Browse popular Documentary movies
Real testimonials from five Latin American immigrants who share their experiences and challenges, recounting what it has been like to build a new life in Brazil from their different perspectives in the city of Foz do Iguaçu. Individual experiences are revealed and reflect on belonging, identity, and the constant reinvention of those who cross territories in search of new opportunities.
The Catskills is a humorous and nostalgic tribute to what became affectionately known as the Borscht Belt. Stand-up comedians share their best shtick while former waiters, entertainers, and dance instructors recount tales of the family-run resorts and bungalows that inspired films like Dirty Dancing. Featuring home movies, publicity photos, postcards, and menus, this time capsule provides an overview of Jewish immigration to New York going back to the early twentieth century. Director Lex Gillespie (The Mamboniks, SFJFF 2019) maps the development of the vacation destination, from a refuge for working-class Jews seeking a respite from poverty in overcrowded New York City tenements to a lavish summer playground for the affluent.
At the end of the 1970s, German Dominican priest Gerhard Pöter began working with Salvadoran civil war refugees. In the parish of 22 April in Soyapango, social projects gradually emerged, mainly in the field of education, which were supported almost from the outset by various groups from Germany and other European countries. Even today, four years after Father Gerhard's death, the social projects continue, as do the lively contacts and exchanges with groups such as the Freundeskreis El Salvador (Friends of El Salvador) from Braunschweig.
This documentary is an approach to the experience of seeing and listening to the trajectory of Narcisa Hirsch, a pioneer of Argentine experimental cinema, but who has also been part of the happenings and performances of the 1960s and 1970s.
A film presenting the evolution of a child who likes to eat and the way family and friends speak to her over the years. Mancacioasa is a very personal found footage student film that explores the psychological effects of "Fat Shaming".
Markus Becker is hit by a car, dragged along, his head bashed on a curb and he falls into a coma. The doctors don’t believe that the 45-year-old will survive the next five to ten days. His father makes preparations for the funeral. Markus’ brother Michael refuses to accept this fate and begins an extraordinary battle. In his brother’s apartment he seals Markus’ clothes to preserve the smell. He records the neighbors’ voices. Every day, Michael exposes his brother to things that are familiar and films everything that is part of Markus’ life with a DV camera. He wants to keep him in his world and to bring this world to his bedside. He documents every step of Markus’ development, risking his own life in the process, wishing that his brother will one day regain the ability to lead a normal life. This full-length documentary accompanies Michael Becker for 10 years on his unwavering and creative mission to bring his brother Markus back to life.
The first film about second-generation Swiss immigrants: A Turkish ice hockey player explains why, in Switzerland, he could only fall in love with an Italian. A young Italian woman explains why she prefers to rap in English. A hip-hop artist with Hispanic origins fights for his political rights and the director reminisces on how, despite his Arabic roots, he's been persecuted as a Jew. Babylon 2 reflects the rise of a new urban culture in Switzerland, which is instigated by the second generation of immigrants and the help of electronic media.
Documentary on the life and times of one of the most prominent Brazilian samba composers, Cartola (Angenor de Oliveira).
An Iranian man uses the guiding principles of two ancient crafts to overcome the wounds of a broken family and discover the secret to achieving perfection.
An unpredictable documentary from a fascinating storyteller, Agnès Varda’s last film sheds light on her experience as a director, bringing a personal insight to what she calls "cine-writing," traveling from Rue Daguerre in Paris to Los Angeles and Beijing.
What does what we teach children inside and outside the classroom reveal about the world? How can we effectively and meaningfully communicate to them what is happening around them? The news that Teacher Celeste will leave her class has filled the children with sadness, as she has only a few days left before moving to another school. Together, they experience a September full of movements, directions, and revelations, in the beloved universe of a classroom in a Mexican village.
In the heart of a Lima in transformation towards a new normal, a group of young filmmakers delves into the back rooms of three shopkeepers at the emblematic intersection of Quilca and Camaná. The nostalgia, yearnings and challenges of everyday life weave a story about the random passing of time and the aspirations shared by characters and filmmakers in the search for an uncertain future.
Swim Sistas follows the swimming journeys of three very different Black girls/women as barriers are broken down in the water.
The creative chemistry of four brilliant artists —drummer John Densmore, guitarist Robby Kreiger, keyboardist Ray Manzarek and singer Jim Morrison— made The Doors one of America's most iconic and influential rock bands. Using footage shot between their formation in 1965 and Morrison's death in 1971, it follows the band from the corridors of UCLA's film school, where Manzarek and Morrison met, to the stages of sold-out arenas.
In the privacy of her own home, a Syrian woman shares her thoughts and feelings, talking about her existence, and her desire to be open about her sexuality in a conservative society.
Documentary about Indexi, a Bosnian and former Yugoslav rock band popular in Yugoslavia. It formed in 1962 in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and disbanded in 2001 when singer Davorin Popović died.
César Calvo was one of the great contemporary Peruvian poets belonging to the Generation of the 60s. His dazzling and moving, refined and musical poetry; profiled him as a character who over the years has become a legend.
