Crime Documentaries
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40 titles
- DirectorSheldon RenanStarsChuck RileyEd DorrisThomas NoguchiA documentary of the decline of America. It features footage (most exclusive to this film) from race riots to serial killers and much, much more.
- DirectorKevin MacdonaldStarsMichael DouglasAnkie SpitzerJamal Al GasheyThe Palestinian terrorist group Black September holds Israeli athletes hostage at the 1972 Summer Olympic Games in Munich.
- DirectorBilly CorbenStarsNelson AndreuJorge AyalaGriselda BlancoThe sequel follows cocaine dealer Charles Crosby beginning in 1991 on the inner-city streets of Oakland, California. The story of Griselda Blanco is presented in greater depth.
- DirectorJoe BerlingerBruce SinofskyStarsDamien Wayne EcholsMelissa ByersNorris DeajonThe case of the West Memphis Three, its questionable circumstances and the parties involved are followed up years later.
- DirectorJoe BerlingerBruce SinofskyStarsTony BrooksDiana DavisTerry WoodA horrific triple child murder leads to an indictment and trial of three nonconformist boys based on questionable evidence.
- DirectorBilly CorbenStarsJon RobertsAl SunshineSam BurstynThe story of how Miami became the cocaine capital of the United States in the early 1980's and the police officers who turned the tide on crime.
- DirectorMichael MooreStarsMichael MooreCharlton HestonMarilyn MansonFilmmaker Michael Moore explores the roots of America's predilection for gun violence.
- DirectorAaron AitesAudrey EwellStarsFenrizVarg VikernesEuronymousInterviews and news footage explore the rise of black metal music in Norway in the 1990s, including artists who were involved in suicide, murder and arson.
- DirectorJoe BerlingerBruce SinofskyStarsGary GitchellTodd MooreDana MooreA further followup of the case of the West Memphis Three and the decades long fight to exonerate them that finally gained traction with new DNA evidence.
- DirectorAndrew JareckiStarsArnold FriedmanJesse FriedmanDavid FriedmanDocumentary on the Friedmans, a seemingly typical, upper-middle-class Jewish family whose world is instantly transformed when the father and his youngest son are arrested and charged with shocking and horrible crimes.
- DirectorAsger LethMilos LoncarevicStarsWinson '2Pac' JeanWyclef JeanJames 'Bily' Petit FrèreDocuments the violent lives of gang leaders in Haiti's worst slum, focusing on two brothers loyal to then-President Aristide.
- DirectorStacy PeraltaStarsJim BrownTony MuhammadKershaun ScottWith a first-person look at the notorious Crips and Bloods, this film examines the conditions that have lead to decades of devastating gang violence among young African Americans growing up in South Los Angeles.
- DirectorAlbert HughesAllen HughesStarsJohn S. DicksonAntonio FargasHeidi FleissStreet pimps, all of them African-American, discuss their lives and work: getting started, being flamboyant, pimping in various U.S. cities, bringing a woman into their group, taking a woman from another pimp, and the rules and regulations of pimping. The men are clear: it's about money. The women work every night, hustle hard, turn over all their earnings, and steal anything they can from clients. We meet a few of the women, who tell us what they want from a pimp. We also listen to a women who's legally employed at a Nevada brothel; we meet her White boss, a legal pimp. He and the street pimps, some of whom are now retired, make the case for legalizing the trade.
- DirectorStanley NelsonStarsRebecca MooreJanet ShularTim CarterFeaturing never-before-seen footage, this documentary delivers a startling new look at the Peoples Temple, headed by preacher Jim Jones who, in 1978, led more than 900 members to Guyana, where he orchestrated a mass suicide via tainted punch.
- DirectorErrol MorrisStarsRandall AdamsDavid HarrisGus RoseA film that successfully argued that a man was wrongly convicted for murder by a corrupt justice system in Dallas County, Texas.
- DirectorNick BroomfieldJoan ChurchillStarsAileen WuornosNick BroomfieldTerry Humphreys-SlayNick Broomfield's second documentary about serial killer Aileen Wuornos, focusing on her mental state on death row.
- DirectorNick BroomfieldStarsThe Notorious B.I.G.Tupac ShakurNick BroomfieldDocumentary on the deaths of Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls and the East Coast/West Coast, hip-hop/rap rivalry that culminated in late 1996 and early 1997.
- DirectorBart LaytonStarsAdam O'BrianNicholas BarclayCarey GibsonA documentary centered on a young man in Spain who claims to a grieving Texas family that he is their 16-year-old son who has been missing for 3 years.
- DirectorMarc H. SimonBobby LeighStarsMarc DreierBobby LeighA documentary on Marc Dreier, the once-prominent Manhattan attorney who was arrested for orchestrating a massive fraud scheme that netted over 700 million dollars from hedge funds.
- DirectorÅsa BlanckJohan PalmgrenStarsGyörgy ZemplényiThe film follows the tracks of a master fraudster, impersonator and Ponzi schemer who, among other exploits, coached the Hungarian ladies' swimming team to success at international championships without being able to swim himself and, a few years later, claimed to be an archbishop and buyer of antique paintings for the Vatican Museum. In both cases, he made many acquaintances, came across as engaging and helpful but finally vanished with millions in cash. Interviews with people who encountered the man and were duped by him, though despite this and despite losing money, many of them retain a humorous feeling about what happened.
- DirectorFernando Grostein AndradeCosmo Feilding-MellenStarsFran Boyd AndrewsBrenda BlomFernando Henrique CardosoDocumentary uncovering the failure of the UN sanctioned war on drugs.
- DirectorMarina ZenovichStarsAndrew BraunsbergRichard BrennemanDouglas DaltonExamines the public scandal and private tragedy which led to legendary filmmaker Roman Polanski's sudden flight from the United States.
- DirectorSteve JamesStarsTio HardimanAmeena MatthewsToya BateyA year in the life of a city grappling with urban violence.
- DirectorWerner HerzogStarsWerner HerzogRichard LopezMichael PerryConversations with death row inmate Michael Perry and those affected by his crime serve as an examination of why people - and the state - kill.
- DirectorKevin BoothStarsJoe ArpaioJello BiafraOsama bin LadenWith commentary from soldiers on both sides of the conflict, filmmaker Kevin Booth's incisive documentary wades into the murky waters of the American war on drugs, the longest and costliest war in U.S. history.
- DirectorRicki SternAnne SundbergStarsEvelyn JeffersonFred FlaglerJohn Reeves"The Trials of Darryl Hunt" is a feature documentary about a brutal rape/murder case and a wrongly convicted man, Darryl Hunt, who spent nearly twenty years in prison for a crime he did not commit. Both a social justice story and a personally driven narrative, the film chronicles this capital case from 1984 through 2004. With exclusive footage from two decades, the film frames the judicial and emotional response to a chilling crime - and the implications that reverberate from Hunt's conviction - against a backdrop of class and racial bias in the South and in the American criminal justice system. This documentary is the culmination of ten years of research and filming. In 1993, inspired by claims of injustice and police conspiracy, the filmmakers began to shoot in North Carolina. Working from a mix of formats (16mm and 24P video) the film melds the visceral reality of a murder case with first person accounts and cinematic imagery, illuminating perceptions and memories of events as they unfolded for the people closest to this haunting story. This unique look at one man's loss and redemption challenges the assumption that all Americans have the right to unbiased justice. Hunt's story - while one man's personal journey - reflects systemic issues of national concern: cross-racial eyewitness identification, prosecutorial misconduct, inexperienced defense attorneys assigned to capital cases, racial bias in death penalty cases and errors in police procedure. Barry Scheck from The Innocence Project, who worked on Hunt's case for ten years, and Gary Wells, professor and eyewitness expert, offer concrete examples where errors occurred in Hunt's saga and offer future remedies and effective ideas to prevent future "Darryl Hunts." Hunt himself addresses the need for systemic reforms to prevent wrongful convictions, underscoring the haunting reality that Hunt could have been sentenced to death and we would never have known this story.
- DirectorJoe BerlingerBruce SinofskyStarsDelbert WardRoscoe WardLyman WardThis compelling documentary details the strange-but-true murder trial of Delbert Ward, accused of the mercy killing of his brother in rural upstate NY. This real-life murder mystery won the Audience Award at Sundance.
- CreatorBart LaytonStarsNatalie DunneMax WrottesleyManuel VillasenorSurvivors share their stories and experience of survival abroad.
- DirectorMatthew CookeStars'Freeway' Ricky RossSusan SarandonDavid SimonTen easy steps show you how to make money from drugs, featuring a series of interviews with drug dealers, prison employees, and lobbyists arguing for tougher drug laws.
- DirectorMichel WenzerStarsJim CarlsonSpoon JacksonRick MisenerIn At Night I Fly: Images from New Folsom, inmates at one of California's most maximum security prisons let us see their world. This world is less about dangerous drama and more, as one of them describes, "about isolation. About closure of both the mind and the heart. And the spirit." The documentary shows prisoners, most serving a life sentence, who refuse such closure and instead work to uncover and express themselves. Their primary tool is making art and the film takes us to New Folsom's Arts in Corrections' room, to prison poetry readings, gospel choirs, blues guitar on the yard, and to many more scenes of creation.
- DirectorSimon ArdizzoneRussell MichaelsStarsJames NaughtonBev HarrisDeanie LoweThe film the voting machine corporations don't want you to see. HACKING DEMOCRACY follows investigator/grandmother, Bev Harris, and her citizen-activists as they set out to uncover how America counts its votes. Proving the votes can be stolen without a trace culminates in a duel between the Diebold corporation's voting machines and a computer hacker - with America's democracy at stake.
- DirectorGianfranco RosiThe story of a hitman for the drug cartels in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.
- DirectorShaul SchwarzNarco Cultura (Spanish, English subtitles) takes viewers behind the scenes of narcocorridos, the most explosive and violent music subculture in America.
- DirectorJosé PadilhaFelipe LacerdaStarsSandro do NascimentoRodrigo PimentelLuiz Eduardo SoaresOn June 12, 2000, a young man with a gun took the passengers aboard Bus 174 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil hostage. This documentary examines the event itself, the resulting media frenzy, the police response, and the perpetrator's background.
- DirectorNick ReadStarsTimur TemirovVlada TemirovaIn the heart of Russia, in a forest larger than Germany, where winter temperatures drop to -40 degrees, 7 hours from the nearest city, lies a prison like no other. Home to 260 men, responsible for nearly 800 murders.
- DirectorAngus MacQueenStarsFederico LouhauA documentary that chronicles the hunt for the notorious Mexican drug lord El Chapo.
- DirectorTony GerberMaxim PozdorovkinStarsSergei BoutWim BrownAlla Vladimirovna ButWhen he was arrested in 2008 in Thailand as a result of a U.S. government sting operation, the career of internationally known arms smuggler Viktor Bout came to a decisive end. Veiled by the obscurity of post-Soviet Russia, Bout had built an empire of aerial delivery so vast he was called "the merchant of death" and was even the subject of a Hollywood film. In sharp contrast to the widely known, super-villain persona, however, was another Bout: a philosophical businessman who simply enjoyed travel, his work, his family, and filming it all with his video camera.
- DirectorBarbara BrancaccioJoshua ZemanStarsJoshua ZemanBarbara BrancaccioBill EllisRealizing that the urban legend of their youth has actually come true, two filmmakers delve into the mystery surrounding five missing children and the real-life boogeyman linked to their disappearances.
- DirectorAmy BergStarsJason BaldwinDamien Wayne EcholsJessie MisskelleyAn examination of a failure of justice in the case against the West Memphis Three.
- DirectorMarcus VetterKarin SteinbergerStarsImogen PootsDaniel BrühlJens SöringThe gruesome murders of Nancy and Derek Haysom in 1985 were an international media sensation. The Haysoms were wealthy, respected members of Virginia society, and the murder conviction of their daughter Elizabeth and her German boyfriend Jens Soering sent shock waves through the rural community of Bedford County. Elizabeth and Jens had met in a university program for high achieving students. She was a product of European boarding schools, he was the son of a diplomat. After being arrested in London, England, for passing bad checks in 1986, they were both extradited to the United States and have now spent over 30 years behind bars. This beautifully crafted film reveals a mismanaged, or perhaps completely corrupted, judicial process. This was the first criminal trial held in front of TV cameras - the first high-profile, international case tried in a small town. Investigations over the past 3 years have turned up stunning evidence that was previously suppressed or deemed inadmissible. New forensic techniques have disproven evidence that was key to Soering's original conviction. Denied parole 12 times, his next hearing in 2017 may have a different outcome, at the same time the film is in release. Unidentified fingerprints, photographic evidence that points to sexual abuse, the presiding judge's friendship with the victims, a missing FBI profile, a bloody car with a knife under the seat - all point to a very different story, one that is revealed in the film.