The Season 27 premiere features Jason DaSilva's "When I Walk," in which the filmmaker chronicles his life for five years after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at age 25. By happenstance, a family member records the moment when the diagnosis hits home: while vacationing in the Caribbean, his legs give out. Yet, not all is bad: he meets Alice Cook, whose mother also has MS, at a support group. The two fall in love, marry and collaborate on completing the documentary.

A profile of 98-year-old Grace Lee Boggs, a Chinese-American social activist in Detroit who has spent much of her adult life fighting for civil rights and female equality.

Filmmaker Niko von Glasow profiles participants at the 2012 Paralympic Games in London, including a one-handed Norwegian table tennis player, the Rwandan sitting volleyball team, an American archer who uses his feet and a Greek paraplegic boccia player. Along the way, von Glasow—who was born with severely shortened arms—sees his preconceptions and stereotypes about the Paralympics and sports in general upended.

The changed realities of post-Katrina New Orleans, including a population that is less African-American and less poor than before the storm, are examined in this documentary, which focuses on the 2010 re-election campaign of city councilwoman Stacy Head, a polarizing figure, and her aide, Barbara Lacen-Keller.

The world of professional ballroom dancing in Denmark, where participants often look beyond the country's borders for the perfect partner, is examined. The documentary follows Egor, a 15 year old from Russia, as he adjusts to life in Denmark and to his 14-year-old Danish partner, Mie.

Survivors of a 2008 earthquake in China that leveled the town of Beichuan and killed 90,000 people share their experiences, which include grieving for lost loved ones. A new Beichuan is built near the old, and residents make the move, but the transition to a new life is anything but smooth for some, as echoes from the past prove to be very powerful. A boy whose father died in the earthquake, for example, has difficulties accepting his mother's new husband, a widower, and eventually runs away.

Chronicling the effort of Kenneth Young, who's serving four life sentences for participating in a series of armed robberies when he was just 14 and 15 years old in 2000, to have his sentence reduced. Among his arguments: he was coerced into committing the crimes by his accomplice, a neighborhood drug dealer.

Life at the Ain el-Helweh Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon is examined by filmmaker Mahdi Fleifel, who grew up there. Created in 1948 as a temporary measure, the camp has become a permanent home for multiple generations; and has a population of 70,000. Fleifel uses footage shot over 20 years by various members of his family; shares memories; and details the precarious state the camp's residents still find themselves in, since Lebanon views them—even those born there—as foreigners.

An American company's quest for oil in Ghana is chronicled. The documentary also explores conditions in nearby Nigeria, where the country's 50-year-old oil industry has done little for the people of the Niger Delta, many of whom live in abject poverty.