Donovan Livingston’s Full Frame Picks

Donovan Livingston, PhD is an educator and emcee whose research broadly explores the impact of hip-hop lyricism and poetics on student success in K-12 and higher education. Donovan currently serves as a Teaching Assistant Professor in the Department of Music and is the Director of College Thriving at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is also Chapel Hill’s Poet Laureate for 2025-26.

The 27th annual Full Frame Documentary Film Festival features a lineup of 50 films from 30 countries. With so many captivating documentaries in the 2025 lineup, how does one choose their must-sees? We thought having a guide might help, so Donovan Livingston is here to share the films he is most excited to see at the 27th annual Full Frame Documentary Film Festival: 

THE APOLLO (Dir. Roger Ross Williams)

I grew up watching Amateur Night at the Apollo, often trying to recreate what I saw on stage. Naturally, when I moved to Harlem for graduate school and a teaching gig at a neighboring Bronx high school, I was drawn to this national treasure, a landmark at the epicenter of Black creative, cultural capital. Though born and raised in North Carolina, this film, for me, feels like a return to a second home on 125^th Street, where I learned just how bright a star could shine. About the film >>

DEAF PRESIDENT NOW! (Dir. Nyle DiMarco, Davis Guggenheim)

As the son of a retired speech pathologist, I learned from my mother, the power of one’s voice and how the gift of language offers us access to that power. Her deftness for teaching, organizing, and allyship was apparent through her 35 years of service to the public school system. Now, in my role as college faculty, I believe this film is as timely as it is informative, challenging us to remember why we are here—to support the development of student voice through critical thinking and civic engagement. About the film >>

THE DEVIL IS BUSY (Dir. Christalyn Hampton, Geeta Gandbhir)

I am excited about this film, which seems to be situated at the intersection of faith, service, and human rights! This intimate portrait of Tracy, a security guard at an abortion clinic in the south, offers us a unique glimpse of what it means to, quite literally, protect a woman’s right to choose. The Q&A following the premiere won’t disappoint! About the film >>

SPEAK. (Dir. Jennifer Tiexiera, Guy Mossman)

The former speech and debate kid in me is somewhere, smiling from ear to ear, eager to see his story reflected on the big screen! Audre Lorde reminds us that “it is better to speak, remembering we were never meant to survive.” For this reason, at this moment in time, we must amplify youth voices. Carve out space for their truths. May this film inspire us all to remember that our silence won’t save us. About the film >>

76 DAYS (Dir. Hao Wu, Weixi Chen, Anonymous)

During these 76 days, we watched in terror, wondering not if–but how–we would ultimately be impacted by the impending global health crisis. The 76 days chronicled in this film resonate with my partner and me, as we became parents for the first time. Though parenting–now, three children–is a chaos of a different sort, navigating our new reality at the onset of the pandemic was a calamity unto itself. I am reluctant, yet inspired to reflect upon those 10 weeks in 2020, revisiting that moment of profound, collective grief, which provided a solemn, greyscale canvas for the portrait of our growing family. About the film >>

Ready to make your own picks? Single Tickets go on sale March 27!