Contenders Film: Documentary Kicks Off Today With 20 Titles Aiming To Expand And Explain Our Worlds

Deadline's Contenders Film: Documentary awards-season event kicks off Sunday at 8 a.m. PT and promises to open up distant lands and even a distant planet—no passport required.

Click her to register for and watch today's Contenders livestream.

The terrain covered by the cast and creatives from our 20 participating films astonishes with its variety and range: an enclave of Delhi, India in All That Breathes , a remote section of Paraguay in Eami , and possibly an even more remote outpost of the Brazilian rainforest in Wildcat . Moscow is the ultimate destination of Navalny , the documentary about Russia's imprisoned and poisoned opposition leader, and Descendant takes us to a neighborhood of Mobile, Alabama settled by survivors of the last slave ship known to have navigated U.S. waters.

About 5,600 miles separate Moscow from Mobile, mere inches apart compared to the far-flung rendezvous point of Good Night Oppy , about NASA's incredible mission that dispatched two rovers to Mars — a voyage of roughly 35 million miles.

RELATED: The Contenders International – Deadline's Full Coverage

In a sense, Moonage Daydream ventures to outer space as well, to explore the art and music of David Bowie, the rock star known for inhabiting the guises of Ziggy Stardust and Major Tom.

Contenders Film: Documentary thrums to the sound not only of Bowie, but a contemporary classic in Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song . The beat goes on in The Return of Tanya Tucker: Featuring Brandi Carlile , Louis Armstrong's Black & Blues , and a pop star-actress who bravely shares her mental health struggles in Selena Gomez: My Mind and Me .

The panel lineup boasts some of documentary's most established talents: Oscar nominees Brett Morgen of Moonage Daydream and Tia Lessin of The Janes (co-directed with Emma Pildes). Multiple Emmy nominee Chris Smith directs Sr. , his intimate look at filmmaker Robert Downey Sr. and his relationship with his son, Robert Downey Jr. Oscar and Emmy nominee Reginald Hudlin, whose feature directing career began with the comedy House Party in 1990, turns his lens onto a Hollywood icon in Sidney , his portrait of the late Sidney Poitier.

For all the distance traveled by these films, one of our Contenders strays no further than a balcony overlooking a street in Warsaw, Poland. It's one of the stunning truths of the documentary artform that compelling experiences can spring from the unlikeliest of places.

Check out today's schedule and lineup of speakers below, and stick with Deadline all day for our panel coverage, both on the site and on social media channels via the hashtag #DeadlineContenders. And stay tuned for Wednesday, when we launch the event streaming site with the complete panel videos.

Contenders Film: Documentary 2022

8 a.m. PT – Opening remarks

SONY PICTURES CLASSICS

Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song

Dan Geller (Co-Writer/Co-Director/Co-Producer/Co-Editor/Cinematographer)

Turn Every Page: The Adventures of Robert Caro and Robert Gottlieb

Lizzie Gottlieb (Director/Producer)

The Return of Tanya Tucker – Featuring Brandi Carlile

Kathlyn Horan (Writer/Director/Producer)

HBO DOCUMENTARY FILMS

All That Breathes

Shaunak Sen (Director/Producer)

38 At The Garden

Frank Chi (Writer/Director)

The Janes

Emma Pildes (Co-Director/Producer)

Moonage Daydream

Brett Morgen (Writer/Director/Producer/Editor)

MORNING BREAK

NETFLIX

Sr.

Chris Smith (Director/Co-Cinematographer)

Descendant

Margaret Brown (Director/Co-Producer)

APPLE ORIGINAL FILMS

Louis Armstrong's Black & Blues

Sacha Jenkins (Director/Producer)

Selena Gomez: My Mind and Me

Alek Keshishian (Co-Writer/Director/Producer)

Sidney

Reginald Hudlin (Director/EP)

AMAZON STUDIOS

Wildcat

Melissa Lesh (Co-Director/Producer/Co-Editor)

Good Night Oppy

Ryan White (Co-Writer/Director/Producer)

LUNCH BREAK

WARNER BROS PICTURES/CNN FILMS/HBO MAX

Navalny

Daniel Roher (Director)

SHOWTIME

The Corridors of Power

Dror Moreh (Director/Producer)

LOUVERTURE FILMS

Eami

Paz Encina (Writer/Director/Producer)

ONYX COLLECTIVE

Aftershock

Paula Eislet (Co-Director/Co-Producer)

LOZINSKI PRODUCTION

The Balcony Movie

Paweł Łoziński (Writer/Director/Producer/Editor)

GUEST HOUSE PRODUCTIONS

Guerrilla Habeas

Betsy Hershey (Co-Director/Producer)