New Documentary Movies on Free Services - Page 492

When Women Kill

1983

When Women Kill

1983
6
When Women Kill is a poignant documentary exploring the shocking violence that seven women fell victim to at the hands of men. The program profiles the battered women who speak frankly about the cruel abuse, threats, and fears, and the overassertive men who led them down a one-way path to death and destruction. The film features in-prison footage, including a segment depicting a confession by a follower of the notorious Charles Manson, Leslie Van Houten, who was convicted of two killing sprees and committed to life in prison.
The Navigators: Pathfinders of the Pacific

1983

The Navigators: Pathfinders of the Pacific

1983
In hand-built, double-hulled canoes sixty feet long, the ancestors of today's Polynesians sailed vast distances using only the waves, the stars, and the flights of birds to navigate. Anthropologist Sanford Low visits the Caroline Islands of Micronesia to meet Mau Piailug, the last navigator initiated on his island and one of few men still practicing this once-essential art. He demonstrates his skill by sailing a replica canoe 2500 miles from Hawaii to Tahiti with no modern navigational instruments.
David Hockney: Joiner Photographs

1983

David Hockney: Joiner Photographs

1983
David Hockney is unquestionably one of the most passionate and versatile experimental artists on the contemporary scene. In the late 1970s the British artist developed a pioneering concept which also changed his perspective on painting – his “joiners”. In this film, the artist himself talks about this photographic approach, a kind of Cubism-inspired photocollage which explores the space-time continuum. Hockney allows the viewer to share in the creative “joiner” process and leads us step by step into the universe of his artistic creativity.
Say Amen, Somebody

1983

Say Amen, Somebody

1983
6.2
Documentary on modern black gospel music, focusing on the pioneering Rev. Thomas Dorsey and Mother Willie Mae Ford Smith
Angels of War

1983

Angels of War

1983
6.2
ANGELS OF WAR captures the experiences of villagers who lived through the Papua New Guinea campaign. Caught up in a war they could not understand or influence, they had no choice but to obey whoever held the gun. Their homes were bombed. They starved as refugees in the bush. They were conscripted as carriers. They fought as infantrymen and guerillas. In Japanese-held areas, they were forced to collaborate or risk execution; some were later hanged for treason by the Australians.
Love Letters

1983

Love Letters

1983
Citations from love letters and poems written between Karl Marx and his fiancée Jenny von Westphalen during their teenage years are combined with images, paintings, and beautiful, atmospheric landscapes of places connected to Marx.
Making Utu

1983

Making Utu

1983
Making of documentary on the set of New Zealand's first epic Utu (1983), working with little money and dealing respectfully with matters of cultural protocol. Merata Mita discusses complex issues of inter-cultural conflict.
Black Wax

1983

Black Wax

1983
Gil Scott-Heron, one of rap's earliest (and unfortunately unknown) pioneers, gets his full due in Black Wax, the 1982 documentary recently reissued on video. Interspliced between performance footage of Scott-Heron and his Midnight Band are vignettes of him walking around Washington D.C., spouting his views on then-President Reagan (dubbed "Ray-Gun") and generally dropping knowledge. The live performance features many of Scott-Heron's best-known hits, including "Johannesburg," "Winter in America," and "Angel Dust," among others. Warm, intelligent, and insightful throughout, Scott-Heron is clearly enjoying himself and the opportunity to espouse his views. A must for any fan of Scott-Heron's, and definitely worth a look for fans of the funkier jazz music of the mid to late 1970's.
The World of 'The Dark Crystal'

1983

The World of 'The Dark Crystal'

1983
6.6
A documentary which explores the making of Jim Henson and Frank Oz's 1982 fantasy film 'The Dark Crystal', which originally aired on PBS in the United States on January 9, 1983. This one-hour documentary details the technological innovations in the field of animatronics, art design, film making, and Henson's own brand of magic. Requiring 5 years of production, including over two years of pre-production, The Dark Crystal was inspired by the imagination of artist Brian Froud and conceived by scores of talented designers, builders, technicians, and performers. The World of the Dark Crystal shows how Jim Henson's Creature Shop in London and the Muppet Workshop in New York brought Brian Froud's art and Jim Henson's vision to life.
Mammy Water: In Search of the Water Spirits in Nigeria

1983

Mammy Water: In Search of the Water Spirits in Nigeria

1983
Mammy Water is a pidgin English name for a local water goddess worshipped by the Ibibio, Ijaw, and Igbo speaking peoples of southeastern Nigeria. The water goddess traditionally gives wealth and children, compensates for hardships, and is sought in times of illness and need, especially by women. Her various cults are led, predominantly, by priestesses.
Gogodala: A Cultural Revival?

1983

Gogodala: A Cultural Revival?

1983
This film examines the implications of the Australian colonial era for the Gogodala people of the Fly River Delta, Western Papua New Guinea. Excessive missionary zeal, tolerated and encouraged by the government, contributed to the almost total destruction of Gogodala art and culture. More recently, an indirect grant from the Australian government has enabled the people to reconstruct a traditional longhouse, along with a new meaning and function: as a cultural center.
Hopi: Songs of the Fourth World

1983

Hopi: Songs of the Fourth World

1983
A compelling study of the Hopi that captures their deep spirituality and reveals their integration of art and daily life. Amidst beautiful images of Hopi land and life, a variety of Hopi — a farmer, a religious elder, a grandmother, a painter, a potter, and a weaver — speak about the preservation of the Hopi way. Their philosophy of living in balance and harmony with nature is a model to the Western world of an environmental ethic in action.
The Indomitable Teddy Roosevelt

1983

The Indomitable Teddy Roosevelt

1983
5
Theodore Roosevelt was America's 26th president and a larger-than-life legend whose incredible story must be seen to be believed. Narrated by George C. Scott, this documentary weaves extremely rare archival footage with meticulous recreations alongside the music of John Philip Sousa in a dynamic panorama of the great events of Teddy Roosevelt in the early years of the 20th century.
Water and the Dream of the Engineers

1983

Water and the Dream of the Engineers

1983
Documentary where rich social history frames a spirited debate on the development of water infrastructure throughout the USA.
When You Wore a Tulip and I Wore a Big Red Rose

1983

When You Wore a Tulip and I Wore a Big Red Rose

1983
In the early 1980s, documentary filmmaker Stephen Schaller was instrumental in the rediscovery and restoration of The Lumberjack (1914), the oldest surviving film made in Wisconsin, and produced by a group of itinerant filmmakers who traveled from town to town making "local talent" pictures. Schaller's lovely and sometimes deeply emotional, 63-minute journal/essay film offers a look at the making of the Wausau, Wisconsin classic, including interviews with the one surviving cast member and the relatives of others who appeared in the movie.
Art Pepper: Notes from a Jazz Survivor

1982

Art Pepper: Notes from a Jazz Survivor

1982
6
Saxophonist Art Pepper (1925-1982) lived the kind of jazz life only found in Hollywood movies. His prodigious talent led him to top gigs as a teenager, but drugs and attendant criminal activity knocked him out of commission for virtually all of the 1960s and early 1970s. This documentary, shot shortly after his searing memoir, {-Straight Life}, was published in 1979, shows Pepper in the full flower of a remarkable comeback. His third wife, Laurie, is featured prominently; they met in the drug treatment facility Synanon in 1969 and were married in 1974. She took over his business affairs and helped him write {-Straight Life}. Pepper tells his own story here, but the emphasis is on an evening's performance at a club in Malibu, with the musician in fine form, backed by a terrific trio. (Tom Wiener, Rovi)
Bix: Ain't None of Them Play Like Him Yet

1982

Bix: Ain't None of Them Play Like Him Yet

1982
Through interviews, archival footage, photos and classic tunes, learn about the remarkable career and troubled life of legendary jazz cornetist Bix Beiderbecke, who influenced countless musicians before alcoholism lead to his premature death. Close friends and associates such as Hoagy Carmichael, Charlie David and Louis Armstrong share their memories of Bix's abilities, playing style and personality.
Let's Spend the Night Together

1982

Let's Spend the Night Together

1982
5.8
The Rolling Stones' record-breaking 1981 North American arena tour documented by director Hal Ashby. Featuring the biggest Rolling Stones songs from the first 20 years - in the words of Mick Jagger, "a feel of what it's like to be there", as 20 cameras take you onstage with the band in this groundbreaking, dynamic tour.
Dark Circle

1982

Dark Circle

1982
5.7
Documentary about the nuclear industry.
First Contact

1982

First Contact

1982
6.5
First Contact is a 1983 documentary by Bob Connolly and Robin Anderson which recounts the discovery of a flourishing native population in the interior highlands of New Guinea in 1930 in what had been thought to be an uninhabited area. It is based on the book of the same name by the same authors. Inhabitants of the region and surviving members of the Leahy brothers' gold prospecting party recount their astonishment at this unforeseen meeting. The film includes still photographs taken by a member of the expedition and contemporary footage of the island's terrain. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.