If you’re not very deep into the cultural landscape of software developers (or sysadmins, DevOps engineers, SREs, or anyone else who works with code for that matter…) you probably haven’t realized that the community has developed their own coded style for article and conference talk titles.

To be honest, this feels like an odd topic for a blog post. You don’t see a lot of interest in the quirky writing and title-picking tendencies of the coder world, but after following this industry for 11 years, I feel like a few newer entrants to the tech field could benefit from knowing how to entice interest from the rest of the community.

You can find a bunch of great generalized resources on how to write a good blog title — and I encourage you to read those — but there’s almost zero good advice out there right now on writing a great title for our niche audience.

That brings us to the question: who am I writing this for?

Maybe it’s people who are just starting out in the coding world and want to spark a little more interest in their blogs or talk submissions.

Maybe you work in developer relations, advocacy, or content marketing and want to create things that appeal to this demographic.

Or maybe you’re a veteran coder who will find this list entertaining — nodding along and enjoying the cleverness of our in-group (or perhaps you can tell me why people say “learn you a Haskell for great good” — I still don’t get it).

Maybe this will help you clickbait your way to the front page of HackerNews or have the most attended talk of that conference you’re submitting an abstract for.

Whatever your reasons for checking this out, I now present my definitive list of catchy title ideas for the world of programming. I’ll be using variables X and Y to denote a blank space in a title where any topic or adjective can go.

Why X?

• Why Ruby?
• Why React?
• Why Multicloud?

These titles ask the question: “Why would I want to do or use this thing?” It just takes that question and makes it a lot more terse.

(Learn) X the Y Way

• Learn Python the Hard Way
• Kubernetes the Hard Way
• Learn Rust the Dangerous Way
• Finding bugs in SQLite, the easy way

Learn Python the Hard Way was the book that got “the hard way” title trending. Why would you want to learn something the hard way? Well, the rationale is that it sticks in your memory better when you learn things without a lot of shortcuts and abstractions.

X The Right Way

• PHP: The Right Way
• JavaScript: The Right Way

This title is more gutsy, but it works because even though people realize that there’s no one “right” way to do everything, they want a solid, well-tested pattern so they don’t have to figure out their own.

X: The Y Guide

• JavaScript: The Definitive Guide
• Java Programming: A Practical Guide
• Optionals In Swift: The Ultimate Guide
• Centering in CSS: A Complete Guide
• How to Deploy Mongo on AWS using Docker: the definitive guide for first-timers
• The Essential Guide to Building Balanced Development Teams
• The No-Nonsense Guide to JVM 14 Memory on Kubernetes
• Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Programming
• Kubernetes for the Busy Developer

You can get really creative with this one. I like the titles that mention a target audience, such as: The (Beginner’s, Absolute Beginner’s, Freelancer’s, Busy Developer’s, Hacker’s, etc.) Guide.

X Considered Harmful

• Go To Statement Considered Harmful
• Docker Considered Harmful
• Javascript Cryptography Considered Harmful
• Software Patents Considered Harmful
• “Considered Harmful” Essays Considered Harmful

In programming, this title template started in 1968 with Edsger Dijkstra’s letter: “Go To Statement Considered Harmful”. Now it’s mainly used in alarmist essays or mildly alarmed essays that just want a clickbait title — but hey, that’s what you’re here for isn’t it :)

X Explained

• DevOps Explained
• Angular 2 change detection explained
• RAFT Explained – Part 1/3: Introduction to the Consensus Problem

X Demystified

• Open Source Software: Demystified
• Kubernetes Networking Demystified: A Brief Guide
• Demystifying Service Mesh

Thought about getting “Technology Demystifier” on my last set of business cards.

X and Y: Better Together

• Distributed Tracing & Logging - Better Together
• Vault & Kubernetes: Better Together
• Ansible and HashiCorp: Better Together
• A Bunch Of Great Strategies For Using Memcached And MySQL Better Together

This is sometimes (but not always) used to propose that two potentially competitive tools or ideas be used together rather than a one-or-the-other scenario. Think of all the initial enemies that work so well together, together like Goku and Vegeta, Rey and Kylo Ren, or pineapple and pizza! (Just kidding about that last one. I’m not a monster.)

The X Handbook (or Pocket Guide)

• The Next.js Handbook
• The Python Data Science Handbook
• SQL Pocket Guide: A Guide to SQL Usage
• Bootstrap Pocket Guide

I miss the more comprehensive guides and the olden days of pocket-sized sysadmin reference guides. I say bring back more “handbooks” and “pocket guides”! Sure software books are out of date in 6 months these days, but instead we can make frequently updated web guides that look great on our phones can’t we?

X the Missing Manual

• WordPress: The Missing Manual
• cglib: The missing manual
• Docs as Code: The Missing Manual

This one was actually a running series of books as well as a potential talk or blog title. It indicates coverage of a topic that hasn’t been documented as comprehensively or clearly as the author would like.

A Gentle Introduction to X

• A Gentle Introduction to Deep Learning for Graphs
• A Gentle Introduction to Programming Using Python
• A Gentle Introduction To Rust

The alternative to “The Hard Way”.

[Insert pop-culture referencing title here]

• One Does Not Simply Put Machine Learning Into Production
• Keep it Safe… Keep it Secret
• Automate All the Things!
• Call Me Maybe: MongoDB Stale Reads
• Buttons that Spark Joy
• Winter is Coming For Java Updates

Clever, humorous, culturally relevant titles always get my attention. Keep your references fresh, my friends.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to X

• The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Javascript
• The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Terraform Your Infrastructure
• Hitchhikers guide to Haskell

This might be the most popular of the pop-culture reference titles.

[Insert pun-ny title here]

• Look What You MIDI Me Do!
• Can’t Contain your Excitement about Containerization?
• At Your Microservice

The world needs more of these.

Everything You Need to Know about X, Things Every X Should Know

• Everything You Need to Know About OAuth (2.0)
• Everything you need to know about cryptography in 1 hour
• Everything you need (and don’t need) to know about PHP’s type system
• 97 Things Every Cloud Engineer Should Know

It’s a little arrogant to say you know what we need to know, but I guess it’s meant to mean something like ‘the basics that matter when you’re starting out with a new topic.’ Or maybe it will also include some pitfalls not easily found in the documentation.

X in a Nutshell

• Java in a Nutshell: A Desktop Quick Reference
• I2C in a Nutshell
• Kubernetes and Virtual Kubelet in a nutshell

X in Plain English

• Amazon Web Services (AWS) in Plain English
• Functors, Applicatives, and Monads in Plain English
• Software Licenses in Plain English

Because sometimes these complex topics feel like they’re described in a foreign language. Of course, if you don’t speak English that well, this type of article might not interest you. Maybe you need something like “X in Plain French”.

X: Explain it like I’m 5

• Explain like I’m 5: DNS
• Explain functional programming to me like I’m five
• Explain it to me like I am a 5-year-old: What are Docker, Image, and Containers

Because sometimes plain English isn’t enough. Sometimes things need to be explained in the simplest terms possible.

X in Y Minutes

• Awk in 20 Minutes
• 90% of Python in 90 Minutes
• Learn Lua in 15 Minutes

Isn’t it great to know how long something will take ahead of time? Although if it’s anything like the estimated cooking times I see on recipes, it’ll probably take me twice as long.

X for Fun and Profit

• F# for Fun and Profit
• Distributed systems for fun and profit
• Tagging Docker Images for Fun and Profit

Who says you can’t have fun and make a profit?

X: Friend or Foe?

• CSS Overrides: Friend or Foe?
• Const - Friend or Foe in C++?
• Local Variable Type Inference: Friend or Foe?

Friend or foe… what about a frienemy?

X: The Good Parts

• JavaScript: The Good Parts
• JavaScript: The Evil Parts
• git log – the Good Parts
• AngularJS: The Bad Parts

I think this was popularized by the famous book “JavaScript: The Good Parts”. Now people get creative by putting any adjective before “Parts”.

X is Over/Broken/Bullshit

• The Windows era is over
• Data denormalization is broken
• “Cultural Fit” Is Bullshit

If you’re feeling edgy or wanna be controversial.

X: Stories from Trenches

• PostgreSQL Search: From the Trenches
• Kotlin From The Trenches
• 10 best sysadmin stories from the trenches
• Vault Configuration as Code via Terraform: Stories From the Trenches at Hippo Technologies

Because code is war.

The Life of a X

• The Life of a Data Byte
• The Life of a Packet Through Consul Service Mesh
• The Life of a Serverless Microservice on AWS

Because code is life.

The Art of X

• The Art of Writing Scripts for CI/CD
• The Art of the Error Message
• The Art of Assembly Language
• The Art of Interrupting Software Engineers

For those topics that are more of an art than a science.

Cheat Sheets, Checklists, or Quick References

• Front-End Performance Checklist 2020
• API Security Checklist
• Rust Language Cheat Sheet
• Shell Script Brackets Cheat Sheet
• From C to C++: A quick reference for aging programmers
• Linux Quick Reference Guide

Once you already know something but don’t want to have to remember every detail, that’s when you want a quick reference or checklist. Make one of those for a topic where one is badly needed and you’ll get plenty of views with a simple title like these.

Learn You a X for Great Good

• Learn You a Haskell for Great Good!
• Learn You Some Lisp for Great Good
• Learn You Some Erlang for Great Good!
• Learn You an Elm

I don’t know where this weird phrase comes from, but it’s truly a thing. If you know, tell me in the comments. Does it have something to do with the syntax of functional programming?

Zero to X

• From Zero to WOW! with HashiCorp Nomad
• VueJS Tutorial: Zero to Sixty
• HashiCorp Vault: Zero to Hero

Go Forth and Write Catchy Titles!

Well I hope that wasn’t a total waste of your time. Now, as conference seasons approach and you have some time to work on talk submissions or blog posts, this list can give you some ideas for the title of your content or maybe even inspire the topic you choose to cover.

I like documentaries. And if Jinx, Serial, and Making a Murderer are any indication, so do a lot of people. I’ve gone to just a handful of documentaries in the past two years at Durham, NC’s Full Frame Documentary Film Festival. It’s a good opportunity for locals to see some great (often timely) films while they make the festival circuit. For me, they usually provide a rare opportunity to learn something I didn’t know before or be inspired.

While the web page gives a nice description of the many films (and there are a lot) there are often trailers online for these documentaries that I’d want to hunt down so I could get a real sense for the tone of the films and a feel for their stories. This year, I decided to just make a blog post and share all the trailers I could find for the films with everyone—in hopes that you go see as many as you can if you’re in town (Just to be clear, I don’t work for the Full Frame fest, I’m just a fan).

So here’s a copy-paste of the full frame documentary list with two additions to each film:

• A link to a trailer or featurette (if available, some weren’t)
• My own Ctrl+F searchable categories

The category tags were made up off the top of my head and are by no means definitive. They’re just based on my own interpretation of the film’s trailer and/or description. I made them because I thought they’d be helpful if you only like certain genres of documentary. Since there are a lot, I thought I’d give you some filters to find what’s relevant to you, faster. I also marked the ones I’m personally interested in with an asterisk in the front of the title, if you want to scan that way.

Anyway, try Ctrl+F searching for some of these categories and enjoy the trailers below. Hope you go see some!

Categories: Music, Dance, Historical, Education, Biographical, Expedition, Social Awareness, Political Action, LGBT, Psychological, Ethnography, Experimental, Sports, Crime, Animals

100 Years Show
Alison Klayman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vdgk7rlQ-0
 Carmen Herrera and her geometric, primary-colored paintings are portrayed with cinematic vigor, echoing the energy of the 99-year-old artist herself. (Short)(Biographical)

The Art of Flying
Jan van Ijken https://vimeo.com/127345477
 Thousands of starlings flock together in gyroscopic unison in this wordless depiction of one of nature’s most curious gestures. (Short)(Experimental)

At Home in the World (Et hjem i verden)
Andreas Koefoed https://vimeo.com/150787681
 At a Red Cross school in Denmark, a dedicated teacher helps refugee children withstand the hardships of adapting to a new country, as they fight to overcome their traumatic pasts. (Social Awareness, Education, Psychological) North American Premiere

*Audrie & Daisy
Bonni Cohen, Jon Shenk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vHZ-4AOuTo
 By weaving together the stories of two teenage girls, this film examines the devastating intersections of sexual assault and social media. (Social Awareness, Psychological)

*The Bad Kids
Keith Fulton, Lou Pepe https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E__ZxVG1510
 At a Mojave Desert high school, intrepid educators work to connect with at-risk students. Can their commitment help break the shattering effects of poverty and abuse? (Education, Psychological)

The Ballad of Fred Hersch
Charlotte Lagarde, Carrie Lozano
 This understated portrait of one of today’s greatest jazz pianists illuminates the creative process of a musical genius and the challenges of life as an AIDS survivor. (Music) World Premiere

Battles
Isabelle Tollenaere https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acHXvDu-Elw
 An essay in four chapters, this mysterious exploration of the footprints of war reveals European landscapes in which military past and peaceful present converge. (Experimental) US Premiere

The Black Belt
Margaret Brown
 In 2015, Alabama closed 31 DMVs, wiping out access to identification cards in Alabama’s Black Belt. This short follows a mobile unit traveling county to county to help register voters. (Short) (Political Action)

Call Me Marianna (Mów mi Marianna)
Karolina Bielawska https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9K77FNaQg78
 As she embarks on a quest to become herself, Polish transgender woman Marianna must summon inner strength and make immeasurable sacrifices. (LGBT)

City of Trees
Brandon Kramer https://vimeo.com/117641253
 At the height of the recession, a stimulus-funded “green jobs” training program in Washington, D.C., throws racial tensions and the messiness of nonprofit work into sharp focus. (Social Awareness)

Clínica de Migrantes: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness Maxim Pozdorovkin
 This moving examination of immigration and health care focuses on the work of Puentes de Salud, a volunteer-run clinic that provides medical services to the uninsured Latino community of South Philadelphia. (Social Awareness) World Premiere (Short)

Dancing for You (Dans for livet)
Erlend E. Mo
 Inspired by her granddad’s valiant struggle with cancer, 12-year-old Vilde wants to be the first female champion of Halling, a Norwegian folk dance traditionally reserved for men. (Short) (Dance)

Dixie Land
Roman Bondarchuk https://vimeo.com/49243955
 Under the mentorship of a beloved octogenarian teacher, four members of a Ukrainian youth brass band learn American tunes—and dream big dreams—in a post-Soviet landscape. (Music) World Premiere

Figure (Figura)
Katarzyna Gondek https://vimeo.com/117641253
 This dreamlike meditation follows the creation of a massive sculpture from fabrication to transportation, documenting its journey to the snowy hill where it will remain. (Short) (Experimental)

Following Seas
Tyler J. Kelley, Araby Williams http://www.the-jetty.com/following-seas-trailer/
 A sailing family makes 20 ocean voyages over two decades. This vivid firsthand account of years on the open seas brings their adventures to life through their own 16mm footage. (Expedition) World Premiere

Forever, Chinatown James Q. Chan
 Artist Frank Wong’s exquisitely detailed dioramas of the Chinatown of his childhood serve as portals to the past in a rapidly changing San Francisco. (Experimental) World Premiere
(Short)

Gleason
Clay Tweel http://deadline.com/2016/01/steve-gleason-als-new-orleans-saints-sundance-video-1201688326/
 Within weeks of being diagnosed with ALS, former NFL defensive back Steve Gleason finds out that he and his wife are expecting their first child. Gleason follows his decision to live, for his family and for others fighting the disease. (Sports, Social Awareness)

*God Knows Where I Am
Todd Wider, Jedd Wider https://vimeo.com/155436707
 This absorbing feature laces together varied perspectives and moves through time to unravel the mystery surrounding a woman found dead in a vacant New Hampshire farmhouse. (Crime)

Golden Age (Kulta-aika)
Maija Blåfield https://vimeo.com/116165958
 A self-proclaimed “documentation of remembering and forgetting,” this enigmatic short recollects and reimagines over 116 hours of footage the filmmaker shot over several decades. (Short) (Biographical)

*The Ground We Won
Christopher Pryor https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1n1ZblP1jk
 In the tiny farming town of Reporoa, New Zealand, a community rugby squad vows to come back from a losing season and go undefeated. (Sports)

Heavy Fog Tonight
Nathan Reich http://trailer.chanels.top/kiki-2016-movie-hd-trailer/

 The chief engineer of a steam-driven power plant creates installations that whistle and mist. As this unconventional artist grapples with retirement, a celebratory show takes place. (Short) (Biographical)

*Hooligan Sparrow
Nanfu Wang https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ll77doJoaTE 
Nanfu Wang documents Chinese activist Ye Haiyan (aka Sparrow) as she protests against a school principal’s sexual abuse of young girls, leading both Wang and Sparrow to become targets of government intimidation. (Social Awareness)

Horizons (Horizontes)
Eileen Hofer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcB7jGD60PY
 Three Cuban ballerinas, each from a different generation, take center stage in this mesmerizing celebration of dance and discipline. (Dance)

A House Without Snakes
Daniel Koehler
 In Botswana, two young men must wrestle with the choice between honoring ancestral traditions or following modern possibilities. (Ethnography) World Premiere (Short)

*I, Destini
Nicholas Pilarski, Destini Riley https://vimeo.com/133660147
 This animated short takes us inside the experiences of a young woman as she confronts the wrenching impact incarceration has had on her family. (Psychological, Biographical) World Premiere (Short)

In Pursuit of Silence
Patrick Shen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64c_1MtQUlM
 Challenging Western society’s most basic preconceptions about the nature of silence, this film conjures up innovative ways to help us hear what we’ve been missing. (Social Awareness)

*Kedi
Ceyda Torun https://vimeo.com/152779982
 Strutting amid the many glittering wonders of Istanbul are countless feline wanderers. Here, we glimpse the private lives of these independent creatures, as well as the humans who’ve become attached to them. (Animals)

Kiki
Sara Jordenö http://trailer.chanels.top/kiki-2016-movie-hd-trailer/
 This entrance into the world of voguing contrasts the energy and pulse of ball culture with the intimate and emotional stories of a group of young LGBTQ people of color. (LGBT)

Kivalina
Gina Abatemarco https://vimeo.com/127074296 
As rising sea levels and coastal erosion encroach upon their Arctic community, the Iñupiat Eskimos of a tiny Alaskan island fight to hold on to their homeland and their culture. (Ethnography) 
North American Premiere

La Laguna
Aaron Schock 
Amidst the rainforests of southern Mexico, a Mayan boy faces the impending loss of the freedom of his childhood as family pressures and economic realities close in. (Ethnography) 
World Premiere (Short)

*Life, Animated
Roger Ross Williams http://www.lifeanimateddoc.com/film/
 The family of a young autistic boy, who couldn’t speak for years, discovered a way to communicate with him through his treasured Disney films. Together, they transform the lines of animated characters into a language of love. (Psychological)

The Many Sad Fates of Mr. Toledano
Joshua Seftel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=658j6QR695o (NSFW)
 As photographer Phil Toledano obsesses over his mortality, he stages elaborate shoots to enact the myriad dark ways he might age, deteriorate, and die. (Short) (Biographical)

*Motley’s Law
Nicole N. Horanyi https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPNOk83rgaY
 Kimberley Motley is a former beauty queen, mother of three—and the only foreign, only female lawyer licensed to litigate in Afghan courts. (Biographical, Ethnography)

*Mr. Gaga
Tomer Heymann https://vimeo.com/139907441
 Revealing rehearsals and passionate performances bring to light the genius and complexities of Israeli choreographer Ohad Naharin, an artist who has helped revolutionize contemporary dance. (Dance)

The Mute’s House (Beit Ha’Ilemet)
Tamar Kay
 An intimate look into the lives of energetic eight-year-old Yousef and his deaf mother, Sahar, the last Palestinian residents of a deserted apartment building in the Israeli-controlled district of Hebron. (Biographical, Social Awareness) North American Premiere (Short)

*Newtown
Kim A. Snyder https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZF7YbDlqPWQ
 The bereaved community of Newtown, Connecticut, still reeling from the mass shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, opens up about the aftermath of an unthinkable tragedy. (Social Awareness, Psychological, Political Action)

NUTS!
Penny Lane https://vimeo.com/152525073
 This wildly fantastic story of Dr. John Romulus Brinkley, whose goat testicle impotence cure and million-watt radio station brought him fame and fortune, spins together animation, archival footage, and an unreliable narrator. (Biographical)

*Off the Rails
Adam Irving
 http://www.offtherailsmovie.com/#TRAILER Asperger’s syndrome and an obsession with New York City transit compel Darius McCollum to commandeer hundreds of trains and buses, landing him in jail 32 times. (Biographical) World Premiere

Out Run
S. Leo Chiang, Johnny Symons https://vimeo.com/92774362 
Follow transgender pioneer Bemz Benedito and Ladlad, the only LGBT political party in the world, on the campaign trail as they seek Congressional seats in the Philippines. (LGBT) 
World Premiere

The Peacemaker
James Demo http://documentaries.org/cid-films/the-peacemaker/
 Padraig O’Malley has dedicated his life to negotiating agreements between leaders of war-torn regions across the world. The Peacemaker follows him through years of this important work, revealing its deep ties to his personal life. (Biographical) World Premiere

Pickle
Amy Nicholson https://vimeo.com/141202496
 At once hilarious and heartfelt, Pickle chronicles a series of pets with bizarre afflictions through the recollections of a couple who loved them regardless. (Short) (Biographical)

*Salero
Mike Plunkett https://vimeo.com/146051605 
The discovery of vast lithium reserves beneath Bolivia’s dazzling Salar de Uyuni, the world’s largest salt flat, threatens to challenge salt-gatherer Moises’s traditional way of life. (Ethnography) North American Premiere

Sonita
Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B47MbpPuz7A
 As her family attempts to sell her as a bride, a determined Afghani refugee living in Iran fights to keep her dream of becoming a rap star alive. (Music, Ethnography)

*Speaking Is Difficult
AJ Schnack
This staggering indictment of gun violence in America contrasts serene present-day footage of sites of mass shootings with recordings of 911 calls. (Short) (Experimental, Social Awareness)

Starless Dreams (Royahaye Dame Sobh)
Mehrdad Oskouei http://www.critic.de/film/starless-dream-9210/trailer/
 With rawness and candor, young women in an Iranian juvenile detention center reflect on the crimes they have committed and the harsh circumstances that have shaped them. (Psychological)

Tarikat
Jasmijn Schrofer https://vimeo.com/131421447
 This visual poem, a hypnotic invocation of Islamic Sufi spiritual traditions, invites the viewer into the trancelike rhythms and movements of a quest for enlightenment. (Ethnography, Experimental) North American Premiere (Short)

Territory
Eleanor Mortimer https://vimeo.com/117733163
 In Gibraltar, tensions flare when unruly monkeys intrude upon the domesticated lifestyle that humans have built up around them. (Short) (Animals)

Topophilia
Peter Bo Rappmund https://vimeo.com/112672912
 Nature and industry clash and converge in this time-lapse experiment that follows the path of the 800-mile Trans-Alaska Pipeline System. (Experimental)

*Trapped
Dawn Porter https://vimeo.com/126178772
 When Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers (TRAP) laws restrict access to abortion in southern states, a group of passionate clinic workers and lawyers wage a fight to preserve a woman’s right to choose. (Social Awareness, Political Action)

When We Talk About KGB
Virginija Vareikyte, Maxi Dejoie https://vimeo.com/148422336
 Seven stories of former dissidents and KGB operatives in Vilnius, Lithuania, underscore the feelings of guilt, triumph, and loss that linger in a society once caught between ideology and regime. (Historical) US Premiere

INVITED PROGRAMS

All These Sleepless Nights
Michal Marczak http://www.indiewire.com/article/watch-exclusive-all-these-sleepless-nights-clip-teases-sundances-most-unconventional-documentary-20160120
 Over the course of a summer of endless parties and shimmering sensations, two Polish university students revel in and reel from the boundless possibilities of youth. (Experimental)

Author: The JT LeRoy Story
Jeff Feuerzeig
 The twisting, riveting tale of a gender-fluid author with a troubled past, who went on to become a literary sensation. (Biographical, LGBT)

Behemoth
Zhao Liang https://vimeo.com/137601039
 Dante’s Inferno meets industrialization in a breathtakingly cinematic allegory that explores the environmental ravages and human costs of coal mining in Inner Mongolia. (Experimental, Social Awareness)

By Sidney Lumet
Nancy Buirski https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOAoCng4qW0
 Weaving an interview with the renowned director together with rich selections from his oeuvre, this film highlights Lumet’s career and life through his own recollections. (Biographical)

Don’t Blink – Robert Frank
Laura Israel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-W2s-U3QBw
 This energetic portrait of the acclaimed photographer and filmmaker moves between past and present to capture an array of Frank’s extraordinary images and bear witness to his creative process. (Biographical)

*The Fear of 13
David Sington https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ja1wrRAAm4 
Part one-man show, part confessional, this gripping film allows a convicted murderer who spent two decades on death row to tell his own story—leaving the truth open to interpretation. (Crime)

The Illinois Parables
Deborah Stratman
 This visionary compilation unpacks the state of Illinois in eleven chapters, spanning different histories to explore social attachments to religion, violence, and the land itself. (Historical)

The Jazz Loft According to W. Eugene Smith
Sara Fishko
 From 1957 to 1965, an obsessive photographer documented the jazz musicians who stopped by his Manhattan loft to play all night. (Music)

Kate Plays Christine
Robert Greene http://www.traileraddict.com/kate-plays-christine/featurette-meet-the-artists
 Actress Kate Lyn Sheil relocates to Sarasota, Florida, to research her role as Christine Chubbuck, the television news reporter who committed suicide on air in 1974. (Biographical, Psychological)

Lo and Behold: Reveries of the Connected World
Werner Herzog https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Pv8Qj0Vkbo
 Werner Herzog’s heady, playful treatise on technology in the modern age takes us from the inception of the Internet to the future of artificial intelligence. (Social Awareness)

Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise
Bob Hercules, Rita Coburn Whack http://hollywoodlife.com/2016/01/26/maya-angelou-and-still-i-rise-documentary-sundance-debut/
 Through interviews with friends and family, and a wealth of archival footage, this luminous biography traces the immense influence of the poet, performer, and activist. (Biographical, Historical)

The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble
Morgan Neville https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjrILQproKU
 Traversing continents and cultures, the cellist and his international music group demonstrate the power of artistic collaboration through performances and personal stories. (Music)

Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You
Heidi Ewing, Rachel Grady https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkO6Jqfavw0
 The legendary, influential king of 1970s sitcoms reflects on his life, his work, and the profound shift in national consciousness fomented by his groundbreaking television shows. (Biographical)

*Presenting Princess Shaw
Ido Haar https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMXGIch82ZU
 Video blogger and aspiring singer Samantha Montgomery is unaware she has a follower and fan in the form of an enigmatic Israeli composer, whose unforgettable YouTube mashups might just help Samantha achieve her dreams. (Music, Biographical)

*Raising Bertie
Margaret Byrne https://vimeo.com/92845352
 In this longitudinal portrait of coming of age, three young men in rural Bertie County, North Carolina, persevere against poverty, discrimination, and unemployment. (Biographical, Ethnography) World Premiere

Rebel Citizen
Pamela Yates https://vimeo.com/145326724
 The late cinematographer and director Haskell Wexler looks back on his body of work to talk about key moments from his powerful films and their lasting political, and personal, impact. (Biographical, Historical)

*Sherpa
Jennifer Peedom https://vimeo.com/139654857
 In 2014, an avalanche on Mt. Everest took the lives of 16 Sherpas. With stunning visuals, this on-the-ground film reveals the complex forces leading up to the tragic accident and the tumultuous negotiations that follow. (Expedition, Social Awareness)

Tony Robbins: I Am Not Your Guru
Joe Berlinger
 A riveting behind-the-scenes look at the well-known business strategist’s once-a-year seminar “Date With Destiny,” where some 2,500 attendees prepare to change their lives. (Biographical)

*Two Trains Runnin’
Sam Pollard https://vimeo.com/121266222
 Featuring artful animation and performances by Gary Clark Jr. and Lucinda Williams, this story of the search for two forgotten blues singers takes us to Mississippi during the height of the civil rights movement. (Historical) World Premiere

Unlocking the Cage
Chris Hegedus, DA Pennebaker https://vimeo.com/149320749
 Having devoted his career to fighting for greater legal rights for nonhuman animals, attorney Steven Wise and his colleagues at the Nonhuman Rights Project launch a history-making lawsuit arguing for captive chimpanzees’ right to personhood. (Animals, Social Awareness)

Weiner
Josh Kriegman, Elyse Steinberg http://www.traileraddict.com/weiner-2016/featurette-meet-the-artists
 With unparalleled access to the candidate, Weiner follows disgraced congressman Anthony Weiner’s 2013 campaign for mayor of New York City and intensely navigates new political scandal as it unfolds. (Biographical, Historical)

The Full Frame Festival runs from April 7-10. Tickets go on sale April 1.