Documentary Movies

star 10

Nasrin

2020

Nasrin

2020

star 10
Secretly filmed in Iran for over two years, Nasrin is an immersive portrait of human rights activist and political prisoner Nasrin Sotoudeh and Iran’s remarkably resilient women’s rights movement. Nasrin has long fought for the rights of women, children, LGBT prisoners, religious minorities, journalists and artists, and those facing the death penalty. She was arrested in 2018 for representing women who protested Iran’s mandatory hijab law and sentenced to 38 years in prison, plus 148 lashes. Narrated by Academy Award-winning actress Olivia Colman and featuring acclaimed filmmaker Jafar Panahi, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi, journalist Ann Curry, exiled women’s rights activist Mansoureh Shojaee, and Nasrin Sotoudeh.
star 10

The Long Shift

2014

The Long Shift

2014

star 10
A small town ice hockey team fights through their first season in an upper division. The players' dreams might have changed from childhood but their love for the sport does not fade.

76 Minutes and 15 seconds with Abbas Kiarostami

2016

star 6.8
Kiarostami as we have never really known him before, despite the transformative power of his many movies. Filmmaker and close friend Samadian avoids the talking heads of so many artistic memoirs to offer more candid clips of Kiarostami the man: lover of poetry, convivial with friends, engaging landscapes on and off screen, laughing with other artists. The artist and visionary emerges more clearly but so does a loving, wondrous man whom we will miss now as much as the auteur.
star 5.3

Our Universe 3D

2013

Our Universe 3D

2013

star 5.3
A documentary film using high quality stereoscopic 3D and exploring the secrets of our universe. All imagery is based on actual NASA data and astronomical research. The high-end stereo visual give audiences the first-hand experience of visiting real otherworldly landscapes. The 3D-team behind the Oscar-nominated "Pina" will bring the stars as close to you as no other documentary has ever done before.

The Gleaners and I: Two Years Later

2002

star 7.1
Agnès Varda’s follow-up to her acclaimed documentary THE GLEANERS AND I takes us deeper into the world of those who find purpose and beauty in the refuse of society, revisiting many of the original film’s subjects.

A Day in the Life of America

2019

star 8.5
Director Jared Leto crafts a sweeping yet intimate cross-section of America shot on a single July 4th in 2017 with 92 film crews fanning out across each of the United States and Puerto Rico to capture A Day in the Life of America. A gargantuan production shot over a single 24 hour period across the country, the film weaves a wide range of beliefs and backgrounds into a rich tapestry of life.

The Russian Woodpecker

2015

star 6.3
As his country is gripped by revolution and war, a Ukrainian victim of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster discovers a dark secret and must decide whether to risk his life and play his part in the revolution by revealing it.

Teen Spirit: Teenagers and Hollywood

2009

star 6
Teen movies have had a great impact on the movie industry - especially in the 80s. This documentary takes a closer look at the genre's origins and the impact it has made up till today.
star 5.2

BAP - Viel Passiert

2002

BAP - Viel Passiert

2002

star 5.2
Documentary about the rock group BAP from Cologne in Germany.

Stand Up & Shout: Songs from a Philly High School

2023

star 10
Documentary featuring Philadelphia teenagers from HIll-Freedman World Academy engaged in a unique songwriting collaboration that captures both the hard times they're living in and the joy that music brings.

Intimate Portrait: Natalie Cole

1999

star 5
One hour television documentary about the life and career of singer Natalie Cole which originally aired on Lifetime Television in 1998. Includes interviews with Natale Cole, Tony Bennett, Quincy Jones, Phil Ramone, David Foster, Chaka Khan, Luther Vandross, Maria Cole, Dan Cleary and narrated by Patrick Stewart.

Persona: The Film That Saved Ingmar Bergman

2018

star 8
In 1965 Ingmar Bergman filmed “Persona”, the cult film that brought together all of the Swedish filmmaker’s obsessions and became a turning point in his career.
star 6.2

Czech Peace

2010

Czech Peace

2010

star 6.2
From the makers of legendary CZECH DREAM, a hilarious documentary about a hoax hypermarket, comes CZECH PEACE, a new playfully explosive flm about the mayor of a small Czech village and his attempts to foil the American plan to build its 762nd military base right on his doorstep. The players in this story are everyone from villagers to George W. Bush, Condoleezza Rice, Barack Obama, peace activists and lobbyists representing American arms manufacturers. Can the Mayor of Trokavec (population 80) take the US on? CZECH PEACE shows the workings of geopolitics and the way they affect the little people. The personal clashes with the impersonal, the specifc with the universal, and an individual with the so-called great history.

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

2003

star 7.7
Hugo Chavez was a colourful, unpredictable folk hero who was beloved by his nation’s working class. He was elected president of Venezuela in 1998, and proved to be a tough, quixotic opponent to the power structure that wanted to depose him. When he was forcibly removed from office on 11 April 2002, two independent filmmakers were inside the presidential palace.

The Last of the Ferrymen

2023

A short documentary about how Taisto Kainulainen became a ferryman for the river of Vuoksi.

Nicotine - A Drug with a Future

2020

star 7
The number of smokers in Europe is declining, yet the tobacco industry is still making considerable profits. Electronic innovations such as e-cigarettes and tobacco heaters play a significant role in this. Both are said to be far less harmful than conventional cigarettes. But is the aromatic steam really not a danger to our health?

Death Grip: Inside Pro Wrestling

2007

star 5
An interview with WWE chairman Vince McMahon accents this look at pro wrestling, whose participants are more likely to die young than their counterparts in other professional sports. Drew Griffin reports.
star 6.1

The Specialist

1999

The Specialist

1999

star 6.1
Composed exclusively of the footage recorded by Leo Hurwitz during the trial of Adolf Eichmann in Jerusalem in 1961, A Specialist is a courtroom drama painting the portait of a zealous bureaucrat who has immense respect for the Law and hierarchy, a police official responsible for the elimination of several million people, a modern criminal.

Putin's Bears - The Most Dangerous Hackers in the World

2024

star 7.7
They call themselves Fancy Bear, Cozy Bear or Voodoo Bear. Elite units of the Russian secret services are hidden behind these code names. They are among the most dangerous hackers in the world. The bears were already in the computer of then-Chancellor Angela Merkel in 2015, interfered in the US election campaign in 2016 and are currently influencing the war in Ukraine. The makers of the successful YouTube channel “Simplicissimus” in co-production with funk and SWR are back and show the destructive potential of state hacking with this documentary. With the help of leading German hackers, cyberspace experts and a lot of humor, they delicately demystify the Russian bears: Who are the people behind them? How do they operate? And what makes them so incredibly dangerous?

When Truth Isn't Truth: The Rudy Giuliani Story

2023

The origins of the Brooklyn-born altar boy who leaned conservative, even as the civil rights era was flourishing all around him. Giuliani’s stark view of good and evil makes him a relentless prosecutor for the Southern District of New York.