NewportFilm Outdoors presents a thoughtfully curated slate of documentaries celebrating trailblazing women, groundbreaking achievements in sports and space exploration, and the enduring power of American storytelling through music, poetry, and documentary film.
The real draw here might be 'Cookie Queens' β Prince Harry and Meghan's first major involvement as executive producers on a documentary about Girl Scout cookies. Meanwhile, Mary Oliver's estate is allowing rare access to her private life, including her queerness, in what promises to be an intimate portrait of America's unlikely poet mystic.
Festival runs Thursdays June 25 through August 27, 2026 across venues including Rosecliff, Marble House, Fort Adams and Aquidneck Park. 'Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World' world premiered at True/False Film Fest 2026 and screened as part of DOC NYC Selects Spring 2026.
This festival proves documentaries are having a serious moment β from royal executive producers to America's Cup pioneers, there's enough star power here to draw crowds beyond the usual art-house crowd. NewportFilm Outdoors has quietly become one of summer's most interesting documentary showcases.
NewportFilm Outdoors is returning for its 2026 summer season with a lineup that reads like a who's-who of celebrity involvement in independent documentary filmmaking β and yes, Prince Harry and Meghan are among the executive producers on one particularly intriguing project. The festival kicks off June 25 at Great Friends Meeting House Lawn with "Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World," director Sasha Waters' intimate portrait of the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet who spent nearly five decades stalking the ponds and forests of Cape Cod.
The Mary Oliver film is notable for its star-studded voice cast, featuring Helena Bonham Carter, Steve Buscemi, Stephen Colbert, Lucy Dacus, Jesse Welles, and Oprah Winfrey reading Oliver's poems. But what makes this documentary potentially explosive is its willingness to explore dimensions of Oliver's life she kept intensely private β including her queerness. The poet, who died in 2019 at age 83, was out but guarded about her personal life, creating a fascinating tension between the accessibility of her nature poetry and the mystery of her inner world.
"She was America's unlikely, contemporary mystic," according to the festival description, " stalking the ponds and forests of Cape Cod for nearly fifty years in order to open herself and us, her readers, to the known and unknowable world." Michael Kantor, executive producer of PBS's 'American Masters,' will attend the opening night screening, with Rhode Island poet laureate Colin Channer moderating. The festival closes August 27 at Fort Adams with "Mighty Mary," director Mary Mazzio's documentary about when the first all-female crew entered the America's Cup β challenging 144 years of tradition in the legendary sailing competition.
The film stars Elizabeth Banks and Hugh Jackman among its executive producers, documenting how a team of world-class sailors and Olympians proved the naysayers wrong aboard the Mighty Mary. "Dismissed by some as a publicity stunt," the festival notes, "the crew proved the naysayers wrong, becoming a formidable presence and a powerful emblem of change." Journalist Addie Morfoot will moderate that screening with Mazzio in attendance. Perhaps the most unexpected credit in this year's lineup belongs to "Cookie Queens," which screens July 9 at Marble House.
The documentary about Girl Scout cookie culture lists Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, among its executive producers β marking one of their highest-profile production credits since relocating from royal duties. The film premiered in the Family Matinee section at Sundance 2026 before heading to SXSW, exploring "the joys, pressures and tensions woven into one of America's most cherished rituals: Girl Scout Cookie season." Director Alysa Nahmias and film participant Olive will attend the Newport screening.
Other highlights include Tom Hanks' involvement as executive producer on "Odyssey," Avi Belkin's Apollo 13 documentary premiering at Tribeca Festival 2026, which uses over 2,500 hours of archival footage to trace humanity's first chapter in space. Liz Garbus and Elizabeth Wolff's Billie Jean King documentary "Give Me the Ball!" also screens August 20 at Rosecliff, exploring the tennis legend's personal turmoil β including her struggles with an unhappy marriage, eating disorder, and hiding her sexual orientation β behind the public triumph of "Battle of the Sexes." The full season runs Thursdays from June 25 through August 27 across Aquidneck Island venues including Rosecliff, Marble House, Chateau-sur-Mer, Rough Point, Salve O'Hare, Aquidneck Park, Miantonomi Park, and Fort Adams. NewportFilm founder and artistic director Andrea van Beuren stated the festival remains "committed to elevating bold, character-driven nonfiction storytelling that sparks genuine conversation and connects with audiences in a meaningful way." Festival passes and tickets are available through the NewportFilm website.
