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Best Documentary Movies

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2,279 results

2,279 results

1,105. Winnebago Man

Jul 9, 2010 • Rated Not Rated

Following a two-week shoot in August 1988 for a Winnebago sales ad, a 4-minute outtakes reel surfaced and eventually came to be known as "Winnebago Man." While the finished sales ad was sent to Winnebago dealers to promote the 1989 Itasca Sunflyer motorhome, copies of the "Winnebago Man" outtakes were being passed amongst the crew and their friends on VHS tape. Eventually the video fell in the hands of videotape collectors, who began copying and trading it, sparking an underground phenomenon that turned Jack Rebney into a cult hero. When the online video revolution took off on YouTube and other websites, Jack Rebney became one of the first viral video superstars. (Kino International)

1,106. Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer

Jan 9, 2004 • Rated R

This documentary provides an insight into the mind of Aileen Wournos (whose story is the basis for the feature film "Monster"), a deeply paranoid yet sympathetic person who lost her mind and killed seven people. (Nick Broomfield)

1,107. Making the Boys

Mar 11, 2011 • Rated Not Rated

Before Prop 8, Milk or Will & Grace, before the AIDS epidemic, gay pride parades or the Stonewall uprising, The Boys in the Band changed everything. Making The Boys explores the drama, struggle and enduring legacy of the first-ever gay play and subsequent Hollywood movie to successfully reach a mainstream audience. Beloved by some for breaking new ground, and condemned by others for reinforcing gay stereotypes, The Boys in the Band sparked heated controversy that still exists four decades later. Featuring anecdotes from the surviving cast and filmmakers, as well as perspectives by legendary figures from stage and screen, Making The Boys traces the behind-the-scenes drama and lasting legacy of this cultural milestone. (First Run Features)

1,108. The Man Nobody Knew: In Search of My Father, CIA Spymaster William Colby

Sep 23, 2011 • Rated Not Rated

A son's riveting look at a father whose life seemed straight out of a spy thriller, The Man Nobody Knew: In Search of My Father, CIA Spymaster William Colby uncovers the secret world of a legendary CIA spymaster. Told by William Colby’s son Carl, the story is at once a probing history of the CIA, a personal memoir of a family living in clandestine shadows, and an inquiry into the hard costs of a nation's most cloaked actions. From the beginning of his career as an OSS officer parachuting into Nazi-occupied Europe, William Colby rose through the ranks of "The Company," and soon was involved in covert operations in hot spots around the globe. He swayed elections against the Communists in Italy, oversaw the coup against President Diem in Saigon, and ran the controversial Phoenix Program in Vietnam, which sparked today's legacy of counter-insurgency. But after decades of obediently taking on the White House's toughest and dirtiest assignments, and rising to become Director of CIA, Colby defied the President. Braving intense controversy, he opened up to Congress some of the agency's darkest, most tightly held secrets and extra-legal operations. (First Run Features)

1,109. Last Days Here

Mar 2, 2012 • Rated Not Rated

The film studies the storied and tumultuous life of heavy metal legend Bobby Liebling and features the music of Liebling’s band Pentagram. (9.14 Pictures)

1,110. Anthropocene: The Human Epoch

After nearly 10 years of research, the Anthropocene Working Group, an international body of scientists, argue that the Holocene Epoch gave way to the Anthropocene Epoch in the mid-twentieth century as a result of profound and lasting human changes to the Earth. From concrete seawalls in China that now cover 60% of the mainland coast, to the biggest terrestrial machines ever built in Germany, to psychedelic potash mines in Russia’s Ural Mountains, to metal festivals in the closed city of Norilsk, to the devastated Great Barrier Reef in Australia and massive marble quarries in Carrara, the filmmakers have traversed the globe using state of the art camera techniques to document the evidence and experience of human planetary domination. At the intersection of art and science, Anthropocene witnesses a critical moment in geological history — bringing a provocative and unforgettable experience of our species's breadth and impact.

1,111. Mad Hot Ballroom

May 13, 2005 • Rated PG

An inspiring look inside the lives of New York City school kids on a journey into the world of ballroom dancing, an unexpected arena where they discover new frontiers about attitude, movement, style and commitment. (Paramount Classics)

1,112. Mr. Gaga

Mr. Gaga is a unique documentary experience that tells the story of the internationally acclaimed choreographer Ohad Naharin, who created the daring form of dance and “movement language” Gaga. When he was 22, he was invited to perform with the prestigious Martha Graham dance company, and attended Juilliard and the School of American Ballet simultaneously. But Ohad would not be happy until he could do exactly what he wanted. Moving back to Israel, Naharin became the Artistic Director of the Batsheva Dance Company, developing gaga within his own ensemble. Even after achieving worldwide acclaim, Naharin continues to fight every day, sometimes with his own dancers, once even with the president of Israel, to make his vision come to life. [Abramorama]

1,113. What Is Democracy?

Coming at a moment of profound political and social crisis, What Is Democracy? reflects on a word we too often take for granted. Director Astra Taylor’s idiosyncratic, philosophical journey spans millennia and continents: from ancient Athens’ groundbreaking experiment in self-government to capitalism’s roots in medieval Italy; from modern-day Greece grappling with financial collapse and a mounting refugee crisis to the United States reckoning with its racist past and the growing gap between rich and poor. Featuring a diverse cast—including celebrated theorists, trauma surgeons, activists, factory workers, asylum seekers, and former prime ministers—this urgent film connects the past and the present, the emotional and the intellectual, the personal and the political, in order to provoke and inspire. If we want to live in democracy, we must first ask what the word even means. [Zeitgeist Films]

1,114. Only the Young

Dec 7, 2012 • Rated Not Rated

The friendship between a couple of high school boys in California, both snowboarders and evangelical Christians, is explored in this documentary by Eliazabeth Mimsand Jason Tippet.

1,115. The Cage Fighter

Feb 2, 2018 • Rated Unrated

When life hits him hard, Joe Carman punches back. Newly 40, Joe juggles long hours working in a boiler room, an ongoing custody battle, his wife’s chronic illness, and the demands of raising four girls. The one place he finds release is in the ring, where he competes in the bruising sport of mixed martial arts. Despite the promise he made to his family to stop fighting, Joe continues to train secretly, determined to prove that he can keep up with the new crop of younger, up-and-coming competitors. But as he contends with a series of increasingly worrying health scares, the question arises: how much is Joe willing to risk—his family, his marriage, maybe even his life—to keep fighting? [Sundance Selects]

1,116. William Shatner: You Can Call Me Bill

Mar 22, 2024 • Rated PG-13

William Shatner: You Can Call Me Bill is an intimate exploration of the life and career of William Shatner. From his unforgettable portrayal of Captain James T. Kirk in Star Trek to his diverse accomplishments of a 70+ year career across film, television, and the arts, the documentary captures the essence of Shatner's journey and his extraordinary contributions to the entertainment industry.

1,117. Searching for Ingmar Bergman

On the 100th anniversary of his birth, internationally renowned director Margarethe von Trotta examines Ingmar Bergman’s life and work with a circle of his closest collaborators as well as a new generation of filmmakers. This documentary presents key components of his legacy, as it retraces themes that recurred in his life and art and takes us to the places that were central to Bergman’s creative achievements.

1,118. The Booksellers

Antiquarian booksellers are part scholar, part detective and part businessperson, and their personalities and knowledge are as broad as the material they handle. They also play an underappreciated yet essential role in preserving history. The Booksellers takes viewers inside their small but fascinating world, populated by an assortment of obsessives, intellects, eccentrics and dreamers.

1,119. The Last Laugh

The Last Laugh is a feature documentary that proceeds from the premise that the Holocaust would seem to be an absolutely off-limits topic for comedy. But is it? History shows that even the victims of the Nazi concentration camps themselves used humor as a means of survival and resistance. Still, any use of comedy in connection with this horror risks diminishing the suffering of millions. So where is the line? If we make the Holocaust off limits, what are the implications for other controversial subjects—9/11, AIDS, racism—in a society that prizes freedom of speech?

1,120. The Nomi Song

Feb 4, 2005 • Rated Not Rated

A portrait of late German artist Klaus Nomi, this film is part documentary, part music film, part sci-fi, The Nomi Song is a "non-fiction film," or maybe even an oral history. It's not just the tale, it's the telling. (Palm Pictures)

1,121. Collapse

Nov 6, 2009 • Rated Unrated

Meet Michael Ruppert, a different kind of American. A former Los Angeles police officer turned independent reporter, he predicted the current financial crisis in his self-published newsletter, From the Wilderness, at a time when most of Wall Street and Washington analysts were still in denial. Director Chris Smith has shown an affinity for outsiders in films like American Movie and The Yes Men. In Collapse, he departs stylistically form his past documentaries by interviewing Ruppert in a format that recalls that work of Errol Morris and Spalding Gray. (Vitagraph Films)

1,122. The Disappearance of My Mother

Benedetta Barzini wants to disappear. An iconic fashion model in the 1960s, she became a muse to Warhol, Dali, Penn and Avedon. As a radical feminist in the 1970s, she fought for the rights and emancipation of women. But at the age of 75, she is fed up with all the roles that life has imposed upon her and decides to leave everything and everybody behind, to disappear to a place as far as possible from the world she knows. Hiding behind the camera, her son Beniamino witnesses her journey. Having filmed her since he was a child in spite of all her resistance, he now wants to make a film about her, to keep her close for as long as possible – or, at least, as long as his camera keeps running. The making of the film turns into a battle between mother and son, a stubborn fight to capture the ultimate image of Benedetta – the image of her liberation.

1,123. Divan

Mar 17, 2004 • Rated Not Rated

Pearl Gluck travels to Hungary to retrieve a turn-of-the-century family heirloom: a couch upon which esteemed rabbis once slept. En route for the ancestral divan, Pearl encounters a colorful cast of characters who provide guidance and inspiration. (Zeitgeist Films)

1,124. Deadline

Jun 4, 2004 • Rated Not Rated

In Deadline, directors Katy Chevigny and Kirsten Johnson tackle the volatile topic of the American capital punishment system with intelligence, compassion and balance. Furthermore, they capture the extraordinary transformation of one man, former Illinois governor George Ryan, who holds the power of life and death in his hands. (Big Mouth Productions)

1,125. The Great Dance: A Hunter's Story

This documentary by Craig and Damon Foster focuses on the surviving San bushmen in the central Kalahari.

1,126. Bobby Sands: 66 Days

In the spring of 1981 Irish Republican Bobby Sands’ 66-day hunger strike brought the attention of the world to his cause. Drawing on an Irish Republican tradition of martyrdom, Sands’ emotive, non-violent protest to be classified as a political prisoner became a defining moment in 20th century Irish history. Sands’ death after 66 days marked a key turning point in the relationship between Britain and Ireland, and brought a global spotlight to the Northern Irish conflict which eventually triggered international efforts to resolve it.

1,127. In Search of Beethoven

Sep 23, 2009 • Rated Not Rated

In Search of Beethoven addresses the romantic myth that Beethoven was a heroic, tormented figure battling to overcome his tragic fate, struck down by deafness, who searched for his 'immortal beloved' but remained unmarried. It delves beyond the image of the tortured, cantankerous, unhinged personality, to reveal someone quite different and far more interesting. (Seventh Art Productions)

1,128. Blood Brother

Oct 18, 2013 • Rated Not Rated

Blood Brother is an intimate portrait of Rocky Braat, a young man who longed to find a family. He didn't know it, but this desire would lead him to an AIDS hostel in India, a place of unspeakable hardship, where he would find almost more love and need than he could bear.

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