Top Rated Documentary Movies on Free Services - Page 479

Burma Diary

1997

Burma Diary

1997
This acclaimed documentary explores the revolutionary movement fighting for democracy in Burma and depicts how young people, in particular, are affected by the human rights abuses of Burma’s military government. Burma Diary focuses on the story of Tint Aung, a young Burmese man who was actively involved in the protest movement while in college. He is forced to flee from his home and take refuge in the jungles of the Burmese-Thailand border along with his wife and his two young daughters. As the film chronicles four harsh years of Tint Aung’s struggle to survive, it provides a passionate and at times heartbreaking study of the hopes of and the obstacles facing the Burmese democracy movement.
Murder In Paradise

2001

Murder In Paradise

2001
Stephen and Lynn Harvey left England for South Africa with their children, assuming a land of milk and honey. Their dreams ended in a bizarre tale of family betrayal and coercion to murder in a smallholding in South Africa’s industrial belt, the Vaal Triangle, south of Johannesburg.
The Family Who Vanished

2005

The Family Who Vanished

2005
Mr Chohan, his wife, her mother and their two baby sons were lured into a trap and the brutally murdered, covered up as a tragic disappearance in an attempt to hijack their £5million family business - intended to be re-purposed, to cover a drug ring by criminals.
The Fake Van Goghs

1997

The Fake Van Goghs

1997
Was the most expensive painting ever sold at auction, a fake? This documentary explores the authenticity of the "Sunflowers" painting by Vincent Van Gogh, bought in the late 1980s for a then record sum by a Japanese insurance company.
In Pursuit of the Siberian Shaman

2006

In Pursuit of the Siberian Shaman

2006
Long suppressed by missionaries and then by Soviet anti-religious campaigns, Siberian shamanism has experienced an unprecedented revival following the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the number of shamans continues to rise. But who are these new shamans? Are they tricksters, magicians, businessmen, or cultural activists? This film takes a behind-the-scenes look at a Buryat shaman living on an island in the Lake Baikal as he moves between intimate shamanic rituals performed for local clientele and shows performed at various resorts for Western tourists in search of "primitive" cultures.
Kiamichi Beast expedition 2

2022

Kiamichi Beast expedition 2

2022
The Kiamichi beast Oklahoma's is a 200-year-old legend, that is real.
Free Renty: Lanier v. Harvard

2021

Free Renty: Lanier v. Harvard

2021
FREE RENTY tells the story of Tamara Lanier, an African American woman determined to force Harvard University to cede possession of daguerreotypes of her great-great-great grandfather, an enslaved man named Renty. The daguerreotypes were commissioned in 1850 by a Harvard professor to "prove" the superiority of the white race. The images remain emblematic of America’s failure to acknowledge the cruelty of slavery, the racist science that supported it and the white supremacy that continues to infect our society today. The film focuses on Lanier and tracks her lawsuit against Harvard, and features attorney Benjamin Crump, author Ta-Nehisi Coates and scholars Ariella Azoulay and Tina Campt.
Spear and Sword - A Payment of Bridewealth on the Island of Roti, Eastern Indonesia

1988

Spear and Sword - A Payment of Bridewealth on the Island of Roti, Eastern Indonesia

1988
This traditionally ethnographic sequence film focuses on the negotiations betwen representatives of two families during a payment of bridewealth. In the past the husband's group would carry a spear and a sword to hang in the wife's house. Now, a payment is made as a substitute for the spear and sword. The payment of bridewealth is a long and complex ceremony in which representatives from the husband and wife's family engage in a heated negotiation process. The bride and groom are completely excluded from the negotiations and never appear in the film.
Releasing the Spirits: A Village Cremation in Bali

1991

Releasing the Spirits: A Village Cremation in Bali

1991
Cremation rites are the most elaborate rites of passage performed by Balinese householders. Poor families may wait years before accumulating enough resources to cremate their dead, who are buried in the meantime. In 1978 many more cremations than usual were carried out because of the great purification cermony, Eka Dasa Rudra, held at Bali's main temple, Besakih, in 1979. Religious officials recommended that all Balinese cleanse the island by cremating their dead, as part of the preparations for the great Besakih ceremony. Villagers of limited means pooled their resources to perform group cremations which greatly reduced the cost for each family. This film is about a group of villagers in Central Bali who cooperated to carry out a group cremation.
Sawyer County, 2020

2022

Sawyer County, 2020

2022
This survey of a cross-section of Sawyer County, Wisconsin residents in the immediate runup to the 2020 presidential election reveals a lot about the state of the state and the ever-increasing divide between neighbors.
Jack Has a Plan

2023

Jack Has a Plan

2023
When Jack, a man with a terminal brain tumor for 25 years, decides to end his life, his family and friends struggle to accept his decision. Jack's best friend documents his three-year quest to die a happy man.
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.
Dani Houses

1974

Dani Houses

1974
The film observes both round and square house construction techniques of the Grand Valley Dani. It shows how the ground is cleared, walls are made from boards, poles lashed together, and roofs being thatched. Though it follows the house-building process from beginning to end, one is left asking the question: What happened after the houses were built?
Dani Sweet Potatoes

1974

Dani Sweet Potatoes

1974
A study of the sophisticated process of sweet potato horticulture developed by the Dani. The film follows the Dani sweet potato cycle from clearing off the old brush and weeds from a fallow field to planting, harvesting, cooking, and eating. At that time the Dani had the simplest of tools - long pointed wooden poles used as digging sticks that are hardened in the fire and soaked in water - and they still used their stone-bladed adzes. (By now, most Dani use steel shovels, axes, and bush knives and make stone adzes only for the tourist trade.)
Holding Tightly: Custom and Healing in Timor-Leste

2019

Holding Tightly: Custom and Healing in Timor-Leste

2019
Healing in Timor-Leste is rarely straightforward. Timorese people acknowledge and embrace multiple pathways to healing in a complex interplay between spiritual care, comfort and personal connection. Through lifelong observation and learning, they trial a variety of practices and pass down their knowledge to the next generation. Holding Tightly observes seven approaches to healing in remote, rural and urban parts of the Baucau municipality in the country’s east, spanning contexts and experiences from the armed resistance era to the independence period.
American Royalty

2022

American Royalty

2022
The American Royalty docuseries showcases an in-depth perspective of the Miss America Pageant. Experience the hundred year history, influence, controversy, and evolution of this iconic institution.
The Assassination & Mrs. Paine

2022

The Assassination & Mrs. Paine

2022
One woman's unshakable connection to the JFK assassination continues to haunt her fifty years later.
Musher

2021

Musher

2021
Musher peels back the veil behind the bond that four women have between their dogs and the world of sled-dog racing. As each woman prepares for the Copperdog annual race, we reveal the intimate insight into the mushing community, devotion to that lifestyle, and how women influence the sport.
Kau Faito'o: Traditional Healers of Tonga

1999

Kau Faito'o: Traditional Healers of Tonga

1999
This is a documentary which not only shows the ancient traditional art form of healing, but also tries to capture the essence of being a traditional healer in an ever-changing environment. Traditional healers are shown collecting, preparing and administering herbal remedies that they have passed down from one generation to the next. Healers discuss where, why and how they gained their knowledge and why they choose to carry on age-old customs and practices despite the fact that Tonga is becoming a nation increasingly dependent on western medicine. Tonga's traditional healers are adapting to niches such as prenatal care and physical therapy. Interspersed throughout the film are beautiful scenes of water, agriculture, rainforest and people, all of which comprise current island life in the Kingdom of Tonga.
Her Name Came on Arrows - A Kinship Interview with the Baruya of New Guinea

1982

Her Name Came on Arrows - A Kinship Interview with the Baruya of New Guinea

1982
In the eastern highlands of Papua New Guinea, French anthropologist Maurice Godelier invites five of his Baruya friends and informants to his house to discuss Baruya kinship and rules of marriage. As Godelier poses questions, the kinship rules that provide the cohesive fabric of Baruya culture are brought to life. Abstract terms are given practical meanings as Godelier investigates Baruya customs of stealing wives, exchanging sisters for wives, stealing names and exchanging 'food for blood.'