Popular Documentary Movies on Free Services - Page 223

The Jump

2020

The Jump

2020
7.3
In the Cold War years of the 1970s, an American patrol boat meets a Soviet ship off the east coast of the United States for talks about fishing rights in the Atlantic. In the midst of this, while Russian commanders are aboard the U.S. Coast Guard vessel where the talks are being held, a Lithuanian sailor jumps across the ten feet of icy water separating the boats. Crash-landing on the deck of the American ship, he desperately begs for asylum. Though they try, the Americans ultimately fail to provide protection and the Soviets are allowed to capture him and brutally return him to their vessel. Thus begins a stranger-than-fiction story of imprisonment, discovery, fame, and freedom. Through rare archival footage and a dramatic first-person re-enactment of that fateful day by Simas Kudirka, the would-be defector himself, this tale of one of the biggest Cold War muddles takes us on a journey of uncanny twists of fate, and the emotional sacrifices of becoming a universal symbol of freedom.
Bayard & Me

2017

Bayard & Me

2017
6
Bayard Rustin was the organizer of the The Great March on Washington and one of the leaders of the civil rights movement. In the 1980s, Bayard adopted his younger boyfriend Walter Naegle to obtain the legal protections of marriage. In this intimate love story, Walter remembers Bayard and a time when gay marriage was inconceivable. He reflects on the little known phenomena of intergenerational gay adoption and its connection to the civil rights movement.
An African Election

2011

An African Election

2011
7.4
Filmmaker Jarreth Merz directs this eye-opening documentary about the 2008 presidential elections in Ghana, chronicling the start-to-finish drama of campaigning in a nation that's long served as a measure of the continent's political stability.
Yuri Gagarin Conspiracy: Fallen Idol

2009

Yuri Gagarin Conspiracy: Fallen Idol

2009
6
On April 12th, 1961, the Soviet Union reports the successful launch, orbit and reentry of the first man in space, Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin pushing the cold war into a space duel. With the collapse of communism and the rise of freedom in the Russian Federation, recent access to documents in the Kremlin archives reveal a story intended to remain buried forever. Yuri Gagarin, the icon of triumphant communism known world over, was not the first man in space. He was preceded by Vladimir Ilyushin, an unsung hero and the man at the center of this decades old conspiracy....
Big Bang in Tunguska

2008

Big Bang in Tunguska

2008
7.4
At 7:14 am on 30 June 1908, the largest explosion recorded in human history to date reverberated throughout our planet. The force of the explosion was two thousand times that of the Hiroshima bomb. A woodland area the size of Luxembourg was eradicated in the Siberian taiga. This incident is recorded in history books as the Tunguska catastrophe. To this day, internationally renowned scientists of various disciplines argue about the causes of this disastrous explosion. The documentary discusses the latest and most controversial insights of these leading scientists. It identifies the reasons why Tunguska has evolved into a phenomenon and points out the curious results produced by this mythical event in culture and economy.
Coast Modern

2012

Coast Modern

2012
8
A core group of architects embraced the West Coast from Vancouver to LA with its particular geography and values and left behind a legacy of inspired dwellings. Today, architects celebrate the influence established by their predecessors.
This Mountain Life

2018

This Mountain Life

2018
6.2
A daughter and her 60-year-old mother embark on a 6 month, 2,300-kilometre ski trek through British Columbia’s rugged terrain.
The Center: Gibbons and Guardians

2021

The Center: Gibbons and Guardians

2021
A love triangle that incites jealous rage. An out-of-control wildfire that threatens lives and livelihoods. A sudden tragedy that upends a close-knit community. You might not expect such intense dramas at a small conservation center in the California desert, yet that’s exactly what you’ll get in the documentary, The Center: Gibbons and Guardians, which includes interview with Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE, founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and UN Messenger of Peace. Watch it to get immersed in the sometimes funny, sometimes startling story of the Gibbon Conservation Center. There, a determined group of people dedicate their lives to the conservation, study, and care of these endangered apes — and in the process, find courage, laughter, and even romance. The film will keep you riveted as the staff face one challenge after another. The lives of the apes intertwine with those who care for them to create a rich symphony that will make you feel how surprising and passionate life can be.
Colette

1951

Colette

1951
6.3
In conversation, in her Paris apartment, Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette, mime, dancer, novelist, wonders whether she should give the green light to a proposed film about the houses in which she lived. “I’m no longer photogenic,” she insists; nearly 80, marriages, affair with a stepson and intermittent lesbianism behind her, refusing now even to mention the arthritis that confines and assaults her, Colette is vivacious. Yannick Bellon’s captivating postmodernist film, as much a study of evanescence as any poem by Dickinson, segues into the film that Colette, a few years before her end, has just said she doesn’t want to do. Giving voice(over) to her own commentary, she goes back, first, to the home in Saint-Sauveur-en-Puisaye, Yonne, where she was born.
100 Miles to Redemption

2022

100 Miles to Redemption

2022
5
A poignant story about overcoming our demons and finding hope through darkness. Haunted by the affects of PTSD induced by fighting a war, the physical injuries that led to copious amounts of opiates, the emotional strain of his squad leader committing suicide, losing his best friend from overdosing on heroin, all combined with his drug addiction ultimately left Shawn losing all hope in life.
Juneteenth: Faith & Freedom

2022

Juneteenth: Faith & Freedom

2022
A Black American is troubled by the legacy of American slavery and the misuse of Christianity to justify it. He travels throughout Texas discovering how the Juneteenth reveals faith and a fight for freedom in an unjust society.
My So-Called Enemy

2010

My So-Called Enemy

2010
5
In July 2002, 22 Palestinian and Israeli teenage girls came to the U.S. to participate in a women's leadership program called Building Bridges for Peace. "My So Called Enemy" is a coming of age story about 6 of the program participants and how they reconcile their transformative experience in the program with the realities of life back home in the Middle East over the next 7 years. What unfolds is an emotionally-charged film about the human consequences of all conflicts--as seen through the eyes of 6 young women who are thoughtful, intelligent and articulate beyond their years.
A Message to the Stars

2021

A Message to the Stars

2021
7
For more than 50 years, we’ve been unsuccessfully searching for any evidence of intelligent extraterrestrial life. But, the discovery of thousands of exoplanets has meant the hope of finding them is higher than ever. If any messages could eventually be decoded and answered in any far, far away star, it could radically transform our consciousness as species and our place in the universe. A message from the stars changes life on Earth… forever.
Ten Meter Tower

2016

Ten Meter Tower

2016
7.1
10 Meter Tower is a short film taking place in a swimming pool with 6 cameras aimed at the tallest diving tower. All focus is on the 43 people between 9 and 78 years old. They have one thing in common, this is the first time in their lives they climb up to the platform to make the decision whether to jump or not. The situation itself highlights a dilemma: to weigh the instinctive fear of taking the step out against the humiliation of having to climb down.
20,000 Days on Earth

2014

20,000 Days on Earth

2014
7
A semi-fictionalized documentary about a day in the life of Australian musician Nick Cave's persona.
AirBNB Dream or Nightmare

2016

AirBNB Dream or Nightmare

2016
5
Airbnb has become a useful tool for millions, but some are not so enamoured with it. This documentary not only hears from those who have had nightmare experiences but also looks at the site's wider impact on rental markets and communities.
I Am Alfred Hitchcock

2021

I Am Alfred Hitchcock

2021
7.2
Interviews and archival footage weave together to tell the story of the Master of Suspense, one of the most influential and studied filmmakers in the history of cinema.
Something's Gonna Live

2010

Something's Gonna Live

2010
8.5
The Los Angeles Times Critics' Pick Something’s Gonna Live is an intimate portrait of life, death, friendship and the movies, as recalled by some of Hollywood's greatest cinema artists. Academy Award®-nominated director Daniel Raim (The Man on Lincoln’s Nose), captures the late life coming together of renowned art directors Robert Boyle (North by Northwest, The Birds), Henry Bumstead (To Kill a Mockingbird, The Sting) and Albert Nozaki (The War of the Worlds, The Ten Commandments), storyboard illustrator Harold Michelson (The Graduate, Star Trek: The Motion Picture), and master cinematographers Haskell Wexler (Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Medium Cool) and Conrad Hall (In Cold Blood, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid). These prolific artists have worked on a total of 400 films, garnering 25 Academy Award® nominations and 8 wins.
The Untameable Kirk Douglas

2017

The Untameable Kirk Douglas

2017
6.2
The story of actor Kirk Douglas, the man and the legend, one of the last stars of the Golden Age of Hollywood. An epic journey through the 20th century and the entire history of Hollywood. A testimony of the huge scope of his life and the scale of the myth. The untameable Kirk Douglas, the ragman's son.
Mata Hari: The Naked Spy

2017

Mata Hari: The Naked Spy

2017
6
100 years ago Mata Hari faced the firing squad as a convicted Dutch spy. It was at this moment that the legend of Mata Hari, the seductive spy, was born. Newly-discovered documents cast doubt on her guilt and reveal startling truths about her life. Mata Hari was a self-made woman whose boldness and sexuality threatened the male establishment. Most of what we've known about her until now has largely been myth. Mata Hari's challenges as an abused wife, single mother and a creative independent woman are familiar to women around the world. At the turn of the century, her struggles to attain sexual freedom, artistic expression, and liberation from the constraints of conventional society are the same ones women face today. She graced the cover of Vogue, performed all over Europe and left a coterie of smitten admirers in her wake.