For many who don’t like in New York or Los Angeles, there are very few opportunities to see documentaries on the big screen. That’s one of the great things about film festivals and SXSW in particularly. There were plenty of documentaries that were screened, giving audiences a break from fiction and a look at reality.

Here’s a run-down of the documentaries I saw at the festival:

A Space Program, directed by Van Neistat: This was a strange one. It is the full performance of artist Tom Sachs’ strange journey to Mars, using only household tools and material to build his own personal NASA program. It’s a bit Wes Anderson-esque, with some weird humor (like Asteroids being used to help land the ship). Thankfully it only ran 72 minutes.

GTFO: Get The F% Out, directed by Shannon Sun-Higgins: If you head into this hoping for a comprehensive explanation of “Gamergate,” you will leave disappointed. Instead, Sun-Higgins focuses on the overall misogyny that female gamers face on a daily basis. It actually seems a bit short, running just 74 minutes, but it makes its point well.

Peace Officer, directed by Scott Christopherson & Brad Barber: Easily the best documentary I saw, this film focuses on the militarization of police. But like the best documentaries, it takes its subject to a very local level, focusing on former Utah sheriff Dub Lawrence. Thirty years after he established a SWAT team in his town, he blames the unit for hits son-in-law’s death. Christopherson and Barber follow Lawrence as he investigates other cases of possible extreme actions by police in the state. There are some really shocking stories throughout the film, which should act as a wake-up call.

Mavis!, directed by Jessica Edwards: Mavis! is a typical music documentary focusing on the life of Mavis Staples of the Staple Singers. At 75 years old, Mavis is still performing and will never stop until she can’t sing any longer. The film focuses a bit too much on performance footage, but is a worthy introduction to the Staple Singers’ history.

808, directed by Alexander Dunn: Have you ever wondered why the drum beat on so many hip-hop and dance classics sound the same? It’s because so many musicians and producers use the Roland TR808 drum machine. Sure, it was obsolete within months of its release, but its unique sound caught on like wildfire throughout the U.S. and Europe and is still used today. 808 is a bit repetitive (and there’s no interview with Kanye West about his 808s & Heartbreak), but it provides insight into this musical instrument with some great interviews.

Tab Hunter Confidential, directed by Jeffrey Schwarz: I interviews Schwarz, Tab Hunter and producer Allan Glaser before I finally got to see Tab Hunter Confidential. The result isn’t so much a film about an actor who stayed closeted for so long, but is really about an actor’s fast fall from fame. As a fan of classic Hollywood, I found it to be an engrossing look at how the system used to work.

image from ‘Peace Officer by Brad Barber, courtesy of SXSW