Val, a documentary about actor Val Kilmer, debuted at the Cannes Film Festival in July and is now streaming on Amazon Prime. Out now in theaters is Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain, directed by Morgan Neville, who also directed the highly regarded documentaries 20 Feet from Stardom and Won’t You Be My Neighbor. Two other recent releases on the big screen are No Ordinary Man, the story of Billy Tipton, a female jazz musician who lived as a man for decades, and Ailey, about dance legend Alvin Ailey, which premiered at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival. Just released in August on HBO was the three-part series Obama: In Pursuit of a More Perfect Union. Also out this month is Respect, with Jennifer Hudson portraying Aretha Franklin. The film had originally been scheduled for a 2020 release.

My Name is Pauli Murray, which had its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, is slated for a limited theatrical release in September before streaming on Amazon Prime in October. BIO’s Patricia Bell-Scott, who wrote a biography of Murray, served as consulting producer and also appears in the film. It was directed by Betsy West and Julie Cohen, who previously made the Ruth Bader Ginsburg documentary RBG.

Ken Burns will have a new series on PBS in September about Muhammad Ali. BIO member Jonathan Eig served as consulting producer on the project; his Ali: A Life came out in 2017. Jonathan also appears on screen. The next month, a documentary on the influential rock band The Velvet Underground will be released in theaters and stream on Apple TV. The film had its debut in Cannes and features the two surviving members—John Cale and Maureen Tucker—who recorded the band’s first album. Another film that has already been screened at film festivals is My Name is Lopez, about the singer Trini Lopez, who took part in the filming but died of COVID-19 before it was finished. The documentary does not have a theatrical release date. Coming in November to theaters is Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time. The film traces the life of the writer and his 25-year relationship with the film’s co-director, Robert B. Weide.

Once again, biopics are in short supply for the rest of 2021. Two that are getting buzz is the docuseries Maradona: Blessed Dream, about the soccer legend (coming to Amazon Prime), and House of Gucci (being released in theaters). The latter film stars Lady Gaga and Adam Driver and is supposed to hit the big screen in November. It’s based on the book The House of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour, and Greed by Sara Gay Forden.