Documentaries

Planet M's documentary work investigates how institutions fail the people they're supposed to serve — and what accountability looks like, even decades later. Current projects in development examine histories of displacement, incarceration, and civil rights in California and across the world.

Our contemporary work brings the same investigative rigor to present-day subjects, from systemic crises in professional fields to stories that don't fit neatly into a single genre.

Documentary Features in Development

Section 14

The City of Palm Springs recently reached a landmark legal settlement with the descendants of Section 14 — whose homes were systematically destroyed by the city in the 1960s to make way for development of the downtown core.

Section 14 is a fiscally sponsored project of the International Documentary Association (IDA), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit arts organization. Contributions in support of Section 14 are payable to IDA and are tax deductible as allowed by law. 

Atascadero

Once called "Dachau for Queers" this California State prison was home to gay men institutionalized in the mid-20th century for their sexuality — many of whom were also subjected to forced lobotomies at the hands of a state doctor famous for popularizing the surgery.