HBO Documentary Films to Present All-New Original Specials This Summer

HBO Documentary Films heats up the summer with thought-provoking new films on Monday nights, kicking off a new seven-week series MONDAY, JUNE 18, exclusively on HBO. From an unflinching study of America's complex relationships with canines, to a mesmerizing portrait of preeminent performance artist Marina Abramovi?, to an inside look at the phenomenon of internet celebrity, to the lives of legendary supermodels, HBO documentaries take subscribers to worlds others rarely see. This year's summer series features the work of a wide range of directors, from veterans such as Marc Levin, Ellen Goosenberg Kent and Timothy Greenfield-Sanders to exciting first-time filmmakers, including Matthew Akers, Chris Moukarbel and ValerieVeatch.

Upcoming documentaries include (in chronological order):

ONE NATION UNDER DOG: STORIES OF FEAR, LOSS AND BETRAYAL (debuting June 18) reveals the sobering realities behind America's obsession with dogs, using startling images to show not only how far some dog lovers will go for theirpets, but how far the nation has to go before it treats all dogs humanely. Americans have conducted a long love affair with canines, but lost amidst all the pampering are unpleasant truths about dog ownership, care and commerce, not to mention the daunting odds that face millions of unwanted shelter animals. Directed by Ellen Goosenberg Kent, Amanda Micheli and Jenny Carchman.

ME @THE ZOO (June 25) is an in-depth exploration of the phenomenon of internetcelebrity. Profiling teenage video blogger Chris Crocker, who captured the international spotlight with his infamous "Leave Britney Alone" YouTube declaration, the film reveals how video sharing and social platforms have shaped the way people tell their stories and mediate their lives. An official selection of the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, U.S. Documentary Competition;directed by Chris Moukarbel and Valerie Veatch.

MARINA ABRAMOVI? THE ARTIST IS PRESENT (July 2) is an exclusive, behind-the-scenes portrait of "the grandmother of performance art" as she prepares for a blockbuster retrospective exhibit of her controversial work at The Museum of Modern Art. This mesmerizing cinematic journey inside the world of radical performance reveals an astonishingly magnetic, endlessly intriguing woman who draws no distinction between life and art. Directed by first-time filmmaker Matthew Akers.

HARD TIMES: LOST ON LONG ISLAND (July 9), directed and produced by Marc Levin (HBO's duPont Award-winning "Triangle: Remembering the Fire" and Emmy(R)-winning "Thug Life in D.C."), looks at the long-term unemployed and the shrinking of the middle class. Chronicling the lives of four families over a six-month period, beginning in summer 2010, the film chronicles the growing problems and despair of subjects searching in vain for employment.