Documentary Archives | Otaku No Culture

Gimme Truth … or should that be Liberty Than Condemnation?

At Hot Docs 2026, Gimme Truth explores conspiracy culture, spiritual identity, and fringe belief systems with a detached, observant eye. Rather than proving or debunking its subjects, the film watches how people build meaning, community, and personal mythology around the ideas they hold dear.

World Premiere at Hot Docs 2026

What is the truth behind Gimme Truth, a documentary that questions the various beliefs circulating around the world? From conspiracy narratives that include 9/11 to New Age World Orders, there is a wide range of material on display. Filmmakers Simon Ennis and Brad Abrahams seem less interested in proving or disproving anything than in observing how these ideas spread. Through Hot Docs 2026, running this weekend, the response from many viewers may well be a simple, “Oh, really?” after watching it.

As for facts and verification, that responsibility feels deliberately left to the viewer. That is partly why the film opens at Conscious Life Expos. These gatherings are filled with people who are not easily categorised as “hippies,” but rather individuals who believe they are attuned to a higher frequency, if not a wider range of thought.

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More Than Just A Tribute: With Eraserheads Combo on the Run, The Show Must Go On

Eraserheads Combo on the Run gives the Beatles of the Philippines space to tell their own story, tracing their rise, tensions, and lasting influence on Filipino music.

Now playing at select theatres across North America. For venues, please visit www.eraserheadsfilm.com

For a band often called the Beatles of the Philippines, the Eraserheads have cemented a legacy few will forget. Director Maria Diane Ventura’s Eraserheads Combo on the Run offers a rare reckoning, giving the band a chance to set the record straight in their own words. Their message of hope lives in what they deliver best: songs about love, friendship, and student life.

This tribute follows Ely Buendia, Raymund Marasigan, Marcus Adoro, and Buddy Zabala from their origins as university kids at UP Diliman in 1989 to their rise as the defining voice of a Filipino generation. Also included is their parting of ways and an examination of what led to their 2022 Ang Huling El Bimbo reunion concert. According to this work, a quarter of a million people attended!

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Terror Awaits When Nash The Slash Rises Again!

A stylish and thoughtful documentary, Nash The Slash Rises Again! examines the life, sound, and legacy of one of Canada’s most singular musical innovators, celebrating an artist who turned performance, technology, and mystery into something unforgettable.

Opens at Select Theatres March 13

Nash the Slash is an original. A living Phantom of the Theatre, unafraid to obscure himself, he’s often seen performing wrapped like a mummy, minus the Egyptian motifs, instead donning dark sunglasses and a stiff top hat. When we see him in Nash the Slash Rises Again!, he’s not just a silent film star, but a silver age minx. He exists in a space where noir sensibilities thrive. Nearly everyone knows the name, even if the sound itself feels ephemeral, electronic, and ahead of its time.

What’s presented in Tim Kowalski’s documentary brilliantly honours him like a living memorial. Rameses the Great would be jealous. When this musician doesn’t predate the theatrical shock of early Pink Floyd or Alice Cooper, but feels spiritually adjacent to them, evolving along a parallel creative wavelength. One suspects they’d have relished sharing a stage had the opportunity arisen.

With interests leaning heavily into the horror film genre, shock becomes part of the live experience for those fortunate enough to witness him perform. Not every show has him embodying The Invisible Man, but the theatricality remains central. His life and career are explored in thoughtful detail through Tim Kowalski’s documentary.

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Look Out! The Skywatcher is Coming, And There’s No Need To Be Scared.

Part two of the Skywatcher trilogy heads to Bradshaw Ranch, trading hard answers for atmosphere and suggestion. With gorgeous drone work and speculative skywatching, this middle chapter feels more like a field guide than a revelation.

Bradshaw Ranch is back under the magnifying glass, and this time Dan Starkey and Clive Christopher (of Unearthed) are poking around Sedona, Arizona to see what kind of cosmic dust is being kicked up. Usually, their eyes are glued to the skies, scanning for UAPs drifting over the desert. In part two of a trilogy flying under the Skywatcher banner, and no, I did not spiral into thoughts of Skywalkers or Skinwalkers. What we get isn’t a deep excavation of theory but more of a starter kit. It’s a gentle “here’s how you might flag down the weird” guide for anyone tempted to pack a flashlight, find a mate to protect your back, and go hunting for an unexplained encounter.

The region near the Superstition Mountains has long been steeped in lore. Indigenous stories, frontier myths, whispers of hidden gold and stranger things. If cryptids once roamed the Wild West, I would not be shocked. That’s not the path this documentary takes. Instead, it leans into the idea of energy, where it’s coming from and if it is sentient. Maybe this force is stirred up by human intention, or perhaps by something less visible and more elusive. If I ever decide to go hunting for hematite, well known in New Age circles for its “grounding” properties, I now know where to start. Still, much like the cautionary tales about removing lava rocks from Hawaii, I suspect the desert might not appreciate souvenirs either.

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Combo on the Run Primed and Ready to Showcase The Eraserheads and Their Amazing Legacy

Abramorama have acquired the Eraserheads documentary Combo on the Run, fast-tracking it for a North American theatrical release on April 24, 2026. The film explores the band’s legacy, reunion era, and cultural impact.

Release Date: April 24, 2026

AB2 Media Group and Abramorama have acquired the Eraserheads documentary Combo on the Run, fast-tracking it for a North American theatrical release. For many Filipino music fans, signature tracks like “Ang Huling El Bimbo” and “With a Smile” remain cultural touchstones. While the band may not be widely known in North America, their impact in the Philippines is undeniable, and this film explores the depth of that legacy.

Director and producer Maria Diane Ventura calls the partnership with Abramorama a natural fit. Known for distributing culturally significant music documentaries, the company brings experience and reach to a story that extends beyond music. Ventura notes that although the film centers on the band’s catalog, it also speaks to division, reconciliation, and healing during politically turbulent times.

Though rooted in the Philippines’ social realities, the themes of unity and rediscovery resonate globally.

From the Press Release:

Eraserheads: Combo on the Run chronicles the full arc of the Eraserheads phenomenon — from their formation as UP Diliman students in 1989, in the wake of the EDSA People Power Revolution that restored democracy in the Philippines, to becoming the defining soundtrack of a generation and staging a historic reunion run that drew nearly a quarter of a million fans. This marks the first Philippine music documentary distributed by Abramorama.

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Star Light, Star Bright: Is Elizabeth Taylor Rebel Superstar a True Delight?

A thoughtful three-part primer on Elizabeth Taylor Rebel Superstar that spotlights the studio system’s control, her hard-won agency, and the legacy she forged beyond scandal, including her later advocacy and Live Aid appearance.

Passion Pictures
Coming to Hollywood Suite Dec 26th

At long last, the BBC documentary Elizabeth Taylor: Rebel Superstar is turning up on additional distribution channels. Not only does it offer a revealing look at the old studio system, it also delivers a fitting examination of Taylor’s life. Not everyone today understands how that system functioned, and I appreciate this work for acting as both a reminder and an introduction to how things once worked. Although she hit the scene years after Chaplin and the true Golden Age, she endured through its twilight and well into the Silver Age.

One detail that truly hits a nerve is how young performers were treated. They were expected to “perform” whenever required and were handled as commodities rather than people. While this exploitation predated the case of Jackie Coogan, whose earnings were famously squandered, the documentary makes clear that the damage took many forms.

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