HBO Summer Docs Series (2011)

PUSSY RIOT: A PUNK PRAYER – debuting 06.10.13. This film tells the story of Nadia, Masha and Katia of the feminist art collective Pussy Riot. In Feb. 2012, they performed a 40-second “punk prayer” inside Russia’s main cathedral, which led to their arrest on charges of religious hatred, followed by a trial that reverberated around the world and transformed the face of Russian society. With unparalleled access and exclusive footage, this timely film looks at the real people behind the colorful balaclavas. Directed and produced by Mike Lerner & Maxim Pozdorovkin and a Sundance Film Festival Award Winner.

LOVE, MARILYN – debuting 06.17. This documentary, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of Marilyn Monroe’s death, presents footage and audiotapes along with her recently discovered handwritten letters, diaries, notes, poems, journals and notebooks, which set the icon’s private life against the backdrop of her very public life and loves. The film includes readings and appearances by an all-star cast, including F. Murray Abraham, Elizabeth Banks, Adrien Brody, Ellen Burstyn, Glenn Close, Hope Davis, Viola Davis, Jennifer Ehle, Ben Foster, Paul Giamatti, Jack Huston, Stephen Lang, Lindsey Lohan, Janet McTeer, Jeremy Piven, Oliver Platt, David Strathairn, Lili Taylor, Uma Thurman, Marisa Tomei and Evan Rachel Wood. Interviews and rare archival footage feature Arthur Miller, Joe DiMaggio, Amy Greene, Molly Haskell, Truman Capote, Norman Mailer and Elia Kazan, among others. Directed by Oscar® nominee Liz Garbus.

MISS YOU CAN DO IT debuting 06.24. This next film spotlights Abbey Curran, Miss Iowa USA 2008, the first woman with a disability to compete at the Miss USA Pageant, as well as eight girls and young women from around the country living with special needs, who participate in the Miss You Can Do It Pageant. Created in 2004 by Curran, the pageant offers them and their families a chance to bond and participate in a special event where inner beauty and abilities reign. Directed by Ron Davis.

GIDEON’S ARMY debuting 07.01. An official selection of the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, this documentary follows idealistic young defenders in the deep south who face particularly difficult challenges due to high bonds, mandatory minimum sentencing and a culture that is traditionally “tough on crime.” Despite low pay, long hours and staggering caseloads, these young professionals, with the help of the Southern Public Defender Training Center (SPDTC), take on the job in the name of public service. Directed by Dawn Porter.

GASLAND PART II debuting 07.08 This is the provocative follow-up to Josh Fox’s 2011 Academy Award®-nominated “Gasland,” about the controversial method of extracting natural gas and oil known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. Employing his trademark dark humor, Fox’s new effort shows how the stakes have been raised on all sides of one of today’s most hotly debated environmental issues.

THE CRASH REEL debuting 07.15. This sport documentary is directed by two-time Academy Award nominee Lucy Walker, is an exhilarating ride through the life of Kevin Pearce, the American snowboarding champion who suffered a traumatic brain injury while preparing for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. In addition to interviews with Pearce’s close-knit family and friends, the powerful documentary includes footage from hundreds of sources, recorded over two decades that captures the soul of the sport and questions the price people pay for their passions.

THE CHESHIRE MURDERS debuting 07.22. This film explores the triple rape-arson-homicide that rocked the quiet town of Cheshire, Ct. in July 2007, culminating in a politically charged death-penalty trial. Debuting in conjunction with the sixth anniversary of the murders, the documentary draws on exclusive interviews spanning half a decade, uncovering the shocking, previously untold drama behind the story and revealing a family and community changed forever. Directed by Emmy® winner Kate Davis and David Heilbronner.

FIRST COMES LOVE debuting 07.29. It follows director Nina Davenport’s quest to have a baby on her own, ranging from hormone injections to post-natal chaos while highlighting her conventional family’s reaction to her unconventional decision. Unsparingly honest, occasionally hilarious and ultimately moving, the documentary offers a fresh take on parenthood.

CASTING BY debuting 08.05. This one spotlights one of filmmaking’s unsung heroes – the casting director – viewing the last half-century of Hollywood history from a different perspective. Iconoclastic casting pioneers like Marion Dougherty and Lynn Stalmaster used their exquisite taste and gut instincts to reject traditional Hollywood typecasting and bring new kinds of leading men and women to the screen, such as Dustin Hoffman, Bette Midler, Robert Duvall and Gene Hackman. In the process, they helped change the old studio system and usher in a new Hollywood through movies like “Midnight Cowboy,” “The Graduate,” “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” and “Bonnie and Clyde.

AMERICANS IN BED debuting 0812. This documentary features candid interviews with ten American couples – captured in the comfort of their own beds – as they openly discuss sex, infidelity and love. From young New Yorkers who have split up 26 times, to spouses in their 90s who have been married 71 years, this touching, funny and often surprising film offers intimate insights into what makes or breaks a relationship. Directed by Phillipa Robinson.