The BBC’s international documentary strand, Storyville, returns to BBC Four and BBC iPlayer with six stand-out films from around the world – with five premiering this autumn and a further film in early winter 2027.
The new season will also introduce Storyville Shorts, beginning with Allies in Exile this autumn, the first of this new strand.
Nevine Mabro, Head of BBC Storyville, says: “I am proud to bring this new Storyville season to BBC Four and BBC iPlayer; it epitomises our commitment to bring bold, distinctive documentaries to our audience – films that offer fresh perspectives on extraordinary lives, as well as on the big cultural and political issues shaping our world. From acclaimed directors to new voices, this season will for the first time include cinematic short documentaries. I am also excited to give a sneak preview of a couple of stunning Storyville feature documentaries that will be airing in the new year.”
Autumn 2026
Ask E. Jean – Storyville
Ask E. Jean tells the extraordinary story of journalist, author and advice columnist E. Jean Carroll, whose irreverent wit, fearless spirit and determination have defined a career spanning more than five decades. Now known as the woman who took on President Donald Trump (who was out of office at the time), this film looks at her early days as Miss Cheerleader USA to how she became a pioneering voice in American magazine journalism. Carroll broke new ground as the first female editor at Esquire, Playboy and Outside, challenging conventions and helping redefine the role of women in the media.
The film charts her remarkable professional achievements and the legal battle against Donald Trump that brought her international attention. Carroll sued Trump twice in the civil courts over sexual abuse and defamation allegations – and won both times, transforming a deeply personal fight into a broader conversation about truth, justice and accountability.
Directed by Ivy Meeropol, Ask E. Jean is a revealing, witty and candid portrait of the woman who took on the world’s most powerful man.
Ask E Jean – Storyville (1×90’) is a Flora Films / Impact Partners / Red 50 production for BBC Four and BBC iPlayer, Produced by Laura Bickford, Annabelle Dunne and Ivy Meeropol. The Executive Producers are Graydon Carter, Ruth Ann Harnisch, Geralyn White Dreyfous, Katrina vanden Heuvel, Sheila Nevins, Jenny Warburg, Alexia Blaze, Jenny Raskin, Mitch Solomon, Emily Lansbury and MKR Sternlicht. The director is Ivy Meeropol. The Commissioning Editor for the BBC is Nevine Mabro.
A Want in Her – Storyville
A Want in Her is the debut feature documentary from young filmmaker and artist Myrid Carten, whose film unfolds as a powerful exploration of family, addiction and unconditional love in rural Donegal. Carten turns her camera on her mother Nuala – who has both bipolar disorder and alcoholism – and her wider family, uncovering years of grief, conflict and resilience.
Blending intimate contemporary footage with childhood home videos and elements of her artistic practice, the film moves between humour and heartbreak as it explores the complexities of caring for someone living with mental illness and addiction. Emotionally raw, this film offers not only a unique first-person portrait of a family experiencing crisis, but a universal reflection on how we can remain connected to those we love without losing ourselves.
A Want in Her – Storyville (1×81′)is Inland Films, Snowstorm Productions and Basalt Films acquisition for BBC Four, BBC Northern Ireland and BBC iPlayer. The producers are Tadhg O’Sullivan, Roisín Geraghty, Kat Mansoor and Eline van Wees. The director is Myrid Carten. The film is written and filmed by Myrid Carten. The original score is by Clarice Jensen. The Commissioning Editor for the BBC Four is Nevine Mabro and for BBC Northern Ireland is Mary McKeagney. The film will premiere on BBC One Northern Ireland.
Black is Beautiful: The Kwame Brathwaite Story – Storyville
Black Is Beautiful: The Kwame Brathwaite Story tells the remarkable story of Kwame Brathwaite, the Harlem photographer, activist and cultural pioneer whose work helped define the iconic “Black Is Beautiful” movement. Across a career spanning more than seven decades, Kwame captured over 500,000 images documenting African American life, creativity and identity, while championing Black pride through photography, fashion and grassroots activism.
Recently nominated for a Grierson Award in the Best Arts and Music Documentary category, Black is Beautiful: The Kwame Brathwaite Storyfeatures exclusive archive material and contributions from family members, artists and cultural figures including Alicia Keys, Swizz Beatz, Gabrielle Union and Jesse Williams, and explores Brathwaite’s pivotal role in reshaping perceptions of Black beauty and culture around the world.
Black Is Beautiful: The Kwame Brathwaite Story – Storyville (1×90′) is a Misfits Entertainment (a Mediawan company) and Wayfarer Studios production for BBC Four and BBC iPlayer. The producers are Joanna Boateng, Lizzie Gillett, Ian Bonhôte and Andrew Calof. The director is Yemi Bamiro. The editor is Otto Burnham. The Commissioning Editor for the BBC is Nevine Mabro.
Allies in Exile – Storyville Short
Building on its reputation for the world’s best international documentaries, Storyville is showcasing bold, innovative filmmakers in its new Storyville Shorts strand, featuring 10–40-minute films that explore the issues shaping our world.
The first of these new films: Allies in Exile, follows Syrian filmmakers Hasan Kattan and Fadi Al-Halabi. Having forged a friendship while filming the conflict in Syria, they now face a very different reality as they navigate the UK asylum system.
Turning the camera on themselves, they document a new chapter in their own lives shaped by uncertainty, bureaucracy and displacement, offering a deeply personal and very raw exploration of friendship and belonging. This heart-wrenching film offers an intimate perspective on life in exile and the enduring power of storytelling in the face of adversity.
Allies in Exile – Storyville Short (1×40′) is a Grain Media production, co-produced by AMC Production and Counterpoints Productions for BBC Four and BBC iPlayer. It was filmed with support from the Displacement Film Fund led by Cate Blanchett. The producer is Orlando von Einsiedel. The directors are Hasan Kattan and Fadi Al-Halabi. The cinematographer is Fadi Al-Halabi. The executive producers are Caroline Willis and Chloe Leland. The editor is Matthew Scholes, and the post supervisor is Alex Spence.
Allies in Exile – Storyville Short is presented by The New Yorker Documentary. The commissioning editor for the BBC is Nevine Mabro.
Manhood – Storyville
Manhood follows Dallas businessman Bill Moore as he sets out to make penis enlargement as commonplace as Botox and bring these procedures into the mainstream, positioning male cosmetic surgery as a growing part of the aesthetics industry.
The film follows several men, including a gay porn star and a father of five, as they both put their bodies on the line and undergo procedures in pursuit of physical transformation. Through intimate access to both the practitioners selling the dream and the men buying into it, the film traces the insecurities, trauma and societal pressures driving each of them, while raising uncomfortable questions about the ethics of an industry built on male self-doubt.
Filmed over two years, with dark humour and unexpected tenderness, Manhood is a timely and revealing portrait of identity and self-image as cosmetic surgery among men continues to rise.
Manhood – Storyville (1×90) is a World of Wonder, Outerboro and Madhouse production BBC Four and BBC iPlayer. The director is Daniel Lombroso. The producers are Kerry Mack and Rebecca Shaid, and the editor is David Zucker. Executive producers are Fenton Bailey, Randy Barbato, Sheila Nevins, Penny Lane, Gabriel Sedgwick, Marcus Gershenberg, Daniel Lombroso, Marissa Heringer and Cason Crane. The BBC Commissioning Editor is Nevine Mabro.
The Last Spy – Storyville
The Last Spy by acclaimed filmmaker Katharina Otto-Bernstein, shines a light on the extraordinary life of legendary CIA officer Peter Sichel, who died in 2024 at the age of 102.
A Jewish refugee who fled Nazi Germany before becoming one of the most influential figures in American intelligence, Sichel rose to serve as the CIA’s first Station Chief in post-war Berlin and played a pivotal role in some of the defining geopolitical events of the Cold War.
Through remarkably candid interviews filmed shortly before his death, Sichel reflects on a century shaped by conflict, espionage and political upheaval offering a rare insider’s perspective on the origins of many of today’s global political tensions. As one of the last living witnesses to a pivotal era of modern history, he shares his story in full for the first time in this fascinating film.
Combining personal testimony with historical insight, this documentary explores the moral complexities of intelligence work and the enduring consequences of decisions made behind closed doors.
The Last Spy – Storyville (1×90′) is a Film Manufacturers Inc. (FMI) and KJ Entertainment production for BBC Four and BBC iPlayer. The Executive Producers are Simon Kilmurry, David Dinerstein, Frida Torresblanco and Frank Murray. The producers are Katharina Otto-Bernstein, Oleg Dubson, Kathrin Lohmann and Sabine Schenk. The director is Katharina Otto-Bernstein. The film is written by Katharina Otto-Bernstein. The original score is by David Steinberg. The Commissioning Editor for the BBC is Nevine Mabro.
Films coming in 2027
One in a Million – Storyville
Winning both the Audience Award at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival and the World Cinema Documentary Directing Award, One in a Million follows Syrian refugee Israa’s epic journey from Syria to Germany and back again, as she and her family navigate war, exile, and heartbreak in a foreign land.
In September 2015, whilst filming for the BBC documentary series EXODUS, filmmakers Itab Azzam and Jack MacInnes met Israa, an 11-year-old Syrian girl selling cigarettes on a street corner in Turkey, alongside her father, Tarek. The family had fled Aleppo to join the largest movement of people since the Second World War. Together they trekked through Eastern Europe before finding refuge in Germany, where more than one million asylum seekers were registered by the end of that year.
For ten years, the filmmakers continued to document Israa’s life as the challenges of integration and cultural adjustment led to family breakdown as Western culture clashed with Syrian traditions. Following the fall of the Assad regime in 2025, the film culminates when the filmmakers follow Israa, now a mother herself, back to the ruins of Aleppo as she confronts her own questions of identity and belonging.
One in a Million – Storyville (1×90′) is a BBC Storyville, FRONTLINE FEATURES and Keo Films co-production for BBC Two and BBC iPlayer. The Executive Producer for BBC Storyville is Lucie Kon, producers are Will Anderson, James Bluemel, Andrew Palmer and Raney Aronson-Rath. The directors are Itab Azzam and Jack MacInnes.
Once Upon a Time in Harlem – Storyville
Once Upon a Time in Harlem is a remarkable documentary more than 50 years in the making. Drawing on extraordinary footage shot by pioneering filmmaker William Greaves in 1972, the film captures a unique gathering of surviving Harlem Renaissance writers, artists, musicians and cultural figures at Duke Ellington’s Harlem townhouse. Completed by Greaves’ son, David, following his father’s death, the film offers a vivid portrait of one of the most influential artistic movements in American history, preserving the memories, conversations and reflections of those who helped shape Black culture in twentieth-century America.
Once Upon a Time in Harlem – Storyville (1×90′) is a William Greaves Productions film for BBC Four and BBC iPlayer. The directors are William Greaves and David Greaves. The producers are Liani Greaves and Anne de Mare. Edited by Lynn True and Anne de Mare, with music by Tamar-kali. The Commissioning Editor for BBC Storyville is Nevine Mabro
Jon Creamer
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