Favorite documentary films
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33 titles
- DirectorMarshall CurryStarsJen BluesteinCory BookerBill BradleyThis documentary follows the 2002 mayoral campaign in Newark, New Jersey in which a City Councilman, Cory Booker, attempted to unseat longtime mayor Sharpe James.
- DirectorJulia BachaFollows a Palestinian leader who unites Fatah, Hamas and Israelis in an unarmed movement to save his village from destruction. Success eludes them until his 15-year-old daughter jumps into the fray.
- DirectorSteve JamesStarsTio HardimanAmeena MatthewsToya BateyA year in the life of a city grappling with urban violence.
- DirectorRick RowleyStarsJeremy ScahillNasser Al AulaqiSaleha Al AulaqiInvestigative journalist Jeremy Scahill is pulled into an unexpected journey as he chases down the hidden truth behind America's expanding covert wars.
- DirectorTim HetheringtonSebastian JungerStarsThe Men of Battle Company 2nd of the 503rd Infantry Regiment 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat TeamJuan 'Doc RestrepoDan KearneyA year with one platoon in the deadliest valley in Afghanistan.
- DirectorMarshall CurryStarsAnnabeth BarnesJosh HobsonBrandon WarrenThese kids are racing to make their NASCAR dreams a reality.
- DirectorHenry Alex RubinDana Adam ShapiroStarsJoe SoaresKeith CavillMark ZupanQuadriplegics, who play full-contact rugby in wheelchairs, overcome unimaginable obstacles to compete in the Paralympic Games in Athens, Greece.
- DirectorSteven BognarJulia ReichertStarsJustin AshcraftAdam AshcraftDale AshcraftFive families struggle with the ups and downs of cancer treatment over the course of six years.
- DirectorMark BeckerJennifer GrausmanInfamously blunt, Wilma Stephenson runs a "boot camp" teaching Culinary Arts at Frankford High, disciplining her students into capable chefs and responsible students. But behind her tough exterior is a teacher who cares passionately about getting the best out of her kids.
- DirectorLouie PsihoyosStarsRichard O'BarryLouie PsihoyosHardy JonesUsing state-of-the-art equipment, a group of activists, led by renowned dolphin trainer Ric O'Barry, infiltrate a cove near Taijii, Japan to expose both a shocking instance of animal abuse and a serious threat to human health.
- DirectorStanley NelsonStarsKarin Kunstler GoldmanJulian BondPeggy Jean ConnorA look back at the summer of 1964, when more than 700 student activists took segregated Mississippi by storm, registering voters, creating freedom schools and establishing the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party.
- DirectorJean-Jacques FloriStéphane TchalgadjieffStarsFela KutiMartin Luther KingPope John Paul IIFELA KUTIis to African music what Bob Marley is to reggae: its prophet. All contemporary forms of black music, from funk to electronic, owe something to the irresistible groove of the Afrobeat sound that he created. Shot in Lagos at the peak of his career in 1982, this documentary contains interviews with Fela detailing his thoughts on politics, Pan-Africanism, music and religion, alongside unpublished versions of songs like ITT, Army Arrangement and Power Show.
- DirectorKelly DuaneKatie GallowayStarsScott CrowBrandon DarbyMatthew VadumA pair of childhood friends from Texas who set out to prove themselves.
- DirectorBess KargmanStarsAran BellRebecca HouseknechtJoan Sebastian ZamoraA documentary that follows six young dancers from around the world as they prepare for the Youth America Grand Prix, one of the most prestigious ballet competitions in the world.
- DirectorSteven AscherJeanne JordanStarsBeverly McIverRenee McIverRoni BryantRAISING RENEE begins in 2003 as Beverly McIver is savoring opening night of her first solo art show in New York. An accomplished painter and winner of major awards, her career was skyrocketing. She flew in her mother Ethel, a maid from Greensboro, North Carolina and her sister, Renee, 43 who is mentally disabled and functions at about the level of a third grader. Years before, Beverly had casually promised her mother that she would take Renee when Ethel died, an event that seemed infinitely far off and unlikely to impinge on her life as a single woman, painting and teaching where her work took her. But in 2004, Ethel died suddenly and Beverly's promise was put to the test. RAISING RENEE is the story of a family's remarkable response to being broken apart and rearranged after nearly 50 years. The film explores deep themes of family, race, class and disability through the interplay of painting, cinema and everyday life. Produced and directed by Oscar nominees Jeanne Jordan and Steven Ascher, RAISING RENEE is the third part of a trilogy about resilient families that includes their acclaimed feature documentaries So Much So Fast and Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner Troublesome Creek. RAISING RENEE is about a unique group of women, the tenacity of family bonds and the power of art to transform experience into something beyond words.
- DirectorSteven BognarJulia ReichertStarsPopeye HurstKim ClayKate GeigerTo the residents of Moraine, Ohio, General Motors was more than just a car company, it was the lifeblood of a community. In the wake of GM's 2008 announcement that it was closing the plant, stunned workers looked back at their careers at GM, reminiscing about the opportunities, friendships and pride that the factory line had given them. Through their words, this documentary stands as an elegy to a dying American manufacturing system--and a timely look at the U.S. auto industry in crisis.
- DirectorSut JhallyBathsheba RatzkoffStarsSeth AckermanStav AdiviArik AschermanThis video shows how the foreign policy interests of American political elites-working in combination with Israeli public relations stratgies-influence US news reporting about the Middle East conflict. Combining American and British TV news clips with observations of analysts, journalists and political activists, Peace, Propaganda & the Promised Land provides a brief historical overview, a striking media comparison, and an examination of factors that have distorted U.S. media coverage and, in turn, American public opinion.
- DirectorSteven BognarJulia ReichertSheri Sparkle Williams has been a star dancer with the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company (DCDC) for nearly 40 years, a track record virtually unheard of in the professional dance community. The powerhouse dancer suffers her first serious injury, on stage during a bold performance. She must decide whether to face the tough work needed to recover in time for a return to the stage... at age 49. Winner of the 2012 Audience Award at the Silverdocs Film Festival. DCDC is a venerable African American modern dance company, founded by Jeraldyne Blunden. Its home is Dayton Ohio, though the company performs world wide.
- DirectorHeidi EwingRachel GradyStarsMike PapantonioLou EngleBecky FischerA documentary on kids who attend a summer camp hoping to become the next Billy Graham.
- DirectorBarbara KoppleStarsJohn L. LewisCarl HornNorman YarboroughA heartbreaking record of the thirteen-month struggle between a community fighting to survive and a corporation dedicated to the bottom line.
- DirectorPeter NicksStarsSean BennettGo behind the doors of an American public hospital struggling to care for a community of largely uninsured patients.
- DirectorTony KayeStarsNoam ChomskyBill BairdFlip BenhamA graphic documentary on both sides of the abortion debate.
- DirectorFrank PavichStarsAlejandro JodorowskyMichel SeydouxH.R. GigerThe story of cult film director Alejandro Jodorowsky's ambitious but ultimately doomed film adaptation of the seminal science fiction novel.
- DirectorElaine McMillion SheldonStarsJan RaderPatricia KellerNecia FreemanThree women fight to break the cycle one life at a time.
- DirectorJonathan OlshefskiStarsChristopher RaineyChristine'a RaineyP.J. RaineyA husband and wife live in an impoverished neighborhood in north Philadelphia while they raise their daughter and run a recording studio in their basement.
- DirectorAlexandria BombachStarsNadia MuradMurad IsmaelSimone MonasebianNadia Murad, a 23-year-old Yazidi, survived genocide and sexual slavery committed by ISIS. Repeating her story to the world, this ordinary girl finds herself thrust onto the international stage as the voice of her people.
- DirectorPeter RichardsonStarsHarry BrutonRay CarnayCody CurtisIn 1994 Oregon became the first state to legalize a terminally ill person's request to end his or her life with medication. At the time, only Belgium, Switzerland, and the Netherlands had legalized the practice. 'How to Die in Oregon' tell the stories of those most intimately involved with the practice today -- terminally ill Oregonians, their families, doctors, and friends -- as well as the passage of a similar law in Washington State.
- DirectorTamara KotevskaLjubomir StefanovStarsHatidze MuratovaNazife MuratovaHussein SamThe last female bee-hunter in Europe must save the bees and return the natural balance in Honeyland, when a family of nomadic beekeepers invade her land and threaten her livelihood.
- DirectorKirsten JohnsonStarsMichael HilowAna HoffmanDick JohnsonA daughter helps her father prepare for the end of his life.
- DirectorMaite AlberdiStarsSergio ChamyRomulo AitkenMarta OlivaresA private investigator in Chile hires someone to work as a mole at a retirement home where a client of his suspects the caretakers of elder abuse.
- DirectorRyan WhiteStarsAngela BassettStephen ColbertJon StewartThe film follows Opportunity, the Mars Exploration Rover affectionately dubbed Oppy by her creators and scientists at NASA. Oppy was originally expected to live for only 90 days but she ultimately explored Mars for nearly 15 years.
- DirectorIrene TaylorStarsDirk BrinkmanGilead Redd Taylor BrodskyCarolyn FinneyIrene Taylor crafts a poetic meditation on nature, mortality, and the passage of time in her exploration of our symbiotic nexus with trees.
- DirectorJeff MalmbergStarsMark HogancampEmmanuel NnejiEdda HogancampDocumentary about Mark Hogancamp. After a vicious attack leaves him brain-damaged and broke, Mark seeks recovery in "Marwencol", a 1/6th scale World War II-era town he creates in his backyard. Inspired the movie Welcome to Marwen (2018)