Thought provoking documentaries
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- DirectorJoseph GarnerStarsJoseph GarnerKristos AndrewsGina KeatleyIn a time when America's economy was crumbling and sense of community was in question, one guy left everything behind to see if he could survive solely on the support and goodwill of the 21st century's new town square: Craigslist.
- DirectorJosh FoxStarsJosh FoxDick CheneyPete SeegerAn exploration of the fracking petroleum extraction industry and the serious environmental consequences involved.
- DirectorTegan BukowskiLoressa ClisbyKevin MacdonaldStarsHiroaki AikawaCindy BaerTeagan BentleyA documentary shot by film-makers all over the world that serves as a time capsule to show future generations what it was like to be alive on the twenty-fourth of July, 2010.
- DirectorKirby DickStarsKirby DickKimberly PeirceDarren AronofskyKirby Dick's exposé about the American movie ratings board.
- DirectorHeidi EwingRachel GradyStarsMike PapantonioLou EngleBecky FischerA documentary on kids who attend a summer camp hoping to become the next Billy Graham.
- DirectorJames MarshStarsPhilippe PetitJean François HeckelJean-Louis BlondeauA look at tightrope walker Philippe Petit's daring, but illegal, high-wire routine performed between New York City's World Trade Center's twin towers in 1974, what some consider, "the artistic crime of the century".
- DirectorLarry CharlesStarsBill MaherTal BachmanJonathan BouldenBill Maher's take on the current state of world religion.
- DirectorMichael MooreStarsMichael MooreTucker AlbrizziTony BennA documentary comparing the highly profitable American health care industry to other nations, and HMO horror stories including shotgun deaths.
- DirectorErrol MorrisStarsRandall AdamsDavid HarrisGus RoseA film that successfully argued that a man was wrongly convicted for murder by a corrupt justice system in Dallas County, Texas.
- DirectorAlex GibneyStarsAlex GibneyBrian Keith AllenMoazzam BeggAlex Gibney exposes the haunting details of the USA's torture and interrogation practices during the War in Afghanistan.
- DirectorTim HetheringtonSebastian JungerStarsThe Men of Battle Company 2nd of the 503rd Infantry Regiment 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat TeamJuan 'Doc RestrepoDan KearneyA year with one platoon in the deadliest valley in Afghanistan.
- DirectorMichael Paul StephensonStarsGeorge HardyPita RayMicki KnoxA look at the making of the film Troll 2 (1990) and its journey from being crowned the "worst film of all time" to a cherished cult classic.
- DirectorBanksyStarsBanksyMr. BrainwashSpace InvaderFollowing the style of some of the world's most prolific street artists, an amateur filmmaker makes a foray into the art world.
- DirectorSarah KernochanHoward SmithStarsAgnes BenjaminMarjoe GortnerVernon GortnerThis Oscar-winning documentary explores the life of one-time child evangelist and faith healer Marjoe Gortner. The son of professional evangelists, Gortner was preaching on the Southern tent-revival circuit by the age of 3.
- DirectorAsif KapadiaStarsAyrton SennaReginaldo LemeJohn BisignanoA documentary on Brazilian Formula One racing driver Ayrton Senna, who won the F1 world championship three times before his death at age 34.
- DirectorErrol MorrisStarsJoyce McKinneyPeter ToryTroy WilliamsA documentary on a former Miss Wyoming who is charged with abducting and imprisoning a young Mormon Missionary.
- DirectorAmir Bar-LevStarsPat TillmanJosh BrolinMary TillmanChronicles the life of the late Pat Tillman, who walked away from a multimillion-dollar contract with the NFL's Arizona Cardinals in 2002 to join the Army but died from friendly fire in Afghanistan.
- DirectorDavid RedmonAshley SabinStarsAshley ArbaughRachel BlaisOlivia ArbenA documentary on the modeling industry's 'supply chain' between Siberia, Japan, and the U.S., told through the experiences of the scouts, agencies, and a 13-year-old model.
- DirectorJens HoffmannStarsOtto BauerAudrey HollanderBelladonna9to5 - Days in Porn focuses on the people behind a controversial and multi-billion dollar industry "The Adult Entertainment industry". It depicts their stories, each one different, unadorned and authentic, without glorification or prejudice. It delivers deep insight into their personal lives - from glamorous to grotesque - strange, fascinating, offensive, absurd and sometimes funny moments all at once.
- DirectorDavid BondMelinda McDougallStarsFrank M. AhearnDavid BondPhil BoothDirector David Bond finds out how much private companies and government know about him by attempting to disappear. Tracked by two ruthless private investigators, his chilling journey forces him to contemplate the loss of privacy.
- DirectorSteve JamesStarsTio HardimanAmeena MatthewsToya BateyA year in the life of a city grappling with urban violence.
- DirectorMalik BendjelloulStarsRodriguezStephen 'Sugar' SegermanDennis CoffeyTwo South Africans set out to discover what happened to their unlikely musical hero, the mysterious 1970s rock n roller, Rodriguez.
- DirectorBart LaytonStarsAdam O'BrianNicholas BarclayCarey GibsonA documentary centered on a young man in Spain who claims to a grieving Texas family that he is their 16-year-old son who has been missing for 3 years.
- 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.
- DirectorAlex GibneyStarsAlex GibneyTerry KohutGary SmithAlex Gibney explores the charged issue of pedophilia in the Catholic Church, following a trail from the first known protest against clerical sexual abuse in the United States and all the way to the Vatican.
- DirectorStacy PeraltaStarsTony AlvaSteve CaballeroFred DurstWhen six teenage boys came together as a skateboarding team in the 1980s, they reinvented not only their chosen sport but themselves too - as they evolved from insecure outsiders to the most influential athletes in the field.
- DirectorDanfung DennisStarsNathan HarrisAshley HarrisThe Marines of Echo CompanyWhat does it mean to lead men in war? What does it mean to come home? Hell and Back Again is a cinematically revolutionary film that asks and answers these questions with a power and intimacy no previous film about the conflict in Afghanistan has been able to achieve. It is a masterpiece in the cinema of war.
- DirectorAlex GibneyStarsJulian AssangeAdrian LamoJohn 'FuzzFace' McMahonA documentary that details the creation of Julian Assange's controversial website, which facilitated the largest security breach in U.S. history.
- DirectorWerner HerzogDmitry VasyukovStarsWerner HerzogGennady SolovievAnatoly BlumeiA documentary depicting the life and work of the trappers of Bakhtia, a village in the heart of the Siberian Taiga, where daily life has changed little in over a century.
- DirectorGreg MacGillivrayStarsMeryl StreepLeanne AllisonKarsten HeuerA journey into the lives of a mother polar bear and her two seven-month-old cubs as they navigate the changing Arctic wilderness they call home.
- DirectorCallum MacraeStarsRufus SewellBashana AbeywardeneVany VijiNo Fire Zone: In the Killing Fields of Sri Lanka is an investigative documentary about the final weeks of the Sri Lankan Civil War.
- DirectorChristopher WalkerStarsNicholas HammondSue PerkinsPeter HustyThe Sound of Music is one of the most enduring popular films ever made, yet behind it lies an even more astonishing family story. Sue Perkins travels to Salzburg, Ellis Island and Vermont to discover how the family made a living in America as the Trapp Family Singers.
- DirectorMatthew CookeStars'Freeway' Ricky RossSusan SarandonDavid SimonTen easy steps show you how to make money from drugs, featuring a series of interviews with drug dealers, prison employees, and lobbyists arguing for tougher drug laws.
- DirectorPaul CrowderStarsMichael FassbenderLewis HamiltonNiki LaudaSet in the golden era of Grand Prix Racing '1' tells the story of a generation of charismatic drivers who raced on the edge, risking their lives during Formula 1's deadliest period, and the men who stood up and changed the sport forever.
- DirectorBrigitte BermanStarsLarry AdlerBobbie ArnsteinJoan BaezA look at the battles Hugh Hefner fought over the years against the U.S. government, the religious right, and militant feminists.
- 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.
- DirectorSeth KramerDaniel A. MillerJeremy NewbergerStarsMorton Downey Jr.Glenn BeckVictoria JacksonBefore entire networks were built on populist personalities; before reality morphed into a TV genre; the masses fixated on a single, sociopathic star: controversial talk-show host Morton Downey, Jr.
- 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.
- DirectorJacob KornbluthStarsRobert ReichCandice BergenConan O'BrienA documentary that follows former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich as he looks to raise awareness of the country's widening economic gap.
- DirectorWerner HerzogStarsWerner HerzogScott RowlandStefan PashovFilm-maker Werner Herzog travels to the McMurdo Station in Antarctica, looking to capture the continent's beauty and investigate the characters living there.
- DirectorGöran Hugo OlssonStarsAngela DavisStokely CarmichaelBobby SealeFootage shot by a group of Swedish journalists documenting the Black Power Movement in the United States is edited together by a contemporary Swedish filmmaker.
- DirectorAlex GibneyStarsDavid SangerEmad KiyaeiEric ChienA documentary focused on Stuxnet, a piece of self-replicating computer malware that the U.S. and Israel unleashed to destroy a key part of an Iranian nuclear facility, and which ultimately spread beyond its intended target.
- DirectorRobert GordonMorgan NevilleStarsGore VidalWilliam F. BuckleyDick CavettA documentary on the series of televised debates in 1968 between liberal Gore Vidal and conservative William F. Buckley.
- StarsMa Anand SheelaPhilip ToelkesJane StorkWhen Osho, the world's most controversial guru, builds an Utopian city deep in the Oregon country, conflict with the locals escalates into a national scandal.