documentaries
by christinetsak | created - 09 Jan 2019 | updated - 6 months ago | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. The Secret Rules of Modern Living: Algorithms (2015 TV Movie)
TV-G | 58 min | Documentary
Professor Marcus du Sautoy demystifies the hidden world of algorithms and reveals where these 2,000-year-old problem solvers came from, how they work, and what they have achieved.
Director: David Briggs | Stars: Marcus du Sautoy, Björn Bringert, Patrick Prosser, Leslie Ann Goldberg
Votes: 945
2. 22 July (2018)
R | 143 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
A three-part story of Norway's worst terrorist attack in which over seventy people were killed. 22 July looks at the disaster itself, the survivors, Norway's political system and the lawyers who worked on this horrific case.
Director: Paul Greengrass | Stars: Anders Danielsen Lie, Jonas Strand Gravli, Jon Øigarden, Maria Bock
Votes: 37,544
3. Trump: An American Dream (2017)
Documentary, Biography
A British documentary series exploring the extraordinary journey of Donald Trump through five decades.
Stars: Colin Tierney, Nikki Haskell, Geraldo Rivera, Rona Barrett
Votes: 4,491
4. Helvetica (2007)
Not Rated | 80 min | Documentary
A documentary about typography, graphic design, and global visual culture.
Director: Gary Hustwit | Stars: Manfred Schulz, Massimo Vignelli, Rick Poynor, Wim Crouwel
Votes: 8,169 | Gross: $0.20M
5. Free Solo (2018)
PG-13 | 100 min | Documentary, Adventure, Sport
Alex Honnold faces the biggest challenge of his career, climbing El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. He pursues it Free Solo, which means climbing without a rope and alone.
Directors: Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi | Stars: Alex Honnold, Tommy Caldwell, Jimmy Chin, Cheyne Lempe
Votes: 77,342 | Gross: $17.54M
6. Meru (2015)
R | 90 min | Documentary, Sport
Three elite climbers struggle to find their way through obsession and loss as they attempt to climb Mount Meru, one of the most coveted prizes in the high stakes game of Himalayan big wall climbing.
Directors: Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi | Stars: Conrad Anker, Grace Chin, Jimmy Chin, Amee Hinkley
Votes: 19,051 | Gross: $2.33M
7. Leaving Neverland (2019)
TV-MA | 240 min | Documentary
At the height of his stardom, the world's biggest pop star, Michael Jackson, began long-running relationships with two young boys, aged between seven and ten, along their families. They now allege that he sexually abused them.
Director: Dan Reed | Stars: Michael Jackson, Wade Robson, Joy Robson, Chantal Robson
Votes: 31,122
8. Objectified (2009)
Not Rated | 75 min | Documentary
A feature-length documentary about our complex relationship with manufactured objects and, by extension, the people who design them.
Director: Gary Hustwit | Stars: Paola Antonelli, Chris Bangle, Andrew Blauvelt, Erwan Bouroullec
Votes: 3,721 | Gross: $0.01M
9. Urbanized (2011)
Not Rated | 85 min | Documentary
A documentary about the design of cities, which looks at the issues and strategies behind urban design and features some of the world's foremost architects, planners, policymakers, builders, and thinkers.
Director: Gary Hustwit | Stars: Amanda M. Burden, Rem Koolhaas, Norman Foster, Jan Gehl
Votes: 2,304
10. Eames: The Architect & The Painter (2011)
Not Rated | 85 min | Documentary, Biography
The relationship between Charles Eames and his wife Ray ignited a burst of design ingenuity whose impact on the world can still be felt over half a century later.
Directors: Jason Cohn, Bill Jersey | Stars: Charles Eames, Ray Eames, James Franco, Jeannine Oppewall
Votes: 1,148 | Gross: $0.15M
11. My Architect (2003)
116 min | Documentary, Biography
Director Nathaniel Kahn searches to understand his father, noted architect Louis Kahn, who died bankrupt and alone in 1974.
Director: Nathaniel Kahn | Stars: Edmund Bacon, Edwina Pattison Daniels, Balkrishna Doshi, Frank Gehry
Votes: 3,321 | Gross: $2.75M
12. Fiennes: Return to the Nile (2019– )
Documentary, Adventure
In this three part series, award winning actor Joseph Fiennes and his cousin, legendary explorer Ranulph, embark on an odyssey following the course of the Nile.
Stars: Ranulph Fiennes, Joseph Fiennes
Votes: 77
13. Chernobyl (2019)
TV-MA | 41 min | Drama, History, Thriller
In April 1986, the city of Chernobyl in the Soviet Union suffers one of the worst nuclear disasters in the history of mankind. Consequently, many heroes put their lives on the line in the following days, weeks and months.
Stars: Jessie Buckley, Jared Harris, Stellan Skarsgård, Adam Nagaitis
Votes: 864,775
14. The Story of Maths (2008)
TV-G | 60 min | Documentary, History
The history of mathematics from ancient times to the present day. Narrated by Oxford mathematics professor Marcus du Sautoy, the series covers the seminal moments and people in the development of maths.
Stars: Marcus du Sautoy, Eleanor Robson, Leonhard Euler, Jackie Stedall
Votes: 560
15. Nostalgia for the Light (2010)
Not Rated | 90 min | Documentary
A documentary about two different searches conducted in the Chilean Atacama Desert: one by astronomers looking for answers about the history of the cosmos, and one by women looking for the remains of loved ones killed by Pinochet's regime.
Director: Patricio Guzmán | Stars: Gaspar Galaz, Lautaro Núñez, Luís Henríquez, Miguel Lawner
Votes: 6,110
16. Storm the Skies (1997)
96 min | Documentary, Thriller, War
This is a documentary about the assassination of Leon Trotsky on August 21, 1940 in Coyoacán, Mexico City, Mexico by a Spaniard named Ramón Mercader.
Directors: José Luis López-Linares, Javier Rioyo | Stars: Laura Mercader, Elena Poniatowska, Sara Montiel
Votes: 114
18. AlphaGo (2017)
90 min | Documentary, Sport
Google's DeepMind has developed a program for playing the 3000 year old game Go using AI. They test AlphaGo on the European champion, then March 9-15, 2016, on the top player, Lee Sedol, in a best of 5 tournament in Seoul.
Director: Greg Kohs | Stars: Ioannis Antonoglou, Lucas Baker, Nick Bostrom, Yoo Changhyuk
Votes: 6,920
19. 13th (2016)
TV-MA | 100 min | Documentary, Crime, History
An in-depth look at the prison system in the United States and how it reveals the nation's history of racial inequality.
Director: Ava DuVernay | Stars: Melina Abdullah, Michelle Alexander, Cory Booker, Dolores Canales
Votes: 37,670
20. Voyeur (II) (2017)
TV-MA | 95 min | Documentary, Crime
Journalism icon Gay Talese reports on Gerald Foos, the owner of a Colorado motel, who allegedly secretly watched his guests with the aid of specially designed ceiling vents, peering down from an "observation platform" he built in the motel's attic.
Directors: Myles Kane, Josh Koury | Stars: Gay Talese, Gerald Foos, Nan Talese, Susan Morrison
Votes: 6,820
21. The Social Dilemma (2020)
PG-13 | 94 min | Documentary, Drama
Explores the dangerous human impact of social networking; tech experts sound the alarm on their own creations.
Director: Jeff Orlowski-Yang | Stars: Tristan Harris, Jeff Seibert, Bailey Richardson, Joe Toscano
Votes: 89,440
22. Encounters at the End of the World (2007)
G | 99 min | Documentary
Film-maker Werner Herzog travels to the McMurdo Station in Antarctica, looking to capture the continent's beauty and investigate the characters living there.
Director: Werner Herzog | Stars: Werner Herzog, Scott Rowland, Stefan Pashov, Doug MacAyeal
Votes: 19,249 | Gross: $0.94M
23. My Octopus Teacher (2020)
TV-G | 85 min | Documentary, Drama
A filmmaker forges an unusual friendship with an octopus living in a South African kelp forest, learning as the animal shares the mysteries of her world.
Directors: Pippa Ehrlich, James Reed | Stars: Craig Foster, Tom Foster
Votes: 63,788
24. Clouds are not Spheres (1995)
52 min | Documentary
This documentary explicates the life and theories of "maverick mathematician" Benoit Mandelbrot, whose work defined the field of fractal geometry.
Director: Nigel Lesmoir-Gordon | Star: Benoît B. Mandelbrot
Votes: 96
25. Life in Colour (2021)
TV-PG | 48 min | Documentary
Exploring the many ways animals use colour throughout their lives.
Stars: David Attenborough, Joerg Wiedenmann
Votes: 4,035
26. Turning Point: 9/11 and the War on Terror (2021)
TV-14 | 52 min | Documentary, History, War
This unflinching series documents the 9/11 terrorist attacks, from Al Qaeda's roots in the 1980s to America's forceful response, both at home and abroad.
Stars: Mark Fallon, James LaPorta, Michel Paradis
Votes: 11,281
27. The Rescue (2021)
PG | 107 min | Documentary, Action, Mystery
A chronicle of the enthralling, against-all-odds story that transfixed the world in 2018: the daring rescue of twelve boys and their coach from deep inside a flooded cave in Northern Thailand.
Directors: Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi | Stars: Bancha Duriyapunt, Apakorn Youkongkaew, Anan Surawan, Woranan Ratrawiphukkun
Votes: 20,601 | Gross: $1.06M
28. Downfall: The Case Against Boeing (2022)
PG-13 | 89 min | Documentary
Examining the months since the tragedies, which caused global panic in March 2019 after two new aircrafts crashed within five months, killing 346 people.
Director: Rory Kennedy | Stars: Donald Trump, Maria Bartiromo, Lester Holt, Kevin Carney
Votes: 13,559
29. The Andy Warhol Diaries (2022)
TV-MA | 66 min | Documentary, Biography
After he's shot in 1968, Andy Warhol begins documenting his life and feelings. Those diaries, and this docuseries, take a peek behind his persona.
Stars: Bill Irwin, Jeffrey Deitch, Jessica Beck, Bob Colacello
Votes: 2,702
30. Room 2806: The Accusation (2020)
TV-MA | 197 min | Documentary, Crime
This docuseries follows the 2011 sexual assault case involving french politician Dominique Strauss-Kahn at the height of his career.
Stars: Nafissatou Diallo, Raphaëlle Bacqué, Élisabeth Guigou, Paul Browne
Votes: 2,525
31. Chasing Ice (2012)
PG-13 | 75 min | Documentary, Biography
Follow National Geographic photographer James Balog across the Arctic as he deploys time-lapse cameras designed for one purpose: to capture a multi-year record of the world's changing glaciers.
Director: Jeff Orlowski-Yang | Stars: James Balog, Svavar Jónatansson, Louie Psihoyos, Kitty Boone
Votes: 8,864 | Gross: $1.33M
32. What Happened, Miss Simone? (2015)
Not Rated | 101 min | Documentary, Biography, Music
A documentary about the life and legend Nina Simone, an American singer, pianist, and civil rights activist labeled the "High Priestess of Soul."
Director: Liz Garbus | Stars: Nina Simone, Lisa Simone Kelly, Roger Nupie, Al Schackman
Votes: 14,825
33. Who Killed Malcolm X? (2019–2020)
43 min | Documentary, Biography, Crime
Activist Abdur-Rahman Muhammad begins his own investigation into the perplexing details surrounding the assassination of civil rights leader Malcolm X.
Stars: Abdur-Rahman Muhammad, Muhammad A. Aziz, Zak A. Kondo, David Garrow
Votes: 2,380
34. Chasing Coral (2017)
93 min | Documentary
Coral reefs around the world are vanishing at an unprecedented rate. A team of divers, photographers and scientists set out on a thrilling ocean adventure to discover why and to reveal the underwater mystery to the world.
Director: Jeff Orlowski-Yang | Stars: Andrew Ackerman, Pim Bongaerts, Neal Cantin, Phil Dustan
Votes: 5,651
35. A World Not Ours (2012)
93 min | Documentary, Biography, History
An intimate, and often humorous, portrait of three generations of exile in the refugee camp of Ein el-Helweh, in southern Lebanon. Based on a wealth of personal recordings, family archives,... See full summary »
Director: Mahdi Fleifel | Star: Mahdi Fleifel
Votes: 528
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