepherd, Douglas Robertson, and Ray G. Thunderchild.

But the work isn’t done. Waunch says the next step is getting IMDb to recognize distinct Michif dialects and other Indigenous languages still left off the platform.

Shadow of the Rougarou was backed by the Indigenous Screen Office, Creative BC, the Bell Fund, and APTN. The series streams now on APTN+.

This matters because language preservation starts with visibility, and for indie Indigenous creators, that means showing up in the same databases as every other film.

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Abramorama Acquires Ballet Documentary “Make Work” for North American Release

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Abramorama has picked up North American rights to “Make Work,” a documentary that follows four choreographers as they develop new ballets at the New York Choreographic Institute.

The film comes from directors Linda Saffire and Adam Schlesinger, whose previous work “Restless Creature: Wendy Whelan” premiered at the New York Film Festival and was released by Netflix. Their credits include two Emmy nominations and Schlesinger produced “Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry,” which won the Special Jury Prize at Sundance.

“Make Work” opens in theaters March 5, 2027. It premiered at the San Francisco Dance Film Festival and screens at DOC NYC.

The documentary goes inside rehearsal studios at the New York Choreographic Institute and New York City Ballet, tracking choreographers Harrison Ball, Sarah Foster-Sproull, Caili Quan, and Houston Thomas as they create original work during two-week residencies. The film shows the process before a ballet reaches the stage: experimentation, collaboration, and the work that gets abandoned along the way.

“We wanted to sit in the room while a ballet is being born, when ideas are fragile, when dancers and choreographers are taking real risks together, and when failure is part of the process,” Saffire and Schlesinger said.

Adrian Danchig-Waring, now artistic director of the New York Choreographic Institute, produced the film and took his final bow as a New York City Ballet principal dancer on October 18, 2026, after 24 years with the company.

The film also includes reflections from choreographers Kyle Abraham, Lar Lubovitch, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, Justin Peck, Alexei Ratmansky, Pam Tanowitz, and Christopher Wheeldon on their creative practices and George Balanchine’s influence on ballet.

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French Documentary GABIN Makes U.S. Premiere at DOC NYC

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A decade-long documentary following a French farm boy from age 8 to 18 is screening at DOC NYC November 14.

GABIN, directed by Maxence Voiseux, tracks Gabin Jourdel as he grows up in northern France, torn between taking over his father’s butcher shop and his own dreams of training contest cows, breeding dogs, and saving his mother’s farm. Voiseux filmed over ten years to capture the journey.

The film premiered at Cannes in the Quinzaine des Cineastes section, where Variety’s Guy Lodge called it “a remarkably fleet, fluent feat of observation and editing.” Screen Daily’s Lee Marshall compared it to Boyhood, noting “Gabin is remarkable for its immediacy and its feel for story.”

DOC NYC Senior Programmer Murtada Elfadl says Voiseux’s “patient lens is attuned to the joys and vexes of everyday existence as well as the larger questions of maturing and moving on.”

Since Cannes, the documentary has played Locarno, IDFA, Busan, Vancouver, and Melbourne, among others. It’s Voiseux’s first feature. He was born in the Ardennes in 1988 and studied science before switching to documentary filmmaking at Paris VII University.

The U.S. premiere screens November 14 at 3:35 PM at IFC Center, followed by a Q&A with producer Cécile Lestrade. The film will also be available to stream virtually November 15 through 29.

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Eric Harburn Makes Writing Debut With Crime Thriller Set in NYC Music Scene

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Veteran comic book editor Eric Harburn is writing his first graphic novel. Humbucker, a crime thriller set in New York City’s music scene, arrives from Image Comics and Tiny Onion in spring 2027.

The book follows Denny, owner of a struggling indie record label, who bets everything on recording the mythical debut album of Connor Markes, an influential underground musician who vanished from the scene decades ago. Denny sets up a session at a legendary NYC studio where Jimi Hendrix, Blondie, and The Rolling Stones once recorded. But the session falls apart when Connor can’t perform and Denny’s loan shark shows up.

Harburn co-created the book with Eisner Award-nominated artist Simon Gane (Ghost Tree, They’re Not Like Us). Colors come from Eisner winner Jordie Bellaire (Exquisite Corpses, The Nice House series), with lettering by Aditya Bidikar (In Your Skin, The Department of Truth).

Harburn spent sixteen years editing comics at BOOM! Studios and Tiny Onion, working on over one hundred properties including Something is Killing the Children and Keanu Reeves’ BRZRKR. He’s now Director of Narrative and Editor-in-Chief at Tiny Onion.

“During a recent visit to the Lower East Side of Manhattan, an idea struck me like a power chord,” Harburn said. “A pressure cooker of crime and creative ambition, Martin McDonagh meets Elmore Leonard, all set within a legendary recording studio.”

Gane said the characters felt alive from the first read. “Putting your head above the parapet can leave you exposed and vulnerable. As our characters will find out, very, very vulnerable.”

Humbucker arrives in comic shops April 14, 2027, and bookstores May 11, 2027.

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Brazilian Broadcast Demo Shows Two Signals Can Share One Frequency

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Researchers just pulled off something that could change how TV broadcasts work. At a symposium in Brazil this summer, a team showed they could decode a weaker broadcast signal while canceling out a much stronger one on the same frequency, in real time.

The demo happened at the IEEE International Symposium in João Pessoa in July. Mackenzie Presbyterian University ran the test using tech from labs in Spain, China, Korea, and Canada. The weaker signal they decoded was 37 decibels below the stronger one, a huge power gap.

Why does this matter? Spectrum is expensive and limited. If stations can overlap geographically on the same frequency without interference, that opens up room for local content and more efficient networks. It’s a big deal for the next-gen ATSC 3.0 standard.

Madeleine Noland, president of ATSC, says the demo shows how broadcast tech is evolving beyond traditional TV. Brazil’s been pushing hard on this, with pilots running in Brasília, São Paulo, and Rio de Janeiro.

The work proves that international collaboration can move lab experiments into real-world use. For indie creators and small broadcasters, more efficient spectrum could mean more access and opportunity.

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Jimmy Buffett Doc Takes Fans Back to the Coral Reefers’ Key West Origins

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A new documentary is pulling back the curtain on the musicians who helped create Jimmy Buffett’s signature sound.

OCCUPATIONAL HAZARD: The First Coral Reefers hits theaters in New York and drops digitally across the US, Canada, UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand this Friday, October 30. The film dives into the 1970s and early 1980s to tell the origin story of Buffett’s original Coral Reefer Band, the group that laid the foundation for what became a Parrot Head empire.

Set against the backdrop of Key West, the doc features never-before-seen archival footage and interviews with founding band members, tour managers, producers, and music legends including Kenny Chesney and Mac McAnally. Academy Award winner Jeff Bridges narrates.

Director John H. Cunningham’s film captures the chaos and camaraderie of an era that ran on creative freedom. The documentary premiered at Santa Barbara International Film Festival earlier this year and has picked up awards on the festival circuit.

For Buffett fans, it’s a chance to meet the people behind the hits and understand the volatile, magical moment that shaped one of music’s most distinctive sounds. The film runs 92 minutes and opens with Q&As in New York at Village East.

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Zombie Sequel ‘Apocalypse Z: New World’ Hits Prime Video Just in Time for Halloween

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The zombie apocalypse is back. Apocalypse Z: New World drops on Prime Video October 30, giving horror fans a Halloween treat courtesy of the franchise that became Prime’s most-watched international original movie.

Director Carles Torrens returns for the sequel, picking up the story in the Canary Islands, now Europe’s last refuge after the TSJ virus outbreak. When a special team heads to the mainland for supplies, Roberto tags along with his own agenda. Things go south fast.

The mission becomes a fight for survival as the crew gets caught between infected hordes and fractured loyalties. At its core, the film asks the genre’s oldest question: do you save yourself, or risk it all for what’s left of humanity?

Carlos Alcaide leads the cast, joined by Julia Martínez, Jose María Yazpik, Berta Vázquez, and Mónica López. Ángel Agudo adapted the screenplay from Manel Loureiro’s novels.

The film premiered at the 2026 Sitges Film Festival before making its US debut at Screamfest Horror Festival LA. Now it’s hitting streaming during the spookiest week of the year.

For post-apocalyptic fans who burned through the first film, this one promises more infected, more tension, and harder choices in a world that’s already fallen apart.

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New Doc Exposes the Cutthroat Rise of SoulCycle and the Billion-Dollar Spin Class Empire

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The boutique fitness boom wasn’t all good vibes and motivational playlists.

SPIN WARS, a new documentary from director Philip Byron, digs into the messy, billion-dollar rise of indoor cycling studios like SoulCycle, Flywheel, and Peloton. The film premiered at Tribeca and pulls back the curtain on an industry built on ambition, betrayal, and what Byron calls “toxic sweat.”

It’s a high-energy look at how spinning went from niche workout to cultural phenomenon, and the ugly side of “mind, body, soul” branding that came with it. The doc features Katie Couric, comedians Heather McMahan and Mary Beth Barone, author Jill Kargman, and creators Brandon Kyle Goodman and Anna Roisman.

Byron co-wrote the film with James Thayer and produced it alongside Jillian A. Goldstein.

SPIN WARS releases this December. For an industry that sold empowerment and community, the real story behind the scenes is a lot sweatier than anyone let on. Independent filmmakers continue proving that the best stories aren’t always feel-good ones.

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Judge Dredd and Biker Mice from Mars Crash Into Each Other in December Crossover

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Judge Dredd is about to meet the Biker Mice from Mars.

Oni Press, the Nacelle Company, and Rebellion are bringing out JUDGE DREDD / BIKER MICE FROM MARS #1 on December 2. The 40-page debut comes from writers Dan Watters and Ryan O’Sullivan and artist Jordi Tarragona.

The story drops the Biker Mice into Mega-City One after villains Limburger and Karbunkle try to plunder the sprawling metropolis. Throttle, Vinnie, and Modo end up stranded in the city, wanted by 400 million citizens and one very determined judge. Dredd’s job is to deliver justice, and he doesn’t care if the criminals are from Mars or not.

The crossover pulls in Judge Death too. When the inhuman entity shows up, both Dredd and the Biker Mice end up in the same fight.

The issue has covers by David Finch, Karl Kerschl, and Andrew Krahnke. There are also four randomly distributed “Badge Variant” covers designed by Winston Gambro in the style of Brian Bolland’s 2000 AD work. Each badge features either Judge Dredd’s shield or one of the three Biker Mice.

The book lands in comic shops December 2.

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