EXCLUSIVE: Peacock launches its first ever DocFest, an on-platform showcase highlighting a selection from the streamer’s top-tier documentary roster. The documentaries include Joe Berlinger‘s Shadowland, as well as projects exploring the accomplishments of Civil Rights activist Rosa Parks and the scandals of England’s Prince Andrew.
The six-week virtual festival will feature six brand new Peacock Original titles between September 14 and October 19, with new titles dropping every Wednesday. Peacock subscribers can find the documentaries via a dedicated collection on the streaming platform.
“Peacock continues its commitment to shining a spotlight on real-life stories deserving of a platform,” said Rod Aissa, EVP Unscripted Content, NBCUniversal, “We hope that the launch of DocFest will habituate audiences into coming to Peacock for their weekly fix of quality documentary content presented by some of the industry’s leading creatives.”
A full list of documentaries set for Peacock’s DocFest and details provided by the streamer can be found below.
Hell Of A Cruise
Premiere Date: September 14
Description: When passengers and crew members boarded the luxury Diamond Princess cruise ship in January of 2020, they had no idea that the deadly novel coronavirus boarded the ship with them turning the floating paradise into their worst nightmare. With access to hours of never-before-seen self-shot footage from passengers, this premium two-hour feature documentary will explore what went wrong and why only one week later were other cruise ships sent out to sea – where the same nightmare occurred again.
Director: Nick Quested
Executive Producers: Nick Quested, Max Pollack
Co-Executive Producer: Matthew Rowean
Consulting Producer: Spencer Fehrenbacher
Producers: Brett Kincaid, Mehdi Darlis, David Kennedy, Gretchen McGowan
Produced By: Goldcrest, MATTE Films
Format: Documentary, 78 minutes
Shadowland
Premiere Date: September 21
Description: Inspired by reporting in The Atlantic magazine, award-winning filmmaker Joe Berlinger sends documentary teams across America to embed with subjects who have rejected mainstream narratives, including the shocking real-time stories of a beloved rural Pennsylvania pizza shop owner facing twenty years in prison for her role in the January 6th riots, an anti-vaccine activist pushing a dangerous fake cure for Covid-19, and a mother divorcing her husband because she fears his beliefs put their children’s lives in danger. From this intimate viewpoint, Shadowland, a deeply immersive six-part docu-series, reveals how conspiracy theories have moved from the margins to the mainstream, exploring how people come to their beliefs, and what makes these theories so alluring. The series is a shocking wakeup call about the dangerous influence of conspiracy thinking on the functioning of our democracy, as families, friends, and the nation are increasingly being torn apart.
Executive Producers: Joe Berlinger, Craig D’Entrone, RadicalMedia’s Jon Kamen, Jen Isaacson, Jon Doran, The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg, Adrienne LaFrance and Linzee Troubh
Directors: Stephen Bailey, Alex Braverman, Eve Van Dyke
Produced By: RadicalMedia in association with Third Eye Motion Picture Co.
Format: Doc Series, 6 x 60 mins (binge drop)
Sex, Lies And The College Cult
Premiere Date: September 28
Description: Sex Lies and The College Cult is the shocking and unnerving true story of how a father and professional conman, Larry Ray, brainwashed students of Sarah Lawrence College into an abusive sex cult that upended their lives, and the lives of their families. The documentary chronicles decade-long abuse, extortion, sex trafficking and forced labor told in some of the victim’s own words. Through dark and personal footage, a portrait of the world inside this group is revealed – all rooted in manipulation and dark secrets.
Executive Producers: George Waldrum, Robert Palumbo, Ian Russell
Produced By: ITN Productions
Format: Documentary, 90 mins
Prince Andrew: Banished
Premiere Date: October 5
Description: Prince Andrew: Banished unpacks the tumultuous story of how Prince Andrew, Duke of York – formerly regarded as the attractive, beloved son of Queen Elizabeth II and decorated naval officer – whose behavior antics throughout his career as a Royal brought scandal and disgrace to the 1200-year legacy of the British Royal Family. Through new interviews with palace insiders, journalists, members of Andrew’s social circle, and the legal team that brought the allegations to light, the documentary takes a deep dive into the world of privilege, jealousy, desire, and greed that pushed Andrew; first, into the orbit of notorious sex offenders Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, and then into a sordid sex trafficking scandal that threatens to bring down the House of Windsor.
Executive Producer/Director: Jamie Crawford
Executive Producers: Jennifer Harkness, Laura Michalchyshyn, Sam Sniderman, Nina Burleigh, Emma Cooper, and Barbara Shearer
Senior Producer: Nick McKinney
Producer: Frank Ombres
Produced By: Blue Ant Studios
Format: Documentary, 1 x 90 mins
I Love You, You Hate Me
Premiere Date: October 12
Description: I Love You, You Hate Me is a limited series chronicling the rise and fall of Barney the Dinosaur’s furious backlash — and what it says about the human need to hate. From Barney-bashing to frat parties to homicidal video games, something in American society broke into a million pieces, and it’s never been put together again… or is this just who we were all along?
Executive Producers: Rob Eric, Joel Chiodi, David Collins, Michael Williams, Tommy Avallone, Raymond Esposito, Wendy Greene, and Amy Goodman Kass
Director: Tommy Avallone
Producer: Trent Johnson
Produced By: Scout Productions
Format: Doc Limited Series, 2 x 60 mins (binge drop)
The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks
Premiere Date: October 19
Description: The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks, which is based on the bestselling biography by Jeanne Theoharis and executive produced by award-winning journalist Soledad O’Brien, expands the record on Rosa Parks’ overlooked accomplishments and the importance of her drive and fight to overcome racial injustices and rampant inequalities. In short, what we are taught in school about Rosa Parks is a mere fraction of the full story about who she truly was.
Directors Yoruba Richen and Johanna Hamilton expertly weave together interviews from academics and activists such as Bryan Stevenson, Patrisse Cullors, and Ericka Huggins, along with personal stories from her family, and remarkable footage of Mrs. Parks herself, to illuminate her decades-worth of extensive organizing, strategizing, and activism in the pursuit of Black liberation. Lisa Gay Hamilton lends her talent in the documentary as the voice of Mrs. Rosa Parks.
Executive Producers: Soledad O’Brien, Jo Honig, Patrick Conway, Yoruba Richen and Johanna Hamilton
Directors: Yoruba Richen and Johanna Hamilton
Producer: Christalyn Hampton
Produced By: SO’B Productions
Format: Documentary, 96 mins