Good Documentaries I´ve seen
by JhonCiavaldini | created - 09 May 2012 | updated - 5 months ago | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Tokyo-Ga (1985)
92 min | Documentary
Moved by the work of director Yasujirô Ozu, Wim Wenders travels to Japan in search of the Tokyo seen in Ozu's films.
Director: Wim Wenders | Stars: Chishû Ryû, Werner Herzog, Yûharu Atsuta, Chris Marker
Votes: 3,315
2. Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country (2008)
Unrated | 84 min | Documentary, History, News
Using smuggled footage, this documentary tells the story of the 2007 protests in Burma by thousands of monks.
Director: Anders Østergaard | Stars: George W. Bush, Joshua Min Htut, Ko Muang, Aung San Suu Kyi
Votes: 2,518 | Gross: $0.05M
3. Buena Vista Social Club (1999)
G | 105 min | Documentary, Music
Aging Cuban musicians whose talents had been virtually forgotten following Castro's takeover of Cuba, are brought out of retirement by Ry Cooder, who travelled to Havana in order to bring the musicians together, resulting in triumphant performances of extraordinary music, and resurrecting the musicians' careers.
Director: Wim Wenders | Stars: Compay Segundo, Ibrahim Ferrer, Rubén González, Octavio Calderon
Votes: 20,529 | Gross: $7.00M
4. When We Were Kings (1996)
PG | 88 min | Documentary, Sport
Boxing documentary on the 1974 world heavyweight championship bout between defending champion, George Foreman, and the underdog challenger, Muhammad Ali.
Director: Leon Gast | Stars: Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, Don King, James Brown
Votes: 19,131 | Gross: $2.79M
5. Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory (2011)
Not Rated | 121 min | Documentary, Crime
A 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.
Directors: Joe Berlinger, Bruce Sinofsky | Stars: Gary Gitchell, Todd Moore, Dana Moore, Pam Hobbs
Votes: 10,864
6. Metal: A Headbanger's Journey (2005)
R | 96 min | Documentary, Music
An examination of the heavy metal music subculture that tries to explain why, despite the longevity and popularity of the genre, fans are marginalized and ridiculed for their passion.
Directors: Sam Dunn, Scot McFadyen, Jessica Joy Wise | Stars: Tom Araya, Gavin Baddeley, Blasphemer, Randy Blythe
Votes: 12,484
7. Anvil (2008)
Not Rated | 80 min | Documentary, Biography, Drama
Since 1978, Anvil has become one of heavy metal's most influential yet commercially unsuccessful acts. In 2006, after a fledging European tour Anvil sets out to record their thirteenth album and continue to follow their dreams.
Director: Sacha Gervasi | Stars: Robb Reiner, Steve 'Lips' Kudlow, Tiziana Arrigoni, Scott Ian
Votes: 16,845 | Gross: $0.67M
8. Bowling for Columbine (2002)
R | 120 min | Documentary, Crime, Drama
Filmmaker Michael Moore explores the roots of America's predilection for gun violence.
Director: Michael Moore | Stars: Michael Moore, Charlton Heston, Marilyn Manson, Salvador Allende
Votes: 148,736 | Gross: $21.58M
9. Food, Inc. (2008)
PG | 94 min | Documentary, News
An unflattering look inside America's corporate controlled food industry.
Director: Robert Kenner | Stars: Michael Pollan, Eric Schlosser, Richard Lobb, Vince Edwards
Votes: 52,216 | Gross: $4.42M
10. Taxi to the Dark Side (2007)
R | 106 min | Documentary, Crime, History
Alex Gibney exposes the haunting details of the USA's torture and interrogation practices during the War in Afghanistan.
Director: Alex Gibney | Stars: Alex Gibney, Brian Keith Allen, Moazzam Begg, Christopher Beiring
Votes: 16,803 | Gross: $0.27M
11. Darwin's Nightmare (2004)
107 min | Documentary
A documentary on the effect of fishing the Nile perch in Tanzania's Lake Victoria. The predatory fish, which has wiped out the native species, is sold in European supermarkets, while starving Tanzanian families have to make do with the leftovers.
Director: Hubert Sauper | Stars: Elizabeth 'Eliza' Maganga Nsese, Raphael Tukiko Wagara, Dimond Remtulia, Marcus Nyoni
Votes: 5,662 | Gross: $0.20M
12. 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: 15,947 | Gross: $3.52M
13. Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film (2006)
Unrated | 88 min | Documentary, Horror
A documentary on the history of the slasher film.
Director: Jeff McQueen | Stars: Ed Green, Wes Craven, John Carpenter, Joseph Stefano
Votes: 3,618
14. Religulous (2008)
R | 101 min | Documentary, Comedy, War
Bill Maher's take on the current state of world religion.
Director: Larry Charles | Stars: Bill Maher, Tal Bachman, Jonathan Boulden, Steven Burg
Votes: 60,239 | Gross: $13.00M
15. Lost in La Mancha (2002)
R | 89 min | Documentary
Terry Gilliam's doomed attempt to get his film, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (2018), off the ground.
Directors: Keith Fulton, Louis Pepe | Stars: Terry Gilliam, Johnny Depp, Jeff Bridges, Tony Grisoni
Votes: 12,000 | Gross: $0.73M
16. The Five Obstructions (2003)
Unrated | 90 min | Documentary
Filmmaker Lars Von Trier challenges Jørgen Leth, the filmmaker behind The Perfect Human (1967), to remake his classic short under circumstances of increasing constraint.
Directors: Jørgen Leth, Lars von Trier | Stars: Claus Nissen, Majken Algren Nielsen, Daniel Hernandez Rodriguez, Jacqueline Arenal
Votes: 9,202 | Gross: $0.09M
17. Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)
R | 122 min | Documentary, Drama, War
Michael Moore's view on what happened to the United States after September 11 and how the Bush Administration allegedly used the tragic event to push forward its agenda for unjust wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Director: Michael Moore | Stars: Michael Moore, George W. Bush, Ben Affleck, Stevie Wonder
Votes: 132,391 | Gross: $119.19M
18. Night and Fog (1956)
TV-14 | 32 min | Documentary, Short, History
The history of Nazi Germany's death camps of the Final Solution and the hellish world of dehumanization and death contained inside.
Director: Alain Resnais | Stars: Michel Bouquet, Reinhard Heydrich, Heinrich Himmler, Adolf Hitler
Votes: 21,458
19. S21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine (2003)
Unrated | 101 min | Documentary, History, War
A unique documentary on the notorious S-21 prison, today the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, with testimony by the only surviving prisoners and former Khmer Rouge guards.
Director: Rithy Panh | Stars: Khieu 'Poev' Ches, Yeay Cheu, Nhem En, Houy Him
Votes: 1,163 | Gross: $0.02M
20. Global Metal (2008)
93 min | Documentary, Music
A continued examination of the heavy metal subculture focusing on the adaptation and performance of heavy metal in various global communities, and how the increased import of Western cultural forms has impacted new global markets.
Directors: Sam Dunn, Scot McFadyen | Stars: Tom Araya, Ken Ayugai, Rafael Bittencourt, Max Cavalera
Votes: 4,888
21. Santiago (2007)
80 min | Documentary
Documentary about Santiago, a peculiar man who used to work for the director and his parents as a butler. The material was filmed in 1992 but, for some strange reason, the director felt he ... See full summary »
Director: João Moreira Salles | Star: Santiago Badariotti Merlo
Votes: 756
22. Salesman (1969)
G | 91 min | Documentary, Drama
Four dogged door-to-door Bible salesmen travel from Boston to Florida on a seemingly futile quest to sell luxury editions of the Good Book to working-class Catholics.
Directors: Albert Maysles, David Maysles, Charlotte Zwerin | Stars: Paul Brennan, Charles McDevitt, James Baker, Raymond Martos
Votes: 5,708
23. Nobody's Business (1996)
Not Rated | 60 min | Documentary, Biography
A portrait of the director's father, searching for the extraordinary in the subject's seemingly normal existence.
Director: Alan Berliner | Stars: Alan Berliner, Oscar Berliner
Votes: 928
24. Matthew's Laws (2012)
72 min | Documentary
Matthew's autism give him a special way to see the world, but at the same time it causes him to have legal problems with his landlords, who want to have him evicted due to the alterations he makes in his apartment.
Director: Marc Schmidt
Votes: 301
25. Svyato (2005)
45 min | Documentary
In Russian, "Svyato" means "happy". But it is also a nickname for Svyatoslav, the son of director Kossakovsky, who for two years covered mirrors from Svyato. For the first time in his life, Svyato is going to watch himself on a mirror.
Director: Victor Kossakovsky | Star: Svyatoslav Kossakovsky
Votes: 169
26. Twenty Years Later (1984)
119 min | Documentary, History
A filmmaker returns to Northeast Brazil after twenty years to resume his film (a profile of assassinated peasant leader João Pedro Teixeira) which was shut down by a right-wing military coup in 1964.
Director: Eduardo Coutinho | Stars: Eduardo Coutinho, Elizabeth Teixeira, Ferreira Gullar, Tite de Lemos
Votes: 1,694
27. Sand and Blood (2017)
R | 90 min | Documentary
Young refugees from Iraq and Syria reflect on their lost youth, while found private video footage provides a disturbing view of the development of war.
Directors: Matthias Krepp, Angelika Spangel
Votes: 7
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