HBO Confirms Documentary Lineup for the First Half of 2014

HBO has released the schedule of documentaries it’ll be airing for the first half of the year and included in the bunch are looks at acclaimed cartoonists, mother-daughter relationships, prison education, weddings, and poverty, among several other topics that will be broached by HBO Documentary Films this year. Last year included documentaries about amFAR, Stephen Sondheim, and chemical companies, while 2014 has thus far seen The Education of Mohammad Hussein, a documentary centering on an Islamic school dealing with radical Quran-burning pastor Terry Jones.

Which HBO documentary do you think sounds the most interesting? What would you like to see the network profile in the documentaries it’ll produce for the second half of the year? Do you have a favorite HBO documentary of all time?

Herblock – The Black & The White (January 27th)
Subject: Four-time Pulitzer-winning cartoonist Herbert L. Block.
Interviews with: Jon Stewart, Carl Bernstein, Bob Woodward, Ben Bradlee, Lewis Black and Tom Brokaw
Directed by: Michael Stevens and George Stevens, Jr.

Questioning Darwin (February 10th)
Subject: Modern-day creationist theory and how Darwin’s findings affected his conception of God.
Directed by: Antony Thomas

Happy Birthday to a Beautiful Woman (February 24th)
Subject: Sandra Bush, the mother and muse of director Mickalene Thomas, also a New York artist.
Features: Intimate interviews and personal/archival photos
Directed by: Mickalene Thomas

Paycheck to Paycheck: The Life and Times of Katrina Gilbert (March 17th)
Subject: Women and poverty in the United States through the lens of a single mother with three children and a full-time job.
Executive Produced by: Maria Shriver

Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hall (March 31st)
Subject: The hospice system of Iowa State Penitentiary, one of America’s oldest maximum security prisons.
Directed by: Edgar A. Barens

The University of Sing Sing (March 31st)
Subject: Hudson Link, a prison education program instituted at Sing Sing Correctional Facility.
Directed by: Tim Skousen

One Last Hug: Three Days at Grief Camp (April)
Subject: Camp Erin, a camp where children can go and grieve for the loss of a loved one that was founded by baseball player Jamie Moyer.
Directed by: Irene Taylor Brodsky

All About Ann: Governor Richards of the Lone Star State (April)
Subject: Former Texas Democratic governor Ann Richards and the reform she brought to gun control, women’s rights, and the prison system within her state.
Interviews with: Bill Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, Dan Rather, Tom Brokaw, and Michael Dukakis
Directed by: Keith Patterson

The Dead Mothers’ Club (May 5th)
Subject: Three women who lost their mothers at an early age.
Interviews with: Rosie O’Donnell, Molly Shannon, and Jane Fonda
Directed by: Carlye Rubin and Katie Green

Larry Kramer (May)
Subject: Acclaimed playwright, novelist, and essayist Larry Kramer.
Directed by: Jean Carlomusto

Remembering the Artist: Robert De Niro, Sr. (June 9th)
Subject: A profile of esteemed painter Robert De Niro, Sr. via intimate interviews with his son.
Directed by: Perri Peltz and Geeta Gandbhir

112 Weddings (June 16th)
Subject: Themes of love, commitment, and life following a wedding, juxtaposing present-day reality with wedding-day flashbacks.
Directed by: Doug Block

The Case Against 8 (June 23rd)
Subject: The Supreme Court case that overturned Proposition 8 in California
Directed by: Ben Cotner and Ryan White