Browse popular Documentary movies
Somewhere in Myanmar is a forest rich in amber and controlled by the Kachin Independence Army (KIA). Most of its inhabitants work in a mine, digging the earth night and days in the hope of finding the precious ore that will get them out of poverty. But on top of the excruciating hardship of the work, they also have to fear an attack from the army.
Multiforo Alicia is a space that constantly seeks to trigger rebellion, questioning, resistance, reflection and finally generate a self-managed organization for the inhabitants of Mexico City. It is the place where the others not within the market culture mainstream, fit in. This documentary tells us what it is and what´s the purpose of the existence of these kind of spaces.
A short, impressionistic documentary about the extremely precise process behind the creation of an autoclave (a reaction container) for a nuclear power plant. Otherworldly electroacoustic soundtrack by Oskar Sala.
The protagonist of Dajori (mother in Romani) is forty-five-year-old Marie Hučková, who lives with her husband in Varnsdorf. After her younger sister Iveta ends up on the streets with her nine children, she decides to take her own fate and theirs firmly into her own hands and attempts to break out of the vicious circle of poverty that characterises their hometown. This sensitive film, which captures three years of a newly formed family's life together, follows the small joys and daily challenges of caring for others and asks whether a mother's love can overcome the dysfunctional system in which socially excluded localities find themselves.
The story of the last sheppards of the Star Mountain Range in Central Eastern Portugal.
In the Mexican jungle, the jaguar prowls and haunts people's minds. While different perspectives on this nocturnal predator clash, a child who is gradually losing his sight approaches the animal.
A panel of real-life doctors discuss sexual hangups, misconceptions, personal prejudices and the ignorance of individuals when it comes to matters sexual. Using on-screen recreations, topics such as petting, contraceptives and sexual anxiety are addressed.
I was invited to film a ritual. One that can be shown to foreigners, to “dried-heads” like me. A child in the village watches Disney’s Fantasia on TV. He is interrupted. What the child lives when he dances? What am I able to see from what is shown to me?
AWAKE is a short experimental documentary about a liminal moment in the calendar - midwinter - observed by the inhabitants of a small rural village in England. A time outside time, magic is everywhere and anything is possible. Bearing witness to this turning point, the inhabitants gather for a wassail - a centuries old thanksgiving ritual in which folk gather to honour the slow return of the sun and bless the apple trees whose fruit are essential to the village ecosystem, not least the crumbles, juice and cider that sustains them throughout the year.
After a decade of struggle and misfortune Everton became the best side in the land. Even better than their all-conquering neighbours, Liverpool! They won the FA Cup, thrashed Man Utd 5-0, beat Liverpool, home and away, and then strolled to the league title with a record amount of points. They steamrollered the great Bayern Munich and won a first ever European trophy and, for a time, were probably the best side in Europe. We will never know for sure - because they couldn't prove it... This is the tale of a man with Everton in his blood, a team intent on greatness and a city united in defiance. A story told by all the heroes of the day - the men that made history.
A rare, in-depth artistic journey into the work of internationally acclaimed Swiss architect Mario Botta. The film explores Botta's ever growing curiosity and reflections on the contractions of society through his sacred spaces, a subject very dear to him. Why does globalized society feel the urge to build such spaces? The directors traveled to China, South Korea, Israel, Italy, and Switzerland to discover a passionate and tireless artist, his buildings, and part of his creative process. Botta is one of the few architects who has built places of prayer for three main monotheistic religions. After building many churches, chapels, and synagogue, he is now working on a mosque in China. Through his thoughts and his interaction with artists, colleagues, clients, and family members, the viewers have a glimpse of the man behind the Architect.
The picture is about the inexplicable property of a person to fill with energy and life even the most frightening and abandoned places. This is a portrait of the abandoned city of New Idrija and the last years of the lives of those who spent their youth in believing in an alternative version of the “American Dream”.
A short film about transvestiginal people who live, inhabit and 're-exist' in the Chapada dos Veadeiros, in the interior of Goiás. The protagonists are Gustavo and Gaé, trans men who open their lives and their skin to the eyes of the camera.
Focusing on key Arab films produced in the last 20 years. Férid Boughedir traces the development of the film-makers' concern to produce more socially aware cinema. Themes include the issue of Palestinian homeland rights and the nature of Arab identity. The film-makers also share a desire to develop a strong poetic tradition.
The story of Fantômas, the first villain of modernity, from his birth in 1911 as a novel character to his contemporary vicissitudes, passing through Louis Feuillade, André Hunebelle, surrealism and Moscow.
This film, produced in Indonesia and based on the old Japanese folk saying that "a man's happiness depends upon a knife, house, horse, wife, and singing bird," tells the story of the restoration of a young man to his rightful place in his society and nation, and depicts basic Indonesian traditions while outlining Indonesia's successful fight against malaria (with U.S. cooperation). The film follows Amin, a village youth who attempts to earn a living in the city. However, he is unsuccessful, and so he returns to his village to live with his wife-to-be, Marlina. Before the couple can marry, Marlina falls ill with malaria, and only after she is cured are they able to wed. The film was directed by Miriam Bucher and is a joint production of the U.S. Information Service (USIS) and Produksi Film Negara (PFN).
In Tanzania there is a growing clandestine market for albino skin, bones and hair as ingredients in potions that promise to make people rich. As a result people with albinism live in fear of being abducted or maimed. Jerome, a young karate master, has made teaching kids with albinism to defend themselves his life's mission. Now he’s determined to take one of them to a world championship in Japan.
What does it take to save a student? Every year, hundreds of thousands of teenagers in the United States quit high school without diplomas – an epidemic so out of control that nobody knows the exact number. What is clear is that massive dropout rates cripple individual career prospects and cloud the country’s future. At Houston’s Sharpstown High, once a notorious “dropout factory,” a high-stakes experiment is underway to rescue students from the edge. FRONTLINE spent a semester immersed in Sharpstown High to produce an unforgettable portrait of four students in crisis and the teachers, counselors, and principal waging a daily, personal struggle to get them to graduation. A troubling and inspiring journey through the maze of an inner city high school, Dropout Nation investigates the causes, challenges, and potential solutions of a national emergency.
A film about Pavel Kushnir — a musician who refused to compromise, in art or in conscience. A “great little man,” as his friends describe him, Pavel played sublime music for two elderly women in an empty community hall with the same devotion he would have brought to Carnegie Hall. He wrote extraordinary novels and dared to protest, fully aware of the consequences. In 2024, Pavel Kushnir died in a prison in Birobidzhan.
