Top Rated Documentary Movies on Free Services - Page 207

Black Indians: An American Story

2004

Black Indians: An American Story

2004
6.2
James Earl Jones narrates this examination of the historical relationship between American Indians and African-Americans, who often merged their cultures to work and live together while mainstream white society shunned them. Through illuminating anecdotes and interviews, descendants of fused black and Indian families discuss the complications of their mixed heritage and how their culture was largely erased on official documents.
Looking for Larisa

2012

Looking for Larisa

2012
6.8
One day filmmaker Andres Pardo stumbles across 2,000 feet of Super 8 family footage at a flea market. Featured in all these 1970's home movies is a lovely young blond-haired girl, Larisa. Teaming up with a photographer friend, Pardon decides to investigate, uncovering the fascinating story behind the footage.
The Diary of Jack the Ripper: Beyond Reasonable Doubt?

1993

The Diary of Jack the Ripper: Beyond Reasonable Doubt?

1993
6.5
A documentary about the uncovering of a diary supposedly belonging to the legendary serial killer Jack The Ripper himself.
21 Up South Africa: Mandela's Children

2008

21 Up South Africa: Mandela's Children

2008
6.2
Documentaries that revisit a group of children every seven years is brought to post-apartheid South Africa. Here, filmmaker Angus Gibson interviews 11 young people of various races and backgrounds as they turn 21. The result is an insightful look at how they've changed and the issues they face such as crime, race relations, education and the AIDS epidemic which has killed three of the original 14 children.
Metamorphoses

2013

Metamorphoses

2013
6.5
Documentary about one of the most severely contaminated regions in the world, located in the southern Ural Mountains.
American Mystic

2010

American Mystic

2010
5.5
Documentary about three young people, each a member of a fringe religious community, who have separated themselves from mainstream America in order to live immersed in their faiths. Set against depressed but quintessentially American landscapes - the former revivalist district of upstate New York, old mining country in the mountains of northern California, and the stark badlands of South Dakota - the film interlaces three very intimate, apolitical portraits of young individuals trying to lead more extraordinary, mystical lives.
Sound of Heimat - Deutschland singt

2012

Sound of Heimat - Deutschland singt

2012
8.5
In the musical road movie, New Zealand musician Hayden Chisholm sets out on a journey of discovery across Germany in search of German folk music. As a stranger with an unbiased view of German culture and an open ear for the lyrics and melodies of modern and traditional musicians, he encounters a lively diversity of regional customs and activities. In Sound of Heimat – Deutschland singt, directors Arne Birkenstock and Jan Tengeler also shed light on the ambivalent attitude toward folk music and the understanding of one's own homeland that is so widespread in Germany. These are topics that have been forgotten in many places due to past ideologization and the "ideal world" of the Musikantenstadl.
Michael Jackson: The Inside Story - What Killed the King of Pop?

2010

Michael Jackson: The Inside Story - What Killed the King of Pop?

2010
6.5
Documentary that traces the last months of Michael Jackson's life, examines the circumstances that led to his untimely passing, and explores the controversy surrounding a death that many say could have been prevented.
Whisky: The Islay Edition

2010

Whisky: The Islay Edition

2010
5.2
“WHISKY: the Islay edition” yearns for a chesterfield and a glass of whisky as it transports the viewer to a sanctum of the Scottish gold. It doesn’t just inform us about whisky, it evokes the finesses of the liquor, the art of tasting, the craft of distillation, the history of the distilleries and the richness of the isle of Islay itself. The documentary takes us to a small Scottish island called Islay. It is the home of 8 world famous whisky distilleries. The complete process of making whisky is divided in 8 parts. The 8 distilleries represent each a part of this process, in order of appearance: Ardbeg, Kilchoman, Bowmore, Bunnahabhain, Caol Ila, Laphroaig, Lagavulin and Bruichladdich.
Soccer City

2011

Soccer City

2011
6.8
Race. Class. Poverty. Faith. Hope. Soccer. Welcome to Alex––the largest and most notorious township in South Africa where soccer is lived, not played. With the first ever FIFA World Cup in Africa as a backdrop, witness the cultural importance of soccer in township South Africa through the lives of five individuals born and raised in the oldest and toughest of South Africa’s townships, Alexandra, locally known as ‘Alex.’ Seventeen-year-old dribbling sensation Nancy ‘Maradona’ Majola, former national team player Isaac ‘Shakes’ Kungwane, current professional Patrick ‘Raiden’ Phungwayo, 69-year-old Jacob ‘Babes’ Bopape one of the first professional soccer players in South Africa, and scholarship-winner Ricardo ‘Rico’ Kutumela will all take you into a culture dominated by soccer and into a storied township still largely unknown and misunderstood even among South Africans.
Gut Renovation

2013

Gut Renovation

2013
4.5
Su Friedrich's personal essay charting the destruction of Williamsburg, Brooklyn. After living in the neighborhood for 20 years, the filmmaker was one of many who were forced out after the city passed a rezoning plan allowing developers to build luxury condos where there were once thriving industries, working-class families, and artists. Filmed over many years, it is a scathing portrait of one neighborhood's demolition and transformation.
The Unbeatable Bruce Lee

2001

The Unbeatable Bruce Lee

2001
8.4
A look at the life of superstar Bruce Lee.
Waiting for Fidel

1975

Waiting for Fidel

1975
5.8
This feature-length documentary from 1974 takes viewers inside Fidel Castro's Cuba. A movie-making threesome hope that Fidel himself will star in their film. The unusual crew consists of former Newfoundland premier Joseph Smallwood, radio and TV owner Geoff Stirling and NFB film director Michael Rubbo. What happens while the crew awaits its star shows a good deal of the new Cuba, and also of the three Canadians who chose to film the island. (NFB)
The Revolutionary

2011

The Revolutionary

2011
5
Documentary about the life of Sidney Rittenberg, an American who spent over 30 years in China and was an active participant in the Chinese communist revolution.
Bible Quiz

2013

Bible Quiz

2013
6.8
Mikayla hopes to win the National Bible Quiz championship and the heart of her team captain.
Salma

2013

Salma

2013
5
When Salma, a young Muslim girl in a south Indian village, was 13 years old, her family locked her up for 25 years, forbidding her to study and forcing her into marriage. During that time, words were Salma’s salvation. She began covertly composing poems on scraps of paper and, through an intricate system, was able to sneak them out of the house, eventually getting them into the hands of a publisher. Against the odds, Salma became the most famous Tamil poet: the first step to discovering her own freedom and challenging the traditions and code of conduct in her village.
Virgin Tales

2012

Virgin Tales

2012
5
Evangelical Christians are calling out for a second sexual revolution: chastity. As a counter-movement of the attitudes and practices of today's culture, one in six girls in the US has vowed to remain 'unsoiled' until marriage. But the seven children of the Wilson family, founders of the Purity Ball, take this concept of purity of body and mind one step further; even their first kiss will be at the altar. For two years, the filmmakers follow the Wilson offspring as they prepare for their fairytale vision of romance and marriage and seek out their own prince and princess spouses. In the process, a broader theme emerges: how the religious right is grooming a young generation of virgins to embody an Evangelically-grounded Utopia in America.
Strand, Under the Dark Cloth

1989

Strand, Under the Dark Cloth

1989
6.2
This documentary studies the life and artwork of photographer Paul Strand, using his own compelling photography as well as interviews with his friends, acquaintances and third wife. Documentarian John Walker explores the various influences Strand encountered throughout his life that helped him to develop as an artist. His personal life and relationships are examined and shed light on the inner working of this man who achieved great renown while hiding "under the dark cloth."
The Forgotten Village

1941

The Forgotten Village

1941
5.2
Documentary examining the conflicts between the coming of modernization and the traditional culture of a small Mexican village.
Hellfire: A Journey from Hiroshima

1986

Hellfire: A Journey from Hiroshima

1986
5.5
Japanese husband and wife muralists Iri and Toshi Maruki are known for their depictions of the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Their collaborative relationship is unique: one paints a painfully detailed vision of the victims of the atomic blast; the other conceals the carefully delineated brush strokes with a grey-black ink “wash.” The first artist restates the specifics of the image; the second re-conceals. Through the repetition of this process, the work emerges.