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Year
Popular Documentary Movies
The Christmas Light Killer
Every night in December people in a small suburb of Philadelphia flock to a holiday light show. They drive at a snails pace through the 2 mile stretch of beautiful light displays, listening to holiday music, soaking up the Christmas spirt. But at the end of each night one man drives the stretch alone, turning off all of the lights, ending the joy day after day. This is his story.
Prime Video
Star Men
Four exceptional astronomers celebrate 50 years of work and friendship on a return road trip in the southwestern United States, recapturing youthful adventures and recounting each other's influences on the most exciting period in astronomy’s history. Roger the instrument-maker, Donald the theoretician, Nick the visionary, and Wal the observer. Together they represent the most productive period astronomy has ever had. They helped build the world’s biggest observatories and made revolutionary discoveries about the evolving universe, discoveries that have the power to change the way humanity sees itself. Alison Rose’s film is a funny, insightful, humbling and intimate portrait of friendship, as the men reflect on how their profound work on the universe has reflected back on the individual, affecting their sense of religious faith, how life may have purpose, and what is knowable and unknowable.
A Space Program
The artist Tom Sachs and his team of bricoleurs build a handmade space program and send two female astronauts to Mars
Rio Corgo
Silva, an old drifter, arrives at a small and isolated Portuguese village where he meets the young Ana. They develop a relation in between friendship and initiation. Fascinated by that wondrous man, Ana progressively falls into his universe. A life populated by supernatural figures including her long lost friend Carolina. But strange fits weaken Silva, bringing him to the hospital, where a dozen women start inhabiting him. Will they save him?
Emptying the Skies
If you want to impress your dining companions in Cyprus, it's not caviar that you order, but ambelopoulia: a tiny songbird. But as this gripping doc reveals, the cost to bring such delicacies to the table is enormous. Bestselling novelist Jonathan Franzen takes a break from the world of fiction to guide us through an all too horrifying reality: tens of millions of protected migratory songbirds are illegally killed every year. Franzen, a longtime bird lover, accompanies young staffers of the Committee Against Bird Slaughter on their expeditions. With police enforcement in Southern Europe practically non-existent, they risk their lives to rescue trapped birds, and confront hostile poachers. It's a topic that proves a cultural flashpoint -- the Cypriot landowners cannot understand why a bunch of Italians can tell them what to do on their land.
Return of the Free China Junk
A historic wooden Chinese sailing junk that crossed the Pacific in 1955 makes an even more improbable return journey after the family of its original sailors campaign to save it from the scrapheap and bring it home.
Transfixed
Transfixed tells the story of highly unconventional romance: Martine Stonehouse and John Gelmone are middle-aged underdogs, living with Asperger Syndrome - an autism spectrum disorder that makes communication with others extremely difficult. Despite their social limitations, both dream of getting married, but straight identifying John refuses to tie the knot until transsexual Martine gets a real vagina. The only problem: no doctor in Canada will perform operation because Martine's obesity makes her too great of a surgical risk. Will Martine and John find the happiness together that they deserve? Transfixed is a deeply human story about love, freedom, and self-actualization.
Blood on the Coal
A story of struggle and tragedy, the film features harrowing underground disasters, heroic rescues and traces a history of strikes, industrial turmoil and the current push by global mining giants to destroy regional communities and replace local mineworkers with a subservient itinerant workforce.
Bodyslam: Revenge of the Banana!
On a fateful evening in a Seattle dive bar, Josh Kuntz and a group of social outcasts put on a faux wrestling show to a crowd of enthusiastic bartenders. With crude language and satirical monikers, the guys “beat” the pulp out of each other in a clumsy ballet, earning cheers from the crowd. That evening, the Seattle Semi-Pro Wrestlers were born.
Adina Howard 20: A Story of Sexual Liberation
In 1995, Adina Howard made waves in the world of music with her hit song “Freak Like Me.” Never before had a solo R&B female artist made such a bold and controlling stance sexually through song. Along with becoming one of the highest selling singles and most played music videos on MTV and BET in 1995, Adina Howard’s performance allowed young women of color and future recording artist to express their sexuality without shame.
“Adina Howard 20: A Story of Sexual Liberation” shares Adina’s story through her own words as well as the impact that she made during the 1990s and thereafter.
Adina speaks on her relationship with Tupac Shakur, the banning of her music video from BET, landing a cameo role in the movie “Waiting to Exhale,” her encounter with legendary vocalist Nancy Wilson, working with Hollywood giants Jackie Chan and Jamie Foxx and the sudden halt to her stardom due to her comments about record exec Sylvia Rhone.
Rock in the Red Zone
An intimate portrayal of life on the edge in the war-torn city of Sderot. Once known for its prolific rock scene that revolutionized Israeli music, for thirteen years the town has been the target of ongoing rocket fire from the Gaza strip. Through the personal lives and music of Sderot's diverse musicians, and the personal narrative of the filmmaker, who ends up calling the town home, the film chronicles the town's trauma and reveals its enduring spirit.
Half & Half
Why am I always told “You don’t look greenlandic”? Is it possible to look “like a Dane”? What does a Greenlander look like? Does your identity lie within the language you speak? Or the language you think in?
Period Stories
Period Stories is an award-winning, crowdsourced short documentary about menstruation experiences from around the world.
Breakfast at Ina's
Famous for its Heavenly Hots (pancakes topped with fruit compote), Ina’s was a Chicago breakfast institution. Every customer received a warm welcome from proprietor and chef Ina Pinkney, the “Breakfast Queen.” After 33 years in the restaurant business, Pinkney retired in 2013. Following the restaurant’s final month, Breakfast at Ina’s celebrates a beloved Chicago eatery and a woman who achieved her dream against the odds.
In Between
Once there was an age of ice but it is disappearing. This is a lyrical and thought-provoking film about the death of an era and a moment in time. A time when stoic creatures are caught in between what once was and what will inevitably come.
Thicker Than Water
As Greg Louganis prepared for the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul he had not only the pressure of winning an unprecedented second gold medal on his mind, but also the weight on his recently discovered HIV status on his shoulders.
Raped
Linda is a norwegian filmmaker with a dark secret. She was raped 15 years ago at the age of 18, but did not report it to the police. Instead she's tried everything in her power to 'get over' it. She is still ashamed and is subscripted pills to help her forget. One day she has a breakdown and is committed to the hospital...
Mankind From Space
Mankind from Space is an epic journey of discovery. Using mind-boggling data and CGI, it traces humankind’s story from hunter-gatherer to dominant global species. Seen from the global perspective of space, this special shows the breath-taking extent of our influence, revealing how we’ve transformed our planet and produced an interconnected world of extraordinary complexity.
The World's Most Expensive Christmas
From bespoke baubles to extravagant gifts and £615000 diamond-encrusted tree toppers, this programme meets the people supplying and buying a top-end Christmas.
Two Marxists in Hollywood
Russian avant-garde filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein and German playwright Bertolt Brecht recount the brief portions of their lives they spent in Hollywood trying to make art that was both radical and popular.
Unemployment Office
In an office, a row of desks, with people facing each other. This is where unemployed people come to meet with their supervisors. At stake: their benefit payments. Here everyone has to abide by the same rigid procedure and bureaucracy but each has their own life, their own story. © Filmer à tout prix
Atlan
In Turkmen language, Atlan means "mount a horse and depart". Horse is the most important element in the life of Iranian Turkmen. That's why courses are some of the most significant social events in their land, Turkmen Sahara. Turkmen Sahara is a region in north eastern Iran and is homeland to Iranian Turkmen. Ali is a Turkman with his life, like many of his peers', intertwined with courses. Now his wedding depends on his success in courses. This documentary film is about Iranian horses.
Zen & the Art of Dying
Zenith Virago is an activist and educator who for over 20 years has been returning the coastal region of Byron Bay, Australia to a more communal, celebratory, and creative engagement with death and dying.
Hans Zimmer Revealed: The Documentary
Meet Hans Zimmer before his concert at the Apollo Theater, London, during the Fall of 2014. See the rehearsals at John Henry's studio, witness the magic happens.
Marie's Dictionary
This short documentary tells the story of Marie Wilcox, the last fluent speaker of the Wukchumni language and the dictionary she created in an effort to keep her language alive.
Down in the Valley
Sacramento and its mayor Kevin Johnson fight to keep their hometown NBA team.
Ted Turner's Greatest Race
When Ted Turner entered his yacht Tenacious in the famed Fastnet Race in 1979, he did not need to prove himself. Turner already had the following on his résumé: founder of a television network, owner of the Atlanta Hawks and Braves, and, most appropriate here, winner of the 1977 America’s Cup. Still, he loved to sail and loved to race with his crew of carefully selected mates. This race would prove to be like no other Turner had ever entered when a freak storm turned the Celtic Sea into chaos. When the winds stopped and the race was over, many of the 303 entrants hadn’t even finished and, tragically, 15 sailors had lost their lives. The victorious crew of the Tenacious relive the voyage, of which Turner famously said: “I was more afraid of losing than I was of dying.”
In Football We Trust
‘In Football We Trust’ captures a snapshot in time amid the rise of the Pacific Islander presence in the NFL. Presenting a new take on the American immigrant story, this feature length documentary transports viewers deep inside the tightly-knit Polynesian community in Salt Lake City, Utah. With unprecedented access and shot over a four-year time period, the film intimately portrays four young Polynesian men striving to overcome gang violence and near poverty through American football. Viewed as the "salvation" for their families, these young players reveal the culture clash they experience as they transform out of their adolescence and into the high stakes world of collegiate recruiting and rigors of societal expectations.
Aspie Seeks Love
A fearless outsider has been searching for love longer than many of us have been alive.
Kings of Nowhere
San Marcos, a town in northwestern Mexico partially submerged under water because of the construction of a nearby dam, is besieged by the violence of armed groups. Nevertheless, four families refuse to leave.
In My Father’s House
IN MY FATHER'S HOUSE explores identity and legacy in the African-American family, as Grammy award-winning rapper Che 'Rhymefest' Smith and his long-lost father reconnect and try to build a new future in Chicago's turbulent South Side. Himself a child of a broken home, Che hasn't seen his father, Brian, in over 20 years, and presumes him dead. But after buying his father's childhood home, Che sets out to find him, and learns that his is now a homeless alcoholic living only several blocks away/ The film offers a probing take on memory and identity in a family two generations removed from slavery as it tracks Che and Brian's shared journey to create a new legacy for themselves, their community and the next generation of family.
Pattern for Survival
A key ingredient in any survival situation is the mental attitude of the individuals involved.
The Five Elements of Adventure
Matt Walker has worked as an international mountain guide for the past two decades, climbing the world’s seven highest peaks and leading expeditions across some of the world's most spectacular and challenging environments.
Like so many of us, Matt has struggled to find a balance in life, fighting against the predetermined path carved out by modern work culture. Drawing from the pivotal moments in his own life and the insights gleaned from the hundreds of people he has led on his expeditions, Matt has dedicated his life to exploring the true power of adventure and its potential to positively impact our everyday lives.
Joining four fellow adventurers from across Europe on an incredible journey through the foothills of the Himalayas, beautiful cinematography and insightful storytelling provide an inspiring exploration of the ‘Five Elements of Adventure’.
The Dinkytown Uprising
The year is 1970 and the disastrous Vietnam War keeps escalating. Protests are erupting all over U.S. campuses. But in Minneapolis, word that the national Red Barn Restaurant chain wants to erect a new fast-food franchise in old, venerable Dinkytown, the “war at home” takes a different turn. This stunning documentary chronicles the unprecedented 40-day, 40-night continuous Dinkytown “Occupation” to prevent construction of an unwanted hamburger joint. From film programmer-turned-filmmaker Al Milgrom, the story is recounted by seven participants whose varied reminiscences about defending the neighborhood becomes a microcosm of the memorable ‘70’s Generation. Music featured in the film by Bob Dylan, Willie Murphy.
The Anti-Mascot
The mid-’80s were a terrible time for the San Francisco Giants. In 1984, the team lost 96 games and finished in last place — but no one on the roster had as horrible an experience as Wayne Doba. That season, the 33-year-old actor was selected to play the Giants’ first mascot. Well, not really a mascot, but an anti-mascot. The “Crazy Crab” was conceived as a satire of the mascot craze of the late ’70s that produced now-iconic characters like the Phillie Phanatic. The Giants’ Crab was not impressive to look at, and that was on purpose (they intentionally gave him a shabby foam costume and even went so far as to film a commercial in which then-manager Frank Robinson attempted to strangle him). When the Crab made his debut at Candlestick Park, the PA announcer would encourage fans to boo. It was an experiment unlike anything in professional sports
Spyball
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt once told the head of the Office of Strategic Services (precursor to the CIA), “Give my regards to the catcher.” The catcher was Moe Berg, who spent 15 seasons in the majors before taking up espionage for the government. Spyball tells the extraordinary story of Berg, a linguist/Ivy-educated lawyer/.243 lifetime hitter whom manager Casey Stengel called “the strangest man to ever play the game of baseball.” Berg walked in eclectic circles, counting Babe Ruth, Albert Einstein, and the Marx Brothers among his friends, but it was his service to his country that truly distinguished him. His surreptitious filming of Tokyo during a 1934 baseball tour helped develop strategies for the eventual bombing of the city during World War II, and his cloak-and-dagger mind games involving a German scientist helped prove that the Nazis were failing in their attempts to develop an atomic bomb.