Five documentary shorts — ranging from intimate profiles to in-depth cultural reporting — are coming to the free streaming platform DOCUMENTARY+ and RollingStone.com, the two platforms announced Friday.
The slate of documentaries are part of a previously announced partnership between Rolling Stone and DOCUMENTARY+, which was launched by the film and television studio XTR. The initial collection of shorts, made in collaboration with Rolling Stone Films, include Wings of Dust, which was shortlisted for a 2023 Oscar; All Things Metal, which debuted at the 2024 Tribeca Film Festival; Blood and Ashes; Mamus; and a final yet-to-be-announced film.
“We’re thrilled to partner with DOCUMENTARY+ on a new slate of premium short-form documentary films,” Jason Fine, Rolling Stone Films senior vice president, said in a statement. “Rolling Stone’s mission is to tell stories with deep reporting and a strong point of view, and the films in our first season do exactly that: from the healing power of heavy metal, All Things Metal, to the humanitarian crisis in Haiti, Blood and Ashes, these films are original, compelling and amplify our journalism in exciting new formats.”
Wings of Dust follows Vidal Merma, an Indigenous journalist, who sheds light on water contamination caused by mining in the Peruvian community of Espinar. The film was released on Oct. 10. In All Things Metal, the Patterson Brothers, who both have Tourette Syndrome, operate a family-owned ironwork business by day and direct heavy metal music videos by night. The short will be out on Oct. 24.
Blood and Ashes is a working title for a film that chronicles Haiti’s descent into chaos and the rise of the G9 gang alliance led by shot-caller and former police officer Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier. Blood and Ashes draws from Rolling Stone’s special report “Inside the World’s Most Dangerous Gang War,” which won the Sydney Schanberg Prize in long-form journalism from the George Polk Awards in April. The short is expected out in November.
Mamus, which has a mid-December release date, takes a portrait of Arhuaco’s, an Indigenous community in Colombia, fight to preserve a fragile planet. In 1990, Arhuaco informed BBC documentarians of the potential consequences of a expanding industrialized communities. In Mamus, documentarians reconnect with the Indigenous group three decades later in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Maria. A fifth film is yet to be announced.
“Rolling Stone has always been at the forefront of documenting cultural shifts and we’re honored to join forces with them on this slate,” said Justin Lacob, head of DOCUMENTARY+. “Partnering with them on this collection of documentaries is an incredible opportunity to amplify stories that deserve to be told with nuance, depth, and impact.”
Companion articles authored by Rolling Stone staffers will appear in the magazine and on the website.
Daniel D`Amico for SANREMO.FM
