Documentaries
by tomathanasiou | created - 12 Jun 2012 | updated - 1 week ago | Public- Instant Watch Options
- Genres
- Movies or TV
- IMDb Rating
- In Theaters
- Release Year
- Keywords
1. Salute (2008)
TV-14 | 120 min | Documentary, Sport
The black power salute at the 1968 Mexico Olympics was an iconic moment in the US civil rights movement. What part did the white Australian who ran second play and what price did these athletes pay for standing up for their beliefs?
Director: Matt Norman | Stars: Christopher Kirby, Bob Beamon, Ralph Boston, Raelene Boyle
Votes: 453
2. National Gallery (2014)
Not Rated | 180 min | Documentary
A documentary that goes inside one of the great museums of the world: The National Gallery in London.
Director: Frederick Wiseman | Stars: Leanne Benjamin, Kausikan Rajeshkumar, Jo Shapcott, Edward Watson
Votes: 1,659 | Gross: $0.10M
3. The Dust Bowl (2012)
TV-PG | 229 min | Documentary, History
A documentary about the 1930s drought of North American prairie farm land, and its consequences during the great depression.
Stars: Dorothy Williamson, Donald Worster, Timothy Egan, Pamela Riney-Kehrberg
Votes: 2,111
4. Merchants of Doubt (2014)
PG-13 | 96 min | Documentary
A documentary that looks at pundits-for-hire who present themselves as scientific authorities as they speak about topics like toxic chemicals, pharmaceuticals and climate change.
Director: Robert Kenner | Stars: Frederick Singer, Naomi Oreskes, Jamy Ian Swiss, Sam Roe
Votes: 3,934 | Gross: $0.19M
5. Brief History of Disbelief (2004– )
178 min | Documentary
A mini-series which follows the history of atheism.
Stars: Bernard Hill, Jonathan Miller, Richard Dawkins, Simon Schaffer
Votes: 513
6. Boom Bust Boom (2015)
G | 70 min | Documentary, History
Terry Jones guides us through the history and the nature of the economic boom-bust cycle and why people repeatedly ignore it to their sorrow.
Directors: Bill Jones, Terry Jones, Ben Timlett | Stars: Terry Jones, George Magnus, Robert Shiller, Zvi Bodie
Votes: 556
7. Muscle Shoals (2013)
PG | 111 min | Documentary, Biography, History
A documentary that celebrates Rick Hall, the founder of FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, and the signature sound he developed in songs such as "I'll Take You There", "Brown Sugar", and "When a Man Loves a Woman".
Director: Greg 'Freddy' Camalier | Stars: Rick Hall, Aretha Franklin, Keith Richards, Candi Staton
Votes: 4,293 | Gross: $0.70M
8. Terror's Advocate (2007)
Unrated | 135 min | Documentary, Biography, History
A documentary on Jacques Vergès, the controversial lawyer and former Free French Forces guerrilla who has defending unpopular figures such as Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie and Holocaust denier Roger Garaudy.
Director: Barbet Schroeder | Stars: Jacques Vergès, Klaus Barbie, Barbet Schroeder, Bassam Abu Sharif
Votes: 1,699 | Gross: $0.04M
9. How to Let Go of the World: and Love All the Things Climate Can't Change (2016)
TV-14 | 127 min | Documentary
Documentarian Josh Fox ("Gasland") travels the globe to meet with global climate change "warriors" who are committed to reversing the tide of global warming. Funny and tragic, inspiring and... See full summary »
Director: Josh Fox | Stars: Lester Brown, Ella Chou, Tim DeChristopher, Wu Di
Votes: 379 | Gross: $0.01M
10. Not Without Us (2016)
72 min | Documentary
At the U.N. Climate talks in Paris, two weeks after terrorists attacks created a state of emergency that outlawed all "unofficial" political gatherings, follow seven global grassroots ... See full summary »
Director: Mark Decena | Stars: Nnimmo Bassey, Alix Mazounie, Pat Mooney, Kandi Mossett
Votes: 13
11. Lo and Behold: Reveries of the Connected World (2016)
PG-13 | 98 min | Documentary
Werner Herzog's exploration of the Internet and the connected world.
Director: Werner Herzog | Stars: Elon Musk, Lawrence Krauss, Lucianne Walkowicz, Kevin Mitnick
Votes: 13,416 | Gross: $0.59M
12. Ex Libris (2017)
197 min | Documentary
A look within the walls of the New York Public Library.
Director: Frederick Wiseman | Stars: Paul Holdengräber, Elvis Costello, Patti Smith, Edmund de Waal
Votes: 1,413 | Gross: $0.16M
13. They Shall Not Grow Old (II) (2018)
R | 99 min | Documentary, History, War
A documentary about World War I with never-before-seen footage to commemorate the centennial of the end of the war.
Director: Peter Jackson | Stars: Thomas Adlam, William Argent, John Ashby, Attwood
Votes: 38,476 | Gross: $17.96M
14.
The Nature of Things (1960– )
Episode:
Raccoon Nation
(2011)
Documentary
Is your garbage can making raccoons smarter? Stunning footage shot in the deep, dark of night combines with groundbreaking research in this fascinating documentary to explore the remarkable ways that city life is changing raccoons.
Star: Stan Gehrt
Votes: 25
15. Chasing the Thunder (2018)
96 min | Documentary, Action
A thrilling high seas adventure feature documentary where two marine conservation captains from Sea Shepherd go on a hundred day chase of the illegal poacher and pirate fishing vessel, the Thunder.
Directors: Mark Benjamin, Marc Levin | Stars: Sid Chakravarty, Peter Hammarstedt, Oona Isabelle Layolle, Paul Watson
Votes: 122
16. Heartworn Highways (1976)
Not Rated | 92 min | Documentary, Biography, Music
The best music and the best whiskey come from the same part of the country.
Director: James Szalapski | Stars: Peggy Brooks, Guy Clark, David Allan Coe, Rodney Crowell
Votes: 940
17. Anthropocene: The Human Epoch (2018)
87 min | Documentary
Filmmakers travel to six continents and 20 countries to document the impact humans have made on the planet.
Directors: Jennifer Baichwal, Edward Burtynsky, Nicholas de Pencier | Stars: Youssef Suleiman Mohammed, Alicia Vikander
Votes: 2,060
18. American Factory (2019)
TV-14 | 110 min | Documentary
In post-industrial Ohio, a Chinese billionaire opens a factory in an abandoned General Motors plant, hiring two thousand Americans. Early days of hope and optimism give way to setbacks as high-tech China clashes with working-class America.
Directors: Steven Bognar, Julia Reichert | Stars: Junming 'Jimmy' Wang, Robert Allen, Sherrod Brown, Dave Burrows
Votes: 23,883
19. After Truth: Disinformation and the Cost of Fake News (2020)
TV-MA | 95 min | Documentary
A look at the ongoing threat caused by the phenomenon of "fake news" in the U.S., focusing on the real-life consequences that disinformation, conspiracy theories and false news stories have on the average citizen.
Director: Andrew Rossi | Stars: Jack Burkman, Elizabeth Williamson, Molly McKew, Troy Michalik
Votes: 1,874
20. Minding the Gap (2018)
Not Rated | 93 min | Documentary, Sport
Filmmaker Bing Liu searches for correlations between his skateboarder friends' turbulent upbringings and the complexities of modern masculinity.
Director: Bing Liu | Stars: Kent Abernathy, Mengyue Bolen, Nina Bowgren, Keire Johnson
Votes: 10,471 | Gross: $0.01M
21. Dick Johnson Is Dead (2020)
PG-13 | 89 min | Documentary, Biography, Drama
A daughter helps her father prepare for the end of his life.
Director: Kirsten Johnson | Stars: Michael Hilow, Ana Hoffman, Dick Johnson, Kirsten Johnson
Votes: 7,240
22. White Noise (II) (2020)
TV-14 | 94 min | Documentary
As white nationalist violence surges in America and across the world, this documentary represents an urgent warning about the power of extremism, and where it's going next.
Director: Daniel Lombroso | Stars: Mike Cernovich, William H. Regnery II, Lauren Southern, Richard Spencer
Votes: 894
23. City Hall (2020)
272 min | Documentary
A look at Boston's city government, covering racial justice, housing, climate action, and more.
Director: Frederick Wiseman | Star: Marty Walsh
Votes: 722
24. The Painter and the Thief (2020)
106 min | Documentary
An artist befriends the thief who stole her paintings. She becomes his closest ally when he is severely hurt in a car crash and needs full time care, even if her paintings are not found. But then the tables turn.
Director: Benjamin Ree | Stars: Karl Bertil-Nordland, Barbora Kysilkova, Øystein Stene
Votes: 4,314
25. Mayor (2020)
83 min | Documentary
A look at the life of Musa Hadid, the charismatic mayor of Palestinian city Ramallah, who aspires to lead the city into the future.
Director: David Osit | Stars: Musa Hadid, Mahmoud Abbas, Mohammad Ibrahim Shtayyeh, Chris Ship
Votes: 588
26. Seaspiracy (2021)
TV-14 | 89 min | Documentary, Adventure
Passionate about ocean life, a filmmaker sets out to document the harm that humans do to marine species - and uncovers alarming global corruption.
Director: Ali Tabrizi | Stars: Ali Tabrizi, Richard O'Barry, Lucy Tabrizi, Lori Marino
Votes: 34,154
27. Collective (2019)
Not Rated | 109 min | Documentary, Crime
Director Alexander Nanau follows a crack team of investigators at the Romanian newspaper Gazeta Sporturilor as they try to uncover a vast health-care fraud that enriched moguls and politicians and led to the deaths of innocent citizens.
Director: Alexander Nanau | Stars: Dan Alexandru Condrea, Liviu Iolu, Razvan Lutac, Mirela Neag
Votes: 13,443
28. Made You Look: A True Story About Fake Art (2020)
94 min | Documentary, Crime
Made You Look is an American crime documentary about the largest art fraud in American history set in the super rich, super obsessed and super fast art world of New York.
Director: Barry Avrich | Stars: Ann Freedman, M.H. Miller, Perry Amsellem, Patricia Cohen
Votes: 4,878
29. The Rescue (2021)
PG | 107 min | Documentary, Action, Mystery
A 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.
Directors: Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi | Stars: Bancha Duriyapunt, Apakorn Youkongkaew, Anan Surawan, Woranan Ratrawiphukkun
Votes: 20,636 | Gross: $1.06M
30. Bring Your Own Brigade (2021)
R | 119 min | Documentary
An investigation into our landscape's hidden fire stories and on-the-ground experiences of firefighters and residents struggling through deadly fires.
Director: Lucy Walker | Stars: Trina Cunningham, Mike Davis, Don Hankins, Chad Hanson
Votes: 361
31. The Automat (2021)
TV-PG | 79 min | Documentary, History
Documentary centers on the vending machine popularized in the 20th century that offered fresh cooked meals in a commissary-style eatery.
Director: Lisa Hurwitz | Stars: Mel Brooks, John W. Romas, Carl Reiner, Krystyna Romas
Votes: 1,568
32. Winter on Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedom (2015)
Not Rated | 102 min | Documentary, History, War
A documentary on the unrest in Ukraine during 2013 and 2014, as student demonstrations supporting European integration grew into a violent revolution calling for the resignation of President Viktor F. Yanukovich.
Director: Evgeny Afineevsky | Stars: His Beatitude Sviatoslav, Said Ismagilov, Bishop Agapit, Archbishop Petro Malchuk
Votes: 20,638
33.
The New York Times Presents (2020– )
Episode:
Elon Musk's Crash Course
(2022)
TV-MA | 75 min | Documentary
Follows Tesla's Autopilot program and how this program has resulted in several deaths that Elon Musk and the company has yet to publicly acknowledge. Explores Musk's efforts to kill government investigations into the incidents.
Director: Emma Schwartz | Stars: Elon Musk, Cade Metz, Neal Boudette, Kim Paquette
Votes: 285
34. Herr Bachmann und seine Klasse (2021)
217 min | Documentary
How does one feel at home? In Stadtallendorf, a German city with a complex history of both excluding and integrating foreigners, genial teacher Dieter Bachmann offers his pupils the key to at least feeling as if they are at home.
Director: Maria Speth | Stars: Dieter Bachmann, Aynur Bal, Önder Cavdar
Votes: 938
35. Mind Over Murder (2022)
TV-MA | 331 min | Documentary, Biography, Crime
Chronicles the bizarre and psychologically complex story of six individuals who were convicted for the 1985 murder of a beloved 68- year-old grandmother, Helen Wilson, in Beatrice, Nebraska.
Stars: Noah Archibald, Tim Shelburne, Cara D'Adamo, Scott Watson
Votes: 1,635
36. The Act of Killing (2012)
Not Rated | 117 min | Documentary, Biography, Crime
A 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.
Directors: Joshua Oppenheimer, Anonymous, Christine Cynn | Stars: Anwar Congo, Herman Koto, Syamsul Arifin, Ibrahim Sinik
Votes: 40,823 | Gross: $0.49M
37. Buddy Guy: The Blues Chase the Blues Away (2021)
83 min | Documentary, Biography, Music
Chicago blues great Buddy Guy never was the same after he heard John Lee Hooker's seminal "Boogie Chillun'" while growing up in his rural stomping grounds of Lettswork, Louisiana. In 1957 ... See full summary »
Directors: Devin Chanda, Matt Mitchener, Charles Todd | Stars: Buddy Guy, Lightnin Hopkins, Gary Clark Jr., Muddy Waters
Votes: 117
38. What the Hell Happened to Blood, Sweat & Tears? (2023)
112 min | Documentary
In 1970, Blood, Sweat and Tears was one of the biggest bands in the world. They had exploded on the scene with both daring and promise, selling millions of records, winning multiple Grammy ... See full summary »
Director: John Scheinfeld | Stars: Clive Davis, Tim Naftali, David Wild, David Clayton-Thomas
Votes: 63
39. Joni Mitchell: The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song (2023)
84 min | Music
The Library of Congress salutes musician Joni Mitchell and awards her the 2023 Gershwin Prize for Popular Song.
Director: Sandra Restrepo | Stars: Brandi Carlile, Celisse, Herbie Hancock, Angélique Kidjo
Votes: 32
40. Navalny (2022)
R | 99 min | Documentary, Biography
Follows the man who survived an assassination attempt by poisoning with a lethal nerve agent in August 2020. During his months-long recovery he makes shocking discoveries about the attempt on his life and decides to return home.
Director: Daniel Roher | Stars: Alexei Navalny, Yulia Navalnaya, Christo Grozev, Dasha Navalnaya
Votes: 29,924
41. To End All War: Oppenheimer & the Atomic Bomb (2023)
87 min | Documentary, Biography, History
Exploring how one man's brilliance, hubris and relentless drive changed the nature of war forever.
Director: Christopher Cassel | Stars: J. Robert Oppenheimer, Kai Bird, Ellen Bradbury, Alan B. Carr
Votes: 2,510
42. Man on Wire (2008)
PG-13 | 94 min | Documentary, Biography, Crime
A 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".
Director: James Marsh | Stars: Philippe Petit, Jean François Heckel, Jean-Louis Blondeau, Annie Allix
Votes: 58,685 | Gross: $2.96M
43. Still Film (2023)
72 min | Documentary, Drama
An ode to movie culture and its beguiling hold on our imagination, modeled on an actual legal deposition, and accompanied by a procession of 35mm publicity stills from studio press kits.
Director: James N. Kienitz Wilkins | Star: James N. Kienitz Wilkins
44. Valley Uprising (2014)
Not Rated | 103 min | Documentary
In the shady campgrounds of Yosemite valley, climbers carved out a counterculture lifestyle of dumpster-diving and wild parties that clashed with the conservative values of the National Park Service.
Directors: Peter Mortimer, Nick Rosen, Josh Lowell | Stars: Peter Sarsgaard, Alex Honnold, Yvon Chouinard, Royal Robbins
Votes: 6,278
45. A Still Small Voice (2023)
93 min | Documentary
An aspiring hospital chaplain begins a yearlong residency in spiritual care, only to discover that to successfully tend to her patients, she must look deep within herself.
Director: Luke Lorentzen | Star: Margaret 'Mati' Engel
Votes: 77
46. Occupied City (2023)
PG-13 | 266 min | Documentary, History, War
The past collides with the present in this excavation of the Nazi occupation of Amsterdam: a journey from World War II to recent years of pandemic and protest and a provocative, life-affirming reflection on memory, time and what's to come.
Director: Steve McQueen | Stars: Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, King Willem-Alexander, Melanie Hyams, Peter R. de Vries
Votes: 489
47. I Heard It Through the Grapevine (1982)
95 min | Documentary
James Baldwin retraces his time in the South during the Civil Rights Movement, reflecting with his trademark brilliance and insight on the passage of more than two decades.
Directors: Dick Fontaine, Pat Hartley | Stars: James Baldwin, David Baldwin, Chinua Achebe, Amiri Baraka
Votes: 61
48. Green Border (2023)
147 min | Drama
A family of refugees from Syria, an English teacher from Afghanistan and a border guard all meet on the Polish-Belarusian border during the most recent humanitarian crisis in Belarus.
Director: Agnieszka Holland | Stars: Jalal Altawil, Maja Ostaszewska, Behi Djanati Atai, Tomasz Wlosok
Votes: 5,400
49. In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon (2023)
209 min | Documentary
Paul Simon inside the studio making his new album Seven Psalms while looking back on his six-decade career with countless musical peaks from Sounds of Silence to Graceland.
Director: Alex Gibney | Stars: Paul Simon, Edie Brickell, Carrie Fisher, Art Garfunkel
Votes: 151
Tell Your Friends