Documentaries about films, filmmaking and filmmakers
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- DirectorPeter HansonStarsAllison AndersJane AndersonDoug AtchisonWar stories and life lessons from the industry's top writers.
- DirectorCarl-Gustav NykvistStarsSven NykvistErland JosephsonSusan SarandonCarl-Gustaf Nykvist's documentary about his father, Sven Nykvist. The film is based on Sven's memoirs with Sven himself as narrator. A journey to the place of birth, Moheda, constitutes the hub of the film and during the journey friends and memories emerge.
- StarsMark CousinsJuan Diego BottoAleksandr SokurovA comprehensive history of the medium and art of motion pictures.
- 1985– 3h 12mNot Rated7.7 (5.3K)TV EpisodeDirectorRobert B. WeideStarsWoody AllenLetty AronsonMarshall BrickmanA documentary on Woody Allen that trails him on his movie sets and follows him back to Brooklyn as he visits his childhood haunts.
- DirectorAngela IsmailosStarsDavid LynchCatherine BreillatBernardo BertolucciTen of the greatest filmmakers in the world passionately discuss their craft in Angela Ismailos' hugely entertaining documentary GREAT DIRECTORS.
- DirectorShannon DavisStarsPeter BiskindRobert TownsendEdward BurnsAn hour-long documentary designed to celebrate the spirit of the independent filmmaker from D.W. Griffith to Quentin Tarantino. Interview footage and film clips are blended together to form a chronological approach to the subject matter. Profiles of important figures within the independent film industry include John Cassavetes, Stanley Kubrick, John Sayles, Woody Allen, Roger Corman, Samuel Fuller, Martin Scorsese, Orson Welles, Arthur Penn, Spike Lee, Peter Bogdanovich, Sam Peckinpah, Nicholas Ray, and Henry Jaglom. The documentary compiles new and stock interviews with important filmmakers including Cassavetes, Corman, Bogdanovich, Fuller, Scorsese, Welles, Penn, Sayles, Ray, Peckinpah, Lee, and Jaglom. The program also covers important movements in the history of independent cinema such as the Italian neorealism and the French New Wave. The documentary makes it clear in the emphasis that an independent film is not simply a low-budget film, but instead, accurately defines the genre by the filmmaker's ability to convey an individual vision through their creative approach, with limited interference from a higher authority, whether or not working within a studio system.
- DirectorDavid LynchStarsCatherine E. CoulsonDavid LynchJack NanceThe enduring hope that humanity may or may not persevere. A tale of love and abandonment.
- DirectorChristopher NolanStarsStephen QuayTimothy QuayThis short documentary film reveals the inner workings of the Brothers' studio.
- 1995–19983h 45m8.5 (5.1K)TV EpisodeDirectorMartin ScorseseMichael Henry WilsonStarsMartin ScorseseAllison AndersKathryn BigelowMartin Scorsese describes his initial and growing obsession with films from the 1940s and 50s as the art form developed and grew with clips from classics and cult classics.
- DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsMartin ScorseseWorld-renowned director Martin Scorsese narrates this journey through his favorites in Italian cinema.
- DirectorJan HarlanStarsKatharina KubrickMalcolm McDowellStanley KubrickThe career and life of Stanley Kubrick is explored through pictures, clips from his films, his old home movies, comments from his colleagues and a narration by Tom Cruise.
- DirectorWim WendersStarsWim WendersMichelangelo AntonioniMaroun BagdadiDuring the '35th Cannes International Film Festival' (14th-26th May 1982), German director Wim Wenders asked a sample of 15 other international film directors to get, each one at a time, into the same hotel room to answer in solitude the same question about the future of cinema, while they were filmed with a 16mm camera and recorded with a Nagra sound recorder. In social sciences the goal of standardization is that each person is exposed to the same question experience, and that the recording setting of answers is the same, too, so that any differences in the answers can be correctly interpreted as reflecting differences between persons rather than differences in the process that produced the answer. The wide sampling frame in "Room 666" included European 'auteurs' and Hollywood directors, narrative and experimental filmmakers, male and female professional film directors that presented their films or were simply present at the 35th Cannes Festival in May 1982. The directors came from France, Italy, Brazil, Lebanon, Germany, Turkey, the Philippines and the USA. This unique documentary shows the complete footage (or selected parts) of the 15 answers that resulted from this 'standardized survey interviews'. The historical value of "Room 666" has increased over time: The 5 directors Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Yilmaz Güney, Maroun Bagdadi, Robert Kramer and Michelangelo Antonioni have died since then in this order. Fassbinder died only a few weeks later on June 10th 1982 and gave his last 'interview' in "Room 666".
- DirectorDonatella BaglivoAn intimate and poetic scene-by-scene look into the filming of Tarkovsky's masterpiece, 'Nostalghia'.
- DirectorTonino GuerraAndrei TarkovskyStarsTonino GuerraLora JabloskinaAndrei TarkovskyAcclaimed Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky and his screenwriter Tonino Guerra travel all over Italy to scout locations for the film Nostalghia.
- DirectorGary LevaStarsMalcolm McDowellJack NicholsonSydney PollackHe is considered by many the greatest film director the medium has ever known. Yet in a 45-year career, Stanley Kubrick's films number only a dozen. That he strove for perfection is well established. What is less known is that he lavished years of energy on several films that never saw the flickering light of the silver screen. Through interviews and abundant archival materials, this documentary examines these "lost" films in depth to discover what drew Kubrick to these projects, the work he did to prepare them for production, and why they ultimately were abandoned.
- 200046m7.3 (403)VideoDirectorDavid NaylorStarsJames B. HarrisAlexander WalkerLee MinoffDocumentary on the making of Kubrick's classic film.
- DirectorGary KhammarStarsChristiane KubrickLeon VitaliAnthony FrewinKubrick Remembered is one of the supplementary bonus documentaries included in Stanley Kubrick: The Masterpiece Collection. This box set of eight Kubrick classics has films, from the 1962 Lolita to his final film, Eyes Wide Shut (1999). In addition to the eight discs (films), there are two more discs, making this a ten-disc set. It does include the previously-released supplements on each film, plus it features two new-to-disc documentaries and one new feature length film, along with a 78-page book of stills, storyboards, production art, script pages, and other production paraphernalia from the featured films. Part of this collection is the aforementioned bonus documentary, which is with the feature-length documentary Kubrick Remembered. Kubrick's widow opened up the Kubrick archives for this documentary, allowing all of us a closer glimpse into his methods.
- DirectorPeter BraatzStarsLaura DernBrad DourifJeff Goodwin30 years after the shooting of 'Blue Velvet', the classic film of David Lynch, the German filmmaker Peter Braatz revisits his original Super-8 material and numerous photographies, filmed 30 years ago on the set in Wilmington, USA.
- DirectorDavid DessitesStarsLaura HarringDavid LynchJustin Theroux
- DirectorJason S.StarsJay AasengJeremy AlterDavid LynchCompiled from over two years of footage, the film is an intimate portrait of David Lynch's creative process as he completes his latest film, Inland Empire (2006). We follow Lynch as he discovers beauty in ideas, leading us on a journey through the abstract which ultimately unveils his cinematic vision. The director of the documentary immersed himself in David Lynch's world; living and working at Lynch's home. His unobtrusive style has captured a personal side of David Lynch not seen before. The film reveals Lynch not only as one of the most original and compelling directors of contemporary film but also as an artist who continues to explore and experiment in countless mediums. We witness his "hands on" approach to painting, sculpting, music and screenwriting. His enthusiasm is infectious; inspiring us to tap into the well of creativity that Lynch believes we all have.
- DirectorJon RonsonStarsJon RonsonAnthony FrewinJan HarlanJon Ronson is asked by the widow of Stanley Kubrick to investigate the contents of about a thousand boxes left by Kubrick, shown to contain materials reflecting the work Kubrick did after the release of Barry Lyndon (1975) in 1975.
- StarsMartin SheenSissy SpacekJack FiskAn overview of the making of Badlands (1973)
- 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.
- DirectorAlex ShuperStarsKay ArmatageCameron BaileyMathilde BonnefoyA journey through the history of motion picture editing by visionaries of the art and masters of the craft, going beyond the cutting edge, exploring editing as a universal language shaping our perceptions of the world around us.
- DirectorMark HartleyStarsRussell BoydCliff GreenJohn JarrattA Feature Length Documentary On The Making Of The Film Featuring Exclusive Interviews With Peter Weir, Hal & Jim Mcelroy, Patricia Lovell and much more
- DirectorChris MarkerStarsShigehiko HasumiChris MarkerAkira KurosawaA documentary that shows the production of Ran and discusses the film techniques of Kurosawa himself.
- DirectorDonatella BaglivoStarsAndrei TarkovskyDonatella BaglivoTarkovsky expounds on his life and work, the essential importance of fighting, the conceptual nonexistence of happiness, what childhood determines about us, wartime's impact on fantasies, and the salutary effects of a year laboring in Siberia.
- DirectorTorben Skjødt JensenStarsClara PontoppidanHélène FalconettiLisbeth MovinCarl Theodor Dreyer is a young journalist in Copenhagen when he gets involved in the early Danish film industry. He writes scripts and inter-titles, and for some years he is the main editor at Nordisk Film. After those years of apprenticeship he gets the opportunity to direct his first film in 1917. Dreyer wanted his films to carry his personal imprints down to the smallest details, and already in his first silent movies it's possible to find stylistic traits that characterize his entire film production until his last film in 1964. The settings of his first films are naturalistic, but for Dreyer realism is not an art in itself. Only psychological realism is. His main interest is not the outer life, but the inner, emotional life of human beings. Emotions are most visible in facial expressions, and Dreyer's films are full of close-ups of human faces. By capturing the subtle, visual expressions of his characters, Dreyer tries to reveal the feelings they conceal and the storms that are raging inside them. Although many of his films end in tragedy, his intention is always to create a hymn to the triumph of the soul over life. Dreyer's own character was just as complex and contradictory as his film characters. Many of the actors he worked with describe him as a modest, amiable man, who was quiet in his statements, but intense and strong-willed inside. While his outer appearance was utterly self-effacing, he had at the same time an insistent stubbornness, which didn't accept any artistic compromises.
- DirectorPepita FerrariStarsJennifer BaichwalManfred BeckerMichel BraultFrom cinema-verite pioneers Albert Maysles and Joan Churchill, to maverick movie makers like Errol Morris, Werner Herzog, and Nick Broomfield, the world's best documentarians reflect upon the unique power of their genre. Capturing Reality explores the complex creative process that goes into making non-fiction films. Deftly charting the documentarian's journey, it poses the question: can film capture reality?
- DirectorTom DonahueStarsDeborah AquilaRisa Bramon GarciaEllen ChenowethThe surprising, never-before-told tale of the indispensable yet unsung Casting Director - Iconoclasts whose keen eye, exquisite taste and gut instincts redefined Hollywood.
- DirectorMichal LeszczylowksiStarsErland JosephsonAndrei TarkovskyLarisa TarkovskayaDocumentary on the making of "The Sacrifice."
- DirectorChris MarkerStarsAndrei TarkovskyMarina VladyEva MattesA documentary made prior to the death of filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky, showing him working on his final film "The Sacrifice". This documentation was made at Tarkovsky's request to stand as a record of his working practices. Interspersed with clips of the director's previous films, this should prove especially interesting for fans of Tarkovsky's work.
- DirectorPaul OsborneStarsScott StormPaul OsborneBrian OsborneA documentary following the exploits of a group of filmmakers as they take their independent feature, Ten 'til Noon (2006), along the film festival circuit, and the politics, pitfalls, triumphs and comic tragedies they encounter along the way. Full of interviews with important players in the indie world, this is a must see for young filmmakers on what happens when the shooting stops.
- DirectorOskar AlegriaStarsMan RayMaria Despina zu Sayn-WittgensteinRaymond HermannFilmmaker Oskar Alegria searches for the origins of the 1926 avant-garde short film "Emak Bakia" and its eccentric creator, photographer Man Ray.
- DirectorKrzysztof WierzbickiStarsKrzysztof KieslowskiJacek PetryckiKrzysztof WierzbickiDirector/Writer Krzysztof Kieslowski shares his views on life, people, politics and comments a little about some of his films in a very casual conversation.
- DirectorNina KusturicaEva TestorStarsMichael HanekeA portrait of a dedicated filmmaker who is a charming yet elusive figure in thrall to cinema and the constant perfection of his craft.
- DirectorNicholas JareckiStarsWoody AllenRobert Downey Jr.Neve CampbellNicholas Jarecki follows director James Toback on the 12-day shoot of his thriller, When Will I Be Loved -- a movie made without a script or distribution deal.
- DirectorElaine Donnelly PieperStarsMatthew SweetSheri Chinen BiesenNeil BrandDocumentary that shows the characteristic traits of film noir and their historical context.
- DirectorLaurent BouzereauStarsAlfred HitchcockPeggy RobertsonClive BarkerDocumentary about the making of Hitchcock's classic thriller Psycho (1960), featuring interviews with surviving cast and crew members.
- DirectorLaurent BouzereauStarsAlec GuinnessDavid LeanSean McLauchlanThe story behind the filming of the 1962 epic "Lawrence of Arabia", featuring outtakes, behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with cast and crew.
- DirectorCarmen PicciniStarsWoody AllenFausto AncillaiRoberto BenigniInterviewed participants and clips shed light on: Whether Fellini used scripts or improvised. The extent to which actors made sounds on the set that were totally changed in dubbing. The casting of unusual looking people even in bit parts.
- DirectorKazuo InoueStarsIneko ArimaChikage AwashimaShôhei ImamuraA documentary about Ozu's life and career.
- StarsCarlos LarkinNick AdamsBarbara BachThis is the finest collection of bad films ever compiled. The budgets are cheap, the acting is terrible, and the plots are nowhere to be seen. It's The Fifty Worst Films Ever Made!
- DirectorDavid GregoryStarsFerdinando BaldiManolo BologniniEnzo G. CastellariA visual history of Italian western cinema in the 60s and 70s.
- DirectorJosé Luis López-LinaresJavier RioyoStarsJosé SanchoCarlos FuentesClaudio IsaacDocumentary about spanish director Luis Buñuel.
- DirectorKeith FultonLouis PepeStarsTerry GilliamJohnny DeppJeff BridgesTerry Gilliam's doomed attempt to get his film, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (2018), off the ground.
- DirectorJean-Marc LamoureStarsErika BókZolt CholnokyKata CziglerAn illuminating and extremely rare documentary profile of one of the great filmmakers of our time, Bela Tarr. Filmed during the production of The Turin Horse, his final film, Tarr Bela: I Used To Be A Filmmaker features clips, behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with longtime collaborators such as Mihaly Vig, Erika Bok and Tarr's wife and co-director Agnes Hranitzky.
- DirectorLance BangsJeff BuchananMichel GondryStarsMichel GondrySylvain ArnouxThomas BangalterA documentary about the inspiration of director Michel Gondry. An extraordinary world where onirism, memories and childhood have the utmost importance.
- DirectorEileen AnipareJason WoodStarsKrzysztof KieslowskiThis interview, made in January 1995, is an attempt to examine the universal messages offered by 'Decalogue', as well as it's idiosyncrasies
- DirectorAnthony UroStarsDiane BakerJonathan DemmeFrankie FaisonWith interviews from cast and crew, including stars Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, and director Jonathan Demme, you'll hear how a film with a young director trained in B-movies and cheesy comedies managed to make one of the most chilling films in decades, and how a studio in the midst of collapse could turn out a film that took the box office and Oscars by storm. We'll also examine how Foster was able to make the transition from child star to silver screen sensation, and how an all-but-retired Hopkins was coerced back into the Hollywood scene to create one of the most indelible villains in film history.
- DirectorChris SmithStarsMark BorchardtMike SchankTom SchimmelsDocumentary about an aspiring filmmaker's attempts to finance his dream project by finally completing the low-budget horror film he abandoned years before.
- DirectorFrank PavichStarsAlejandro JodorowskyMichel SeydouxH.R. GigerThe story of cult film director Alejandro Jodorowsky's ambitious but ultimately doomed film adaptation of the seminal science fiction novel.
- DirectorCharles de LauzirikaStarsHarrison FordDaryl HannahMichael DeeleyThe definitive three-and-a-half hour documentary about the troubled creation and enduring legacy of the science fiction classic Blade Runner (1982), culled from 80 interviews and hours of never-before-seen outtakes and lost footage.
- DirectorJames ChressanthisStarsKaren BlackPeter BogdanovichSandra BullockThe lifelong friendship of the great Hungarian-born cinematographers László Kovács and Vilmos Zsigmond and their impact on American cinema.
- DirectorPeter HansonStarsDavid BunceJoe BagnardiBrandon BethmannIn this documentary about low-budget filmmaking in upstate New York, you'll learn how affordable digital-video technology has changed the lives of the artists behind action flicks, monster movies, nonfiction stories, and comedies. "Every Pixel Tells a Story" introduces viewers to a wide range of independent filmmakers, all of whom prove that with a little ingenuity, access to the right technology, and plenty of tenacity, filmmakers can still practice their craft 3,000 miles from Hollywood. In fact, "Every Pixel Tells a Story" is an example of what can be accomplished on digital video. Producer-director Peter Hanson shot and edited the movie in a matter of weeks using a camcorder, a computer editing system, and a $30 microphone from Radio Shack, all while spending a fraction of what the documentary would have cost had it been shot on film.
- DirectorWendy AppleStarsKathy BatesZach StaenbergJodie FosterDocumentary about the art of film editing. Clips are shown from many groundbreaking films with innovative editing styles.
- DirectorJon FauerStarsRemi AdefarasinRuss T. AlsobrookHoward A. Anderson III110 of the world's top cinematographers discuss the art of how and why films look the way they do.
- DirectorPaul MarianoKurt NortonStarsJeff AdachiJames H. BillingtonRobin BlaetzTells the history and importance of The National Film Registry, a roll call of American cinema treasures that reflects the diversity of film, and indeed the American experience itself.
- DirectorFletcher MarkleStarsFletcher MarkleAlfred HitchcockBernard HerrmannThis 1964, interview of Alfred Hitchcock was part of the CBC television series Telescope with host-director Fletcher Markle. It was conducted during or immediately after the filming of Marnie and also contains interesting stories and comments from Alfred Hitchcock and his associates Norman Lloyd, Joan Harrison and Bernard Herrmann. There are clips from and during the making of several Hitchcock movies. While some of the recollections are part of Hitch's standard interview material others are unique.
- DirectorVivian KubrickStarsJack NicholsonVivian KubrickTerry NeedhamA look behind the scenes during the making of The Shining (1980).
- DirectorLes BlankStarsWerner HerzogKlaus KinskiClaudia CardinaleA documentary following German auteur Werner Herzog as he deals with difficult actors, bad weather and getting a boat over a mountain, all in an effort to make his film Fitzcarraldo (1982).
- DirectorJon Einarsson GustafssonStarsAndrew Rai BerzinsGerard ButlerMartin DelaneyCanadian filmmaker Sturla Gunnarsson arrives in Iceland to make his film Beowulf and Grendel, but the elements are against him and his crew.
- 20141h 37mNot Rated7.5 (4.4K)DirectorDavid GregoryStarsRichard StanleyKier-La JanisseMichael GingoldA behind the scenes chronicle of how clash of vision, bad creative decisions, lack of interest and really bad weather plagued the disastrous production of the infamous The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996).
- DirectorTony MontanaMark Brian SmithStarsTroy DuffyJeffrey BaxterChris BrinkerA documentary on the rise and stumble of Troy Duffy, the bartender-cum-filmmaker who was swept up by Miramax's Harvey Weinstein to turn his script for The Boondock Saints into a feature film.
- DirectorArnold GlassmanTodd McCarthyStuart SamuelsStarsConrad L. HallJohn BaileyVilmos ZsigmondCameramen and women discuss the craft and art of cinematography, illustrating their points with clips from 100 films, from The Birth of a Nation (1915) to Do the Right Thing (1989).
- DirectorFax BahrGeorge HickenlooperEleanor CoppolaStarsDennis HopperMartin SheenMarlon BrandoDocumentary that chronicles how Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now (1979) was plagued by extraordinary script, shooting, budget, and casting problems--nearly destroying the life and career of the celebrated director.
- DirectorSarah KellyStarsRick StriblingKen BondyAmy Minda CohenA documentary about the production of From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) and the people who made it.
- DirectorWilliam FriedkinStarsWilliam FriedkinFritz LangAmerican director William Friedkin interviewed Austrian director Fritz Lang on February 21st and 24th, 1975.