Documentaries

by yakirr | created - 20 Aug 2016 | updated - 24 Feb 2018 | Public
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1. Grey Gardens (1975)

PG | 95 min | Documentary, Comedy, Drama

83 Metascore

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: 15,295 | Gross: $0.03M

2. Cinévardaphoto (2004)

Not Rated | 96 min | Documentary

76 Metascore

From legendary French New Wave director Agnès Varda, a triptych of short documentary films exploring the power and vitality of the photograph. Each film separated by 20 years, from her ... See full summary »

Director: Agnès Varda

Votes: 267

3. The Beaches of Agnès (2008)

Not Rated | 112 min | Documentary, Biography

86 Metascore

Agnès Varda explores her memories, mostly chronologically, with photographs, film clips, interviews, reenactments, and droll, playful contemporary scenes of her narrating her story.

Director: Agnès Varda | Stars: Agnès Varda, André Lubrano, Blaise Fournier, Vincent Fournier

Votes: 4,789 | Gross: $0.24M

4. 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: 13,459

5. Man with a Movie Camera (1929)

Not Rated | 68 min | Documentary

96 Metascore

A man travels around a city with a camera slung over his shoulder, documenting urban life with dazzling invention.

Director: Dziga Vertov | Stars: Mikhail Kaufman, Elizaveta Svilova

Votes: 28,007

6. Annabelle Serpentine Dance (1895)

Not Rated | 1 min | Documentary, Short

Annabelle (Whitford) Moore performs one of her popular dance routines. She uses her dance steps and her long, flowing skirts to create a variety of visual patterns.

Directors: William K.L. Dickson, William Heise | Star: Annabelle Moore

Votes: 2,405

7. Passage de Venus (1874)

1 min | Documentary, Short

Series of photographs of the transit of the planet Venus across the Sun in 1874.

Director: P.J.C. Janssen

Votes: 2,086

8. Carmencita (1894)

Not Rated | 1 min | Documentary, Short

Performing on what looks like a small wooden stage, wearing a dress with a hoop skirt and white high-heeled pumps, Carmencita does a dance with kicks and twirls, a smile always on her face.

Director: William K.L. Dickson | Star: Carmencita

Votes: 2,051

9. Edison Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze (1894)

1 min | Documentary, Short

A man (Thomas Edison's assistant) takes a pinch of snuff and sneezes. This is one of the earliest Thomas Edison films and was the first motion picture to be copyrighted in the United States.

Director: William K.L. Dickson | Star: Fred Ott

Votes: 2,194

10. Roundhay Garden Scene (1888)

Not Rated | 1 min | Documentary, Short

In the garden, a man asks his friends to do something silly for him to record on film.

Director: Louis Aimé Augustin Le Prince | Stars: Annie Hartley, Adolphe Le Prince, Joseph Whitley, Sarah Whitley

Votes: 6,806

11. Traffic Crossing Leeds Bridge (1888)

1 min | Documentary, Short

A shot of people walking on The Leeds Bridge.

Director: Louis Aimé Augustin Le Prince

Votes: 3,298

12. Edison Kinetoscope Records: Annie Oakley (1894)

Not Rated | 1 min | Documentary, Short, Western

Annie Oakley, the 'Little Miss Sure Shot' of the 'Wild West' gives an exhibition of rifle shooting at glass balls and clay pigeons in a film from the Edison Catalog.

Director: William K.L. Dickson | Stars: Francis E. Butler, Annie Oakley

Votes: 1,491

13. Buffalo Dance (1894)

Not Rated | 1 min | Documentary, Short, Western

Three Sioux Indians perform a 'buffalo dance', while two others use drums to supply a rhythm. The three dancers move around in a circle as they perform the various actions that are part of the dance.

Director: William K.L. Dickson | Stars: Hair Coat, Parts His Hair, Last Horse

Votes: 1,034

14. Baby's Meal (1895)

1 min | Documentary, Short

As part of a maiden public film screening at the Salon Indien, on December 28, in Paris, Auguste Lumière pivots the centre of attention around his baby daughter, as he tries to feed her from a spoon.

Director: Louis Lumière | Stars: Auguste Lumière, Mrs. Auguste Lumiere, Andrée Lumière

Votes: 3,515

15. Boat Leaving the Port (1895)

1 min | Documentary, Short

Three men in a rowboat are leaving the harbor.

Director: Louis Lumière | Stars: Mrs. Auguste Lumiere, Jeanne-Joséphine Lumière

Votes: 1,576

16. Burp! Pepsi v. Coke in the Ice-Cold War (1984 TV Movie)

60 min | Documentary

The rise of Coca-Cola and its duel with Pepsi-Cola: how these two giants aim to conquer the World.

Director: Alan Lowery | Stars: John Pilger, Donald M. Kendall, Donald Keough, Wilbur Kurtz

Votes: 56

17. American Grindhouse (2010)

Not Rated | 80 min | Documentary

A documentary about the history of exploitation movies, from the silent-film era to the 1970s.

Director: Elijah Drenner | Stars: Robert Forster, Eric Schaefer, Eddie Muller, John Landis

Votes: 2,616 | Gross: $0.01M

18. Corman's World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel (2011)

R | 95 min | Documentary

A documentary on DIY producer/director Roger Corman and his alternative approach to making movies in Hollywood.

Director: Alex Stapleton | Stars: Roger Corman, Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, Paul W.S. Anderson

Votes: 2,676 | Gross: $0.01M

19. Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex, Drugs and Rock 'N' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood (2003)

TV-14 | 119 min | Documentary

A look at 1970s Hollywood when it was known as New Hollywood, and the director was the star of the movie.

Director: Kenneth Bowser | Stars: Martin Scorsese, Dennis Hopper, Peter Bogdanovich, Sam Peckinpah

Votes: 3,094

20. A Decade Under the Influence (2003)

R | 138 min | Documentary

67 Metascore

A documentary examining the decade of the 1970s as a turning point in American cinema. Some of today's best filmmakers interview the influential directors of that time.

Directors: Ted Demme, Richard LaGravenese | Stars: Francis Ford Coppola, William Friedkin, Robert Altman, John G. Avildsen

Votes: 2,804 | Gross: $0.03M

21. Visions of Light (1992)

92 min | Documentary, History

Cameramen 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).

Directors: Arnold Glassman, Todd McCarthy, Stuart Samuels | Stars: Conrad L. Hall, John Bailey, Vilmos Zsigmond, Charles Lang

Votes: 3,336 | Gross: $0.80M

22. The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing (2004)

TV-PG | 98 min | Documentary, History

Documentary about the art of film editing. Clips are shown from many groundbreaking films with innovative editing styles.

Director: Wendy Apple | Stars: Kathy Bates, Zach Staenberg, Jodie Foster, Michael Tronick

Votes: 3,197

23. Side by Side (2012)

Not Rated | 99 min | Documentary

82 Metascore

The documentary investigates the history, process and workflow of both digital and photochemical film creation.

Director: Christopher Kenneally | Stars: Derek Ambrosi, Michael Ballhaus, Andrzej Bartkowiak, Dion Beebe

Votes: 13,719 | Gross: $0.03M

24. Century of Cinema (1995–1998)
Episode: A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies (1995)

225 min | Documentary, Biography, History

Martin 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.

Directors: Martin Scorsese, Michael Henry Wilson | Stars: Martin Scorsese, Allison Anders, Kathryn Bigelow, Francis Ford Coppola

Votes: 5,141

25. My Voyage to Italy (1999)

PG-13 | 246 min | Documentary

90 Metascore

World-renowned director Martin Scorsese narrates this journey through his favorites in Italian cinema.

Director: Martin Scorsese | Star: Martin Scorsese

Votes: 3,527 | Gross: $0.01M

26. A Letter to Elia (2010)

Not Rated | 60 min | Documentary

A documentary on the late Elia Kazan.

Directors: Kent Jones, Martin Scorsese | Stars: Martin Scorsese, Elia Kazan, Elias Koteas

Votes: 1,125

27. The 50 Year Argument (2014)

97 min | Documentary

A documentary on the history and influence of the New York Review of Books.

Directors: Martin Scorsese, David Tedeschi | Stars: Barbara Epstein, W.H. Auden, Isaiah Berlin, Stephen Jay Gould

Votes: 743

28. The Key to Reserva (2007)

10 min | Short

Finding an unfinished script written by Alfred Hitchcock himself, Martin Scorsese attempts to recreate it himself as Hitchcock would have.

Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Simon Baker, Kelli O'Hara, Michael Stuhlbarg, Christopher Denham

Votes: 3,234

29. Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple (2006)

86 min | Documentary, History

79 Metascore

Featuring never-before-seen footage, this documentary delivers a startling new look at the Peoples Temple, headed by preacher Jim Jones who, in 1978, led more than 900 members to Guyana, where he orchestrated a mass suicide via tainted punch.

Director: Stanley Nelson | Stars: Rebecca Moore, Janet Shular, Tim Carter, Stanley Clayton

Votes: 5,642

30. Waco: The Rules of Engagement (1997)

Not Rated | 165 min | Documentary, History

A reassessment of the tragedy at Waco that left 76 members of the Branch Davidian religious sect dead.

Director: William Gazecki | Stars: Dan Gifford, Jim Cavanaugh, Dick DeGuerin, Clive Doyle

Votes: 3,734

31. Berlin: Symphony of Metropolis (1927)

Not Rated | 65 min | Documentary

This movie shows us one day in Berlin, the rhythm of that time, starting at the earliest morning and ends in the deepest night.

Director: Walter Ruttmann | Star: Paul von Hindenburg

Votes: 4,798

32. Evaporating Borders (2014)

Not Rated | 73 min | Documentary, Drama

Evaporating Borders is a visual essay on displacement and the search for identity. Told through a series of vignettes portraying the lives political migrants on the island of Cyprus, the ... See full summary »

Director: Iva Radivojevic | Star: Iva Radivojevic

Votes: 120

33. San Francisco: Aftermath of Earthquake (1906)

1 min | Documentary, Short, History

Footage shot not long after the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco is edited together so that more than one scene and more than one vantage are included. We see fire raging. We see burned-out... See full summary »

Director: Robert K. Bonine

Votes: 597

34. Here and Elsewhere (1976)

53 min | Documentary, War

The movie incorporates footage of fedayeens taken for an aborted pro-Palestinian film which had been abandoned when subjects were killed. Here and Elsewhere takes its name from the footage it shows of the fedayeens and of a French family.

Directors: Jean-Luc Godard, Anne-Marie Miéville | Star: Jean-Luc Godard

Votes: 890

35. Letter to Jane: An Investigation About a Still (1972)

52 min | Documentary

Letter to Jane (1972) is a postscript film to Tout va bien directed by Jean-Luc Godard and Jean-Pierre Gorin and made under the auspices of the Dziga Vertov Group. Narrated in a ... See full summary »

Directors: Jean-Luc Godard, Jean-Pierre Gorin | Stars: Marlon Brando, Moshe Dayan, James Dean, Maria Falconetti

Votes: 527

36. 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

37. Perón, sinfonía del sentimiento (1999)

340 min | Documentary

The documentary deals on the life and achievements of Juan Domingo Peron and his government, the key political facts and figures and also about Argentinian History in the 20th century.

Director: Leonardo Favio | Star: Martín Andrade

Votes: 191

38. La constellation Jodorowsky (1994)

91 min | Documentary, Biography

The quest for the true personality of multi-talented cult artist and psycho-magician Alexandro Jodorowsky

Director: Louis Mouchet | Stars: Fernando Arrabal, Peter Gabriel, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Marcel Marceau

Votes: 554

39. Statues also Die (1953)

30 min | Documentary, Short

A documentary of black art.

Directors: Ghislain Cloquet, Chris Marker, Alain Resnais | Stars: Jean Négroni, François Mitterrand, Pope Pius XII, Sugar Ray Robinson

Votes: 1,375

40. Day of the Fight (1951)

Approved | 16 min | Documentary, Short, Sport

After a short study of boxing's history, narrated by newscaster Douglas Edwards, we follow a day in the life of a middleweight Irish boxer named Walter Cartier.

Director: Stanley Kubrick | Stars: Douglas Edwards, Nat Fleischer, Walter Cartier, Vincent Cartier

Votes: 5,141

41. Schindler: The Real Story (1983 TV Movie)

79 min | Documentary

The true story of Oskar Schindler's exploits in which he saved a thousand Jews from the ovens of the death camps, told by first hand witnesses. The British Academy Award winning documentary... See full summary »

Director: Jon Blair | Stars: Dirk Bogarde, Emilie Schindler, Oskar Schindler, Winston Churchill

Votes: 338

42. I am fishead (2011)

78 min | Documentary

It is generally acknowledged that our society is shaped like a pyramid. A few at the top create the environment for the rest at the bottom. Who are those people?

Directors: Vaclav Dejcmar, Misha Votruba | Stars: Peter Coyote, Paul Babiak, Charles Barber, John Perry Barlow

Votes: 155

43. Psychopath (2014)

92 min | Documentary, Comedy, Drama

The story of Oklahoma garbage man, Victor Marquez, who had dreamed of becoming a Hollywood Make-up artist and working in the movies. When he was 18, he fell in love with his high school gym... See full summary »

Director: Manny Marquez

Votes: 11

44. Horizon (1964– )
Episode: Are You Good or Evil? (2011)

Documentary

Series exploring topical scientific issues. Featuring the latest research into pain, one of the most common and mysterious human experiences.

Director: Nikki Stockley | Stars: Bernard Hill, Paul Babiak, William Bernet, Paul Bloom

Votes: 60

45. Fatal Assistance (2013)

99 min | Documentary

70 Metascore

Haitian born filmmaker Raoul Peck takes us on a 2-year journey inside the challenging, contradictory and colossal rebuilding efforts in post-earthquake Haiti.

Director: Raoul Peck

Votes: 140 | Gross: $0.00M

46. Shooting Bigfoot (2013)

90 min | Documentary

A documentary filmmaker is injured and shaken after joining three groups of men from the world of bigfoot hunting.

Director: Morgan Matthews | Stars: C. Thomas Biscardi, Wayne Burton, Rick Dyer, Dallas Gilbert

Votes: 256

47. Bigfoot's Reflection (2007)

Not Rated | 48 min | Documentary

How the quest for an ephemeral monster changes the monster hunter, for good or ill.

Director: Evan Beloff | Star: John Kirk

Votes: 83

49. In Search of Bigfoot (1976)

Not Rated | 75 min | Documentary

A documentary about the search for the legendary Bigfoot, a large humanoid creature (also known as Sasquatch) who is rumored to inhabit the forests of the U.S. Pacific Northwest.

Directors: Lawrence Crowley, William F. Miller | Stars: Phil Tonken, Lem Akin, Annie Autry, Don Autry

Votes: 119

50. The Mysterious Monsters (1975)

G | 86 min | Documentary

Peter Graves examines a range of supernatural topics, including mysterious monsters Bigfoot, the Loch Ness monster and the Yeti, and also psychics and hypnotism.

Director: Robert Guenette | Stars: Peter Graves, Peter Hurkos, William Stenberg, Sidney Walter

Votes: 304

51. Russian Yeti: The Killer Lives (2014 TV Movie)

86 min | Horror

Fictional documentary on the deaths of students in the Russian mountains, attributed to the yeti.

Director: Leon Rawlski | Stars: Arturas Aleksejevas, Robertas Balciunas, Arnas Butkus, Kevin Conroy

Votes: 594

52. Bigfoot: The Evidence Files (2014)

56 min | Documentary

You say you don't believe in Bigfoot, but hundreds of researchers in the field can't be ignored any more. Bigfoot is real and the evidence is in! Over 20 researchers and witnesses have come... See full summary »

Director: Thomas Marcum | Stars: Ross T. Nisbet, Bobby Long, Thomas Marcum, Billy Mills

Votes: 18

53. Bigfoot Files (2013– )

Documentary

A documentary about the mysterious cryptozoological creatures: The Yeti, Bigfoot and Almasti.

Stars: Mark Evans, Bryan Sykes, Casey Anderson, Nikolay Valuev

Votes: 123

54. Bigfoot: The Definitive Guide (2011 TV Movie)

120 min | Documentary

There have been tens of thousands of sightings of Bigfoot type creatures across the world. They are regularly reported in North America, the jungles of Sumatra and Brazil, the Australian ... See full summary »

Director: Virginia Quinn | Stars: Patrick Kerton, Jeffrey Meldrum, Vincent Messina, K. Anna I. Nekaris

Votes: 53

55. The Truth Behind James Dean's Death (2005 TV Movie)

Documentary

The ultimate documentary on the death of James Dean. Accident reconstructionists via computer ploted maps and the laws of physics have recreated the accident with such precision that when ... See full synopsis »

Director: Virginia Quinn | Star: Mason Pettit

56. Occupy Unmasked (2012)

Not Rated | 76 min | Documentary

An alternate look at Occupy Wall Street camps around the country.

Director: Steve Bannon | Stars: Saul Alinsky, Anthony Averest, Bill Ayers, Michelle Balin

Votes: 610 | Gross: $0.05M

57. Clinton Cash (2016)

Unrated | 60 min | Documentary

An investigation into how the Clintons have amassed millions in personal wealth through foreign contributions to the Clinton Foundation, a supposed charity, in exchange for political favors... See full summary »

Director: M.A. Taylor | Stars: Peter Schweizer, Sani Abacha, Gilbert Chagoury, Bill Clinton

Votes: 1,615

58. Hating Breitbart (2012)

R | 85 min | Documentary

29 Metascore

One man with a website who forever changed the media paradigm, upending the traditional press and changing the ground rules of political journalism.

Director: Andrew Marcus | Stars: Andrew Breitbart, Orson Bean, Dick Armey, Michele Bachmann

Votes: 499 | Gross: $0.08M

59. The Clinton Chronicles (1994 Video)

Not Rated | 85 min | Documentary

A documentary accusing Bill Clinton of crimes in Arkansas.

Director: Patrick Matrisciana | Stars: Jim Johnson, Nora Waye, Larry Nichols, Doc DeLaughter

Votes: 137

60. The Foods That Make Billions (2010– )

177 min | Documentary

A documentary series that tells the story of how three basic commodities water, cereal and yoghurt became some of the richest and most successful industries in the world.

Stars: Nicky Henson, Joanna Blythman, Susan Jebb, Michael Pollan

Votes: 25

61. No Más Bebés (2015)

79 min | Documentary, History

They came to have their babies. They went home sterilized. No Mas Bebes is the story of Mexican immigrant mothers who were pushed into sterilizations while giving birth at Los Angeles ... See full summary »

Director: Renee Tajima-Pena

Votes: 54

62. The Red Pill (2016)

TV-14 | 108 min | Documentary

The Red Pill chronicles filmmaker Cassie Jaye's journey following the mysterious and polarizing Men's Rights Movement. The Red Pill explores today's gender war and asks the question "what is the future of gender equality?"

Director: Cassie Jaye | Stars: Cassie Jaye, Paul Elam, Attila Vinczer, Dean Esmay

Votes: 12,050

63. The Keepers (II) (2017)

TV-MA | 62 min | Documentary, Crime, Mystery

A seven-part docuseries about the unsolved murder of a nun and the horrific secrets and pain that linger nearly five decades after her death.

Stars: Gemma Hoskins, Abbie Schaub, Virginia Anzengruber, Jean Hargadon Wehner

Votes: 25,077

64. Chasing Trane: The John Coltrane Documentary (2016)

Not Rated | 99 min | Documentary, Biography, History

An exploration of the global power and impact of the music of John Coltrane where the passions, experiences and forces that shaped his life and revolutionary sounds are revealed.

Director: John Scheinfeld | Stars: Denzel Washington, Reggie Workman, Ravi Coltrane, Ashley Kahn

Votes: 2,498 | Gross: $0.41M

65. Legendary Sin Cities (2005– )

60 min | Documentary, History

Of all the remarkable events of this century perhaps the most fascinating has been the spontaneous growth, flowering and then decay of a handful of great cities. These cities were places ... See full summary »

Stars: Henry Ramer, Ean Wood, Michael Gnarowski, Magnus Hirschfeld

Votes: 83

66. Dream Big: Engineering Our World (2017)

42 min | Documentary, Short

From the Great Wall of China and the world's tallest buildings to underwater robots, solar cars and smart, sustainable cities, DREAM BIG celebrates the human ingenuity behind engineering marvels.

Director: Greg MacGillivray | Stars: Jeff Bridges, Cris Acosta, Steve Burrows, Nia Chanel

Votes: 598



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