Documentaries
List activity
593 views
• 0 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
124 titles
- DirectorR.K. WilliamsStarsDanny AllenMcCall PetersenR.K. WilliamsDeep in the heart of Utah, commonly referred to as "Happy Valley," residents enjoy one of the lowest crime rates, highest literacy and language fluency - even the most jello consumption - across the nation. Yet under the glossy exterior of this beautiful community, there are less popular categories that Happy Valley contends in but doesn't advertise, including prescription drug abuse, double the national average of anti-depressant drugs, even suicide. In Happy Valley at least one teen per week dies from drug overdose. The real-life true story, Happy Valley, sheds light on the growing problem of prescription drug abuse in Utah County and, as importantly, the associated issues of denial, conformity, social pressure and guilt. The film intimately follows several lives and families that have been dramatically affected by prescription drug abuse leading to street drug abuse and addiction. From these stories and a single father's journey to reunite a family emerge unconditional love, forgiveness, acceptance... even transformation.
- DirectorNoah HuttonCrude Independence is a documentary film about the heartland in the process of transplanting itself, and the new heart is pumping oil. In 2006, the United States Geological Survey estimated there to be more than 200 billion barrels of crude oil resting in a previously unreachable formation beneath western North Dakota. With the advent of new drilling technologies, oil companies from far and wide are descending on small rural towns across America with men and machinery in tow. Director Noah Hutton takes us to the town of Stanley (population 1300), sitting atop the largest oil discovery in the history of the North American continent, and captures the change wrought by the unprecedented boom. Through revealing interviews and breathtaking imagery of the northern plains, Crude Independence is a rumination on the future of small town America-a tale of change at the hands of the global energy market and America's unyielding thirst for oil.
- DirectorFiore DerosaJen SenkoGlobal trends in major cities around the world have changed rapidly in the last several decades. As cities become more interconnected, and less dependent on localized economic models, domestic issues of increased class inequality and sustainability have emerged as central components to city planning debates. These trends are perhaps best exemplified in the city of New York. Told through the eyes of city planners, developers, politicians, small business owners, landlords and tenants, the recent development boom in New York City is analyzed through a mix of archival footage, interviews, and personal stories. Issues of class formation, land use, rezoning decisions and the upheaval of longstanding neighborhoods combine to provide a critical look into the deeply rooted policies of one of the worlds most iconic cities.
- DirectorPeter D. HutchisonKelly NyksJared P. ScottStarsNoam ChomskyAlan GreenspanMalcolm XRenowned academic and author Noam Chomsky elucidates 10 principles of concentration of wealth and power that have led to unprecedented inequality and the hollowing out of the American middle class.
- DirectorAnthony BaxterStarsMichael ForbesDonald TrumpAnthony BaxterIn this David and Goliath story for the 21st century, a group of proud Scottish homeowners take on celebrity tycoon Donald Trump as he buys up one of Scotland's last wilderness areas to build a golf resort.
- DirectorStefan ForbesStarsLee AtwaterTucker EskewJoe SlighThe Murrow, Polk, and IDA Award-winning documentary Boogie Man is about Lee Atwater, a blues-playing rogue whose rise from the South to Chairman of the GOP made him a political rock star. He mentored George W. Bush and Karl Rove while leading the Republican party to historic victories, helping make liberal a dirty word, and transforming the way America elects our Presidents. In interviews with Republicans and friends of Atwater, Boogie Man examines his role in America's shift to the right. To Democrats offended by the 1988 Willie Horton controversy, Atwater was a remorseless political assassin dubbed by one Congresswoman "the most evil man in America." The film examines his irreverent sense of humor, his understanding of the American heartland, and his unapologetic vision of politics as war. It ends with a portrait of a cynic's deathbed search for meaning.
- DirectorBill JonesTerry JonesBen TimlettStarsTerry JonesGeorge MagnusRobert ShillerTerry Jones guides us through the history and the nature of the economic boom-bust cycle and why people repeatedly ignore it to their sorrow.
- DirectorMarc LevinStarsMichael Levine'Freeway' Ricky RossEric SterlingFREEWAY: CRACK IN THE SYSTEM tells the story of broken dreams, drug dealers, dirty cops, and government complicity-more compelling than fiction, it's the real story behind America's longest war. This documentary by award-winning filmmaker Marc Levin (SLAM, Mr. Untouchable, Brick City) exposes how the infiltration of crack cocaine destroyed inner-city neighborhoods across the country. At the center of it all is the rise, fall and redemption of Freeway Rick Ross, a street hustler who became the King of Crack, and journalist Gary Webb, who broke the story of the CIA's complicity in the drug war. Featuring exclusive interviews with Freeway Rick Ross, not to be confused with the rapper who took his name Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Gary Webb, his source Coral Baca, and wife Susan Webb former Los Angeles Deputy Sheriff Roberto Juarez drug trafficker Julio Zavala and many more. The real Rick Ross is not a rapper. He's an urban legend in South Central LA, a black godfather figure whom most people have never seen, but know by name and reputation. He's 'Freeway' Rick Ross, the man who stood at the center of the crack epidemic, and whose name has been inextricably linked to the CIA-Contra-Cocaine connection. His story defies all odds and stereotypes and proves that truth is indeed stranger than fiction.
- DirectorJake WitzenfeldStarsKhader Abu SeifFadi DaeemNaeem JiryesA feature documentary that follows the lives of three gay Palestinian friends exploring their national and sexual identity in Tel-Aviv during the Israel-Gaza conflict of 2014.
- DirectorJames D. SolomonJessica RobinsonStarsWilliam GenoveseKitty GenoveseCharles SkollerThe brother of Kitty Genovese investigates the circumstances of her murder and the truth of the story that dozens of locals witnessed the crime and did nothing to intervene.
- DirectorRobin HauserStarsTracy ChouEvelyn CordnerDanielle FeinbergWomen and girls in computing science discuss the lack of diversity and gender equality in the industry and strategies to change this.
- DirectorAva DuVernayStarsMelina AbdullahMichelle AlexanderCory BookerAn in-depth look at the prison system in the United States and how it reveals the nation's history of racial inequality.
- DirectorTed BraunStarsWilliam AckmanDouglas M. BrooksWilliam CohanWriter/director Ted Braun follows controversial hedge fund titan Bill Ackman as he puts a billion dollars on the line in his crusade to expose Herbalife as the largest pyramid scheme in history.
- DirectorYann Arthus-BertrandStarsLuis CancuAtmanBerthonyA collection of stories about and images of our world, offering an immersion to the core of what it means to be human.
- DirectorSarah PolleyStarsMichael PolleyJohn BuchanMark PolleyA film that excavates layers of myth and memory to find the elusive truth at the core of a family of storytellers.
- DirectorMatthew OrnsteinStarsDaryl D. DavisKenneth NwadikeJeff SchoepDaryl Davis is an accomplished musician who was played all over the world. He also has an unusual hobby, particularly for a middle aged black man. When not displaying his musical chops, Daryl likes to meet and befriend members of the Ku Klux Klan. When many of these people eventually leave the Klan with Daryl's support, Daryl keeps their robes and hoods; building his collection piece by piece, story by story, person by person, in hopes of one day opening a museum of the Klan.
- DirectorBrian KnappenbergerStarsAaron SwartzTim Berners-LeeCindy CohnThe story of programming prodigy and information activist Aaron Swartz, who took his own life at the age of 26.
- DirectorAli AkbarzadehStarsLawrence LessigTim WuPeter LudlowThe Internet is under attack. This award-winning documentary explores the threat Internet censorship imposes on free speech, innovation, and democracy.
- DirectorJamie JohnsonStarsNicole BuffetChuck CollinsSteve ForbesIn this hard-hitting but humorous documentary, director Jamie Johnson takes the exploration of wealth that he began in Born Rich one step further. The One Percent, refers to the tiny percentage of Americans who control nearly half the wealth of the U.S. Johnson's thesis is that this wealth in the hands of so few people is a danger to our very way of life. Johnson captures his story through personal interviews with Robert Reich, Adnan Khashoggi, Bill Gates Sr., and Steve Forbes, during which both Johnson's and his subjects' knowledge and humor shine. And he's not afraid to butt heads with Milton Friedman, the economist who coined the term "the trickledown effect." He also shows how the other half lives, using real-world examples of the wealth gap: he takes a tour of a dilapidated housing project in Chicago, rides around with an enlightened taxi driver, and sees the human toll of the unfair economics of the Florida sugar industry. Johnson's film is at its most powerful when it reveals how the super-rich work to preserve their own monetary dominance. As a member of the "Johnson & Johnson" family, he gets rare access to an exclusive wealth conference at which the über rich learn strategies for preserving their fortunes, and learns the personal management styles of some of the countries wealthiest employers. No great society has survived such a massive wealth gap; who knows if ours will?
- CreatorJenner FurstJulia Willoughby NasonNick SandowStarsJay-ZKalief BrowderVenida BrowderAfter his arrest at age 16, Kalief Browder fought the system and prevailed, despite unthinkable circumstances. He became an American hero.
- DirectorMichael MooreStarsMichael MooreHillary ClintonDonald TrumpIn the weeks before the 2016 general election, Oscar-winning filmmaker Michael Moore performs a pro-Hillary Clinton stand-up show deep in the heart of TrumpLand.
- DirectorRoger ParadisoStarsDavid AmramMaggie BerkvistJohn BredinIn the dark days after President John F. Kennedy's murder, did you ever wonder what was going on with Jackie and Robert as they grieved over the murder of her husband and his brother? In this film we try to understand why Jackie used the Camelot mythology as a metaphor for her husband's presidency. We search for the reasons why Robert ran for the Presidency even when he knew 'there was a gun between me and the White House''. In our search for Camelot, we discover an epic time in our history full of blood, sweat, tears and dreams that will last forever.
- StarsFrancis Richard ConollyGordon ArnoldCharles BrehmThis is one of the only documentaries that actually speaks on the real Secret Societies which for most are still a secret.
- DirectorJonathan SilversStarsRichard HarrisSteve WilliamsAnnette Nance-HoltGuns in America is an unprecedented exploration of America's enduring relationship with firearms.
- DirectorHeidi EwingRachel GradyStarsEttyChani GetterAri HershkowitzPenetrating the insular world of New York's Hasidic community, focusing on three individuals driven to break away despite threats of retaliation.