To offset the darkness now engulfing the United States in an unstoppable (self‑)destructive spiral, we must return to times when idealism illuminated the nation. Because there were times when struggle and non‑conformist art and thought were driving forces propelling the country’s cultural and political life—as were its discourse, its song, its street protest.  

Five recent films take us back to volatile moments when the U.S., beset by major crises, still managed to bring forth clairvoyant and harmonious voices convinced the nation—and the world—could be changed. These works about creative, socially conscious people are all made by foreigners reflecting on the United States. Five outside viewpoints that shed light on a territory in semi‑darkness. Archival footage anchors many of these inquiries, notably Austrian filmmaker Alexander Horwath’s Henry Fonda for President, a monumental essay that traces parallels between the actor’s life and the roles he played in Hollywood classics, mapping the drift of an entire nation.  

In Ernest Cole: Lost and Found, Haitian director Raoul Peck offers another powerful act of remembrance, delving into the life of the first South African photographer to expose apartheid’s crimes—and who, during a 1967 trip to New York, captured the suffering and resistance of African‑Americans.  

Although the fury that once sent rebels into the streets seems to have waned, luminous figures endure on the margins of endemic passivity. One such beacon is singer Caiti Lord, protagonist of French filmmaker Justine Harbonnier’s debut feature Caiti Blues.  

Peering into the virtual abyss, British directors Pinny Grylls and Sam Crane explore Grand Theft Hamlet, set in what appears to be a post‑apocalyptic Los Angeles, recording inside a famed video game and adopting avatars to test a singular premise: how might Shakespeare be staged in such an intangible, alienated realm?  

Found‑footage maestro Andrei Ujică of Romania, in TWST: Things We Said Today, revisits the Beatles’ legendary 1965 U.S. tour to reflect on that era’s political upheaval, spotlighting entrenched racism and police violence.  

Precisely because the United States increasingly resembles a dehumanized, unreal digital chessboard ruled by unethical billionaires, documentary cinema remains vital in preserving that slender fissure of freedom opened by committed creative work.

Javier H. Estrada, member of the Documenta Madrid selection committee and curator of the programme in collaboration with La Casa Encendida.