Must See Documentaries
by dada_nil | created - 14 Oct 2012 | updated - 14 May 2021 | PublicThe solution to most of the issues of these documentaries can be found here: http://www.livingincome.me
- Instant Watch Options
- Genres
- Movies or TV
- IMDb Rating
- In Theaters
- Release Year
- Keywords
1. The Light Bulb Conspiracy (2010)
75 min | Documentary
This is the story of companies who engineered their products to fail.
Director: Cosima Dannoritzer | Stars: Richard Jones, Molly Malcolm, Steve Bunn, Markus Krajewski
Votes: 2,314
2. The Trap: What Happened to Our Dream of Freedom (2007)
180 min | Documentary
The many ways in which Western notions of personal and political freedom are changing in the 21st Century are explored in this three-part documentary from writer and filmmaker Adam Curtis.
Stars: John Nash, Robert Spitzer, Jerome Wakefield, Paul McHugh
Votes: 2,012
3. It Felt Like a Kiss (2009)
54 min | Documentary, History, Music
The story of America's rise to power starting with 1959; it uses archive footage and American pop music to highlight the consequences to the rest of the world and in the peoples' minds.
Director: Adam Curtis | Stars: H. Rap Brown, Nikita Khrushchev, Richard Nixon
Votes: 928
4. The Century of the Self (2002)
59 min | Documentary
A documentary about the rise of psychoanalysis as a powerful means of persuasion for both governments and corporations.
Stars: Adam Curtis, Robert Reich, Ann Bernays, Alfred Pritz
Votes: 6,351
5. Louis Theroux: Behind Bars (2008 TV Movie)
60 min | Documentary
For two weeks, Theroux visits the San Quentin State Prison.
Director: Stuart Cabb | Star: Louis Theroux
Votes: 2,128
6. Workingman's Death (2005)
Not Rated | 122 min | Documentary
A documentary on the extremes to which workers will go to earn a living.
Director: Michael Glawogger
Votes: 1,810
7. The Children of Leningradsky (2005)
35 min | Short, Documentary
AIDS, drug abuse, police brutality, and other social ills in post-Soviet Russia.
Directors: Andrzej Celinski, Hanna Polak
Votes: 948
8. Dark Days (2000)
Not Rated | 82 min | Documentary
A cinematic portrait of the homeless population who live permanently in the underground tunnels of New York City.
Director: Marc Singer | Star: Marc Singer
Votes: 7,173 | Gross: $0.43M
9. LaLee's Kin: The Legacy of Cotton (2001 TV Movie)
89 min | Documentary
This documentary follows a Mississippi Delta school district and a single Delta family as they struggle against the crippling effects of poverty in the wake of more than one hundred years of slavery.
Directors: Deborah Dickson, Susan Froemke, Albert Maysles | Stars: LaLee Wallace, Reggie Barnes
Votes: 242
10. Streetwise (1984)
91 min | Documentary, Drama
Gritty documentary that looks at the lives of teenagers living on the streets of Seattle.
Director: Martin Bell | Stars: Annie, Eddie, Antoine, Erica
Votes: 2,945 | Gross: $0.01M
11. Baraka (1992)
Not Rated | 96 min | Documentary
A collection of expertly photographed scenes of human life and religion.
Director: Ron Fricke | Star: Patrick Disanto
Votes: 40,949 | Gross: $1.33M
12. Earthlings (2005)
95 min | Documentary
Using hidden cameras and never-before-seen footage, Earthlings chronicles the day-to-day practices of the largest industries in the world, all of which rely entirely on animals for profit.
Director: Shaun Monson | Star: Joaquin Phoenix
Votes: 19,786
13. The War on Democracy (2007)
Not Rated | 96 min | Documentary
Venezuela, Guatemala, Cuba, Chile, Salvador, Bolivia: people's struggle for democracy versus US imperialism in Latin America since the 1950s, backing coups and supporting dictatorships.
Directors: Chris Martin, John Pilger, Sean Crotty | Stars: John Pilger, Philip Agee, Salvador Allende, George Bush
Votes: 2,522
14. The War You Don't See (2010)
97 min | Documentary, War
Thought-provoking documentary on war propaganda: how governments manipulate the facts and how most media let them get away with it.
Directors: Alan Lowery, John Pilger | Stars: John Pilger, Stuart Ewen, Melvin Goodman, Dan Rather
Votes: 1,523
15. Stealing a Nation (2004 TV Movie)
56 min | Documentary, History
This tells a story literally 'hidden from history'. In the 1960s and 70s, British governments, conspiring with American officials, tricked into leaving, then expelled the entire population ... See full summary »
Directors: John Pilger, Sean Crotty | Star: John Pilger
Votes: 408
16. Breaking the Silence: Truth and Lies in the War on Terror (2003 TV Movie)
50 min | Documentary
A critical documentary about the war on terror since 9-11.
Directors: Steve Connelly, John Pilger | Stars: John Pilger, John Bolton, Reed Brody, Wesley Clark
Votes: 296
17. Palestine Is Still the Issue (2002 TV Movie)
53 min | Documentary
A documentary about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that has lasted for more than 50 years. Contains some interviews with the children in this conflict.
Director: Tony Stark | Stars: John Pilger, Fatima Abed-Rabo, Amjad Abu Laban, Mustafa Barghouthi
Votes: 452
18. We Feed the World (2005)
Not Rated | 96 min | Documentary
A look at how the world's food is produced and how mass production changes the environment and the lives of people.
Director: Erwin Wagenhofer | Stars: Jean Ziegler, Peter Brabeck, Karl Otrok
Votes: 2,477
19. Our Daily Bread (2005)
Not Rated | 92 min | Documentary
OUR DAILY BREAD is a wide-screen tableau of a feast which isn't always easy to digest - and in which we all take part. A pure, meticulous and high-end film experience that enables the audience to form their own ideas.
Director: Nikolaus Geyrhalter | Stars: Claus Hansen Petz, Arkadiusz Rydellek, Barbara Hinz, Renata Wypchlo
Votes: 2,688
20. 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: 16,794 | Gross: $0.27M
21. 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: 5,659 | Gross: $0.20M
22. Why We Fight (2005)
PG-13 | 98 min | Documentary, History, War
Is American foreign policy dominated by the idea of military supremacy? Has the military become too important in American life? Jarecki's shrewd and intelligent polemic would seem to give an affirmative answer to each of these questions.
Director: Eugene Jarecki | Stars: Gore Vidal, John McCain, Ken Adelman, John Ashcroft
Votes: 10,225 | Gross: $1.44M
23. Bus 174 (2002)
R | 122 min | Documentary, Crime
On June 12, 2000, a young man with a gun took the passengers aboard Bus 174 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil hostage. This documentary examines the event itself, the resulting media frenzy, the police response, and the perpetrator's background.
Directors: José Padilha, Felipe Lacerda | Stars: Sandro do Nascimento, Rodrigo Pimentel, Luiz Eduardo Soares, Anonymous
Votes: 8,606 | Gross: $0.22M
24. GasLand (2010)
Not Rated | 107 min | Documentary
An exploration of the fracking petroleum extraction industry and the serious environmental consequences involved.
Director: Josh Fox | Stars: Josh Fox, Dick Cheney, Pete Seeger, Richard Nixon
Votes: 11,101 | Gross: $0.03M
25. Into Eternity: A Film for the Future (2010)
75 min | Documentary
A documentary on the safety of nuclear storage.
Director: Michael Madsen | Stars: Carl Reinhold Bråkenhjelm, Mikael Jensen, Berit Lundqvist, Michael Madsen
Votes: 3,112 | Gross: $0.06M
26. The Yes Men (2003)
R | 83 min | Documentary, Comedy
Anti-corporate activists travel from conference to conference, impersonating member of the World Trade Organization.
Directors: Dan Ollman, Sarah Price, Chris Smith | Stars: Andreas Bichlbauer, Mike Bonanno, Andy Bichlbaum, Michael Moore
Votes: 6,173 | Gross: $0.20M
27. The Yes Men Fix the World (2009)
87 min | Documentary, Comedy
Troublemaking duo Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonanno, posing as their industrious alter-egos, expose the people profiting from Hurricane Katrina, the faces behind the environmental disaster in Bhopal, and other shocking events.
Directors: Andy Bichlbaum, Mike Bonanno, Kurt Engfehr | Stars: Reggie Watts, Mike Bonanno, Andy Bichlbaum, Richard Ebeling
Votes: 5,205 | Gross: $0.19M
28. Human Resources: Social Engineering in the 20th Century (2010)
119 min | Documentary
Human Resources is a documentary about Social Control, examining the history, the philosophy and ultimately the pathology of elite power.
Director: Scott Noble | Stars: Michael Albert, Morris Bermann, Noam Chomsky, John Taylor Gatto
Votes: 175
29. Blind Spot (I) (2008)
Not Rated | 86 min | Documentary
Blind Spot is a documentary film that illustrates the current oil and energy crisis that our world is facing. Whatever measures of ignorance, greed, wishful thinking, we have put ourselves ... See full summary »
Director: Adolfo Doring | Stars: Richard Heinberg, Lester Brown, Ted Caplow, William R. Catton
Votes: 166
30. The Secret of Oz (2009)
Not Rated | 104 min | Documentary, History
What's going on with the world's economy? Foreclosures are everywhere, unemployment is skyrocketing - and this may only be the beginning. Could it be that solutions to the world's economic ... See full summary »
Director: William T. Still | Stars: Andrew Nance, Brent Robinson, William T. Still
Votes: 247
31. Altovaya sonata. Dmitriy Shostakovich (1981)
77 min | Documentary
The life and work of the great Russian composer Dmitriy Shostakovich is presented in this documentary through rare images and audios from many archives, at one time censored by the Soviet ... See full summary »
Directors: Semyon Aranovich, Aleksandr Sokurov | Stars: Tamara Alyoshina, Sergei Prokofiev, Dmitri Shostakovich, Joseph Stalin
Votes: 178
32. Decency (2013)
79 min | Documentary
A cry from the revolutionary wilderness. Drowsy and beautiful about the solidarity that disappeared.
Director: Stefan Jarl | Stars: Peter Andersson, Thommy Berggren, Jacob Burrell, Andreas Cervenka
Votes: 123
33. Nature's Revenge (1983)
76 min | Documentary
Stefan Jarl and the photographer Per Källberg travel through a Sweden poisoned by chemicals in the name of welfare and question the truth that man is the master of nature.
Director: Stefan Jarl | Stars: Torsten Näslund, Nils Nilsson, Gun Persson, Kjell-Åke Persson
Votes: 63
34. The Subjection (2010)
87 min | Documentary
Documentary in which director Stefan Jarl has a blood test performed on himself to show the "chemical burden" of trace chemicals in the blood of all people born since World War II.
Director: Stefan Jarl | Stars: Inge Ahlström, Arne Andersson, Peter Andersson, Cecilia Berg
Votes: 164
35. America: Freedom to Fascism (2006)
95 min | Documentary
A documentary that explores the connection between income tax collection and the erosion of civil liberties in America.
Director: Aaron Russo | Stars: Aaron Russo, John Turner, Joe Banister, Sherry Peel Jackson
Votes: 2,601 | Gross: $0.09M
36. The Forecaster (2014)
PG | 100 min | Documentary, Biography
Martin Armstrong, once a Wall Street-based financial advisor, was arrested on charges of orchestrating a 3 billion dollar Ponzi scheme, which he still disputes to this day. After 11 years in prison, he's ready to set the record straight.
Directors: Marcus Vetter, Karin Steinberger | Stars: Martin Armstrong, Vicky Armstrong, Oliver Brown, Michael Campbell
Votes: 1,256
37. The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst (2015–2024)
TV-14 | 45 min | Documentary, Biography, Crime
Filmmaker Andrew Jarecki examines the complicated life of reclusive real estate icon Robert Durst, the key suspect in a series of unsolved crimes.
Stars: Andrew Jarecki, Robert Durst, J. Patrick Burns, Gary Napoli
Votes: 51,228
38. Clinton Cash (2016)
Unrated | 60 min | Documentary
An investigation into how the Clintons have amassed millions in personal wealth through foreign contributions to the Clinton Foundation, a supposed charity, in exchange for political favors... See full summary »
Director: M.A. Taylor | Stars: Peter Schweizer, Sani Abacha, Gilbert Chagoury, Bill Clinton
Votes: 1,614
39. Why Beauty Matters (2009)
59 min | Documentary
Contemporary philosopher Roger Scruton presents a fascinating argument for the importance of beauty in our art and in our lives, and explores what truly is and is not beautiful, regardless of its beholder.
Star: Roger Scruton
Votes: 478
40. The Staircase (2004–2018)
TV-MA | 629 min | Documentary, Crime, Drama
The high-profile murder trial of American novelist Michael Peterson following the death of his wife Kathleen Peterson in 2001.
Stars: Michael Peterson, David Rudolf, Ron Guerette, Martha Ratliff
Votes: 27,146
41. Adolf Hitler: The Greatest Story Never Told (2013)
350 min | Documentary, Biography, History
Adolf Hitler, born in Braunau, a man who will forever change the history of the world.
Director: Dennis Wise | Stars: Eva Braun, Winston Churchill, Charles de Gaulle, Adolf Galland
Votes: 6,232
42. Hellstorm (2015)
90 min | Documentary, History, War
A documentary that tells the tale that the victors still do not want you to know. Learn the terrible truth about the rape, torture, slavery, and mass murder inflicted upon the German people by the Allied victors of World Word II.
Director: Kyle Hunt | Stars: Gerhard Ausmeier, John DeNugent, Thomas Goodrich, Paul Hickman
Votes: 2,918
43. Defamation (2009)
Not Rated | 91 min | Documentary
Intent on shaking up the ultimate 'sacred cow' for Jews, Israeli director Yoav Shamir embarks on a provocative - and at times irreverent - quest to answer the question, "What is anti-Semitism today?"
Director: Yoav Shamir | Stars: Yoav Shamir, Abraham Foxman, Bob Wolfson, Notav
Votes: 1,867 | Gross: $0.01M
44. The Majdanek Gas Chamber Myth (2014 Video)
Not Rated | 82 min | Documentary, History
"2 million people were murdered in the Majdanek camp of Nazi Germany." This original death toll precipitously dropped over the decades, and currently stands at 78,000. 5 of the 7 originally... See full summary »
Director: Eric Hunt | Stars: Lauren Deschner, Eric Hunt, David McCalden, Irene Zisblatt
Votes: 65
45. The Last Days of the Big Lie (2009 Video)
125 min | Documentary, History
A controversial documentary that debunks many of the facts presented in the Oscar winning Holocaust themed documentary The Last Days, produced by Steven Spielberg. Throughout the film, its ... See full summary »
Director: Eric Hunt | Stars: Nayirah al-Sabah, Saud Nasser Al-Saud Al-Sabah, Leon Bass, Michael Berenbaum
Votes: 99
46. One Third of the Holocaust (2008 Video)
255 min | Documentary, History
This documentary is done very well. It is not a holocaust denial as some have tried to label it. It lays out a very well thought out problems with the idea that 1 million people were killed at this camp. Treblinka was a transit station.
Star: Dean Irebodd
Votes: 49
47. Buchenwald: A Dumb Dumb Portrayal of Evil (2008 Video)
142 min | Documentary, History
Star: Dean Irebodd
Votes: 15
48. David Cole Interviews Dr. Franciszek Piper (1992)
Not Rated | 62 min | Documentary, History
Video documentary by historical researcher David Cole in which the director of the Auschwitz State Museum explores the historiography of the camp and admits that the gas chamber on display in the Main Camp is a postwar recreation.
Director: David Abravanel Stein | Stars: David Abravanel Stein, Franciszek Piper
Votes: 108
49. El gran tabu (2007)
34 min | Documentary, Short
An examination of the attempts by governments around the world to make Holocaust revisionism a crime by law.
Directors: Bradley Smith, David Abravanel Stein | Stars: Germar Rudolf, Ernst Zündel, Bradley Smith, Bill Dunphy
Votes: 15
50. The Day Amazon Murdered History (2018 Video)
40 min | Documentary, Short, History
On March 6, 2017 Amazon banned more than 100 books about the Holocaust.
Director: Germar Rudolf | Star: Ken Meyercord
Votes: 10
51. Europa: The Last Battle (2017)
746 min | Documentary, History, War
World War II revisionist film that claims Jews deliberately caused both World Wars--and that Hitler was only trying to save Germany from the Jews--as part of a plot to found the nation of Israel.
Director: Tobias B. | Stars: Muhammad Ali, Winston Churchill, Henry Ford, Joseph Goebbels
Votes: 2,282
52. Kill the Messenger (2006 TV Movie)
84 min | Documentary
A true spy story about the only American citizen who dared stand up to the FBI in an attempt to expose the truth on some specific yet hidden aspects of today's War on Terror and give the ... See full summary »
Directors: Mathieu Verboud, Jean-Robert Viallet | Stars: David Albright, Ann Beeson, George W. Bush, John M. Cole
Votes: 74
53. Kananga (2018)
69 min | Documentary
The everyday life of the Orthodox Christian community of Kananga, in Democratic Republic of Congo, a war-ridden country with thousands of victims and one of the most dangerous places in the world.
Director: Pavlos Tripodakis
Votes: 30
Tell Your Friends