Must see Documentries
by djtamsin | created - 30 Jan 2015 | updated - 18 Jan 2021 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. 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
I LOVE the Beales ... <3 you will too
2. Wisconsin Death Trip (1999)
Not Rated | 76 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
A series of grisly events that took place in the state of Wisconsin between 1890 and 1900 is dramatized as reported in the Black River Falls newspaper.
Director: James Marsh | Stars: Ian Holm, Jeffrey Golden, Jo Vukelich, Marcus Monroe
Votes: 1,608
Amazingly entertaining ....
3. The Atomic Cafe (1982)
Not Rated | 86 min | Documentary, History
Disturbing collection of 1940s and 1950s United States government-issued propaganda films designed to reassure Americans that the atomic bomb was not a threat to their safety.
Directors: Jayne Loader, Kevin Rafferty, Pierce Rafferty | Stars: Paul Tibbets, Harry S. Truman, W.H.P. Blandy, Brien McMahon
Votes: 4,534 | Gross: $0.02M
Weird and wonderful
4. Twenty Feet from Stardom (2013)
PG-13 | 91 min | Documentary, Biography, History
Backup singers live in a world that lies just beyond the spotlight. Their voices bring harmony to the biggest bands in popular music, but we've had no idea who these singers are or what lives they lead, until now.
Director: Morgan Neville | Stars: Darlene Love, Merry Clayton, Lisa Fischer, Judith Hill
Votes: 13,950 | Gross: $4.95M
makes for very enlightening viewing ...
5. Cutie and the Boxer (2013)
R | 82 min | Documentary, Biography
This candid New York love story explores the chaotic 40-year marriage of famed boxing painter Ushio Shinohara and his wife, Noriko. Anxious to shed her role as her overbearing husband's assistant, Noriko finds an identity of her own.
Director: Zach Heinzerling | Stars: Ushio Shinohara, Noriko Shinohara, Alex Shinohara, Ethan Cohen
Votes: 4,736 | Gross: $0.20M
Too Cute ... love these guys ...
6. The Power of Nightmares (2004)
60 min | Documentary, History
A series of three documentaries about the use of fear for political gain.
Stars: Gilles Kepel, William Kristol, Melvin Goodman, Richard Perle
Votes: 4,541
7. Transcendent Man (2009)
Not Rated | 83 min | Documentary
Ray Kurzweil is on a journey to bring his ideas to the world.
Director: Robert Barry Ptolemy | Stars: Tom Abate, Hugo de Garis, Peter Diamandis, Neil Gershenfeld
Votes: 1,893
8. Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010)
R | 87 min | Documentary, Comedy, Crime
Following the style of some of the world's most prolific street artists, an amateur filmmaker makes a foray into the art world.
Director: Banksy | Stars: Banksy, Mr. Brainwash, Space Invader, Debora Guetta
Votes: 68,814 | Gross: $3.29M
9. The Imposter (2012)
R | 99 min | Documentary, Biography, Crime
A documentary centered on a young man in Spain who claims to a grieving Texas family that he is their 16-year-old son who has been missing for 3 years.
Director: Bart Layton | Stars: Adam O'Brian, Nicholas Barclay, Carey Gibson, Bryan Gibson
Votes: 50,425 | Gross: $0.89M
10. Samsara (I) (2011)
PG-13 | 102 min | Documentary, Music
Filmed over nearly five years in twenty-five countries on five continents, and shot on seventy-millimetre film, Samsara transports us to the varied worlds of sacred grounds, disaster zones, industrial complexes, and natural wonders.
Director: Ron Fricke | Stars: Balinese Tari Legong Dancers, Ni Made Megahadi Pratiwi, Puti Sri Candra Dewi, Putu Dinda Pratika
Votes: 38,024 | Gross: $2.67M
11. Baraka (1992)
Not Rated | 96 min | Documentary
A collection of expertly photographed scenes of human life and religion.
Director: Ron Fricke | Star: Patrick Disanto
Votes: 40,972 | Gross: $1.33M
12. Häxan (1922)
Not Rated | 91 min | Documentary, Fantasy, Horror
Fictionalized documentary showing the evolution of witchcraft, from its pagan roots to its confusion with hysteria in Eastern Europe.
Director: Benjamin Christensen | Stars: Benjamin Christensen, Elisabeth Christensen, Maren Pedersen, Clara Pontoppidan
Votes: 16,712
13. 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: 41,458 | Gross: $1.72M
stunning
14. Restrepo (2010)
R | 93 min | Documentary, Biography, History
A year with one platoon in the deadliest valley in Afghanistan.
Directors: Tim Hetherington, Sebastian Junger | Stars: The Men of Battle Company 2nd of the 503rd Infantry Regiment 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, Juan 'Doc Restrepo, Dan Kearney, LaMonta Caldwell
Votes: 24,422 | Gross: $1.33M
As close as it gets without getting blown up ...
15. Trouble the Water (2008)
Unrated | 93 min | Documentary
A redemptive tale of an aspiring rap artist surviving failed levees and her own troubled past and seizing a chance for a new beginning.
Directors: Carl Deal, Tia Lessin | Stars: Michael Brown, George W. Bush, Julie Chen Moonves, Ray Nagin
Votes: 2,071 | Gross: $0.52M
fantastic footage
16. Microcosmos (1996)
Not Rated | 80 min | Documentary
A documentary on insect life in meadows and ponds.
Directors: Claude Nuridsany, Marie Pérennou | Stars: Kristin Scott Thomas, Jacques Perrin
Votes: 11,647 | Gross: $1.57M
17. What the Bleep!?: Down the Rabbit Hole (2006)
PG | 156 min | Documentary, Drama
Interviews with scientists and authors, animated bits, and a storyline involving a deaf photographer are used in this docudrama to illustrate the link between quantum mechanics, neurobiology, human consciousness and day-to-day reality.
Directors: William Arntz, Betsy Chasse, Mark Vicente | Stars: Marlee Matlin, Elaine Hendrix, Barry Newman, Armin Shimerman
Votes: 2,921 | Gross: $0.14M
Stuff we should all know ... by now
18. Bowling for Columbine (2002)
R | 120 min | Documentary, Crime, Drama
Filmmaker Michael Moore explores the roots of America's predilection for gun violence.
Director: Michael Moore | Stars: Michael Moore, Charlton Heston, Marilyn Manson, Salvador Allende
Votes: 148,712 | Gross: $21.58M
19. Capturing the Friedmans (2003)
Not Rated | 107 min | Documentary, Biography, Crime
Documentary on the Friedmans, a seemingly typical, upper-middle-class Jewish family whose world is instantly transformed when the father and his youngest son are arrested and charged with shocking and horrible crimes.
Director: Andrew Jarecki | Stars: Arnold Friedman, Jesse Friedman, David Friedman, Elaine Friedman
Votes: 27,096 | Gross: $3.12M
20. Super Size Me (2004)
PG-13 | 100 min | Documentary
While examining the influence of the fast food industry, Morgan Spurlock personally explores the consequences on his health of a diet of solely McDonald's food for one month.
Director: Morgan Spurlock | Stars: Morgan Spurlock, Daryl Isaacs, Chemeeka Walker, Dania Abu-Rmaileh
Votes: 113,253 | Gross: $11.53M
21. Jesus Camp (2006)
PG-13 | 87 min | Documentary
A documentary on kids who attend a summer camp hoping to become the next Billy Graham.
Directors: Heidi Ewing, Rachel Grady | Stars: Mike Papantonio, Lou Engle, Becky Fischer, Ted Haggard
Votes: 28,773 | Gross: $0.90M
Scary
22. An Inconvenient Truth (2006)
PG | 96 min | Documentary
Filmmaker Davis Guggenheim follows Al Gore on the lecture circuit, as the former presidential candidate campaigns to raise public awareness of the dangers of global warming and calls for immediate action to curb its destructive effects on the environment.
Director: Davis Guggenheim | Stars: Al Gore, Billy West, George Bush, George W. Bush
Votes: 85,200 | Gross: $23.81M
23. The Queen of Versailles (2012)
PG | 100 min | Documentary
A documentary that follows a billionaire couple as they begin construction on a mansion inspired by Versailles. During the next two years, their empire, fueled by the real estate bubble and cheap money, falters due to the economic crisis.
Director: Lauren Greenfield | Stars: Jaqueline Siegel, David Siegel, Lorraine Barrett, June Downs
Votes: 13,700 | Gross: $2.40M
24. Catfish (2010)
PG-13 | 87 min | Documentary, Drama, Mystery
Young filmmakers document their colleague's budding online friendship with a young woman and her family which leads to an unexpected series of discoveries.
Directors: Henry Joost, Ariel Schulman | Stars: Nev Schulman, Ariel Schulman, Henry Joost, Angela Wesselman-Pierce
Votes: 43,738 | Gross: $3.23M
25. Bitter Lake (2015)
136 min | Documentary
An experimental documentary that explores Saudi Arabia's relationship with the U.S. and the role this has played in the war in Afghanistan.
Director: Adam Curtis | Stars: George Bush, George W. Bush, Joanne Herring, Hamid Karzai
Votes: 3,523
awaiting ..... anything by Mr Curtis gets my attention ...
26. Don't F**k with Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer (2019)
TV-MA | 62 min | Documentary, Crime, Mystery
A group of online justice seekers track down a guy who posted a video of himself killing kittens.
Stars: Deanna Thompson, John Green, Claudette Hamlin, Anna Yourkin
Votes: 62,175
27. Quincy (2018)
TV-MA | 124 min | Documentary, Biography
An 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.
Directors: Alan Hicks, Rashida Jones | Stars: Quincy Jones, Rashida Jones, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Clarence Avant
Votes: 5,155
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