Sundance: Grand Jury Prize - Documentary (World Cinema included)
by KSTLeo | created - 18 Sep 2014 | updated - 1 month ago | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Porcelain War (2024)
87 min | Documentary
Under roaring fighter jets, Ukrainian artists Slava, Anya, and Andrey choose to stay behind. Defiantly finding beauty amid destruction, they show that although it's easy to make people afraid, it's hard to destroy their passion for living.
Directors: Brendan Bellomo, Slava Leontyev
Votes: 232
2. A New Kind of Wilderness (2024)
84 min | Documentary
In the Norwegian wilderness, a family seeks a wild free existence but a tragic turn of events shatters their isolation, compelling them to adapt to the demands of contemporary society.
Director: Silje Evensmo Jacobsen
Votes: 122
3. Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project (2023)
102 min | Documentary
A look at the life of poet, Nikki Giovanni and the revolutionary historical periods through which she lived, from the Civil Rights Movement to Black Lives Matter.
Directors: Joe Brewster, Michèle Stephenson | Stars: Nikki Giovanni, Taraji P. Henson, Virginia Fowler, Kai Giovanni
Votes: 623
4. The Eternal Memory (2023)
85 min | Documentary
Augusto and Paulina have been together for 25 years. Eight years ago, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Both fear the day he no longer recognizes her.
Director: Maite Alberdi | Stars: Augusto Góngora, Paulina Urrutia, Gustavo Cerati, Pedro Lemebel
Votes: 3,114
5. The Exiles (II) (2022)
95 min | Documentary
Documentarian Christine Choy tracks down three exiled dissidents from the Tiananmen Square massacre, in order to find closure on an abandoned film she began shooting in 1989.
Directors: Violet Columbus, Ben Klein | Stars: Christine Choy, Todd Phillips, Ronald Gray, Atno Smith
Votes: 153
6. All That Breathes (2022)
Not Rated | 97 min | Documentary
Amidst the darkening backdrop of Delhi's apocalyptic air and escalating violence, two brothers devote their lives to protect one casualty of the turbulent times: the bird known as the Black Kite.
Director: Shaunak Sen | Stars: Salik Rehman, Mohammad Saud, Nadeem Shehzad
Votes: 4,790
7. Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) (2021)
PG-13 | 118 min | Documentary, History, Music
Documentary about the legendary 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival which celebrated African-American music and culture and promoted Black pride and unity.
Director: Questlove | Stars: Dorinda Drake, Barbara Bland-Acosta, Darryl Lewis, Ethel Beatty
Votes: 13,870
8. Flee (2021)
PG-13 | 89 min | Documentary, Animation, Biography
FLEE tells the extraordinary true story of a man, Amin, on the verge of marriage which compels him to reveal his hidden past for the first time.
Director: Jonas Poher Rasmussen | Stars: Daniel Karimyar, Fardin Mijdzadeh, Milad Eskandari, Belal Faiz
Votes: 19,499
9. Boys State (2020)
PG-13 | 109 min | Documentary
A thousand 17-year-old boys from Texas join together to build a representative government from the ground up.
Directors: Amanda McBaine, Jesse Moss | Stars: Ben Feinstein, Steven Garza, Robert MacDougall, René Otero
Votes: 5,718
10. Epicentro (2020)
Not Rated | 108 min | Documentary
An immersive portrait of Cuba, its people, and the role of cinema in political myth-making from Academy Award® nominee Hubert Sauper "Darwin's Nightmare".
Director: Hubert Sauper | Stars: Oona Chaplin, Fena LeChuck, Juan Padrón, Hubert Sauper
Votes: 293
11. One Child Nation (2019)
R | 83 min | Documentary, History
After becoming a mother, a filmmaker uncovers the untold history of China's one-child policy and the generations of parents and children forever shaped by this social experiment.
Directors: Nanfu Wang, Jialing Zhang | Stars: Nanfu Wang, Zaodi Wang, Zhimei Wang, Tunde Wang
Votes: 7,199 | Gross: $0.18M
12. Honeyland (2019)
Unrated | 89 min | Documentary, Drama
The last female bee-hunter in Europe must save the bees and return the natural balance in Honeyland, when a family of nomadic beekeepers invade her land and threaten her livelihood.
Directors: Tamara Kotevska, Ljubomir Stefanov | Stars: Hatidze Muratova, Nazife Muratova, Hussein Sam, Ljutvie Sam
Votes: 19,403 | Gross: $0.82M
13. The Price of Free (2018)
92 min | Documentary
The story of how Kailash Satyarthi built a global movement to rescue children from slavery.
Director: Derek Doneen | Stars: Asmita, Swati Jha, Sumedha Kailash, Arshad Mehdi
Votes: 150
14. Of Fathers and Sons (2017)
Not Rated | 99 min | Documentary, War
Talal Derki returns to his homeland where he gains the trust of a radical Islamist family, sharing their daily life for over two years.
Director: Talal Derki | Stars: Tia Alkerdi, Yara Ibrahim, Abu Osama, Ayman Osama
Votes: 2,742 | Gross: $0.01M
15. Dina (2017)
Not Rated | 103 min | Documentary
An eccentric suburban woman and a Walmart door greeter navigate their evolving relationship in this unconventional love story.
Directors: Antonio Santini, Dan Sickles | Stars: Dina Buno, Scott Levin, Frank Costanzo, Jeannie Levin
Votes: 1,221 | Gross: $0.09M
16. Last Men in Aleppo (2017)
Not Rated | 104 min | Documentary, War
Khaled, Mahmoud and Subhi volunteer with the White Helmets trying to save lives of hundreds of victims in the besieged city of Aleppo during the Syrian Civil War.
Directors: Feras Fayyad, Steen Johannessen | Stars: Khaled Umar Harah, Batul, Mahmoud, Abu Umar
Votes: 3,001 | Gross: $0.01M
17. Weiner (2016)
R | 96 min | Documentary
An examination of disgraced New York Congressman Anthony Weiner's mayoral campaign and today's political landscape.
Directors: Josh Kriegman, Elyse Steinberg | Stars: Anthony Weiner, Huma Abedin, Jordan Zain Weiner, Barbara Morgan
Votes: 10,533 | Gross: $1.61M
18. Sonita (2015)
90 min | Documentary, Biography, Music
After her family attempts to sell her into marriage, a young Afghan refugee in Iran channels her frustrations and seizes her destiny through music. Grabbing the mic, she spits fiery rhymes in the face of oppressive traditions.
Director: Rokhsareh Ghaemmaghami | Stars: Sonita Alizadeh, Latifah Alizadeh, Fadia Alizadeh, Ahmad Ahmadi
Votes: 887
19. The Wolfpack (2015)
R | 90 min | Documentary, Biography
Confined in an apartment from a New York housing project, the six Angulo brothers learned everything they know about the world through watching films and spend their time reenacting their favorite movies with intricate homemade costumes.
Director: Crystal Moselle | Stars: Mukunda Angulo, Narayana Angulo, Susanne Angulo, Bhagavan Angulo
Votes: 13,512 | Gross: $1.30M
20. The Russian Woodpecker (2015)
Not Rated | 80 min | Documentary, War
A gripping, award-winning documentary about an irradiated Ukrainian artist's search for the truth about Chernobyl and his prescient and powerful warnings about Putin's plans for a coming Russian invasion.
Director: Chad Gracia | Stars: Andrei Alexandrovich, Fedor Alexandrovich, Igor Alexandrovich, Natalia Barabovskaya
Votes: 1,489
21. Rich Hill (2014)
Not Rated | 91 min | Documentary, Biography, Drama
Rich Hill intimately chronicles the turbulent lives of three boys living in an impoverished Midwestern town and the fragile family bonds that sustain them.
Directors: Andrew Droz Palermo, Tracy Droz Tragos | Stars: Alyssa Jewell, Andrew Jewell, Elizabeth Jewell, Willie Jewell
Votes: 2,508
22. The Return to Homs (2013)
Not Rated | 94 min | Documentary, Biography, History
A look behind the barricades of the besieged city of Homs, where for nineteen-year-old Basset and his ragtag group of comrades, the audacious hope of revolution is crumbling like the buildings around them.
Director: Talal Derki | Star: Abdul Basset Saroot
Votes: 1,070
23. Blood Brother (2013)
Not Rated | 92 min | Documentary
Documentarian visits best friend in India to see the mutual unconditional love that keeps his buddy bonded to a village hostel housing AIDS-afflicted children.
Director: Steve Hoover | Stars: Rocky Braat, Steve Hoover, Anitha, Devi
Votes: 1,664 | Gross: $0.12M
24. A River Changes Course (2013)
Not Rated | 83 min | Documentary, Drama
"We've worked so hard on this land," says Sav Samourn. "And now they've come to destroy it all. Sooner or later it will all be gone." In her directorial debut, award-winning filmmaker ... See full summary »
Director: Kalyanee Mam
Votes: 151
25. The House I Live In (2012)
Not Rated | 108 min | Documentary
From the dealer to the narcotics officer, the inmate to the federal judge, a penetrating look inside America's criminal justice system, revealing the profound human rights implications of U.S. drug policy.
Director: Eugene Jarecki | Stars: Eugene Jarecki, David Simon, Shanequa Benitez, William Julius Wilson
Votes: 5,395 | Gross: $0.21M
26. The Law in These Parts (2011)
Not Rated | 100 min | Documentary, History
Can justice truly be served in the occupied territories given the current system of law administered by Israel for Palestinians?
Director: Ra'anan Alexandrowicz
Votes: 400
27. How to Die in Oregon (2011)
Not Rated | 107 min | Documentary, Drama, Family
In 1994 Oregon became the first state to legalize a terminally ill person's request to end his or her life with medication. At the time, only Belgium, Switzerland, and the Netherlands had ... See full summary »
Director: Peter Richardson | Stars: Harry Bruton, Ray Carnay, Cody Curtis, Paul Darley
Votes: 2,019
28. Hell and Back Again (2011)
Not Rated | 88 min | Documentary, Action, History
What does it mean to lead men in war? What does it mean to come home? Hell and Back Again is a cinematically revolutionary film that asks and answers these questions with a power and ... See full summary »
Director: Danfung Dennis | Stars: Nathan Harris, Ashley Harris, The Marines of Echo Company, Christian Cabaniss
Votes: 2,348 | Gross: $0.04M
29. 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: 24,424 | Gross: $1.33M
30. The Red Chapel (2009)
Not Rated | 88 min | Documentary, Comedy
Two Danish comedians join the director on a trip to North Korea, where they have been allowed access under the pretext of wanting to perform a vaudeville act.
Director: Mads Brügger | Stars: Mads Brügger, Simon Jul Jørgensen, Tommy Kenter, Jacob Nossell
Votes: 2,158 | Gross: $0.01M
31. We Live in Public (2009)
Unrated | 91 min | Documentary
A documentary focusing on the life of dot-com entrepreneur Josh Harris, and his exploits over the last decade.
Director: Ondi Timoner | Stars: Josh Harris, Tom Harris, Carlos Alvarez, David Amron
Votes: 1,983 | Gross: $0.04M
32. Rough Aunties (2008)
Not Rated | 103 min | Documentary
Fearless, feisty and resolute, the "Rough Aunties" are a remarkable group of women unwavering in their stand to protect and care for the abused, neglected and forgotten children of Durban, ... See full summary »
Director: Kim Longinotto | Stars: Jackie Branfield, Eureka, Ladyfair, Mildrid
Votes: 148
33. 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
34. Man on Wire (2008)
PG-13 | 94 min | Documentary, Biography, Crime
A look at tightrope walker Philippe Petit's daring, but illegal, high-wire routine performed between New York City's World Trade Center's twin towers in 1974, what some consider, "the artistic crime of the century".
Director: James Marsh | Stars: Philippe Petit, Jean François Heckel, Jean-Louis Blondeau, Annie Allix
Votes: 58,670 | Gross: $2.96M
35. Manda Bala (Send a Bullet) (2007)
Unrated | 85 min | Documentary
An examination of corruption and class warfare in Brazil as told through the stories of a wealthy businessman, a plastic surgeon who assists kidnapping victims and a politician whose income relies on a frog farm.
Director: Jason Kohn
Votes: 1,202 | Gross: $0.11M
36. Vores lykkes fjender (2006)
58 min | Documentary
The first Afghan woman ever to enter parliament, Malalai Joya is followed during her campaign to introduce democracy to a country long ruled by warlords and Taliban.
Director: Eva Mulvad | Star: Malalai Joya
Votes: 124
37. God Grew Tired of Us (2006)
PG | 89 min | Documentary
Three young men from Sudan embark on a journey to America after years of wandering Sub-Saharan Africa in search of safety.
Directors: Christopher Dillon Quinn, Tommy Walker | Stars: Panther Bior, John Bul Dau, Nicole Kidman, Daniel Abol Pach
Votes: 2,905 | Gross: $0.28M
38. En el hoyo (I) (2006)
Unrated | 84 min | Documentary
A portrait of the construction workers involved in building the second deck of Mexico City's Periferico freeway.
Director: Juan Carlos Rulfo | Stars: Salvador Enriquez Castillo, Sofia García López, José Guadalupe Calzada, Isabel Dolores Hernández
Votes: 431 | Gross: $0.01M
39. Why We Fight (2005)
PG-13 | 98 min | Documentary, History, War
Is American foreign policy dominated by the idea of military supremacy? Has the military become too important in American life? Jarecki's shrewd and intelligent polemic would seem to give an affirmative answer to each of these questions.
Director: Eugene Jarecki | Stars: Gore Vidal, John McCain, Ken Adelman, John Ashcroft
Votes: 10,232 | Gross: $1.44M
40. Stand van de maan (2004)
92 min | Documentary
Three generations of one family weather the challenges of living in modern-day Indonesia, the largest Muslim community on the globe.
Director: Leonard Retel Helmrich
Votes: 227
41. Dig! (2004)
R | 107 min | Documentary, Music
A documentary on the once-promising American rock bands The Brian Jonestown Massacre and The Dandy Warhols, and the friendship/rivalry between their respective founders, Anton Newcombe and Courtney Taylor.
Director: Ondi Timoner | Stars: Anton Newcombe, Courtney Taylor-Taylor, Joel Gion, Matt Hollywood
Votes: 6,689 | Gross: $0.13M
42. 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: 27,101 | Gross: $3.12M
43. Daughter from Danang (2002)
PG | 83 min | Documentary, War
Separated at the end of the Vietnam war, an "Americanized" woman and her Vietnamese mother are reunited after 22 years.
Directors: Gail Dolgin, Vicente Franco | Stars: Mai Thi Kim, Heidi Neville-Bub, Gerald Ford, Tom Miller
Votes: 622
44. Southern Comfort (2001)
Not Rated | 90 min | Documentary
Southern Comfort documents the final year in the life of Robert Eads, a transgender man. Eads, diagnosed with ovarian cancer, was turned down for treatment by two dozen doctors out of fear ... See full summary »
Director: Kate Davis | Stars: Robert Eads, Lola Cola, Maxwell Scott Anderson, Cas Piotrowski
Votes: 988
45. Long Night's Journey Into Day (2000)
Not Rated | 94 min | Documentary
This documentary tells four stories of Apartheid in South Africa, as seen through the eyes of the Truth and Reconciliation commission. White soldiers who have killed ANC activists, black ... See full summary »
Directors: Deborah Hoffmann, Frances Reid | Stars: Mary Burton, Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela, Mongezi Manqina, Thapelo Mbelo
Votes: 470 | Gross: $0.01M
46. American Movie (1999)
R | 107 min | Documentary, Comedy
Documentary about an aspiring filmmaker's attempts to finance his dream project by finally completing the low-budget horror film he abandoned years before.
Director: Chris Smith | Stars: Mark Borchardt, Mike Schank, Tom Schimmels, Monica Borchardt
Votes: 19,332 | Gross: $1.16M
47. The Farm: Angola, USA (1998)
88 min | Documentary
Documentary depicting day to day life in Angola Prison mostly from an inmate's perspective. Interviews are with several inmates including one with a life sentence who is about to die.
Directors: Liz Garbus, Wilbert Rideau, Jonathan Stack | Stars: Bernard Addison, Burl Cain, George Crawford, Wilbert Rideau
Votes: 814
48. Frat House (1998)
60 min | Documentary
A documentary exploring what it happens when you pledge to a frat house.
Directors: Andrew Gurland, Todd Phillips
Votes: 480
49. Girls Like Us (1997)
60 min | Documentary
Documentary about four urban teenage girls, and their opinions about religion, music and sex.
Directors: Tina Di Feliciantonio, Jane C. Wagner
Votes: 47
50. Troublesome Creek: A Midwestern (1995)
Unrated | 88 min | Documentary
Troublesome Creek is the acclaimed story of the Jordan family's gamble to save their Iowa farm. From fighting the Crooked Creek Gang in 1867 to fighting off the bank today. An ... See full summary »
Directors: Steven Ascher, Jeanne Jordan | Stars: Bob Blankenship, Dean Eilts, Marge Harold, James Jordan Jr.
Votes: 88 | Gross: $0.14M
51. Crumb (1994)
R | 119 min | Documentary, Biography, Comedy
An intimate portrait of controversial cartoonist Robert Crumb and his traumatized family.
Director: Terry Zwigoff | Stars: Robert Crumb, Aline Kominsky-Crumb, Charles Crumb, Maxon Crumb
Votes: 21,589 | Gross: $3.17M
52. Freedom on My Mind (1994)
105 min | Documentary
Chronicles the Mississippi voter registration drive from 1961- 64.
Directors: Connie Field, Marilyn Mulford | Stars: Chude Pamela Allen, Heather Booth, L.C. Dorsey, Len Edwards
Votes: 313 | Gross: $0.07M
53. Children of Fate: Life and Death in a Sicilian Family (1993)
85 min | Documentary
In 1961, Robert Young and Michael Roemer shot a gritty documentary in Palermo's Cortile Cascino, a slum reserved for rag pickers and scavengers. Thirty years later, Young's son and ... See full summary »
Directors: Michael Roemer, Susan Todd, Andrew Young, Robert M. Young | Star: Angela Capra
Votes: 51
54. Silverlake Life: The View from Here (1993)
99 min | Documentary
A documentary about two gay men as they live through their last months of life with AIDS.
Directors: Peter Friedman, Tom Joslin | Stars: Liane Bonin, Tom Joslin, Mark Massi
Votes: 523
55. A Brief History of Time (1991)
G | 80 min | Documentary, Biography
A film about the life and work of the cosmologist, Stephen Hawking, who despite his near total paralysis, was one of the great minds of all time.
Director: Errol Morris | Stars: Stephen Hawking, Isobel Hawking, Janet Humphrey, Mary Hawking
Votes: 5,913 | Gross: $2.28M
56. Finding Christa (1991)
55 min | Documentary
A filmmaker reunites with the daughter she gave up for adoption twenty years later.
Directors: Camille Billops, James Hatch | Stars: Camille Billops, Christa Victoria
Votes: 63
57. American Dream (1990)
PG-13 | 98 min | Documentary
Recounts the 1985-86 strike against the Hormel Foods Corporation in Minnesota after its employees' wages and benefits were cut.
Directors: Barbara Kopple, Cathy Caplan, Thomas Haneke, Lawrence Silk | Stars: Lewie Anderson, R.J. Bergstrom, Ron Bergstrom, Wayne Goodnature
Votes: 1,011 | Gross: $0.27M
58. Paris Is Burning (1990)
R | 78 min | Documentary
A chronicle of New York's drag scene in the 1980s, focusing on balls, voguing and the ambitions and dreams of those who gave the era its warmth and vitality.
Director: Jennie Livingston | Stars: Brooke Xtravaganza, André Christian, Dorian Corey, Paris Duprée
Votes: 17,595 | Gross: $3.78M
59. H-2 Worker (1990)
Not Rated | 70 min | Documentary
Expose on the exploitation of workers in the Florida sugar cane industry.
Director: Stephanie Black | Stars: Jervis Anderson, George Cesvette, Belinda Goffe, Homer Heron
Votes: 31
60. Water and Power (1989)
57 min | Documentary
A moving meditation on industrialization, focusing on the eerily desolate Owens Valley in California, made arid by the diversion of water from there to the city of Los Angeles.
Director: Pat O'Neill | Stars: Joel Lorimen, Beth Block, George Lockwood, Megan Williams
Votes: 297
61. For All Mankind (1989)
Not Rated | 80 min | Documentary, History
An in-depth look at various NASA moon landing missions, starting with Apollo 8.
Director: Al Reinert | Stars: Jim Lovell, Ken Mattingly, Russell Schweickart, Eugene Cernan
Votes: 6,524 | Gross: $0.77M
62. Beirut: The Last Home Movie (1987)
123 min | Documentary
Documentary about the Bustros Family
Director: Jennifer Fox
Votes: 51
63. 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
64.
American Masters (1985– )
Episode:
Arthur Miller: Private Conversations
(1985)
TV-14 | 82 min | Documentary, Biography, History
Playwright Arthur Miller, director Volker Schlöndorff and actor Dustin Hoffman are seen creating the Roxbury Productions and Punch Productions teleplay Death of a Salesman (1985).
Director: Christian Blackwood | Stars: Arthur Miller, Dustin Hoffman, John Malkovich, Volker Schlöndorff
Votes: 134
65. Seventeen (1983)
Not Rated | 120 min | Documentary
In their final year at Muncie's Southside High School, a group of seniors hurtles toward maturity with a combination of joy, despair, and an aggravated sense of urgency. They are also ... See full summary »
Directors: Joel DeMott, Jeff Kreines
Votes: 220
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