Documentaries
by GSithSmith | created - 04 Aug 2014 | updated - 12 Aug 2017 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Jodorowsky's Dune (2013)
PG-13 | 90 min | Documentary
The story of cult film director Alejandro Jodorowsky's ambitious but ultimately doomed film adaptation of the seminal science fiction novel.
Director: Frank Pavich | Stars: Alejandro Jodorowsky, Michel Seydoux, H.R. Giger, Chris Foss
Votes: 27,579 | Gross: $0.65M
2. The Salt of the Earth (2014)
PG-13 | 110 min | Documentary, Biography, History
The life and work of photographer Sebastião Salgado, who has spent forty years documenting societies in hidden corners of the world.
Directors: Juliano Ribeiro Salgado, Wim Wenders | Stars: Sebastião Salgado, Wim Wenders, Lélia Wanick Salgado, Juliano Ribeiro Salgado
Votes: 23,464 | Gross: $1.34M
3. Cathedrals of Culture (2014)
165 min | Documentary
Six directors tackle the question "If buildings could talk, what would they say about us?" by capturing iconic buildings with narration from the perspective of the buildings.
Directors: Karim Aïnouz, Michael Glawogger, Michael Madsen, Margreth Olin, Robert Redford, Wim Wenders | Stars: Meret Becker, Gennadi Vengerov, Benedicte C. Westin, Jonas Salk
Votes: 294
4. 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: 15,951 | Gross: $3.52M
5. Invisibles (2007)
95 min | Documentary, Drama
A series of short films examining the world's overlooked problems and the people who suffer from them.
Directors: Mariano Barroso, Isabel Coixet, Javier Corcuera, Fernando León de Aranoa, Wim Wenders | Stars: Lia Chapman, Luz-Neida Perdomo, Isabelle Stoffel
Votes: 419
6. The Blues (2003)
770 min | Documentary, Music
A documentary series about the origin and history of The Blues.
Stars: B.B. King, Ike Turner, Pinetop Perkins, Dick Waterman
Votes: 1,250
7. The Soul of a Man (2003)
103 min | Documentary, Biography, History
The dramatic tension in the blues between the sacred and the profane by exploring the music and lives of three of director Wim Wenders's favorite blues artists.
Director: Wim Wenders | Stars: Chris Thomas King, Keith B. Brown, James Hughes, David F. Hughes
Votes: 936
8. U2: The Best of 1990-2000 (2002 Video)
176 min | Documentary, Music
A collection of U2's music videos from their compilation album titled "The Best of 1990-2000"
Directors: Bill Carter, Anton Corbijn, Kevin Godley, Phil Joanou, Joseph Kahn, Jon Klein, Maurice Linnane, David Mallet, Mark Neale, Joshua L Pearson, Gardner Post, Jake Scott, Stephane Sednaoui, Richie Smyth, Morleigh Steinberg, Wim Wenders, Jonas Åkerlund | Stars: Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton, Larry Mullen Jr.
Votes: 693
9. Buena Vista Social Club (1999)
G | 105 min | Documentary, Music
Aging Cuban musicians whose talents had been virtually forgotten following Castro's takeover of Cuba, are brought out of retirement by Ry Cooder, who travelled to Havana in order to bring the musicians together, resulting in triumphant performances of extraordinary music, and resurrecting the musicians' careers.
Director: Wim Wenders | Stars: Compay Segundo, Ibrahim Ferrer, Rubén González, Octavio Calderon
Votes: 20,543 | Gross: $7.00M
10. Lumière and Company (1995)
Not Rated | 88 min | Documentary, Drama
40 international directors were asked to make a short film using the original Cinematographe invented by the Lumière brothers.
Directors: Theodoros Angelopoulos, Vicente Aranda, John Boorman, Youssef Chahine, Alain Corneau, Costa-Gavras, Raymond Depardon, Francis Girod, Peter Greenaway, Lasse Hallström, Hugh Hudson, Gaston Kaboré, Abbas Kiarostami, Cédric Klapisch, Andrey Konchalovskiy, Spike Lee, Claude Lelouch, Bigas Luna, Sarah Moon, Arthur Penn, Lucian Pintilie, Helma Sanders-Brahms, Jerry Schatzberg, Nadine Trintignant, Fernando Trueba, Liv Ullmann, Jaco Van Dormael, Régis Wargnier, Wim Wenders, Yoshishige Yoshida, Yimou Zhang, Merzak Allouache, Gabriel Axel, Michael Haneke, James Ivory, Patrice Leconte, David Lynch, Ismail Merchant, Claude Miller, Idrissa Ouedraogo, Jacques Rivette | Stars: Pernilla August, Max von Sydow, Merzak Allouache, Jeffe Alperi
Votes: 3,351
11. A Trick of Light (1995)
79 min | Biography, Drama
A rare gem of cinematic storytelling that weaves docudrama, fictional reenactment, and experimental photography into a powerful, reflective work on the early days of German cinema. The film... See full summary »
Director: Wim Wenders | Stars: Stefan Barber, Wiebke Bayer, Nadine Büttner, Mehmet Ali Ceyhanli
Votes: 657
12. Red Hot + Blue: A Tribute to Cole Porter (1990 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 88 min | Music
Modern pop performers reinterpreting several songs of Cole Porter in music videos directed by established directors.
Directors: Percy Adlon, David Byrne, Alex Cox, Jonathan Demme, Philippe Gautier, Jim Jarmusch, Neil Jordan, Edward Lachman, Adelle Lutz, John Maybury, Steve McLean, Sandy McLeod, Jean-Baptiste Mondino, Zak Ove, Mark Pellington, Roger Pomphrey, Matthew Rolston, John Scarlett-Davis, Wim Wenders | Stars: Afrika Bambaataa, Bono, David Byrne, Neneh Cherry
Votes: 238
13. Tokyo-Ga (1985)
92 min | Documentary
Moved by the work of director Yasujirô Ozu, Wim Wenders travels to Japan in search of the Tokyo seen in Ozu's films.
Director: Wim Wenders | Stars: Chishû Ryû, Werner Herzog, Yûharu Atsuta, Chris Marker
Votes: 3,335
14. I Played It for You (1985)
70 min | Documentary
A docu-drama starring Ronee Blakley, director Wim Wenders along with musicians Rusty Anderson and Scarlet Rivera, violinist for Bob Dylan. Ronee and Scarlet were on Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Review.
Director: Ronee Blakley | Stars: Rusty Anderson, Chuck Billings, Ronee Blakley, Myles Crawley
Votes: 27
15. Into the Universe with Stephen Hawking (2010)
88 min | Documentary
In this comprehensive cosmology series Stephen Hawking looks at the entire universe, from the Big Bang to the end of time.
Stars: Benedict Cumberbatch, Stephen Hawking, Melissa Ricci, Christopher Goh
Votes: 5,550
16. Hawking (2013)
TV-PG | 86 min | Documentary, Biography, Comedy
Hawking is the extraordinary story of the planet's most famous living scientist, told for the first time in his own words and by those closest to him. Made with unique access to Hawking's ... See full summary »
Director: Stephen Finnigan | Stars: Stephen Hawking, Arthur Pelling, Finlay Macrae, Nathan Chapple
Votes: 1,716
17. The Hamster Factor and Other Tales of Twelve Monkeys (1996 Video)
88 min | Documentary
A documentary following Terry Gilliam through the creation of "12 Monkeys" (1995)
Directors: Keith Fulton, Louis Pepe | Stars: Keith Fulton, Terry Gilliam, Charles Roven, Lloyd Phillips
Votes: 1,088
18. All This Mayhem (2014)
Not Rated | 104 min | Documentary, Biography, History
Brothers Tas and Ben Pappas become the kings of professional skateboarding, but their hedonistic ways lead to a hard fall from grace.
Director: Eddie Martin | Stars: Tas Pappas, Ben Pappas, Tommy Caudill, Lance Conklin
Votes: 3,786
19. Blackfish (2013)
PG-13 | 83 min | Documentary
A documentary following the controversial captivity of killer whales, and its dangers for both humans and whales.
Director: Gabriela Cowperthwaite | Stars: Tilikum, Dave Duffus, Samantha Berg, Dean Gomersall
Votes: 72,457 | Gross: $2.07M
20. 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: 40,816 | Gross: $0.49M
21. Citizenfour (2014)
R | 114 min | Documentary, Biography
A documentarian and a reporter travel to Hong Kong for the first of many meetings with Edward Snowden.
Director: Laura Poitras | Stars: Edward Snowden, Glenn Greenwald, William Binney, Jacob Appelbaum
Votes: 57,989 | Gross: $2.80M
22. Earthlings (2005)
95 min | Documentary
Using hidden cameras and never-before-seen footage, Earthlings chronicles the day-to-day practices of the largest industries in the world, all of which rely entirely on animals for profit.
Director: Shaun Monson | Star: Joaquin Phoenix
Votes: 19,807
23. Forks Over Knives (2011)
PG | 90 min | Documentary
Examines the profound claim that most, if not all, of the degenerative diseases that afflict us can be controlled, or even reversed, by rejecting our present menu of animal-based and processed foods.
Director: Lee Fulkerson | Stars: Lee Fulkerson, Matthew Lederman, Alona Pulde, T. Colin Campbell
Votes: 12,697
24. Vegucated (2011)
Not Rated | 76 min | Documentary, Comedy
Vegucated is a guerrilla-style documentary that follows three meat- and cheese-loving New Yorkers who agree to adopt a vegan diet for six weeks and learn what it's all about.
Director: Marisa Miller Wolfson | Stars: Marisa Miller Wolfson, Chloe Davis, Cody Tarlow, Molly Wadzeck
Votes: 3,043
25. The Madness of Max (2015)
Not Rated | 157 min | Documentary
The Madnes of Max is a feature-length documentary that tells the story of how the 1979 Mad Max feature film was made.
Directors: Gary McFeat, Tim Ridge | Stars: Steve Bisley, Tim Burns, Bertrand Cadart, David Cameron
Votes: 148
26. Superhero Nation
Documentary, History | Post-production
The quest to discover what the popularity of Superheroes in America says about our country.
Director: Ian Fischer | Stars: Billy Zane, Richard Donner, Alex Hyde-White, Frank Miller
27. Racing Extinction (2015)
Not Rated | 90 min | Documentary, Adventure, News
A documentary that follows undercover activists trying to stave off a man-made mass extinction.
Director: Louie Psihoyos | Stars: Elon Musk, Joel Sartore, Louie Psihoyos, Charles Hambleton
Votes: 8,195
28. Cosmos (1980)
TV-PG | 60 min | Documentary
Astronomer Carl Sagan leads us on an engaging guided tour of the various elements and cosmological theories of the universe.
Stars: Carl Sagan, Jaromír Hanzlík, Jonathan Fahn, Jean Charney
Votes: 44,162
29. Waltz with Bashir (2008)
R | 90 min | Documentary, Animation, Biography
An Israeli film director interviews fellow veterans of the 1982 invasion of Lebanon to reconstruct his own memories of his term of service in that conflict.
Director: Ari Folman | Stars: Ari Folman, Ron Ben-Yishai, Ronny Dayag, Ori Sivan
Votes: 60,417 | Gross: $2.28M
30. This American Journey (2013)
100 min | Documentary, Comedy, Drama
As children, British actor Paul Blackthorne and Australian photographer Mister Basquali both fell in love with America. Later they each fulfilled their dream to live here, but after two ... See full summary »
Director: Paul Blackthorne | Stars: Mister Basquali, Paul Blackthorne
Votes: 46
31. We Are X (2016)
R | 93 min | Documentary, Music
A documentary film about the legendary Japanese rock band X JAPAN.
Director: Stephen Kijak | Stars: Yoshiki, Hiroshi Morie, Sugizo, Toshimitsu Deyama
Votes: 1,066 | Gross: $0.05M
32. Middle Earth
Biography, Drama, Romance | Pre-production
A biopic about J.R.R. Tolkien and the events that inspired him to write The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.
33. Jihad: A Story of the Others (2015)
50 min | Documentary
An unflinching but sensitive and personal examination of jihadism and radicalisation, its causes and its possible solutions.
Director: Deeyah Khan | Stars: Deeyah Khan, Abu Muntasir, Alyas Karmani, Usama Hasan
Votes: 447
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