Documentaries
by philipvanaalst | created - 29 Dec 2014 | updated - 29 Dec 2014 | PublicCriterion Themes
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1. And Everything Is Going Fine (2010)
Not Rated | 89 min | Documentary
A look at the art of Spalding Gray who drew from real life experience to create a compelling and deeply personal series of monologues.
Director: Steven Soderbergh | Stars: Spalding Gray, Forrest Gray, Kathie Russo
Votes: 1,299 | Gross: $0.02M
2. ...and the Pursuit of Happiness (1986 TV Movie)
80 min | Documentary
After acknowledging his own immigrant background, Malle, tries to present the range of immigrant experiences in the US during the 1980's. In an attempt to be comprehensive, the film ... See full summary »
Director: Louis Malle | Stars: Franklin Chang-Diaz, Guillermo Gómez-Peña, Lenwood Johnson, Boris Lyoskin
Votes: 523
3. Antonio Gaudí (1984)
Not Rated | 72 min | Documentary
The work of Catalan architect Antonio Gaudí, as seen by Japanese New Wave director Hiroshi Teshigahara.
Director: Hiroshi Teshigahara | Stars: Isidro Puig Boada, Antoni Gaudí, Seiji Miyaguchi
Votes: 1,740
4. The Beales of Grey Gardens (2006)
Not Rated | 91 min | Documentary
Utilizing hours of unseen archival footage, The Beales is a new take on the women of Grey Gardens.
Directors: Albert Maysles, David Maysles | Stars: Edith 'Little Edie' Bouvier Beale, Edith Bouvier Beale, Albert Maysles, David Maysles
Votes: 1,339
5. Bergman Island (2004 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 85 min | Documentary, Biography
All three documentaries were mainly shot in the home of Ingmar Bergman. This was the first time ever that a filmmaker had access to Ingmar Bergman in his home at the small island Fårö in ... See full summary »
Director: Marie Nyreröd | Stars: Ingmar Bergman, Erland Josephson, Marie Nyreröd
Votes: 1,019
6. A Brief History of Time (1991)
G | 80 min | Documentary, Biography
A film about the life and work of the cosmologist, Stephen Hawking, who despite his near total paralysis, was one of the great minds of all time.
Director: Errol Morris | Stars: Stephen Hawking, Isobel Hawking, Janet Humphrey, Mary Hawking
Votes: 5,911 | Gross: $2.28M
7. Burden of Dreams (1982)
Not Rated | 95 min | Documentary
A 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).
Director: Les Blank | Stars: Werner Herzog, Klaus Kinski, Claudia Cardinale, Jason Robards
Votes: 8,127
8. Carl Th. Dreyer: My Métier (1995)
Not Rated | 96 min | Documentary, Biography, History
Carl 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... See full summary »
Director: Torben Skjødt Jensen | Stars: Clara Pontoppidan, Hélène Falconetti, Lisbeth Movin, Preben Lerdorff Rye
Votes: 515
9. Chronicle of a Summer (1961)
Not Rated | 85 min | Documentary, History
A documentary about the everyday lives of ordinary Parisians, done in the style of cinéma vérité.
Directors: Edgar Morin, Jean Rouch | Stars: Angelo, Nadine Ballot, Catherine, Céline
Votes: 3,584
10. Come on Children (1973)
96 min | Documentary
Ten teenagers journey down a path to self-discovery as they adjust to life on a farm in this examination of the stress and alienation of adolescence.
Director: Allan King | Stars: Alan Dunikowsky, Ken Gibbs, John Hamilton, Jane Harrison
Votes: 264
11. A Constant Forge (2000)
Not Rated | 200 min | Documentary, Biography, Romance
A look at the life, times, and art of independent film pioneer John Cassavetes through interviews with his family, friends, and admirers of his work.
Director: Charles Kiselyak | Stars: Seymour Cassel, Carol Kane, Jon Voight, Ben Gazzara
Votes: 510
12. Crumb (1994)
R | 119 min | Documentary, Biography, Comedy
An intimate portrait of controversial cartoonist Robert Crumb and his traumatized family.
Director: Terry Zwigoff | Stars: Robert Crumb, Aline Kominsky-Crumb, Charles Crumb, Maxon Crumb
Votes: 21,587 | Gross: $3.17M
13. Dying at Grace (2003)
148 min | Documentary
Director Allan King documents the final months of five terminally ill cancer patients at the Toronto Grace Health Centre.
Director: Allan King | Stars: Phyllis Bobbitt, Joyce Bone, Norman Collins, Lloyd Greenway
Votes: 434
14. F for Fake (1973)
PG | 89 min | Documentary
A documentary about fraud and fakery.
Directors: Orson Welles, Gary Graver, Oja Kodar, François Reichenbach | Stars: Orson Welles, Oja Kodar, François Reichenbach, Elmyr de Hory
Votes: 18,286
15. Fishing with John (1991)
Not Rated | 152 min | Documentary, Comedy, Sport
Musician John Lurie knows nothing about fishing, but that doesn't stop him from embarking on fishing in exotic locations with friends.
Stars: John Lurie, Willem Dafoe, Robb Webb, Dennis Hopper
Votes: 1,774
16. For All Mankind (1989)
Not Rated | 80 min | Documentary, History
An in-depth look at various NASA moon landing missions, starting with Apollo 8.
Director: Al Reinert | Stars: Jim Lovell, Ken Mattingly, Russell Schweickart, Eugene Cernan
Votes: 6,523 | Gross: $0.77M
17. Gates of Heaven (1978)
Not Rated | 85 min | Documentary
A documentary about a pet cemetery in California, and the people who have pets buried there.
Director: Errol Morris | Stars: Lucille Billingsley, Zella Graham, Cal Harberts, Dan Harberts
Votes: 6,289
18. General Idi Amin Dada: A Self Portrait (1974)
Not Rated | 92 min | Documentary
A documentary on the military dictator of Africa's Uganda.
Director: Barbet Schroeder | Stars: Idi Amin, Fidel Castro, Golda Meir
Votes: 2,018
19. Gimme Shelter (1970)
GP | 91 min | Documentary, Music, Thriller
When three hundred thousand members of the Love Generation collided with a few dozen Hells Angels at San Francisco's Altamont Speedway, the bloody slash that transformed a decade's dreams into disillusionment was immortalized on this film.
Directors: Albert Maysles, David Maysles, Charlotte Zwerin | Stars: Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Mick Taylor, Charlie Watts
Votes: 12,880 | Gross: $0.25M
20. God's Country (1985 TV Movie)
90 min | Documentary
Original footage of the prosperous farming community of Glencoe Minnesota, 60 miles west of Minneapolis, was filmed in 1979 for a PBS documentary. But for the next six years Malle was too ... See full summary »
Director: Louis Malle | Stars: Louis Malle, Lowell Barnum, Arnold Beneke, Millie Beneke
Votes: 941
21. Grey Gardens (1975)
PG | 95 min | Documentary, Comedy, Drama
Meet a mother and daughter, high-society dropouts, reclusive cousins of Jackie O., managing to thrive together amid the decay and disorder of their East Hampton, NY, mansion, making for an eerily ramshackle echo of the American Camelot.
Directors: Ellen Hovde, Albert Maysles, David Maysles, Muffie Meyer | Stars: Edith Bouvier Beale, Edith 'Little Edie' Bouvier Beale, Brooks Hyers
Votes: 15,268 | Gross: $0.03M
22. Harlan County U.S.A. (1976)
PG | 103 min | Documentary
A heartbreaking record of the thirteen-month struggle between a community fighting to survive and a corporation dedicated to the bottom line.
Director: Barbara Kopple | Stars: John L. Lewis, Carl Horn, Norman Yarborough, Logan Patterson
Votes: 6,625
23. Hearts and Minds (1974)
R | 112 min | Documentary, History, War
A startling and courageous landmark documentary that unflinchingly confronted the United States' involvement in Vietnam at the height of the controversy that surrounded it.
Director: Peter Davis | Stars: Tin Chan, Chau Diem, Ngo Dinh Diem, John Foster Dulles
Votes: 6,103 | Gross: $0.03M
24. Hoop Dreams (1994)
PG-13 | 170 min | Documentary, Drama, Sport
A film following the lives of two inner-city Chicago boys who struggle to become college basketball players on the road to going professional.
Director: Steve James | Stars: William Gates, Arthur Agee, Emma Gates, Curtis Gates
Votes: 28,010 | Gross: $7.83M
25. Humain, trop humain (1974)
75 min | Documentary
A documentary with almost no words following the production of Citroen cars at a plant in Northern France and their later sales.
Directors: Louis Malle, René Vautier | Star: Georges Pompidou
Votes: 482
26. Ingmar Bergman Makes a Movie (1963 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 146 min | Documentary
Vilgot Sjöman (I Am Curious -- Yellow 1967) and a crew from Swedish Television followed Ingmar Bergman during the filming of Winter Light and came away with a five-part documentary, ... See full summary »
Director: Vilgot Sjöman | Stars: Ingmar Bergman, Gunnar Björnstrand, Sven Nykvist, Vilgot Sjöman
Votes: 497
27. Jimi Plays Monterey (1986)
Not Rated | 50 min | Documentary, Music
Jimi Hendrix's landmark concert in Monterey County Fairgrounds in California in which he plays signature songs like "Purple Haze," "Foxy Lady," and "Wild Thing."
Directors: Chris Hegedus, D.A. Pennebaker | Stars: Jimi Hendrix, Noel Redding, Mitch Mitchell, John Phillips
Votes: 1,432
28. Koko: A Talking Gorilla (1978)
Not Rated | 85 min | Documentary
A documentary that follows Dr. Penny Patterson's current scientific study of Koko, a gorilla who communicates through American Sign Language.
Director: Barbet Schroeder | Stars: Koko, Penny Patterson, Saul Kitchener, Carl Pribram
Votes: 944
29. Koyaanisqatsi (1982)
Not Rated | 86 min | Documentary, Music
A collection of expertly photographed phenomena with no conventional plot. The footage focuses on the relationship between nature, humanity, and technology.
Director: Godfrey Reggio | Stars: Edward Asner, Pat Benatar, Jerry Brown, Johnny Carson
Votes: 41,459 | Gross: $1.72M
30. Pays de cocagne (1971)
Not Rated | 80 min | Documentary
After the events of May 1968, the French went on vacations - and they were filmed during three months on the rural fairs, on the beaches, on promotional campaigns for products and ... See full summary »
Director: Pierre Étaix | Stars: Pierre Étaix, Maurice Biraud, Michel Lewin
Votes: 405
31. Always for Pleasure (1978)
Not Rated | 58 min | Documentary, Music
A look at the spirit of New Orleans. First a funeral: Allen Toussaint explains that you arrive slow and cut up afterwards. Then it's food, with a lesson in eating crayfish at Frankie and ... See full summary »
Director: Les Blank | Stars: Kid Thomas, Allen Toussaint, Blue Lu Barker, Irma Thomas
Votes: 574
32. Louie Bluie (1985)
Not Rated | 75 min | Documentary, Music
About the obscure country-blues musician and idiosyncratic visual artist Howard "Louie Bluie" Armstrong, member of the last known black string band in America.
Director: Terry Zwigoff | Stars: Howard Armstrong, Ted Bogan, Yank Rachell, Ikey Robinson
Votes: 900
33. The Making of Fanny and Alexander (1984)
Not Rated | 110 min | Documentary
A chronicle of the making of Ingmar Bergman's Oscar winning film.
Director: Ingmar Bergman | Stars: Daniel Bergman, Ingmar Bergman, Gunnar Björnstrand, Allan Edwall
Votes: 1,025
34. A Married Couple (1969)
97 min | Documentary
An "actuality drama" about a real-life marriage in crisis, in which the couple attempts to identify and resolve the conflicts and resentments that have driven them to the brink of separation.
Director: Allan King | Stars: Billy Edwards, Antoinette Edwards, Bogart Edwards, Merton
Votes: 643
35. Memory for Max, Claire, Ida and Company (2005)
112 min | Documentary
Elderly residents of a Toronto nursing home cope with loss, loneliness and other heartbreaking challenges of growing old, as the home's staff work tirelessly to provide an environment of dignified, compassionate care.
Director: Allan King | Stars: Claire Mandell, Sherry Mandell, Jeff Glickman, Sonny Max Glickman
Votes: 185
36. Monterey Pop (1968)
Not Rated | 78 min | Documentary, History, Music
A film about the greatest pre-Woodstock rock music festival.
Director: D.A. Pennebaker | Stars: Otis Redding, Jimi Hendrix, Ravi Shankar, Country Joe McDonald
Votes: 4,920 | Gross: $0.00M
37. My Crasy Life (1992)
Not Rated | 95 min | Documentary
A probing look at a Samoan street gang in a closed community in Long Beach, California with its own rules, rituals, and language.
Director: Jean-Pierre Gorin
Votes: 199
38. Nanook of the North (1922)
Passed | 78 min | Documentary
In this silent predecessor to the modern documentary, film-maker Robert J. Flaherty spends one year following the lives of Nanook and his family, Inuits living in the Arctic Circle.
Director: Robert J. Flaherty | Stars: Allakariallak, Alice Nevalinga, Cunayou, Allegoo
Votes: 13,445
39. Naqoyqatsi (2002)
PG | 89 min | Documentary, Music
A visual montage portrait of our contemporary world dominated by globalized technology and violence.
Director: Godfrey Reggio | Stars: Belladonna, Marlon Brando, Elton John, Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Votes: 6,239 | Gross: $0.13M
40. Night and Fog (1956)
TV-14 | 32 min | Documentary, Short, History
The history of Nazi Germany's death camps of the Final Solution and the hellish world of dehumanization and death contained inside.
Director: Alain Resnais | Stars: Michel Bouquet, Reinhard Heydrich, Heinrich Himmler, Adolf Hitler
Votes: 21,449
41. Phantom India (1969– )
378 min | Documentary
"Phantom India" is regarded as the crowning achievement of Louis Malle's career.
Stars: Louis Malle, Thomas Frederick Howard, Rajani Desai, Namboodiripad
Votes: 500
42. Pina (2011)
PG | 103 min | Documentary, Music
A tribute to the late German choreographer Pina Bausch, as her dancers perform her most famous creations.
Director: Wim Wenders | Stars: Pina Bausch, Regina Advento, Malou Airaudo, Ruth Amarante
Votes: 15,940 | Gross: $3.52M
43. Place de la République (1974)
94 min | Documentary
Vibrant scenes of individuals' daily life are filmed in Place de la République.
Director: Louis Malle | Star: Louis Malle
Votes: 440
44. Poto and Cabengo (1979)
Not Rated | 77 min | Documentary
Identical young twin girls in the USA have invented their own shared language. Scientists are wanting to study the language but social workers are trying to get the twins to leave their ... See full summary »
Director: Jean-Pierre Gorin | Star: Jean-Pierre Gorin
Votes: 418
45. Powaqqatsi (1988)
G | 99 min | Documentary, Music
An exploration of technologically developing nations and the effect the transition to Western-style modernization has had on them.
Director: Godfrey Reggio | Stars: Christie Brinkley, David Brinkley, Patrick Disanto, Pope John Paul II
Votes: 8,874 | Gross: $0.59M
46. Routine Pleasures (1986)
Not Rated | 81 min | Documentary
What do a club devoted to model trains and the legendary film critic and painter Manny Farber have in common? These two story lines intersect in an attempt to recreate the past.
Director: Jean-Pierre Gorin
Votes: 246
47. Salesman (1969)
G | 91 min | Documentary, Drama
Four dogged door-to-door Bible salesmen travel from Boston to Florida on a seemingly futile quest to sell luxury editions of the Good Book to working-class Catholics.
Directors: Albert Maysles, David Maysles, Charlotte Zwerin | Stars: Paul Brennan, Charles McDevitt, James Baker, Raymond Martos
Votes: 5,709
48. Sans Soleil (1983)
Not Rated | 100 min | Documentary, Drama
A woman narrates the contemplative writings of a seasoned world traveler, focusing on contemporary Japan.
Director: Chris Marker | Stars: Amilcar Cabral, Florence Delay, Arielle Dombasle, Riyoko Ikeda
Votes: 12,126 | Gross: $0.03M
49. Shoah (1985)
Not Rated | 566 min | Documentary, History, War
Claude Lanzmann's epic documentary recounts the story of the Holocaust through interviews with witnesses - perpetrators as well as survivors.
Director: Claude Lanzmann | Stars: Simon Srebnik, Michael Podchlebnik, Motke Zaïdl, Hanna Zaïdl
Votes: 10,542 | Gross: $0.02M
50. The Thin Blue Line (1988)
Not Rated | 101 min | Documentary, Crime
A film that successfully argued that a man was wrongly convicted for murder by a corrupt justice system in Dallas County, Texas.
Director: Errol Morris | Stars: Randall Adams, David Harris, Gus Rose, Jackie Johnson
Votes: 25,908 | Gross: $1.21M
51. The Times of Harvey Milk (1984)
Not Rated | 90 min | Documentary, Biography, History
A documentary of the successful career and assassination of San Francisco's first elected gay city supervisor.
Director: Rob Epstein | Stars: Harvey Fierstein, Harvey Milk, Anne Kronenberg, Tory Hartmann
Votes: 6,573 | Gross: $0.01M
52. Tokyo Olympiad (1965)
Not Rated | 170 min | Documentary, Sport
Kon Ichikawa examines the beauty and rich drama on display at the 1964 Summer Games in Tokyo, creating a record of observations that range from the expansive to the intimate.
Director: Kon Ichikawa | Stars: Antonio Ambu, Gary Anderson, Gerry Ashworth, Polina Astakhova
Votes: 2,198
53. Total Balalaika Show (1994)
Not Rated | 57 min | Documentary, Comedy, Music
A 57 minute documentary of a Helsinki concert featuring the Leningrad Cowboys and the Alexandrov Red Army Choir and Ballet, who collaborate on a number of US Rock songs sung in English (... See full summary »
Director: Aki Kaurismäki | Stars: Alexandrov Red Army Ensemble, Twist-Twist Erkinharju, Ben Granfelt, Sakke Järvenpää
Votes: 898
54. Vernon, Florida (1981)
Not Rated | 55 min | Documentary
A documentary on the eccentric residents of Vernon, Florida.
Director: Errol Morris | Stars: Albert Bitterling, Roscoe Collins, George Harris, Joe Payne
Votes: 3,586
55. Trances (1981)
Not Rated | 90 min | Documentary, Music
The very popular Moroccan group Nass-El Ghiwane are filmed, in performances, meetings, interviews, and collaborations with other musicians.
Director: Ahmed El Maanouni | Stars: Larbi Batma, Nass-El Ghiwane, Abderrahman Paco, Omar Sayed
Votes: 698
56. Vive le tour (1962)
18 min | Documentary, Short, Sport
Chronicles the cyclists of the Tour de France and their daily trails along the race.
Director: Louis Malle | Stars: Jean Bobet, Jacques Anquetil, Raymond Poulidor
Votes: 980
57. The War Room (1993)
PG | 96 min | Documentary, History
A documentary of the Bill Clinton 1992 presidential campaign and the organization who ran it.
Directors: Chris Hegedus, D.A. Pennebaker | Stars: James Carville, George Stephanopoulos, Heather Beckel, Paul Begala
Votes: 4,431 | Gross: $0.90M
58. Warrendale (1967)
100 min | Documentary
Chronicles 7-weeks in the lives of 12 emotionally disturbed children and their therapist's experimental method of treatment at the Toronto-area Warrendale facility.
Director: Allan King | Star: Martin Fischer
Votes: 598
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