Popular Documentary Movies on Free Services - Page 486

Jeff Wall: Retrospective

2007

Jeff Wall: Retrospective

2007
Jeff Wall is one of the most important and influential photographers working today. His work played a key role in establishing photography as a contemporary art form.
Life in Occupied Palestine: Eyewitness Stories & Photos

2008

Life in Occupied Palestine: Eyewitness Stories & Photos

2008
A wonderfully moving introduction to the plight of the Palestinians, in simple, everyday terms, with a captivating narration by eyewitness Anna Baltzer. Baltzer, a Jewish-American Columbia graduate and Fulbright scholar, presents her discoveries as a volunteer with the International Women's Peace Service in the West Bank, documenting human rights abuses and supporting Palestinian-led nonviolent resistance to the Occupation. Baltzer's presentation provides those interested in the issue with critical information and documentation that can be difficult to obtain through mainstream media sources, and to encourage informed action. Topics include checkpoints, settlements, Israeli activism, Zionism, 1948 War & refugees, censorship, the Wall, and environmental devastation. The granddaughter of Holocaust refugees, Baltzer works to address the injustices of today in light of those of the past. She is author of the book Witness in Palestine.
My Nose

2007

My Nose

2007
This personal documentary reveals the complexities of a single woman living in a beauty-obsessed world with her original yet imperfect nose. It's a tale that anyone who has ever obsessed over their own "imperfection" will easily relate to MY NOSE explores filmmaker Gayle Kirschenbaum's mother's preoccupation with her nose, the intricacies of the mother/daughter relationship, and asks what drives people into the plastic surgeon's office. Will she live happily ever after with the nose I was born with? Will she end up having a nose job? And how will her decision affect their relationship? Official Selection at dozens of festivals including the Miami Jewish Film Festival and the UK Jewish Film Festival.
Who Owns the Past?

2000

Who Owns the Past?

2000
This documentary, narrated by Academy Award winner Linda Hunt and directed by Jed Riffe, tells the story of how the discovery of a 9,000-year-old skeleton on the banks of the Columbia River near Kennewick, Washington, reignited the conflict between anthropologists and Native peoples over the control of human remains found on ancestral Indigenous lands.
St. Paul's Cathedral

1943

St. Paul's Cathedral

1943
A stately film about the history of St Paul’s Cathedral in London, with a focus on the architecture and individuals buried there, and the impact of the Blitz.
Arrows of Fire

2010

Arrows of Fire

2010
A father, his adult son, and two mates head off on a journey to discover the grittiest, most beautiful bush the country has to offer. Yet what they find is something they were not prepared for, confronting their own mortality. Arrows of Fire is more than just a chronicle of a picturesque ride in the Australian Outback. It takes four men on a journey into their physical and mental limits on their quest for life through adventure.
Voices in the Clouds

2010

Voices in the Clouds

2010
"Voices in the Clouds" is an intimate exploration of one man's quest to understand his heritage. At the heart of the film lies the celebration of family and cultural preservation. Through his journey, the film hopes to encourage viewers to carve their own path toward self-discovery.World Journal - "An ordinary Taiwanese American's root-searching journey..an extraordinary message to the world."
Antarctica Project

1988

Antarctica Project

1988
The film follows the first Greenpeace expedition to the Antarctic on board of the Ross Sea. The film is also about the attempts of the industrialized nations to parcel out the 'last continent'.
Storm Under the Sun

2007

Storm Under the Sun

2007
Storm Under the Sun is a documentary about one of the "political storms" by Mao Zedong that fell upon the intellectuals of China in the 50's. Centered around the Hu Feng Case, the documentary traces the synergy that generated such an event, Mao's personal involvement in every step, and various victims' reaction to and realizations following the humiliation and accusations.
Lights from Afar

1998

Lights from Afar

1998
Berlin, the German capital again, a few years after the fall of the Wall. The city in upheaval is also changing the lives of its inhabitants. A young photographer experiences these changes as a rupture, he looks into an unclear, unsettling future and increasingly feels like a stranger in his old city. He and his friends from the generation of the children of the Wall try to find a new identity without losing the old one. Young artists who fail the profitability test of the market economy. In his search, Robert Paris ends up far away, in India. Back in Berlin, he started developing photos again - the first in years...
Kinder sind keine Rinder

1970

Kinder sind keine Rinder

1970
Welcome to Shelbyville

2011

Welcome to Shelbyville

2011
Set in America's rural south, on the eve of the recent election a town deals with issues of immigrant integration and reckons with its segregated past.
Killer Volcanoes

1997

Killer Volcanoes

1997
Documentaries by Katia and Maurice Krafft feature some of the amazing footage shot by the renowned volcanologists, who perished in 1991 while filming a volcano in Japan. The duo documented more active and erupting volcanos than any other scientists in the world, and their dedication shows in Deadly Peaks and Killer Volcanos, two educational films that capture the scientists on the edge of a hot ash blast and floating on a lake of sulfuric acid. The films visit Mount Kilimanjaro and examine some of the less-known dangers such as carbon monoxide gas that builds under crater-formed lakes. They also take an in-depth look at the eruption of Mount St. Helens and the lengths to which people will go to save their communities. Venturing to places where most people would never dare, the Kraffts gave their lives to promote the study of volcanos and left behind a legacy of courage in the name of science. --Shannon Gee
Autumn Gem

2009

Autumn Gem

2009
Meet the "Chinese Joan of Arc," Qiu Jin (Qiu Jin ) (1875-1907), a radical women's rights activist who defied tradition to become the leader of a revolutionary army. Qiu Jin boldly challenged traditional gender roles and demanded equal rights and opportunities for women. She was the first woman to lead an armed uprising against the corrupt Qing Dynasty, for which she was arrested and executed. She became the first female martyr for China's 1911 Revolution and is celebrated as a national heroine today. While Qiu Jin is a familiar figure in China, she is largely unknown outside of the country. AUTUMN GEM is the first documentary feature on Qiu Jin in the U.S. Using scholar interviews, archival materials, and dramatic recreation scenes based on her original writings, AUTUMN GEM brings the story of Qiu Jin to life.
The Brass Ring

2008

The Brass Ring

2008
In the summer of 2002, a group of friends in rural Ohio set out to create their own Super-8mm zombie epic, inspired by a generation of regional filmmakers before them. Lead by William Schotten, a salesman and horror fan with no prior filmmaking experience, and J.J. Zetts, an I.T. consultant, the group is sure that success is at hand. Or is it...? This is their story... see first-hand how a loyal group of first-time filmmakers try to turn $7,500 cash into 90 minutes of raw, unbridled horror movie!
The Power of Choice

2007

The Power of Choice

2007
The amazing life story of Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman told through examples of the impact of his ideas here in the United States and throughout the world. For this program, the producers have been given exclusive access to the Friedmans and to their personal archive.
Tales of the Waria

2011

Tales of the Waria

2011
While many in the Western world view Islam as socially repressive, in Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim country, exists a community of biological men who live openly as women-- the warias. As four warias strive to find romance, intimacy, and acceptance, they encounter unique obstacles that force them to make extraordinary sacrifices to keep the ones they love.
Cancerpants

2011

Cancerpants

2011
Told with courageous humor and unflinching candor, cancerpants tells the story of spirited and self-aware 36-year-old Austinite Rochelle "Ro" Poulson's battle to stay strong after an unexpected diagnosis of stage III breast cancer. Unfolding in intimate diary style cancerpants charts Ro and her partner Julie's emotional odyssey as they engage their entire circle of friends, family and local community to aid Ro's quest to find meaning, life enrichment and personal growth.
Soap and Water

2009

Soap and Water

2009
Three women are slaving away in a laundry in Hamburg. Their wages are low but they cope with their everyday lives with dignity − and find a quantum of happiness from time to time.
A Jumpin' Night in the Garden of Eden

1987

A Jumpin' Night in the Garden of Eden

1987
A Jumpin' Night in the Garden of Eden was the first film to document the klezmer revival, tracing the efforts of two founding groups, Kapelye and Boston's Klezmer Conservatory Band, to recover the lost history of klezmer music. For nearly a millennium, this vigorous and soulful music was part of the celebration of Jewish life in Eastern Europe. In the early decades of this century, the music took root in America. Klezmer musicians learned hundreds of tunes by ear and their ears were open to Gypsy, Ukrainian and Greek melodies of the old world, as well as to the new sounds of American jazz. Music born in Eastern Europe lived on in the imaginations of composers for New York's Yiddish theater, men whose tunes entered the mainstream through such unlikely adapters as the Andrew Sisters. Eventually Klezmer went underground as its audience assimilated into mainstream American culture.