HBO Documentary Film Series

On May 1, 2005, Wendy Maldonado, an Oregon mother of four, called 911 in hysterics. “I just killed my husband,” she confessed. When the operator asked how long her husband had abused her, Maldonado replied, “Every f---ing day of my life.” Wendy, along with her eldest son Randy, pleaded guilty to manslaughter. This film follows Wendy and her family in the few days before she begins a 10-year prison sentence for the crime. Alternately shocking and heartbreaking, the film tells the story of one woman’s fateful decision to make a new life for herself and her children at all costs, even her own freedom.

Reporter is a 2009 documentary film about the work of New York Times columnist Nicholas D. Kristof in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Executive produced by Ben Affleck and directed by Eric Daniel Metzgar, the HBO movie captures life in the war-ravaged African country and specifically focuses on the challenges faced by international correspondents in covering the region's crises

The special traces the history of the competition between Los Angeles Lakers immortal "Magic" Johnson and Boston Celtics great Larry Bird, which began 30 years ago when they led their midwest universities to the 1979 NCAA Championship game, through a decade of dominance, when the two won three NBA MVP awards apiece and a combined eight NBA titles.  Debuting on the eve of March Madness, the exclusive HBO presentation also examines the different cultures that helped shape them and contributed to their unique styles, as well as exploring their unlikely friendship. "Larry Bird and 'Magic' Johnson are basketball royalty," says Ross Greenburg, president, HBO Sports.  "Their accomplishments speak for themselves at every level, but their intersecting back stories are just as rich and compelling as their championship performances.  We will tell their full life stories and provide an in-depth portrait of their complicated and historic bond."   Though sharing Midwestern roots and following the same team-oriented philosophy, the introverted Bird (from the small town of French Lick, Ind.) and the extroverted Johnson (from the industrial state capital of Lansing, Mich.) couldn't be more different in personality.  The two superstars talk about each other at length in the film and provide intimate insights into their remarkable lives. The special's high-profile list of interviewees also includes:  Hall of Famer Pat Riley, who coached Johnson on the great Lakers teams of the 1980s; teammates Kevin McHale, Cedric Maxwell and Michael Cooper; George Fox, Johnson's high school coach; siblings Evelyn Johnson and Mark Bird; entertainer Arsenio Hall; former CBS Sports executive Ted Shaker; and sports journalists Bryant Gumbel, Jackie MacMullan, Charles Pierce and Steve Springer.

A portrait of the acting craft of John Cazale and a tour through the movies that defined a generation.

'Smash His Camera' profiles Ron Galella, the original American paparazzo, who took iconic photos of such celebrities as Marlon Brando, Andy Warhol and Jackie Onassis -- and offers a thoughtful examination of the nature of fame, the relationship between celebrities and their chroniclers and the delicate balance between privacy and freedom of the press.

Tells the personal story of Neda Agha-Soltan who became the iconic symbol of Iran's 2009 post-election protests, and explores the larger Iranian struggle.

The 2010 Sundance Film Festival award-winning film exposes the possible hazards of domestic natural gas drilling.

The controversial "Dr. Death" runs for Congress after spending eight years in prison.

Visits the little Victorian-style village of Lily Dale, NY, which is home to the world's largest community of mediums.

Follows Kenyan Chris Mburu on his journey to find the stranger who sponsored his childhood education.

Follows children living in California motels as their families struggle to survive in the one of the richest zip codes in the U.S.

Exposes the opposing sides of one of America's most intractable conflicts: abortion.

Follows a group of lonely hearts who come together and connect with each at a Salsa dance school in Spanish Harlem.

Academy Award® winner Alex Gibney (Taxi to the Dark Side) collaborates with Pulitzer Prize winner Lawrence Wright to bring Wright’s titular one-man play to the screen. Wright made waves in 2006 with his best-selling book The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11, chronicling fundamentalist Islam’s rise to power, and the roots of modern religious extremism and terrorism. In contemplating how to adapt his book for the stage, Wright ultimately chose to refocus on his own experience researching and writing the book, and his struggle to maintain objectivity as a journalist investigating Islamic terror. The resulting work is less a literal adaptation and more a personal, emotional complement piece to the objectivity of his nonfiction book. It debuted to rave reviews in March 2007. With Gibney’s documentary on the performance, the layers of adaptation are taken a step further. Channelling equal parts Spalding Gray and An Inconvenient Truth, Gibney captures both the emotional power and political implication of Wright’s work in a distinctly cinematic way, making My Trip to Al-Qaeda a riveting travelogue/performance piece.

Children talk about their experiences dealing with learning disabilities such as dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia, attention deficit disorder, and auditory processing disorder.

An eager new group of sexy recruits set out to become working girls at the Moonlite BunnyRanch in this sizzling 'Cathouse' special We know who we are, where we came from, and why we're here. Do you?