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Popular Documentary Movies
Prime Video
Bob Ross: The Happy Painter
A behind-the-scenes look at the beloved public television personality's journey from humble beginnings to an American pop-culture icon. "The Happy Painter" reveals the public and private sides of Bob Ross through loving accounts from close friends and family, childhood photographs and rare archival footage. Interviewees recount his gentle, mild-mannered demeanor and unwavering dedication to wildlife, and disclose little-known facts about his hair, his fascination with fast cars and more. Film clips feature Bob Ross with mentor William Alexander and the rough-cut of the first "Joy of Painting" episode from 1982. Famous Bob Ross enthusiasts, including talk-show pioneer Phil Donahue, film stars Jane Seymour and Terrence Howard, chef Duff Goldman and country music favorites Brad Paisley and Jerrod Niemann, provide fascinating insights into the man, the artist and his legacy.
U2: From the Sky Down
This documentary film is about the making of U2's Achtung Baby. In 2011, U2 returned to Hansa Studios in Berlin to discuss the making of Achtung Baby. This film is directed by Davis Guggenheim. Screened in the UK as part of the BBC's Imagine series, this film was the first ever documentary to open the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival. Included is bonus footage of "So Cruel," "Love is Blindness," and "The Fly" shot in May 2010 during the band's visit to Hansa Studios to mark the 20th anniversary of Achtung Baby. Also included is a Q&A with Bono, The Edge, and Davis Guggenheim filmed at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2011.
Koran by Heart
In this 80-minute documentary, three 10-year-old children leave their native countries to participate in one of the Islamic world’s most famous competitions, a test of memory and recitation known as The International Holy Koran Competition. Up against much older students, these youngsters have committed the 600 pages of the Koran to memory, and will put their skills to the test before the elite of the world’s Muslim community in Cairo, Egypt. In the midst of this intense international competition, the three young competitors –two boys from Senegal and Tajikistan, and one girl from the Maldives – face uncertain futures at home, as they are caught between fundamentalist and moderate visions of Islam. The children discuss their recitation techniques – with accompanying, completely improvised melodies – and talk about their nerves and excitement as they finally compete before a panel of judges.
Whores' Glory
In Bangkok, Thailand, women punch a clock and wait for clients in a brightly lit glass box; in the red-light district of Faridpur, Bangladesh, a madam haggles over the price of a teenage girl; and in the border town of Reynosa, Mexico, crack-addicted women pray to a deity named Lady Death.
When Harry Left Hogwarts
BAFTA award-winning filmmaker Morgan Matthews was given unprecedented access to the behind-the-scenes of the final days of the final two Harry Potter films, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 1 and 2. Hear the personal stories of the faces we know, and those we don't, as we come to the end of one of the most successful eras in cinema history. Special feature on select editions of Deathly Hallows 1 & 2.
Paul Williams Still Alive
Filmmaker and longtime fan Stephen Kessler's portrait of the award-winning 1970s singer-songwriter-actor, who disappeared for much of the 1980s and '90s, but still performs today.
Steve Jobs: One Last Thing
Through interviews with colleagues and others who knew the creative genius whose innovations transformed the lives of millions, ONE LAST THING provides an inside look at the man and the major influences that helped shape his life and career.
Adventures in Plymptoons!
A documentary film about Oscar-nominated animator Bill Plympton. This is a portrait piece that includes interviews with family, friends, colleagues, critics, and fans.
Trek Nation
Trek Nation is a documentary film directed by Scott Colthorp examining the positive impact that Star Trek and creator Gene Roddenberry may have had on people's lives as seen through the eyes of his son, Eugene Roddenberry, Jr. ("Rod"). It includes interviews with castmembers and crew from all five Star Trek shows, as well as various fans and celebrities who were markedly influenced by the show while growing up. Rod Roddenberry also visits Skywalker Ranch to interview George Lucas on the influence that Star Trek had on him. Lucas shares how he had gone to Star Trek conventions prior to creating Star Wars.
Warren Ellis: Captured Ghosts
Warren Ellis: Captured Ghosts is a feature-length documentary that takes an in depth look at the life, career and mind of the British comic book writer Warren Ellis. The film combines extensive interviews with Ellis with insights from his colleagues and friends, as well as ambient visual re-creations of his prose and comics work.
Tornado Alley
Tornado Alley documents two unprecedented missions seeking to encounter one of Earth’s most awe-inspiring events—the birth of a tornado. Filmmaker Sean Casey’s personal quest to capture the birth of a tornado with a 70mm camera takes viewers on a breathtaking journey into the heart of the storm. A team of equally driven scientists, the VORTEX2 researchers, experience the relentless strength of nature’s elemental forces as they literally surround tornadoes and the supercell storms that form them, gathering the most comprehensive severe weather data ever collected.
Hot Coffee
Most people think they know the "McDonald's coffee case," but what they don't know is that corporations have spent millions distorting the case to promote tort reform. HOT COFFEE reveals how big business, aided by the media, brewed a dangerous concoction of manipulation and lies to protect corporate interests. By following four people whose lives were devastated by the attacks on our courts, the film challenges the assumptions Americans hold about "jackpot justice."
World War Two: 1941 and the Man of Steel
This is an interesting documentary about Stalin, his rise to power, and the invasion of the USSR by Germany in WWII. It's split into two parts, the first a general overview of the early history. The second part is the details of WWII and after. David Reynolds does an excellent job of explaining what happened with snippets from diaries, letters and other contemporaneous accounts. Well-assembled historical work.
Eames: The Architect and the Painter
The husband-and-wife team of Charles and Ray Eames were America's most influential and important industrial designers. Admired for their creations and fascinating as individuals, they have risen to iconic status in American culture. Eames: The Architect and the Painter draws from a treasure trove of archival material, as well as new interviews with friends, colleague, and experts to capture the personal story of Charles and Ray while placing them firmly in the context of their fascinating times.
Russia - In the Realm of Tigers, Bears and Volcanoes
A window into Russia, unknown to Western man, and even to many Russians. "Russia - the largest country in the world. In many of its parts, it remains unknown world full of wonders. Let the world and will continue for the generations that come after us".
Magic Trip
A freewheeling portrait of Ken Kesey and the Merry Prankster’s fabled road trip across America in the legendary Magic Bus. In 1964, Ken Kesey, the famed author of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” set off on a legendary, LSD-fuelled cross-country road trip to the New York World’s Fair. He was joined by “The Merry Band of Pranksters,” a renegade group of counterculture truth-seekers, including Neal Cassady, the American icon immortalized in Kerouac’s “On the Road,” and the driver and painter of the psychedelic Magic Bus.
Screaming in High Heels: The Rise & Fall of the Scream Queen Era
Three girls living in Los Angeles, CA in the 1980s found cult fame when they "accidentally" transitioned from models to B-movie actresses, coinciding with the major direct-to-video horror film boom of the era. Known as "The Terrifying Trio," Linnea Quigley (The Return of the Living Dead), Brinke Stevens (The Slumber Party Massacre) and Michelle Bauer (The Tomb), headlined upwards of ten films per year, fending off men in rubber monster suits, pubescent teenage boys, and deadly showers. They joined together in campy cult films like Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-a-Rama (1988) and Nightmare Sisters (1987). They traveled all over the world, met President Reagan, and built mini-empires of trading cards, comic books, and model kits. Then it all came crashing down. This documentary remembers these actresses - and their most common collaborators - on how smart they were to play stupid
The Other F Word
What happens when a generation's ultimate anti-authoritarians — punk rockers — become society's ultimate authorities — dad's? With a large chorus of Punk Rock's leading men — Blink-182's Mark Hoppus, Red Hot Chili Peppers' Flea, Rise Against's Tim McIlrath — The Other F Word follows Jim Lindberg, 20-year veteran of skate punk band, Pennywise, on his hysterical and moving journey from belting his band's anthem, 'Fuck Authority', to embracing his ultimately pivotal authoritarian role in mid-life, fatherhood.
Laurel & Hardy: Their Lives and Magic
The lives of Stan Laurel (1890-1965) and Oliver Hardy (1892-1957), on the screen and behind the curtain. The joy and the sadness, the success and the failure. The story of one of the best comic duos of all time: a lesson on how to make people laugh.
Thor: From Asgard to Earth
A strong and fast-paced overview piece that looks at the picture's set design, the inspirations from various versions of the comic, costume construction, and filming locations.
Prime Video
Slaying the Dragon: Reloaded
A sequel to the 1988 award winning documentary, "Slaying the Dragon," this film looks at the past 25 years of representation of Asian and Asian American women in U.S. visual media -- from blockbuster films and network television to Asian American cinema and YouTube -- to explore what's changed, what's been recycled, and what we can hope for in the future.
Planet Rock: The Story of Hip-Hop and the Crack Generation
A look at the rise of crack cocaine in urban America in the 1980s and it's influence on popular culture, especially in hip-hop music.
If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front
Filmmaker Marshall Curry explores the inner workings of the Earth Liberation Front, a revolutionary movement devoted to crippling facilities involved in deforestation, while simultaneously offering a profile of Oregon ELF member Daniel McGowan, who was brought up on terrorism charges for his involvement with the radical group.
Prime Video
Danny Greene: The Rise and Fall of the Irishman
Exclusive interviews with Danny Greene's family, Federal Government Officials, Mafia associates and Cleveland Police Enforcement, with never seen before photos.
All.I.Can.
The time has come for a ski film that stands for something. Join us as we unite spectacular cinematography with creative cinematic language to fuse our passion for skiing with our potential to help the environment. In bringing the planet to life and drawing parallels between our daily existence, we find common ground between the global situation and the real individual. Epic natural cinematography, ground breaking skiing from Chile to Greenland, and an environmental engagement that creates an accessible identification point for the viewer, leaving them with an inspiring new perspective.
Last Days Here
Documentary follows Bobby Liebling, lead singer of seminal hard rock/heavy metal band Pentagram, as he battles decades of hard drug addiction and personal demons to try and get his life back.
Stone Cold Steve Austin: The Bottom Line on the Most Popular Superstar of All Time
He's one of the most popular Superstars in the history of sports-entertainment, with a resume that includes six WWE Championship reigns, three Royal Rumble victories, a King of the Ring Championship, and an unprecedented run of raising hell throughout WWE. Stone Cold Steve Austin continues to be both popular and controversial.
My Name Is Not Ali
Travelling between Germany, France and Tunisia, Viola Shafik reconstructs and deconstructs the unknown life story of El Hedi Ben Salem through interviews with his companions and family members as well as archive material. With openness and slight naivety the interviewees explain how “Ali” became an oriental object of projection for the Fassbinder group, while El Hedi Ben Salem, the human being, was overlooked in order to establish the foreigner as “other.” A no-frills examination of a piece of German and Munich film history.
iGenius: How Steve Jobs Changed the World
Steve Jobs was a creative and technological visionary who quite simply changed society as we know it. As co-founder and CEO of Apple Computer, Jobs ushered in personal computing to the masses, which in turn led to new innovations which completely changed our way of life - from how we do our work, to the way we watch movies, listen to music and interact socially. Discovery Channel will feature iGENIUS: HOW STEVE JOBS CHANGED THE WORLD, a one-hour documentary that celebrates these innovations.
That's Insignificance
A behind-the-scenes look at the making of Nicolas Roeg's 1985 film INSIGNIFICANCE featuring interviews with the cast.
Top Gear: India Special
The gang embarks on a trade mission to India. Equipped with three old British cars and a range of uniquely British products, they set off on an epic road trip across one of the world's most fascinating and challenging countries.
Silvio Forever
Lawsuit-proof satirical "unauthorized biography" of Silvio Berlusconi told using only words spoken by the man himself in interviews, rallies, or other public statements.
Operation Jericho
Actor and aviator Martin Shaw takes to the skies to rediscover one of the most audacious and daring raids of World War II. On the morning of 18th February 1944, a squadron of RAF Mosquito bombers, flying as low as three metres over occupied France, demolished the walls of Amiens Jail in what became known as Operation Jericho. The reasons behind the controversial raid remain a mystery to this day. This dramatic documentary investigates the missing pieces of the story, with interviews from survivors and aircrew, and tries to find out why the raid was ordered and by whom.
The Weird World of Blowfly
Clarence Reid is a musician who wrote and produced romantic and spiritual songs for some of the greatest Southern soul and R&B acts of the 1960s and '70s. He is also the gonzo performer Blowfly, Clarence's freaky alter ego and the original X-rated rapper. "The Weird World of Blowfly" explores both sides of this hilarious and controversial artist, providing a rare, inside peek at the infamous linguist's daily life. Now 69-years-old, with a gold-spangled superhero costume and a catalog of the world's raunchiest tunes, Blowfly tours the world, still struggling for success and recognition after 50 years of making music. The film highlights both Clarence's and Blowfly's unique contributions to music history, including Top-10 R&B hits and what might be the world's first rap song, recorded in 1965.
Rent Boys
Documentary about the current hustler scene in Berlin. Based on interviews with former and active prostitutes, the realities of male prostitutes in Berlin are treated. The film is objective, and records the hustler scene as a social Submilieu, which is characterized by both tragic fates, as well as everyday things and routines. Not only the direct sale of sexual services is discussed, but also other aspects associated with male prostitution: poverty, drug addiction, AIDS, crime, migration, love and partnership.
Reagan
Based on the story of Americas enigmatic career of one of the revered architects of the modern world - icon, screen star, and two-term president, Ronald Reagan.
Small Roads
Lengthy static shots of various backroads, smaller interstates, quieter roads, and lonely highways.