TIFF 2012: sexual abuse in the Catholic church, how to sell drugs and more subjects in this year’s Documentaries programme

The Documentaries programme at TIFF this year is packed full of interesting subject matter, from Ben Johnson’s record-breaking run at the 1988 Seoul Olympics (and the reality that he took steroids to achieve that feat) to Tomi Ungerer and his subversive art to moon worshippers. For those who want to step away from genre films and works of fiction, these 30 docs are a pretty safe bet.

9.79* (U.K.) Director: Daniel Gordon Subject: 1988 Seoul Olympics

Artifact (U.S.) Director: Bartholomew Cubbins Subject: Jared Leto’s band 30 Seconds to Mars

A World Not Ours (U.K., Lebanon and Denmark) Director: Mahdi Fleifel Subjects: Three generations of exile in the refugee camp of Ain El-Helweh, in southern Lebanon

The Act of Killing (Denmark, Norway and U.K.) Director: Joshua Oppenheimer Subjects: Unrepentant death-squad leaders

As If We Were Catching a Cobra (Syria and France) Director: Hala Alabdalla Subjects: Arab artists fighting for freedom and justice

Bestiaire (Canada and France) Director: Denis Côté Subject: Observing animals

Camp 14—Total Control Zone (Germany) Director: Marc Wiese Subject: A man who was born and grew up in a Gulag-style North Korean camp

The Central Park Five (U.S.) Director: Ken Burns, David McMahon and Sarah Burns Subjects: Five black and Latino teenagers wrongly convicted of raping the Central Park Jogger

The End of Time (Canada and Switzerland) Director: Peter Mettler Subject: Perception of time

Far Out Isn’t Far Enough: The Tomi Ungerer Story (U.S.) Director: Brad Bernstein Subject: Tomi Ungerer and his subversive art

Fidaï (France, Algeria, Qatar, China and Kuwait) Director: Damien Ounouri Subject: El Hadi, a 70-year-old veteran of the Algerian War of Independence

First Comes Love (U.S.) Director: Nina Davenport Subject: Husband-free pregnancy

The Gatekeepers (Israel, France, Germany and Belgium) Director: Dror Moreh Subjects: Six former heads of the Shin Bet—Israel’s secret service agency—share their insights and reflect publicly on their actions and decisions

The Girl From the South (Argentina) Director: José Luis Garcia Subject: A young Korean student activist Garcia met in 1989

How to Make Money Selling Drugs (U.S.) Director: Matthew Cooke Subject: The lives of those on both sides of the “war on drugs”

Iceberg Slim: Portrait of a Pimp (U.S.) Director: Jorge Hinojosa Subject: Iceberg Slim and his transition from pimp to author of seven books

London—The Modern Babylon (U.K.) Director: Julien Temple Subjects: London’s immigrants, bohemians, musicians, writers, artists, dangerous thinkers and political radicals

Lunarcy! (Canada) Director: Simon Ennis Subjects: Moon worshippers

Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God (U.S.) Director: Alex Gibney Subject: The abuse of power in the Catholic Church

Men At Lunch (Ireland) Director: Seán Ó Cualáin Subject: The untold story behind iconic image Lunch atop a Skyscraper, take on the 69th floor of the Rockefeller building in the autumn of 1932

More Than Honey (Germany, Austria and Switzerland) Director: Markus Imhoof Subject: Honeybees

No Place on Earth (U.S., U.K. and Germany) Director: Janet Tobias Subjects: 38 Ukrainian Jews that spent 18 months living in caves during the Second World War

Reincarnated (U.S.) Director: Andrew Capper Subject: Snoop Dogg in Jamaica

Roman Polanski: Odd Man Out (U.S.) Director: Marina Zenovich Subject: Roman Polanski’s arrest at the Zurich Film Festival

The Secret Disco Revolution (Canada) Director: Jamie Kastner Subject: History and influence of disco music

Shepard & Dark (U.S.) Director: Treva Wurmfeld Subject: Sam Shepard and Johnny Dark’s friendship

Show Stopper: The Theatrical Life of Garth Drabinsky (Canada) Director: Barry Avrich Subject: The rise and fall of show business mogul Garth Drabinsky

State 194 (Israel, Palestine and U.S.) Director: Dan Setton Subject: Palestinian statehood

Storm Surfers 3D (Australia) Directors: Christopher Nelius and Justin McMillan Subjects: Two surfers seek out the world’s biggest waves

The Walls of Dakar (Senegal) Director: Abdoul Aziz Cissé Subject: Street art in Dakar