DOCUMENTARY Cinema
by JhonCiavaldini | created - 11 Jul 2015 | updated - 5 months ago | PublicReal Cinema experience trough documentaries in which narratives and storytelling explores new and innovative forms.
NOT in Ranking Order. Just a List
- Instant Watch Options
- Genres
- Movies or TV
- IMDb Rating
- In Theaters
- Release Year
- Keywords
1. Man with a Movie Camera (1929)
Not Rated | 68 min | Documentary
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: 28,001
2. The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On (1987)
Not Rated | 122 min | Documentary
A documentary following Kenzo Okuzaki, a 62-year-old WW2 veteran notorious for his protests against Emperor Hirohito, as he tries to expose the needless executions of two Japanese soldiers during the war.
Director: Kazuo Hara | Stars: Kenzo Okuzaki, Riichi Aikawa, Masaichi Hamaguchi, Toshio Hara
Votes: 2,126
3. Sans Soleil (1983)
Not Rated | 100 min | Documentary, Drama
A woman narrates the contemplative writings of a seasoned world traveler, focusing on contemporary Japan.
Director: Chris Marker | Stars: Amilcar Cabral, Florence Delay, Arielle Dombasle, Riyoko Ikeda
Votes: 12,135 | Gross: $0.03M
4. Nostalgia for the Light (2010)
Not Rated | 90 min | Documentary
A documentary about two different searches conducted in the Chilean Atacama Desert: one by astronomers looking for answers about the history of the cosmos, and one by women looking for the remains of loved ones killed by Pinochet's regime.
Director: Patricio Guzmán | Stars: Gaspar Galaz, Lautaro Núñez, Luís Henríquez, Miguel Lawner
Votes: 6,116
5. Night and Fog (1956)
TV-14 | 32 min | Documentary, Short, History
The history of Nazi Germany's death camps of the Final Solution and the hellish world of dehumanization and death contained inside.
Director: Alain Resnais | Stars: Michel Bouquet, Reinhard Heydrich, Heinrich Himmler, Adolf Hitler
Votes: 21,473
6. Shoah (1985)
Not Rated | 566 min | Documentary, History, War
Claude Lanzmann's epic documentary recounts the story of the Holocaust through interviews with witnesses - perpetrators as well as survivors.
Director: Claude Lanzmann | Stars: Simon Srebnik, Michael Podchlebnik, Motke Zaïdl, Hanna Zaïdl
Votes: 10,559 | Gross: $0.02M
7. The Battle of Chile: Part I (1975)
Not Rated | 97 min | Documentary, History
The chronicle of the political tension in Chile in 1973 and of the violent counter revolution against the democratically elected government of Salvador Allende.
Director: Patricio Guzmán | Stars: Abilio Fernández, Salvador Allende
Votes: 1,614
8. 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: 15,294 | Gross: $0.03M
9. 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: 3,340
10. S21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine (2003)
Unrated | 101 min | Documentary, History, War
A unique documentary on the notorious S-21 prison, today the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, with testimony by the only surviving prisoners and former Khmer Rouge guards.
Director: Rithy Panh | Stars: Khieu 'Poev' Ches, Yeay Cheu, Nhem En, Houy Him
Votes: 1,163 | Gross: $0.02M
11. Salesman (1969)
G | 91 min | Documentary, Drama
Four dogged door-to-door Bible salesmen travel from Boston to Florida on a seemingly futile quest to sell luxury editions of the Good Book to working-class Catholics.
Directors: Albert Maysles, David Maysles, Charlotte Zwerin | Stars: Paul Brennan, Charles McDevitt, James Baker, Raymond Martos
Votes: 5,708
12. Videograms of a Revolution (1992)
106 min | Documentary, History, War
This documentary uses news footage and amateur video to paint a vivid picture of Romania's 1989 revolution and the fall of dictator Nicolae Ceausescu.
Directors: Harun Farocki, Andrei Ujica | Stars: Ion Caramitru, Elena Ceausescu, Nicolae Ceausescu, Mircea Dinescu
Votes: 655
13. Nobody's Business (1996)
Not Rated | 60 min | Documentary, Biography
A portrait of the director's father, searching for the extraordinary in the subject's seemingly normal existence.
Director: Alan Berliner | Stars: Alan Berliner, Oscar Berliner
Votes: 928
14. F for Fake (1973)
PG | 89 min | Documentary
A documentary about fraud and fakery.
Directors: Orson Welles, Gary Graver, Oja Kodar, François Reichenbach | Stars: Orson Welles, Oja Kodar, François Reichenbach, Elmyr de Hory
Votes: 18,304
15. 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: 13,457
16. In the Year of the Pig (1968)
Not Rated | 103 min | Documentary, History, War
A documentary chronicling the background to, and history of, the Vietnam War.
Director: Emile de Antonio | Stars: Harry S. Ashmore, Daniel Berrigan, Joseph Buttinger, William R. Corson
Votes: 1,917
17. 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
18. The War Game (1966)
48 min | Drama, War
A docudrama depicting a hypothetical nuclear attack on Britain.
Director: Peter Watkins | Stars: Michael Aspel, Peter Graham, Dave Baldwin, Kathy Staff
Votes: 7,314
19. Now (1965)
5 min | Documentary, Short, Music
A documentary short about racism in the United States.
Director: Santiago Álvarez | Star: Lena Horne
Votes: 759
20. The Hour of the Furnaces (1968)
Unrated | 260 min | Documentary, History, War
Divided into three segments, namely 1 Neocolonialism, 2 Act for liberation, 3 Violence and liberation, the documentary lasts more than 4 hours this deals with the defense of the revolution ... See full summary »
Directors: Octavio Getino, Fernando E. Solanas | Stars: María de la Paz, Fernando E. Solanas, Edgardo Suárez, Julio Troxler
Votes: 1,189
21. Mexico: The Frozen Revolution (1971)
65 min | Documentary
A thorough analysis of the social- politics of Mexico, within the historical context of the Mexican Revolution reality. Includes footage of the 1910s, interviews with farmers, politicians, intellectuals, middle class, trade and unionists.
Director: Raymundo Gleyzer | Stars: Luis Echeverria, Paul Leduc
Votes: 78
22. Gimme Shelter (1970)
GP | 91 min | Documentary, Music, Thriller
When three hundred thousand members of the Love Generation collided with a few dozen Hells Angels at San Francisco's Altamont Speedway, the bloody slash that transformed a decade's dreams into disillusionment was immortalized on this film.
Directors: Albert Maysles, David Maysles, Charlotte Zwerin | Stars: Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Mick Taylor, Charlie Watts
Votes: 12,892 | Gross: $0.25M
23. Sherman's March (1985)
Not Rated | 157 min | Documentary, Biography, Comedy
Documentary filmmaker Ross McElwee sets out to make a movie about Union General Sherman's March to the Sea towards the end of the American Civil War, but keeps getting sidetracked by his own love life.
Director: Ross McElwee | Stars: Ross McElwee, Dede McElwee, Ross McElwee Jr., Patricia Rendleman
Votes: 2,709
24. Tishe! (2003)
82 min | Documentary
The director films the street where he lives in St. Petersburg, for a whole year, documenting the changes caused by the celebration of its 300th anniversary.
Director: Victor Kossakovsky
Votes: 449
25. Bus 174 (2002)
R | 122 min | Documentary, Crime
On June 12, 2000, a young man with a gun took the passengers aboard Bus 174 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil hostage. This documentary examines the event itself, the resulting media frenzy, the police response, and the perpetrator's background.
Directors: José Padilha, Felipe Lacerda | Stars: Sandro do Nascimento, Rodrigo Pimentel, Luiz Eduardo Soares, Anonymous
Votes: 8,624 | Gross: $0.22M
26. Isle of Flowers (1989)
13 min | Documentary, Short
The ironic, heartbreaking and acid "saga" of a spoiled tomato: from the plantation of a "Nisei" (Brazilian with Japanese origins); to a supermarket; to a consumer's kitchen to become sauce ... See full summary »
Director: Jorge Furtado | Stars: Paulo José, Ciça Reckziegel, Douglas Trainini, Júlia Barth
Votes: 6,525
27. Maranhão 66 (1966)
10 min | Short, Documentary
In 1966, José Sarney was elected governor of Maranhão for the first time. To register his inauguration speech and his political pledge to the population of the state, the politician invited... See full summary »
Director: Glauber Rocha
Votes: 212
28. Route 181: Fragments of a Journey in Palestine-Israel (2003)
270 min | Documentary
Summer 2002, the Palestinian filmmaker Michel Khleifi and the Israeli filmmaker Eyal Sivan set off on a cinematographic journey in their country, Palestine-Israel.
Directors: Michel Khleifi, Eyal Sivan | Stars: Michel Khleifi, Eyal Sivan
Votes: 142
30. The Gleaners & I (2000)
Not Rated | 82 min | Documentary
Varda films and interviews gleaners in France in all forms, from those picking fields after the harvest to those scouring the dumpsters of Paris.
Director: Agnès Varda | Stars: François Wertheimer, Agnès Varda, Jean La Planche, Bodan Litnanski
Votes: 8,807 | Gross: $0.15M
31. Titicut Follies (1967)
Unrated | 84 min | Documentary
Documentary filmmaker Frederick Wiseman takes us inside the Massachusetts Correctional Institution Bridgewater where people stay trapped in their madness.
Director: Frederick Wiseman
Votes: 5,110
32. The Look of Silence (2014)
PG-13 | 103 min | Documentary, Biography, History
A family that survived the genocide in Indonesia confronts the men who killed one of their brothers.
Director: Joshua Oppenheimer | Stars: Adi Rukun, M.Y. Basrun, Volker Hanisch, Amir Hasan
Votes: 13,889 | Gross: $0.11M
33. 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: 40,819 | Gross: $0.49M
34. Man of Aran (1934)
Not Rated | 76 min | Documentary, Drama
In this blend of documentary and fictional narrative from pioneering filmmaker Robert Flaherty, the everyday trials of life on Ireland's unforgiving Aran Islands are captured with attention to naturalistic beauty and historical detail.
Director: Robert J. Flaherty | Stars: Colman 'Tiger' King, Maggie Dirrane, Michael Dirrane, Pat Mullin
Votes: 2,324
35. Picture of Light (1994)
Not Rated | 83 min | Documentary
A documentary of an expedition to Churchill, Manitoba to film the Northern Lights.
Director: Peter Mettler | Stars: Gavin Connor, Brian Ladoon, Don Lind, Peter Mettler
Votes: 279
36. 5 Broken Cameras (2011)
Not Rated | 94 min | Documentary, War
A documentary on a Palestinian farmer's chronicle of his nonviolent resistance to the actions of the Israeli army.
Directors: Emad Burnat, Guy Davidi | Stars: Emad Burnat, Soraya Burnat, Mohammed Burnat, Yasin Burnat
Votes: 6,647 | Gross: $0.11M
37. Santiago (2007)
80 min | Documentary
Documentary about Santiago, a peculiar man who used to work for the director and his parents as a butler. The material was filmed in 1992 but, for some strange reason, the director felt he ... See full summary »
Director: João Moreira Salles | Star: Santiago Badariotti Merlo
Votes: 756
38. Enthusiasm (1930)
Not Rated | 67 min | Documentary
How the miners of the Don coal basin (one of the industrial regions of Ukraine) were striving to fulfill in four years their part of the Five Year Plan.
Director: Dziga Vertov
Votes: 1,050
39. Maidan (2014)
134 min | Documentary
A look at the 2013 and 2014 civil unrest in the Ukrainian capital's central square.
Director: Sergey Loznitsa
Votes: 1,214
40. The Vampires of Poverty (1978)
Not Rated | 28 min | Short, Comedy
Fictional film that simulates being a documentary about filmmakers who exploit the misery with mercantilist purposes. It is a scathing criticism "porno-misery" and the opportunism of the ... See full summary »
Directors: Carlos Mayolo, Luis Ospina | Stars: Luis Alfonso Londoño, Carlos Mayolo, Ramiro Arbeláez, Eduardo Carvajal
Votes: 1,010
41. Cannibal Tours (1988)
70 min | Documentary
When tourists journey to the furthermost reaches of the Sepik River in Papua New Guinea, is it the indigenous tribespeople or the white visitors who are the cultural oddity? This film ... See full summary »
Director: Dennis O'Rourke
Votes: 309
42. The Thin Blue Line (1988)
Not Rated | 101 min | Documentary, Crime
A film that successfully argued that a man was wrongly convicted for murder by a corrupt justice system in Dallas County, Texas.
Director: Errol Morris | Stars: Randall Adams, David Harris, Gus Rose, Jackie Johnson
Votes: 25,969 | Gross: $1.21M
43. Hoop Dreams (1994)
PG-13 | 170 min | Documentary, Drama, Sport
A film following the lives of two inner-city Chicago boys who struggle to become college basketball players on the road to going professional.
Director: Steve James | Stars: William Gates, Arthur Agee, Emma Gates, Curtis Gates
Votes: 28,023 | Gross: $7.83M
44. La era del ñandú (1986)
40 min | Documentary, Short
Director: Carlos Sorin | Stars: Salo Pasik, Carlos Garric, Cristina Czetto, Walter Abaca
Votes: 103
45. The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 (2011)
Not Rated | 100 min | Documentary, History
Footage shot by a group of Swedish journalists documenting the Black Power Movement in the United States is edited together by a contemporary Swedish filmmaker.
Director: Göran Hugo Olsson | Stars: Angela Davis, Stokely Carmichael, Bobby Seale, Abiodun Oyewole
Votes: 2,498 | Gross: $0.26M
46. Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father (2008)
Not Rated | 95 min | Documentary, Biography, Crime
A filmmaker decides to memorialize a murdered friend when his friend's ex-girlfriend announces she is expecting his son.
Director: Kurt Kuenne | Stars: Kurt Kuenne, Andrew Bagby, David Bagby, Kathleen Bagby
Votes: 40,738 | Gross: $0.02M
47. Cocksucker Blues (1972)
93 min | Documentary, Music
Follow the Rolling Stones on their 1972 North American Tour and their first return to the States since the tragedy at Altamont.
Director: Robert Frank | Stars: Truman Capote, Dick Cavett, Marshall Chess, Chris Collins
Votes: 874
48. This Is Not a Film (2011)
Not Rated | 75 min | Documentary
It's been months since Jafar Panahi, stuck in jail, has been awaiting a verdict by the appeals court. By depicting a day in his life, Panahi and Mojtaba Mirtahmasb try to portray the deprivations looming in contemporary Iranian cinema.
Directors: Mojtaba Mirtahmasb, Jafar Panahi | Stars: Jafar Panahi, Igi, Mrs. Gheirat, Mojtaba Mirtahmasb
Votes: 5,644 | Gross: $0.08M
49. Last Conversations (2015)
87 min | Documentary
The late director Eduardo Coutinho sits down and talks with young Brazilian students in his last documentary.
Director: Eduardo Coutinho | Star: Eduardo Coutinho
Votes: 276
50. Amateur (I) (2011)
76 min | Documentary
The diffusion of the Super 8 format, several decades ago, multiplied the filmmakers through "genres": the film of marriage, the one of the boys singing and jumping, that of the vacations on... See full summary »
Director: Nestor Frenkel | Stars: Ofelia Graziano de Mario, Jorge Mario, Diego Trerotola
Votes: 94
51. The Blonds (2003)
Not Rated | 89 min | Documentary
Los rubios focuses on the directors search for her dissappeared parents. Is it possible to get to the truth or they are only fictions, imaginary characters from everyone who rememebers them?
Director: Albertina Carri | Stars: Analía Couceyro, Albertina Carri, Santiago Giralt, Jesica Suarez
Votes: 391
52. The Decline of Western Civilization (1981)
Not Rated | 100 min | Documentary, History, Music
A look into the Los Angeles punk rock scene, that was largely ignored by the rock music press of the time.
Director: Penelope Spheeris | Stars: Eugene Tatu, Alice Bag Band, Black Flag, Catholic Discipline
Votes: 4,868
53. Twenty Years Later (1984)
119 min | Documentary, History
A filmmaker returns to Northeast Brazil after twenty years to resume his film (a profile of assassinated peasant leader João Pedro Teixeira) which was shut down by a right-wing military coup in 1964.
Director: Eduardo Coutinho | Stars: Eduardo Coutinho, Elizabeth Teixeira, Ferreira Gullar, Tite de Lemos
Votes: 1,696
54. East of War (1996)
117 min | Documentary, War
A controversial photography exhibit about atrocities committed by the German army on the Eastern Front during World War II inspired Ruth Beckermann to interview soldiers about their experiences beyond the bounds of "normal" warfare.
Director: Ruth Beckermann
Votes: 119
55. Anna ot 6 do 18 (1994)
100 min | Documentary, Biography
Director Nikita Mikhalkov documents the history of Russia from 1980 to 1991 by annually asking his daughter Anna questions.
Director: Nikita Mikhalkov | Stars: Nikita Mikhalkov, Anna Mikhalkova, Nadezhda Mikhalkova
Votes: 734
56. Campaign 2 (2013)
Not Rated | 150 min | Documentary, Comedy, Horror
In response to the Fukushima disaster, Yama-san is running an election campaign with an anti-nuclear message. But unlike last time, he has no money, no machine, no nothing. Does he even ... See full summary »
Director: Kazuhiro Sôda | Stars: Kazuhiko Yamauchi, Sayuri, Yuki Yamauchi
Votes: 66
57. The Police Tapes (1977 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 88 min | Documentary, Crime
A documentary about a police precinct in the South Bronx.
Directors: Alan Raymond, Susan Raymond | Stars: Charles Rydell, Tony Bouza
Votes: 79
58. Donkeyote (2017)
Not Rated | 86 min | Documentary, Family, Western
Manolo and his donkey Gorrión plan a journey to the West.
Director: Chico Pereira | Stars: Paca Molera Pereira, Mamen Gómez Heredia, Manuel Molera Aparicio
Votes: 173
59. Donbass (2018)
122 min | Drama
In eastern Ukraine, society begins to degrade as the effects of propaganda and manipulation begin to surface in this post-truth era.
Director: Sergey Loznitsa | Stars: Tamara Yatsenko, Irina Zayarmiuk, Grigory Masliuk, Olesya Zhurakivska
Votes: 4,933
60. Senkyo (2007)
Not Rated | 120 min | Documentary
Can a candidate with no political experience and no charisma win an election if he is backed by the political giant Prime Minister Koizumi and his Liberal Democratic Party? This ... See full summary »
Director: Kazuhiro Sôda | Stars: Seiko Hashimoto, Nobuteru Ishihara, Yoriko Kawaguchi, Jun'ichirô Koizumi
Votes: 244
Tell Your Friends