Filmmaking Docs
List activity
104 views
• 0 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
35 titles
- 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).
- DirectorWendy AppleStarsKathy BatesZach StaenbergJodie FosterDocumentary about the art of film editing. Clips are shown from many groundbreaking films with innovative editing styles.
- DirectorNanette BursteinBrett MorgenStarsRobert EvansEddie AlbertPeter BartDocumentary about legendary Paramount producer Robert Evans (the film shares the same name as Evans's famous 1994 autobiography).
- DirectorXavier BurginStarsRusty CundieffErnest R. DickersonRobin R. Means ColemanA look at the history of black horror films and the role of African Americans in the film genre from the very beginning.
- DirectorPeter HansonStarsAllison AndersJane AndersonDoug AtchisonWar stories and life lessons from the industry's top writers.
- DirectorMatt SchraderStarsMarco BeltramiJon BurlingameLeonard MaltinA look at the cinematic art of the film musical score, and the artists who create them.
- StarsWill LymanSarah ChildressPriyanka BoghaniFRONTLINE is investigative journalism that questions, explains and changes our world and American television's top long-form news and current affairs series since 1983
- DirectorJames TobackStarsJames TobackAlec BaldwinJessica ChastainAn exploration of several interconnected subjects: The Cannes Film Festival, cinema art, money, glamor and death.
- DirectorChristopher KenneallyStarsDerek AmbrosiMichael BallhausAndrzej BartkowiakThe documentary investigates the history, process and workflow of both digital and photochemical film creation.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- StarsChristopher PlummerDaniel SelznickGregory OrrThe history of Hollywood film from the medium's invention to the birth of the New Hollywood in 1970.
- DirectorLeslie IwerksStarsStacy KeachJohn LasseterBrad BirdThe Pixar Story takes audiences behind the scenes of the groundbreaking company that pioneered a new generation of animation and forever changed the face of filmmaking.
- DirectorSimcha JacoboviciStuart SamuelsStarsNeal GablerR.H. ThomsonJ. HobermanThe history of the influence of Eastern European Jewish Emigre culture has had on Hollywood and the films created in its golden age.
- DirectorDes DoyleStarsJ.J. AbramsKristen BellDavid BoreanazA documentary that explores the world of U.S. television showrunners and the creative forces aligned around them.
- DirectorTed NewsomStarsKim DelgadoMuhammad AliAngela BassettThis film highlights moments in the long and rich African American cinema history in relation to social and political events, and how it affected black viewers of the time.
- DirectorHoward JohnsonStarsDiahnne AbbottJim BrownRosalind CashShot entirely on location in Hollywood in 1984, this feature documentary explores the role of black actors, black directors and the black audience in American movies. Remember the early 80s - hip hop had just been born, break dancing filled clubs and streets and Eddie Murphy and late great Richard Pryor were the only two black stars making it. In an action-packed showcase of clips and interviews, Diahnne Abbott, Rosalind Cash and Alfre Woodard talk about negative stereotyping. Jim Brown, Vonetta McGee and D'Urville Martin come up with alternative solutions to the one-way-street that was "blaxploitation" and discuss new ways of advancing an independent black cinema. There is a rare interview with Lorenzo Tucker, the Black Valentino, about his career with Oscar Micheaux. Joel Fluellen and Vincent Tubbs tell memorable stories of what life was like for the few blacks working in Hollywood in the 50s and 60s (including Dorothy Dandridge). There is a marvelous speech by Sidney Poitier on accepting the Black Hall of Fame "oscar". Griffiths' Birth Of A Nation is panned. Grandmaster Flash and his "Message" is the theme tune and the writer Oscar Williams holds the whole show together with his advice to the creative outsider.
- StarsSimon FrederickDavid OyelowoJesse WilliamsThe rise of black actors as they have gone from being the backdrop to calling the shots. This is the inside story of the turning points of black life on both sides of the lens, from Sidney Poitier and Harry Belafonte, to the present day.
- 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.
- DirectorWilliam GreavesG. William JonesStarsBillie AllenAlbert AmmonsLouis ArmstrongThis documentary presents clips from black films from 1929 through 1957. Musical performers include Paul Robeson (in Song of Freedom), Bessie Smith (St. Louis Blues), Eubie Blake and the Nicholas Brothers (Pie-Pie Blackbird), Lena Horne (Boogie Woogie Dream), Nat 'King' Cole (Killer Diller), Sammy Davis Jr. (Rufus Jones for President), Cab Calloway (Jitterbug Party), and Ethel Waters (Carib Gold). Dramatic excerpts include Murder in Harlem (1935), Juke Joint (1947), and Souls of Sin (1949). Also included are clips from white films stereotyping blacks, including Griffith's Birth of a Nation, and a blackfaced Bing Crosby in Crooner's Holiday (1934).
- DirectorStan LathanStarsDebbie AllenCarl AndersonLouis ArmstrongSurvey of musical performers on film from the 20th century, organized into segments: Dancers, Divas, Rock and Soul, Jazz and Swing, Male Singers, and Hip Hop.
- DirectorWalid KhaldiStarsPearl BowserOssie DavisWilliam GreavesSurvey of comedic African-American "race" films of the 1920's through 1940's, particularly the work of Bert Williams, Stepin Fetchit, Mantan Moreland, Spencer Williams, Dusty Fletcher
- DirectorWalid KhaldiStarsMario Van PeeblesPearl BowserOssie DavisThis documentary provides a look into the B westerns produced for African-American theatres in the 1930s and 1940s and their impact on westerns featuring African Americans in recent years.
- DirectorWalid KhaldiStarsPearl BowserOssie DavisWilliam GreavesSurvey of African-American "race" films of the 1920's through 1940's, particularly the work of Paul Robeson, Oscar Micheaux, Clarence Muse, Spencer Williams, Francine Everett, Sheila Guyse, and July Jones.
- DirectorCraig Laurence RiceStarsPhilip BrookmanAvery BrooksFlavio da SilvaAn intimate look at the life and career of Gordon Parks a true Renaissance man who has excelled as a photographer, novelist, journalist, poet, musician and filmmaker.
- DirectorBayer MackStarsOscar MicheauxThe Czar of Black Hollywood is a documentary film chronicling the early life and career of African-American filmmaker Oscar Micheaux (1884-1951). Oscar Micheaux was a towering figure even by today's standards. He was not only America's preeminent black filmmaker for three decades, but also the country's most prolific; having directed or produced 22 silent movies and 15 talking pictures during his illustrious, yet tumultuous career. The Czar of Black Hollywood uses archival film, photos, illustrations and music to weave a compelling narrative of Micheaux's early life and his production of the first feature length silent film and sound motion picture by an African-American.
- DirectorRobert TownsendStarsFranklyn AjayeAngela BassettBill BellamyAn off-screen narration, four dozen talking heads, and clips of performances tell a chronological story about Black comedy: who has made us laugh since 1901, what is the nature of their humor, and what social and political contexts inform it. We look at minstrels, Stepin Fetchit, "Amos 'n Andy," "Beulah," Redd Foxx, Dick Gregory, Flip Wilson, Bill Cosby, Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy, "The Cosby Show," Chris Rock, Whoopi, "Hollywood Shuffle," entrepreneurship and Black comedy clubs, Robert Harris, urban street culture and "In Living Color," the rise of the Fox network, Def Comedy Jam, and the Original Kings of Comedy. The film asserts Black comedy helps America change.
- DirectorReginald HudlinStarsClarence AvantHank AaronGwen AdolphFollows the life of Clarence Avant, the ultimate, uncensored mentor and behind-the-scenes rainmaker in music, film, TV and politics.
- DirectorAlan HicksRashida JonesStarsQuincy JonesRashida JonesKareem Abdul-JabbarAn intimate look into the life of icon Quincy Jones. A unique force in music and popular culture for 70 years, Jones has transcended racial and cultural boundaries; his story is inextricably woven into the fabric of America.
- DirectorMark HartleyStarsPhillip AdamsGlory AnnenChristine AmorThe story of the Australian exploitation genre cinema of 1970s and 80s.
- 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.