Op-Docs

Season 3

Op-Docs is The New York Times editorial department's award-winning section for short, opinionated documentaries, produced with wide creative latitude and a range of artistic styles, covering current affairs, contemporary life and historical subjects.

Where to Watch Season 3

44 Episodes

  • Running on Fumes in North Dakota
    E1
    Running on Fumes in North DakotaA young woman, lured to North Dakota for a truck-driving job in the oil industry, shares her agonizing existence in an isolated boomtown.
  • Notes on Blindness
    E2
    Notes on BlindnessAfter the writer John Hull became completely blind, he kept an audio diary of his experience. A short film by Peter Middleton and James Spinney is a dramatization using those recordings.
  • China’s Web Junkies
    E3
    China’s Web JunkiesA short documentary about a Chinese boot-camp-style treatment center for young men “addicted” to the Internet.
  • Sarah's Uncertain Path
    E4
    Sarah's Uncertain PathProfiling a pregnant teenager in Missouri, this short documentary provides a window into rural poverty in America's heartland.
  • When Loud Music Turned Deadly
    E5
    When Loud Music Turned DeadlyThis video tells the story of a black teenager in Florida who was killed by a white man after an argument over loud music. The slain youth’s father shares his loss.
  • VHS vs. Communism
    E6
    VHS vs. CommunismIn Communist Romania in the 1980s, a young translator became an unlikely voice of freedom. She illicitly dubbed thousands of foreign films, distributed on VHS tapes, turning B-movie stars into heroes.
  • Chinese, on the Inside
    E7
    Chinese, on the InsideCatie and Kimberly were adopted from China by a couple from Maine, who attempt to pass on a culture they've never known firsthand.
  • My Brother, Teddy
    E8
    My Brother, TeddyThis short film captures a young girl’s love for her brother, who has cerebral palsy.
  • Subway Alarm
    E9
    Subway AlarmA New Yorker questions whether the alarms on emergency exit doors in the New York subway system are necessary safety measures — or harmful annoyances.
  • Slomo
    E10
    SlomoDr. John Kitchin quit a medical career to pursue his passion: skating along the boardwalk of San Diego’s Pacific Beach. He calls himself “Slomo.”
  • The Deadly Cost of Fashion
    E11
    The Deadly Cost of FashionA photojournalist who covered last year’s deadly collapse of the Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh draws connections to New York from clothing labels he found in the rubble.
  • Animals Are Persons Too
    E12
    Animals Are Persons TooThis short documentary follows the lawyer Steven Wise’s effort to break down the legal wall that separates animals from humans.
  • Verbatim: What Is a Photocopier?
    E13
    Verbatim: What Is a Photocopier?
  • Love and Stuff
    E14
    Love and StuffAfter her mother passes away, the filmmaker Judith Helfand struggles to pack up her things — figuring out what to keep and how to let go.
  • Courtroom Sketch Artist
    E15
    Courtroom Sketch ArtistThis short documentary captures the rise and fall of a courtroom sketch artist in Texas.
  • Wiring The Amazon
    E16
    Wiring The AmazonThis short documentary chronicles a remote Peruvian village’s four-year struggle to get Internet access.
  • Vanishing Island
    E17
    Vanishing IslandThis short documentary profiles residents of the Isle de Jean Charles in Louisiana, as they confront a future threatened by sinking shorelines and rising seas.
  • Pass it On
    E18
    Pass it OnThis short video shows how a Congolese man turns scraps into a soccer ball for village children, so they can play the sport they love.
  • Gnarly in Pink
    E19
    Gnarly in PinkThis short film celebrates the “Pink Helmet Posse,” three 6-year-old girls who share an unusual passion: skateboarding.
  • A Threat to Internet Freedom
    E20
    A Threat to Internet FreedomNew rules proposed by the F.C.C. could divide the Internet into fast lanes and slow lanes, violating the central concept of “net neutrality.”
  • Kite Fight
    E21
    Kite FightIn the crowded favelas of Rio de Janeiro, flying kites is more than a leisurely escape: It’s also a playful form of battle.
  • Two Countries, No Home
    E22
    Two Countries, No HomeAfter having grown up in the United States as an undocumented immigrant, Rufino Santiz Díaz decided to go back to Mexico — and now finds himself caught between two worlds.
  • A Threat to Cambodia's Sacred Forests
    E23
    A Threat to Cambodia's Sacred ForestsIn a remote valley in southwest Cambodia, an indigenous group fights to protect its homes from the looming construction of a hydroelectric dam.
  • The Marijuana Divide
    E24
    The Marijuana DivideIn Colorado, two towns near each other have divergent reactions to their state’s legalization of marijuana.
  • My Life After Manson
    E25
    My Life After MansonForty-five years ago, Patricia Krenwinkel killed for Charles Manson. Now she provides an emotional account of her life from prison.
  • Who Speaks Wukchumni?
    E26
    Who Speaks Wukchumni?This short documentary profiles the last fluent speaker of Wukchumni, a Native American language, and her creation of a comprehensive dictionary.
  • A Marriage to Remember
    E27
    A Marriage to RememberIn this short documentary, the filmmaker Banker White explores how Alzheimer’s disease has revealed the strength of his parents’ marriage.
  • Pastor With a Punch
    E28
    Pastor With a PunchIn this short documentary, a pastor runs a “fight ministry” out of his church in Rochester, N.Y.
  • Seeing the Invisible
    E29
    Seeing the InvisibleThis animated documentary celebrates the 17th-century citizen scientist Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, whose discovery of microbes would change our view of the biological world.
  • Brown's "Rape List," Revisited
    E30
    Brown's "Rape List," RevisitedBrown University faces questions about how it responds to a student’s charge of sexual assault, two decades after similar accusations sparked a national reform movement.
  • Leymah Gbowee: The Dream
    E31
    Leymah Gbowee: The DreamThrough her activism to topple Liberia’s dictator, Leymah Gbowee was able to restore her own faith in humanity. Part 1 of “Three Short Films About Peace.”
  • Lech Walesa: The Shipyard
    E32
    Lech Walesa: The ShipyardThe former Polish president Lech Walesa explains how he defied Communist rule to help bring down the Iron Curtain. Part 2 of “Three Short Films About Peace.”
  • Bob Geldof: The Moment
    E33
    Bob Geldof: The MomentThe Irish rocker Bob Geldof used the power of music to combat famine in Africa. Now he recalls the best day of his life. Part 3 of “Three Short Films About Peace.”
  • Another Tea?
    E34
    Another Tea?During their monthly gatherings for tea, a group of Chilean women reflect on the past in a ritual that has held their friendships together for 60 years.
  • San Quentin's Giants
    E35
    San Quentin's GiantsAt one of California’s most notorious prisons, baseball teams take the field.
  • First Bite
    E36
    First BiteThis animated vampire tale is based on an original 18th Century written account from the Balkans.
  • Lone Star Candidate
    E37
    Lone Star CandidateThis short documentary profiles Mike Minter, an underfunded Democrat who seeks election against a Republican incumbent in one of the most conservative districts of Texas.
  • Gorillas in the Crossfire
    E38
    Gorillas in the CrossfireA national park ranger in the Democratic Republic of Congo struggles to protect gorillas from a brutal civil war.
  • Re-enacting the Vietnam War
    E39
    Re-enacting the Vietnam WarEach year in Oregon, a group of men gather to re-create a war that so many Americans have tried to forget.
  • We Are Penn State
    E40
    We Are Penn StateAt a bronze statue of Joe Paterno, the former Penn State football coach, a critic and fans spar over his legacy.
  • Toys of War
    E41
    Toys of WarMolding clay into scenes of war, displaced children tell their story in South Sudan in this short documentary.
  • An Army for Afghanistan
    E42
    An Army for AfghanistanIn this short documentary, a front-line company of Afghan soldiers in Helmand, the country’s most dangerous province, faces new difficulties as their foreign allies prepare to withdraw.
  • The Case Against Torture
    E43
    The Case Against TortureIn this short documentary, a former defense lawyer for prisoners at Guantánamo Bay argues against the C.I.A.’s use of torture.
  • No Guns for Christmas
    E44
    No Guns for ChristmasBased on two police shootings in Ohio, this short documentary questions whether toy guns can really be innocent gifts.

 

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