Important Documentaries
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- DirectorMiki DezakiStarsKent GilbertKase HideakiKoichi NakanoA Japanese-American director digs deep into the controversial 'comfort women' issue to settle the debate on whether the women were paid prostitutes or sex slaves, and reveals the motivations and intentions of the main actors pushing to revise history in Japan.
- DirectorDavid WilkinsonStarsJulian GloverEileen AtkinsDavid Wilkinson99% of those who carried out the murders in the Holocaust were never prosecuted. Why not?
- DirectorSidney BernsteinStarsJasper BrittonAdolf HitlerSidney BernsteinCameramen from Britain's Army Film Unit capture footage of concentration camps in German in 1945.
- DirectorAndré SingerStarsHelena Bonham CarterJasper BrittonLeonard BerneyResearchers discover film footage from World War II that turns out to be a lost documentary shot by Alfred Hitchcock and Sidney Bernstein in 1945 about German concentration camps.
- DirectorGeorge StevensStarsDwight D. EisenhowerOmar N. BradleyGeorge S. PattonProduced and presented as evidence at the Nuremberg war crimes trial of Hermann Göring and twenty other Nazi leaders.
- DirectorHans BurgerBilly WilderStarsAnton ReimerOriginally made with a German soundtrack for screening in occupied Germany and Austria, this film was the first documentary to show what the Allies found when they liberated the Nazi extermination camps: the survivors, the conditions, and the evidence of mass murder. The film includes accounts of the economic aspects of the camps' operation, the interrogation of captured camp personnel, and the enforced visits of the inhabitants of neighboring towns, who, along with the rest of their compatriots, are blamed for complicity in the Nazi crimes - one of the few such condemnations in the Allied war records.
- DirectorAlain ResnaisStarsMichel BouquetReinhard HeydrichHeinrich HimmlerThe history of Nazi Germany's death camps of the Final Solution and the hellish world of dehumanization and death contained inside.
- DirectorStephanie SoechtigStarsMichele SimonKatie CouricBill ClintonAn examination of America's obesity epidemic and the food industry's role in aggravating it.
- DirectorDror MorehStarsAmi AyalonAvraham ShalomAvi DichterA documentary featuring interviews with all surviving former heads of Shin Bet, the Israeli security agency whose activities and membership are closely held state secrets.
- DirectorChristine TurnerStarsDarian DauchanBiko Eisen-MartinJimmie JeterDuring 1880-1968 over 4,000 African Americans were lynched at the hands of white mobs. These lynchings were commemorated through souvenir postcards that would ultimately be subverted by Black activists to expose racist violence in the U.S.
- DirectorPorter Speakman Jr.StarsEvan AlbertynGary BurgeRon DartThe minute ur pastor justifies apartheid, violence n invasion by wrongly quoting a holy book and causes u to become prejudiced against other people or group, u lose the heart of God.
- DirectorJoshua OppenheimerStarsAdi RukunM.Y. BasrunVolker HanischA family that survived the genocide in Indonesia confronts the men who killed one of their brothers.
- DirectorJoshua OppenheimerAnonymousChristine CynnStarsAnwar CongoHerman KotoSyamsul ArifinA documentary which challenges former Indonesian death-squad leaders to reenact their mass-killings in whichever cinematic genres they wish, including classic Hollywood crime scenarios and lavish musical numbers.
- DirectorClaude LanzmannStarsSimon SrebnikMichael PodchlebnikMotke ZaïdlClaude Lanzmann's epic documentary recounts the story of the Holocaust through interviews with witnesses - perpetrators as well as survivors.
- DirectorRyan KillackeyStarsOtobo BaihuaRyan KillackeyDesperate conservationists struggle against oil interests as native people in the heart of Ecuadorian Amazon vie to preserve their culture. A filmmaker-biologist reveals the rich biodiversity in peril and those who call it home.
- DirectorPeter JacksonStarsThomas AdlamWilliam ArgentJohn AshbyA documentary about World War I with never-before-seen footage to commemorate the centennial of the end of the war.
- StarsOliver StoneAlan ShearmanJim WardOliver Stone 's re-examination of under-reported events in American history.
- DirectorMarcel OphülsStarsKlaus BarbieClaude LanzmannMarcel OphülsA documentary about Klaus Barbie, the Gestapo chief of Lyon, and his life after the war.
- DirectorHerbert G. PontingStarsRobert Falcon ScottHerbert G. PontingHenry R. BowersIn 1910 the British Antarctic Expedition, led by Capt. Robert F. Scott, embarks from Lyttleton, NZ on a quest to become the first to reach the South Pole.
- DirectorBryan FogelStarsJamal KhashoggiOmar AbdulazizIrfan FidanWhen Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi disappears in Istanbul, his fiancée and dissidents around the world piece together the clues to a murder and expose a global cover up.
- DirectorAdrian FrancisStarsHiroshi HoshinoMichiko KiyookaMinoru TsukiyamaJust after midnight on March 10, 1945, the U.S. launched an air attack on eastern Tokyo, which left more than 100,000 people dead and destroyed a quarter of the city. Unlike their loved ones, Hiroshi Hoshino, Michiko Kiyooka and Minoru Tsukiyama emerged from the bombings alive. Now in their twilight years, they wish for nothing more than recognition and reparations for those who, like them, had been indelibly harmed by the war-but the Japanese government and even their fellow citizens seem reluctant to acknowledge the past.
- DirectorLeon GastStarsMuhammad AliGeorge ForemanDon KingBoxing documentary on the 1974 world heavyweight championship bout between defending champion, George Foreman, and the underdog challenger, Muhammad Ali.
- DirectorKent JonesStarsWes AndersonPeter BogdanovichDavid FincherFilmmakers discuss how Francois Truffaut's 1966 book "Cinema According to Hitchcock" influenced their work.
- StarsMark CousinsJuan Diego BottoAleksandr SokurovA comprehensive history of the medium and art of motion pictures.
- 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.
- DirectorHiroshi TeshigaharaStarsIsidro Puig BoadaAntoni GaudíSeiji MiyaguchiThe work of Catalan architect Antonio Gaudí, as seen by Japanese New Wave director Hiroshi Teshigahara.
- StarsRachel PerkinsMarcia LangtonHenry ReynoldsThere are more than ten thousand monuments across the country that honour the war dead . But what of the bloody battles fought on our home soil, in our longest-running war that established the Australian nation?
- DirectorTim WardleStarsRobert ShafranMichael DomnitzHoward SchneiderIn 1980 New York, three young men who were all adopted meet each other and find out they're triplets who were separated at birth. But their quest to find out why turns into a bizarre and sinister mystery.
- DirectorDon ArgottStarsJulian BondDavid D'ArcyRichard FeigenDocumentary that follows the struggle for control of Dr. Albert C. Barnes' 25 billion dollar collection of modern and post-impressionist art.
- DirectorAnnalisa PirasStarsBill EmmottBenedict CumberbatchGiuliano AmatoRenowned British journalist examines Italy's moral, political and economic crisis, looking for clues to its possible salvation--and that of the West as a whole.
- DirectorNick BroomfieldJoan ChurchillStarsAileen WuornosNick BroomfieldTerry Humphreys-SlayNick Broomfield's second documentary about serial killer Aileen Wuornos, focusing on her mental state on death row.
- DirectorNick BroomfieldStarsAileen WuornosNick BroomfieldArlene Pralle1992, Florida, USA. Aileen Wuornos is claimed to be the world's first female serial killer.
- 2012–2013TV-MA7.2 (15)TV EpisodeOliver Stone engaged with author and filmmaker Tariq Ali in a probing, hard-hitting conversation on the politics of history.
- DirectorMichael MooreStarsMichael MooreJohnny FancelliChristina FancelliTo learn what the USA can learn from other nations, Michael Moore playfully "invades" them to see what they have to offer.
- DirectorErik BarnouwStarsKazuko OshimaPaul RonderJ. Robert OppenheimerAftermath of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings.
- DirectorDai Sil Kim-GibsonA powerful and emotional documentary about Korean women forced into sexual servitude by the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II.
- DirectorManfred OldenburgOliver HalmburgerStarsBrian CoxBenjamin FerenczChristopher BrowningThe Nuremberg Einsatzgruppen trial of 1947/1948 is considered the largest murder trial in history against members of four death squads from the security police and SD (the security service of the SS). During World War II, six million Jews were murdered. Four million died in the extermination camps, but two million people were killed in systematic mass shootings. A fact that is hardly known today. The perpetrators came face to face with their victims. They shot at men, women, children - day after day, obediently and assiduously, as if it were normal work. Tens of thousands of Germans belonged to the mobile commandos of the task forces and police battalions. Who were these men, how could they commit such murders? What did the few survivors tell, how were they able to escape the mass extinction and live on with the horrific experience? Based on written traditions, original documents, film footage and photos as well as expert statements, the documentary traces the path of one of these murder battalions.
- DirectorGreg MitchellStarsOsamu InoueDennis PredovicRob BurgosLong suppressed footage of the human suffering caused by the US nuclear bombing of two Japanese cities in August of 1945.
- DirectorPeter DavisStarsTin ChanChau DiemNgo Dinh DiemA startling and courageous landmark documentary that unflinchingly confronted the United States' involvement in Vietnam at the height of the controversy that surrounded it.
- 20031h 59mTV-147.5 (3.1K)DirectorKenneth BowserStarsMartin ScorseseDennis HopperPeter BogdanovichA look at 1970s Hollywood when it was known as New Hollywood, and the director was the star of the movie.
- StarsPeter CoyoteHuy DucJames WillbanksA comprehensive history of the United States' involvement in the bitterly divisive armed conflict in Southeast Asia.
- StarsKeith DavidWynton MarsalisGary GiddinsA survey of the musical form's history and major talents.
- 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.
- DirectorAlex WinterStarsBastian ObermayerKatrin LanghansFrederik ObermaierA documentary feature film about the biggest global corruption scandal in history, and the hundreds of journalists who risked their lives to break the story.
- DirectorRoss AshcroftStarsDominic FrisbyGillian TettLawrence WilkersonThe modern day Four Horsemen continue to ride roughshod over the people who can least afford it. Crises are converging when governments, religion and mainstream economists have stalled. 23 international thinkers come together and break their silence about how the world really works and why there is still hope in re-establishing a moral and just society. Four Horsemen is free from mainstream media propaganda, doesn't bash bankers, criticize politicians or get involved in conspiracy theories. The film ignites the debate about how we usher a new economic paradigm into the world which, globally, would dramatically improve the quality of life for billions.
- DirectorJimmy ChinElizabeth Chai VasarhelyiStarsBancha DuriyapuntApakorn YoukongkaewAnan SurawanA 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.
- DirectorRyan WhiteStarsAngela BassettJon StewartDavid LettermanThe film follows Opportunity, the Mars Exploration Rover affectionately dubbed Oppy by her creators and scientists at NASA. Oppy was originally expected to live for only 90 days but she ultimately explored Mars for nearly 15 years.
- DirectorAndy TrimlettAhlam MuhtasebThrough riveting and moving personal recollections of both Palestinians and Israelis, 1948: Creation and Catastrophe reveals the shocking events of the most pivotal year in the most controversial conflict in the world.
- DirectorSut JhallyBathsheba RatzkoffStarsSeth AckermanStav AdiviArik AschermanThis video shows how the foreign policy interests of American political elites-working in combination with Israeli public relations stratgies-influence US news reporting about the Middle East conflict. Combining American and British TV news clips with observations of analysts, journalists and political activists, Peace, Propaganda & the Promised Land provides a brief historical overview, a striking media comparison, and an examination of factors that have distorted U.S. media coverage and, in turn, American public opinion.
- DirectorLoretta AlperJeremy EarpStarsPhyllis BennisMax BlumenthalNoam ChomskyIsrael's ongoing military occupation of Palestinian territory and repeated invasions of the Gaza strip have triggered a fierce backlash against Israeli policies virtually everywhere in the world - except the United States. The Occupation of the American Mind takes an eye-opening look at this critical exception, zeroing in on pro-Israel public relations efforts within the U.S. Narrated by Roger Waters and featuring leading observers of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and U.S. media culture, the film explores how the Israeli government, the U.S. government, and the pro-Israel lobby have joined forces, often with very different motives, to shape American media coverage of the conflict in Israel's favor. From the U.S.-based public relations campaigns that emerged in the 1980s to today, the film provides a sweeping analysis of Israel's decades-long battle for the hearts, minds, and tax dollars of the American people in the face of widening international condemnation of its increasingly right-wing policies. Featuring Amira Hass, M.J. Rosenberg, Stephen M. Walt, Noam Chomsky, Rula Jebreal, Henry Siegman, Rashid Khalidi, Rami Khouri, Yousef Munayyer, Norman Finkelstein, Max Blumenthal, Phyllis Bennis, Norman Solomon, Mark Crispin Miller, Peter Hart and Sut Jhally.
- DirectorJohn PilgerStarsFranklin BlaisdellJames BradleyBruce CumingsFrom award winning journalist John Pilger, reveals what the news doesn't - that the world's greatest military power, the United States, and the world's second economic power, China, both nuclear-armed, may well be on the road to war.
- DirectorWerner HerzogStarsWerner HerzogThis film surveys the disaster of the Kuwaiti oil fields in flames, with little narration and scarcely any interviews. Hell on Earth is presented in such transcendent visions and music that one can only be fascinated by it.
- DirectorNed LanderBetween 1939 and 1945, the Japanese Government, on advice from its Military, forcibly removed thousands of young women and girls from their homes to provide sexual services as "comfort women" to the Japanese army. 50 Years of Silence is Jan Ruff-O-Hearn's story. It spans five generations from a colonial life in Java, recorded on old home movies, through the war to a new start in England as a young war bride and her migration to Australia. It shows her extraordinary courage and dignity to travel to Tokyo to give evidence at an international public hearing. * Winner! Best documentary, 1994 AFI Awards.
- DirectorOliver StoneStarsDonald SutherlandWhoopi GoldbergOliver StoneDeclassified files related to President Kennedy's assassination in a far larger context, aiming to shine more light on what really happened in 1963.
- DirectorTaghi AmiraniStarsRalph FiennesWalter MurchWinston ChurchillTheatrical feature documentary on the story of Operation Ajax, the CIA/MI6 staged coup in 1953 in Iran that overthrew Prime Minister Mossadegh.