Documentaries
by Msainy | created - 3 months ago | updated - 3 months ago | Public- Instant Watch Options
- Genres
- Movies or TV
- IMDb Rating
- In Theaters
- Release Year
- Keywords
1. F for Fake (1973)
PG | 89 min | Documentary
A documentary about fraud and fakery.
Directors: Orson Welles, Gary Graver, Oja Kodar, François Reichenbach | Stars: Orson Welles, Oja Kodar, François Reichenbach, Elmyr de Hory
Votes: 18,304
2. Histoire(s) du cinéma (1989–1999)
267 min | Documentary
An 8-part documentary chronicling the history of cinema, examining the history of the concept of cinema and how both relates to the 20th century.
Stars: Jean-Luc Godard, Alain Cuny, Julie Delpy, Sabine Azéma
Votes: 801
3. The House Is Black (1963)
20 min | Documentary, Short
Set in a leper colony in the north of Iran, The House is Black juxtaposes "ugliness", of which there is much in the world as stated in the opening scenes, with religion and gratitude.
Director: Forugh Farrokhzad | Stars: Forugh Farrokhzad, Ebrahim Golestan, Hossein Mansouri
Votes: 5,567
4. Stories We Tell (2012)
PG-13 | 108 min | Documentary
A film that excavates layers of myth and memory to find the elusive truth at the core of a family of storytellers.
Director: Sarah Polley | Stars: Michael Polley, John Buchan, Mark Polley, Joanna Polley
Votes: 14,119 | Gross: $1.60M
5. Sans Soleil (1983)
Not Rated | 100 min | Documentary, Drama
A woman narrates the contemplative writings of a seasoned world traveler, focusing on contemporary Japan.
Director: Chris Marker | Stars: Amilcar Cabral, Florence Delay, Arielle Dombasle, Riyoko Ikeda
Votes: 12,135 | Gross: $0.03M
6. Shoah (1985)
Not Rated | 566 min | Documentary, History, War
Claude Lanzmann's epic documentary recounts the story of the Holocaust through interviews with witnesses - perpetrators as well as survivors.
Director: Claude Lanzmann | Stars: Simon Srebnik, Michael Podchlebnik, Motke Zaïdl, Hanna Zaïdl
Votes: 10,559 | Gross: $0.02M
7. Mix-Up ou Meli-melo (1986)
60 min | Documentary
Two English girl babies are switched by mistake in a 1930s hospital,but by being raised by parents other than the real ones,their lives are enriched.
Director: Françoise Romand
Votes: 132
8. Man with a Movie Camera (1929)
Not Rated | 68 min | Documentary
A man travels around a city with a camera slung over his shoulder, documenting urban life with dazzling invention.
Director: Dziga Vertov | Stars: Mikhail Kaufman, Elizaveta Svilova
Votes: 28,001
9. From the Journals of Jean Seberg (1995)
97 min | Documentary, Biography
Mark Rappaport's creative bio-pic about actress Jean Seberg is presented in a first-person, autobiographical format (with Seberg played by Mary Beth Hurt). He seamlessly interweaves cinema,... See full summary »
Director: Mark Rappaport | Stars: Mary Beth Hurt, Jean Seberg
Votes: 291
10. The Power of Nightmares (2004)
60 min | Documentary, History
A series of three documentaries about the use of fear for political gain.
Stars: Gilles Kepel, William Kristol, Melvin Goodman, Richard Perle
Votes: 4,545
11. India: Matri Bhumi (1959)
90 min | Documentary, Drama
Several stories depicting the landscapes and fauna of India are mixed with documentary footage.
Director: Roberto Rossellini
Votes: 731
12. Rabindranath Tagore (1961)
54 min | Documentary, Biography
This documentary shows the life of the greatest Bengali talent of all time, Rabindranath Tagore. His work in Bengali culture and literature.
Director: Satyajit Ray | Stars: Kallol Bose, Subir Bose, Norman Ellis, Sovanlal Ganguli
Votes: 413
13. Point of Order! (1964)
Not Rated | 97 min | Documentary
An unfiltered, unflinching document of the notorious 1954 Army-McCarthy hearings, compiled entirely from raw TV footage (with no narration, music, or added scenes).
Director: Emile de Antonio | Stars: John G. Adams, Roy M. Cohn, Ray Jenkins, Joseph McCarthy
Votes: 516
14. Triumph Over Violence (1965)
R | 82 min | Documentary, History, War
A documentary about the rise and fall of fascism and the effects of Nazism on German society.
Director: Mikhail Romm | Stars: Mikhail Romm, Martin Bormann, Willy Brandt, Aristide Briand
Votes: 2,065
15. The crown jewels of Iran (1965)
15 min | Documentary, Short
THIS IS A MAINLY VISUAL DOCUMENTARY WITH SOME NARRATION -- No plot-line to spoil so NO SPOILERS, just descriptions and commentary. JEWELS GALORE!. Rubies, Diamonds, Emeralds, and GOLD GOLD GOLD.
Director: Ebrahim Golestan
Votes: 68
16. Genèse d'un repas (1979)
115 min | Documentary
With this documentary on the plots and sub-plots of the universe of food, Moullet moves away from comedy to become a pioneer of today's trend to analyze the forms of globalization by ... See full synopsis »
Director: Luc Moullet | Stars: Paul Anquetil, Emile Azoulay, Gustavo Borges, Jean Bouy
Votes: 122
17. France/tour/détour/deux/enfants (1980)
26 min | Documentary
A series in which the auteur interrogates a boy and a girl from two families in an attempt to get back to the origins of language and movement.
Stars: Camille Virolleaud, Arnaud Martin, Betty Berr, Albert Dray
Votes: 132
18. Too Early/Too Late (1981)
G | 100 min | Documentary
A sequence of shots of rural landscapes accompanied by readings of texts about the struggles of poor farmers.
Directors: Danièle Huillet, Jean-Marie Straub | Stars: Danièle Huillet, Bahgat Elnadi, Gérard Samaan, Gamal Abdel Nasser
Votes: 667
19. The Atomic Cafe (1982)
Not Rated | 86 min | Documentary, History
Disturbing collection of 1940s and 1950s United States government-issued propaganda films designed to reassure Americans that the atomic bomb was not a threat to their safety.
Directors: Jayne Loader, Kevin Rafferty, Pierce Rafferty | Stars: Paul Tibbets, Harry S. Truman, W.H.P. Blandy, Brien McMahon
Votes: 4,538 | Gross: $0.02M
20. Field Diary (1982)
83 min | Documentary
In 1982, Amos Gitai and a film crew travel around the occupied territories of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank as tensions mount, leading to the Israeli army's invasion of Lebanon. Gitai ... See full summary »
Director: Amos Gitai | Star: Amos Gitai
Votes: 61
21. Unknown Chaplin (1983– )
156 min | Documentary, Comedy
Using in part rare out-take footage, the film-making methods and techniques of Charles Chaplin are explored.
Stars: James Mason, Hans-Joachim Kulenkampff, Jackie Coogan, Lita Grey
Votes: 607
22. The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On (1987)
Not Rated | 122 min | Documentary
A documentary following Kenzo Okuzaki, a 62-year-old WW2 veteran notorious for his protests against Emperor Hirohito, as he tries to expose the needless executions of two Japanese soldiers during the war.
Director: Kazuo Hara | Stars: Kenzo Okuzaki, Riichi Aikawa, Masaichi Hamaguchi, Toshio Hara
Votes: 2,126
23. Mr. Hoover and I (1989)
Not Rated | 86 min | Documentary, Biography
Director: Emile de Antonio | Stars: John Cage, Emile de Antonio, Nancy de Antonio
Votes: 64
24. Tongues Untied (1989)
Not Rated | 55 min | Documentary
A documentary about the experiences of black homosexual men living in the United States of America.
Director: Marlon Riggs | Stars: Marlon Riggs, Michael Bell, Kerrigan Black, Blackberri
Votes: 1,852
25. Baraka (1992)
Not Rated | 96 min | Documentary
A collection of expertly photographed scenes of human life and religion.
Director: Ron Fricke | Star: Patrick Disanto
Votes: 40,998 | Gross: $1.33M
26. The Last Bolshevik (1993)
Not Rated | 120 min | Documentary, Biography, History
This documentary tells the story of film director Aleksandr Medvedkin, throughout his life a sincere believer in communism, whose films were repeatedly banned in the Soviet Union. Modern ... See full summary »
Director: Chris Marker | Stars: Léonor Graser, Nikolai Izvolov, Kira Paramonova, Viktor Dyomin
Votes: 730
27. From the East (1993)
107 min | Documentary
A look at life in Eastern Europe after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Director: Chantal Akerman | Star: Natalia Chakhovskaia
Votes: 950
28. Crumb (1994)
R | 119 min | Documentary, Biography, Comedy
An intimate portrait of controversial cartoonist Robert Crumb and his traumatized family.
Director: Terry Zwigoff | Stars: Robert Crumb, Aline Kominsky-Crumb, Charles Crumb, Maxon Crumb
Votes: 21,598 | Gross: $3.17M
29. A Great Day in Harlem (1994)
Not Rated | 60 min | Documentary, Music
The documentary compiles interviews of all the top jazz musicians in NYC in the year 1958, for a piece in Esquire magazine.
Director: Jean Bach | Stars: Dizzy Gillespie, Milt Hinton, Marian McPartland, Art Blakey
Votes: 493 | Gross: $0.53M
30. That's Entertainment! III (1994)
G | 113 min | Documentary, Family, Musical
Third installment in the "That's Entertainment" series, featuring scenes from "The Hollywood Revue of 1929," "Brigadoon," "Singin' In The Rain," and many more MGM films.
Directors: Bud Friedgen, Michael J. Sheridan | Stars: Debbie Reynolds, Gene Kelly, Ann Miller, Mickey Rooney
Votes: 1,771 | Gross: $0.27M
31. Fast, Cheap & Out of Control (1997)
PG | 80 min | Documentary
An exploration of the careers of four unrelated professionals: a lion tamer, a robotics expert, a topiary gardener, and a naked mole rat specialist.
Director: Errol Morris | Stars: Dave Hoover, George Mendonça, Rodney Brooks, Raymond A. Mendez
Votes: 3,983 | Gross: $0.83M
32. Divorce Iranian Style (1998)
Not Rated | 80 min | Documentary
A documentary about real divorce cases in Iran's tribunals.
Directors: Kim Longinotto, Ziba Mir-Hosseini
Votes: 554
33. My Voyage to Italy (1999)
PG-13 | 246 min | Documentary
World-renowned director Martin Scorsese narrates this journey through his favorites in Italian cinema.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Star: Martin Scorsese
Votes: 3,527 | Gross: $0.01M
34. Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks (2002)
551 min | Documentary
The impact of the decline of heavy industry on workers and their families in the Tiexi district of Shenyang, China, at the turn of the 21st century, documented unflinchingly by a fly-on-the-wall camera.
Director: Wang Bing
Votes: 1,327
35. Los Angeles Plays Itself (2003)
Not Rated | 169 min | Documentary, History
A documentary on how Los Angeles has been used and depicted in the movies.
Director: Thom Andersen | Stars: Encke King, Ben Alexander, Jim Backus, Brenda Bakke
Votes: 2,737
36. The Corporation (2003)
Not Rated | 145 min | Documentary, History
Documentary that looks at the concept of the corporation throughout recent history up to its present-day dominance.
Directors: Mark Achbar, Jennifer Abbott | Stars: Mikela Jay, Rob Beckwermert, Christopher Gora, Nina Jones
Votes: 21,787 | Gross: $1.88M
37. My Dad Is 100 Years Old (2005)
16 min | Documentary, Short, Biography
A short film in which Isabella Rossellini discusses the life and work of her father: Roberto Rossellini.
Director: Guy Maddin | Stars: Isabella Rossellini, Isaac Paz Sr., Anna Magnani
Votes: 859
38. The Trap: What Happened to Our Dream of Freedom (2007)
180 min | Documentary
The many ways in which Western notions of personal and political freedom are changing in the 21st Century are explored in this three-part documentary from writer and filmmaker Adam Curtis.
Stars: John Nash, Robert Spitzer, Jerome Wakefield, Paul McHugh
Votes: 2,018
39. The Beaches of Agnès (2008)
Not Rated | 112 min | Documentary, Biography
Agnès Varda explores her memories, mostly chronologically, with photographs, film clips, interviews, reenactments, and droll, playful contemporary scenes of her narrating her story.
Director: Agnès Varda | Stars: Agnès Varda, André Lubrano, Blaise Fournier, Vincent Fournier
Votes: 4,785 | Gross: $0.24M
40. It Felt Like a Kiss (2009)
54 min | Documentary, History, Music
The story of America's rise to power starting with 1959; it uses archive footage and American pop music to highlight the consequences to the rest of the world and in the peoples' minds.
Director: Adam Curtis | Stars: H. Rap Brown, Nikita Khrushchev, Richard Nixon
Votes: 930
41. Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2010)
G | 90 min | Documentary, History
Werner Herzog gains exclusive access to film inside the Chauvet caves of Southern France and captures the oldest known pictorial creations of humanity.
Director: Werner Herzog | Stars: Werner Herzog, Jean Clottes, Julien Monney, Jean-Michel Geneste
Votes: 17,795 | Gross: $5.23M
42. Into the Abyss (2011)
PG-13 | 107 min | Documentary, Crime, Drama
Conversations with death row inmate Michael Perry and those affected by his crime serve as an examination of why people - and the state - kill.
Director: Werner Herzog | Stars: Werner Herzog, Richard Lopez, Michael Perry, Damon Hall
Votes: 17,356 | Gross: $0.22M
43. Samsara (I) (2011)
PG-13 | 102 min | Documentary, Music
Filmed over nearly five years in twenty-five countries on five continents, and shot on seventy-millimetre film, Samsara transports us to the varied worlds of sacred grounds, disaster zones, industrial complexes, and natural wonders.
Director: Ron Fricke | Stars: Balinese Tari Legong Dancers, Ni Made Megahadi Pratiwi, Puti Sri Candra Dewi, Putu Dinda Pratika
Votes: 38,056 | Gross: $2.67M
44. Pina (2011)
PG | 103 min | Documentary, Music
A tribute to the late German choreographer Pina Bausch, as her dancers perform her most famous creations.
Director: Wim Wenders | Stars: Pina Bausch, Regina Advento, Malou Airaudo, Ruth Amarante
Votes: 15,951 | Gross: $3.52M
45. This Is Not a Film (2011)
Not Rated | 75 min | Documentary
It's been months since Jafar Panahi, stuck in jail, has been awaiting a verdict by the appeals court. By depicting a day in his life, Panahi and Mojtaba Mirtahmasb try to portray the deprivations looming in contemporary Iranian cinema.
Directors: Mojtaba Mirtahmasb, Jafar Panahi | Stars: Jafar Panahi, Igi, Mrs. Gheirat, Mojtaba Mirtahmasb
Votes: 5,644 | Gross: $0.08M
46. Citizenfour (2014)
R | 114 min | Documentary, Biography
A documentarian and a reporter travel to Hong Kong for the first of many meetings with Edward Snowden.
Director: Laura Poitras | Stars: Edward Snowden, Glenn Greenwald, William Binney, Jacob Appelbaum
Votes: 57,989 | Gross: $2.80M
47. The Thoughts That Once We Had (2015)
108 min | Documentary
A personal history of cinema, partially inspired by Gilles Deleuze, 'The movement-image' and 'The time-image.' All quotations are from Deleuze, unless otherwise attributed.
Director: Thom Andersen
Votes: 139
48. I, Dalio (2015)
Not Rated | 33 min | Documentary, Short
The great French actor, Marcel Dalio, who has the lead role in Jean Renoir's THE RULES OF THE GAME, also appears in Renoir's GRAND ILLUSION. In both films he plays a character who is Jewish... See full summary »
Director: Mark Rappaport
Votes: 63
49. HyperNormalisation (2016)
166 min | Documentary
Adam Curtis explains how, at a time of confusing and inexplicable world events, politicians and the people they represent have retreated in to a damaging over-simplified version of what is happening.
Director: Adam Curtis | Stars: Adam Curtis, Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, Victor Gotbaum
Votes: 7,376
50. Faces Places (2017)
PG | 94 min | Documentary, Adventure
Director Agnes Varda and photographer/muralist J.R. journey through rural France and form an unlikely friendship.
Directors: JR, Agnès Varda | Stars: Agnès Varda, JR, Jeannine Carpentier, Clemens Van Dungern
Votes: 13,611 | Gross: $0.95M
Tell Your Friends