Reviews - A to Z Index of Documentary Reviews

Six highly talented and very likeable African-American high school football players try to work their way up through junior college and four year college football teams to recruitment for the NFL. athletes who who dream of playing for the NFL. Filmmaker Nina Gilden Seavey follows their moves for six years, and we get to see to scores and who doesn't.

8: The Mormon Proposition is an eye-opening expose of how the Church of the Latter Day Saints (LDS), while masking their activities behind a conveniently convened coalition, campaigned against and defeated California law allowing and recognizing same sex marriage. Asserting beliefs that marriage should only be between a man and a women, Mormon leaders spent an estimated $25-million and mobilized …

Yael Hersonski's A Film Unfinished is a remarkable holocaust documentary comprised primarily of previously unedited historic footage that was shot by Nazi filmmakers, ostensibly chronicling daily life in the infamous Warsaw Ghetto during World War II.

A Man Named Pearl is a documentary about self-taught topiary gardener Pearl Fryar who transformed his three and a half acre yard in Bishopville, South Carolina, into a wonderland worthy of Alice, and became a local hero by attracting tourism to his impoverished community and county.

Bill Hicks, the famed American comedian and musician who died of cancer in 1994 at age 32, lives on in this documentary that uses archival footage of his childhood and his funny and irreverent stand up routines, as well as animated family photos and interviews with friends and colleagues to chronicle the comedian's life and career.

Filmmaker Janus Metz spent six months embedded with and documenting the experiences of Danish soldiers deployed to Afghanistan's Helmand Province, quite near Taliban stronghold positions. The film, which contains footage of the soldiers during life threatening shootouts and when they're off duty, is a fascinating study of how young men are...

Jennifer Arnold's inspiring documentary follows Chris Mburu, a United Nations human rights advocate who grew up in an impoverished household in rural Kenya, and who, after graduating from Harvard, established the Hilde Back Education Fund to pay for high school for deserving Kenyan children, as a way of paying forward the kindness of a Swedish...

Afghan Star follows three singing sensations as they make their bid to become the winner of Afghanistan's very popular reality TV show, one of the international spin offs of American Idol.

This rollicking documentary film makes you want to grab some air and join the fun.

America's obsession with beauty is the subject of filmmaker Darryl Roberts investigative documentary, which includes interviews with celebrities and models, image makers, young girls who're impacted by America's unattainable beauty standards, victims of the beauty battle and advocates for women to accept themselves as they are.

American Teen is a documentary that follow's several small town Indiana teenagers through their senior year in high school, showing how they cope with trying to fit in with their peers, deal with their parents and the pressures of growing up and decide who they want to be and what they want to do in the future.

Davis Guggenheim's Oscar-winning documentary focuses on the issue of global warming, as explained by former Vice President Al Gore in his one-man slide show.

Anvil! The Story of Anvil! documents the amazing careers of heavy metal musicians Steve 'Lips' Kudlow and Robb Reiner as they survive day jobs to rock for ages.

Clio Bernard uses an unusual amalgam of documentary and narrative styles to reveal the hard life and times, and body of work of the English working class playwright Andrea Dunbar, who wrote three highly acclaimed autobiographical plays before she died at age 29.

In this documentary film, Nanu, the polar bear cub, and Seela, the walrus pup, are among the Arctic creatures who suffer the effects of global warming.

In Art & Copy, director Doug Pray traces the birth of modern advertising to the marriage of art and copy, when designers and writers got together to talk concept. The film further presents advertising as a force to raise social values by enabling people - consumers - to dream big and do.

Director Dan Stone chronicles the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's 3rd Antarctic Campaign, in which two small and meagerly equipped ships set out to prevent the Japanese whaling fleet from illegally killing cetaceans in the Ross Sea, and internationally designated whale sanctuary. It's a David and Goliath thriller filled with adventure set...

Director Tricia Regan presents Elaine Hall who creates the Miracle Project to help her adopted autistic child. In the project, autistic kids (and their parents) create a musical, but the film focuses on the interaction of the kids with each other and with Elaine, whose patience and commitment are extraordinary.

This documentary film follows five young Ethiopian women who suffer from obstetric fistula, as they struggle to get treatment that will cure them and allow them to reenter the communities that have ostracized them because of their condition--which causes them to continually leak urine.

A pair of northern documentary filmmakers head south to check on the status of post-Katrina New Orleans and what has happened to the people who had to flee the flooding.

In Baghdad High, directors Ivan O'Mahoney and Laura Winter, give digital movie cameras to four Iraqi teenage boys from different religious backgrounds to document their senior year in a Baghdad high school.

French filmmaker Bertrand Normand's lovely, revealing portrait of five leading Russian ballerinas and their careers at St. Petersburg's Kirov Ballet.

Filmmaker Fredrik Gertten presents an intense courtroom documentary chronicling the international law suit brought by Nicaraguan banana plantation workers against the Dole Corporation for its continued spraying of Nemecon, a Dow chemical pesticide that was known to cause infertility in men.

A Brooklyn, New York, couple fights to keep land developers from razing their neighborhood to put up a dense development project, with the blessing of local government that evokes the rule of eminent domain to help the developers.

Journalist Ben Anderson spent two months embedded with U.S. Marines as they fought the in the largest (to date) offensive in the Afghanistan War. Called Operation Moshtarak, the strategy called for capture of Marjah, a small town with a large Taliban population. The film is Anderson's chronicle of that operation.

French filmmaker Agnes Varda focuses on herself in stylish mix of verite and reenactment in which she examines her childhood on the beach, her marriage to Jacques Demy and her career among cinematic greats such as Jane Birkin, Catherine Deneuve, Robert De Niro, Gérard Depardieu, Harrison Ford, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Jim Morrison and Philippe...

Kevin Clash, the puppeteer who created and stands behind the Elmo, the most adored Muppet, is profiled in this endearing documentary by Constance Marks and Phillip Shane.

A primer on the way lobbying works in Washington, giving undue influence to special interest groups with money to spend on influencing politicians who make policy decisions.

What is the "Best Worst Movie?" It's "Troll 2," a cult classic, and this documentary is all about how it was made, and how it made cult heroes of its fledgling stars.

A biographical documentary about Benazir Bhutto, the Pakistani political leader who was expected to win the 2008 election, but was assassinated. She was the first woman to rule a Muslim country. Following in her father's footsteps, she was a pillar for democracy. Her assassination sent Pakistan's politics into turmoil. She has been mourned...

Chris Bell's highly personal documentary follows the filmmaker's own path as he struggles to find his place in his family and define his personal goals with regards to athletics and the use of steroids.

In Billy the Kid, filmmaker Jennifer Venditti follows 15-year old Billy Price around his home town of Lisbon Falls, Maine.

Filmmaker Celine Dahnier's contemporary look at the free wheeling, do it yourself, 'no wave' cinema production that swept through New York's East Village during the 1970s.

Blessed Is The Match - The Life and Death of Hannah Senesh is the heartbreaking Holocaust story of a young Jewish women, Hannah Senesh, who'd emigrated from Hungary to Palestine, but parachuted into her native country to try to save the Jewish community--including her mother--from death at the hands of Hungarian Nazis.

Blindsight is about six blind Tibetan teenagers who, guided by seven-summit blind mountain climber Erik Weihenmayer and a team of Americans, set out to climb the Lhakpa-Ri peak of Mount Everest.

Blood in the Face is a documentary film about America's White supremacist movement, including the Ku Klux Klan, American Nazi Party, Aryan Nation and The Order.

In his investigation of the legend that Jesus survived crucifixion, married Mary Magdalene and fathered children who married French royalty, British director Bruce Burgess claims to present new evidence--including the mummified body of Mary Magdalene.

Body of War tells the heart wrenching story of how 22-year-old Tomas Young enlisted to serve his country and became a victim of the Iraq War.

An odd cast of outcasts who live in Bombay Beach, a remote and rundown town on the shore of California's Salton Sea, are featured in Alma Har'el's surprisingly lyrical documentary that features the music of Beirut and Bob Dylan.

Documentary filmmaker Jon Reiss travels around the world looking at graffiti art and the artists who risk censure, arrest and their lives to continue to decorate public property with what some call freely expressed and colorful art work and others call vandalism.

Born To Be Wild is thrilling and emotionally intense trip, via IMAX 3D, into the wilds of Borneo and Kenya, where two dedicated women, Birute Galdikas and Daphne Sheldrick, respectively, have each established an animal 'orphanage' to care for baby elephants and baby orangutans whose mothers have been killed, most often by poachers.

In this entertaining and eye-opening documentary, director Michael Moore travels across the United States and into Canada to investigate America's gun culture by questioning legislators and officials, NRA members and gun control advocates, victims of crime and ordinary citizens. The title refers to the teenage massacre at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado.

Filmmaker Frederick Wiseman takes his camera inside a boxing gym and documents what happens there. Brilliant cinema verite from the master of the...

Filmmaker Cindy Meehl follows Buck Brannaman, known as the original horse whisperer, as he travels around the USA presenting workshops in which he not only trains horses, but spreading words of wisdom about every aspect of life.

Using archival footage and clips from cinema classics, filmmaker Cass Warner Sperling profiles the Brothers Warner, her grandfather and his siblings, who founded Warner Bros. Studios and were among the original and most influential Hollywood movie moguls.

In The Business of Being Born , director Abby Epstein and producer Ricki Lake focus on childbearing practices in the United States in much the same way Michael Moore highlights America's health care system in Sicko . The film shows how the medical establishment deals with birthing and suggests midwifery and home delivery as a viable...

Filmmaker Michael Moore investigates and comments on the current economic crisis.

In Catfish, two people meet on the Internet, correspond regularly, develop crushes on each other, seek each other out -- and find that they're other than that which they stated they were and/or expected each other to be. The film explores the potential for and danger of deception on the Internet.

At age 55, actress Charlotte Rampling continues to fascinate in this insightful and intimate documentary profile.

While Bernie Madoff's malfeasance persisted, a whistle blower names Harry Makopolos, along with his team of investigators, not only collected evidence that proved criminal fraud, but presented that evidence to authorities -- who ignored him. For ten years. This is Harry Makopolos' story, presented as a documentary in film noir style.

Filmmaker Aaron Schock follows a family-owned and run circus as it travels through rural Mexico, setting up its tent in a field, entertaining locals who can afford the price of a ticket, packing up and moving on to the next town.

Circus is a six hours, six episodes epic documentary that follows the famous, highly acclaimed Big Apple Circus and its personnel on its 2008 touring season around the U.S.

Beekeepers haul their wooden bee hive boxes across the US, providing an essential service to farmers who rely on honey bees to pollinate their crops. However the entire enterprise and way of life is now threatened by a mysterious phenomenon called 'bee colony collapse disorder,' marked by the death and disappearance of millions of bees. By...

The Cool School is a documentary film about the work and lifestyle of the clique of modern artists who created the thriving contemporary art scene in Los Angeles during the 1950s.

A biodoc about the prolific Hollywood producer and director Roger Corman, whose B-movies started the careers of Robert De Niro, Peter Fonda, Jack Nicholson and many others -- many of whom are interviewed in Alex Stapleton's tribute film.

Filmmaker Louis Psihoyos follows animal rights activist Richard O'Barry in this shocker of a documentary that effectively exposes the annual secret slaughter of thousands of dolphins by a greedy community of Japanese fishermen, supported by a complicit Japanese government and international whaling commission.

Filmmaker Frederick Wiseman gives us his cinema verite perspective on the Crazy Horse, the legendary Parisian nightclub known for its beautiful nude dancers.

Yoav Potash's courtroom documentary follows the case of Deborah Peagler who spent 26 years in jail before her the sentence for the crime for which she was convicted was reduced to six years.

Crips and Bloods: Made In America is director Stacy Peralta's insider investigation of two infamous African-American gangs that rule South Central Los Angeles, the area where America's two bloodiest and most costly incidents of civil unrest occurred--27 years and three miles apart.

Filmmakers Barbara Brancaccio and Joshua Zeman return to their childhood home in Staten Island, NY, to investigate the 'Cropsey' legend that haunted their youth. Cropsey was a mythic boogeyman, wacko and satanist who supposedly lived in the ruins of the abandoned Willowbrook Mental Institution, using it as a base for abducting small children....

The Cross - The Arthur Blessitt Story is about the 40-year journey of Arthur, Blessitt, who walked around the world with a twelve-foot cross on his back.

Filmmaker Joe Berlinger exposes the Texaco/Chevron toxic waste contamination of thousands of square miles of the Ecuadorian Amazon and rain forest, and chronicles the efforts of local tribes and international conservation and human rights organizations to get remediation.

A brilliant selection of documented dances. For each, directors use their cameras to capture the fluidity of movement within the dancers' bodies, thereby drawing you into the dynamics and emotion of the choreography. These breathtaking films are pure pleasure for anyone who loves dance, and essential primers for anyone who wants to know more...

In Darfur Now, documentary filmmaker Ted Braun focuses on the genocide taking place in the westernmost region of Sudan. It’s a situation that desperately needs exposure.

French filmmaker Agnes Varda shot this remarkable documentary about life on rue Daguerre, the quiet Parisian street on which she lives, back in 1976. It is being released theatrically in New York for a one-week run in December 2011. A great film, long overdue for its American premiere.

Presenting a compilation of personal letters that were written to Adolph Hitler during his years in power, this documentary stands as unsettling evidence about how devoted Germans from all walks of life and various geographic settings were to their fuhrer.

Filmmaker Kurt Kuenne set out to make a memorial about his best friend, Dr. Andrew Bagby, with the intention of giving the tribute to Dr. Bagby‘s son, Zachary, so the boy--unborn at the time of Dr. Bagby‘s brutal murder, would know about the father whom he would never be able to meet.

This documentary film presents a harrowing exposé of child abuse by Catholic clergy.

Film review of Desert Bayou, a documentary about African Americans evacuated from post-Katrina New Orleans to Utah.

Desert of Forbidden Art - Movie Review of The Desert of Forbidden Art - 2010

A look at Tourette's syndrome through the eyes of Ariel Small, a suburban Chicago teenager who is afflicted with the disorder that causes involuntary tics and other hard-to-explain behavior. American Idol James Durbin, who also suffers from Tourette's, appears in the made to TV documentary.

In chronicling his own experiences retrieving discarded food from Los Angeles supermarket dumpsters, filmmaker Jeremy Seifert shows that America's food distribution is shamefully wasteful, with markets choosing to throw away perfectly good food rather than give it to the needy.

Freedom Riders is a documentary that chronicles the mission of and pays tribute to an important group of civil rights activists who played a major role in the nonviolent civil rights movement.

A documentary film about Brian Steidle, an ex-Marine who has become an activist committed to stopping the genocide in Darfur.

Disarm. is an in depth study and status report about the humanitarian effort, lead by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Jody Williams, to ban the manufacture and trade of all landmines, and to find, remove and disarm all of the landmines that are still endangering innocent citizens in war-torn countries around the globe.

Barbara Kopple's documentary about The Dixie Chicks chronicles the groups' come back after Natalie Maines made an off the cuff comment about the Iraq War and conservatives demanded radio stations stop playing their songs.

Filmmaker Mark Goffman follows ventriloquists at various stages in their careers at they strive for recognition and better gigs. Terry Fator wins fame and fortune on a TV reality show and gets his own theater in Las Vegas, while Dan Horn spends months entertaining cruise ship passengers and Kim Yaeger is stuck touring children's events. All meet...

Earth Day's the annual event staged to raise environmental awareness and boost efforts to establish policies and practices to sustain human life on Earth. Earth Days chronicles the environmental movement's advances during the 1960s and 70s, when the US nearly set up an eco-friendly, sustainable energy program. Then what happened?

El Ambulante (The Peddler) is about Daniel Burmeister, an Argentinian itinerant filmmaker who travels through his country, going from town to town, making artisanal movies with local residents as the players.

Eleven Minutes covers the real life fashion runway debut of Jay McCarroll, the designer who won the first season of Project Runway, the fashion biz reality TV show.

This documentary film, produced and narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio, is a global warning that global warming will soon make our planet uninhabitable for human beings.

A former hit man who worked for a Mexican drug cartel tells all about his life and career in Gianfranco Rosi's gripping documentary.

Werner Herzog goes on a trip to Antarctica where he films daily life among scientists and support staff working at McMurdo Research Station. Herzog's footage--including amazing underwater sequences--shows us the wonder of it all, while his first person narrative poses some quirky questions about humankind and nature.

'The End Of America' presents a ten step blueprint used by Hitler and other dictators to subvert democratic process and crush personal freedoms. It compares events leading to the Third Reich to what's happened in the U.S. during the past eight years. Very convincing. Should be required viewing all old enough to vote or join the army.

Journalist and filmmaker Thet Sambath documents his personal investigative journey to learn about the genocide in Cambodia and the infamous killing fields, where his father perished in 1974. With British documentarian Rob Lemkin, Sambath tracks down and interviews Nuon Chea, the senior surviving Khmer Rouge leader, aka Brother Number Two (second...

A music documentary telling the story of Fishbone and its members.

In Every Little Step , directors James D. Stern and Adam Del Deo chronicle the audition process for the 2006 Broadway revival of A Chorus Line , Michael Bennett’s legendary musical that shows a group of talented young ‘gypsies’ who are auditioning for a new musical show. Behind-the-scenes glimpses at Broadway's audition process are...

Directors John and Brad Hennegan follow six horse trainers as they put their amazing and beautiful thoroughbreds--including the fabulous and tragic Barbaro--through the paces leading up to the Kentucky Derby, the annual race that’s known as “the most exciting two minutes in sports.“

In 2008, the US government decided to build a 700-mile long fence along the 2000-mile border with Mexico. Intended to block terrorists and illegal immigrants from entering the country, the fence was built by 19 construction companies, 350 engineers, thousands of construction workers using tens of thousands of tons of metal -- at a cost of...

Flow: For Love of Water describes the global crisis we face as our fresh water supply diminishes due to pollution, privatization and corporate greed, and wastefulness. Experts predict if we continue to abuse our water resources, Earth will become uninhabitable and humankind will become extinct. Grass roots groups work to reverse the trend.

'Food, Inc.' investigates the industrial production and distribution of food in the United States by large multinational corporations such as Monsanto and Tyson, to the detriment of small independent farmers and to the overall quality of nutrition.

When her partner lay dying in a hospital bed, Charlene Strong was denied the right to sit by her side. She subsequently became a leading marriage equality activist. This is her story, and that of many other gays and lesbians who stand beside her, demanding equal rights.

A thoughtful and provocative documentary film that contends that Scripture and homosexuality are not mutually exclusive.

Forbidden Lies is nonfiction thriller about Norma Khouri, who wrote a best-selling nonfiction book about the 'honor killing' of a Jordanian woman. The story she told turned about to be a fabrication. Was Khouri motivated by wanting to raise awareness about 'honor killings,' or is she a cunning con artist who'll exploit anyone and any...

Helen Whitney's fascinating and moving treatise on the human capacity for forgiveness has been a social and political force in the wake of past and present instances of genocide and other violent crimes against humanity. Narrated by Jane Alexander, the film is calm revelation of private and public behavior.

FTA, a 1972 documentary that followed Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland's cabaret show as it toured US military bases during the Vietnam War, is a powerful anti-war statement that was almost silenced when the film went missing shortly after it's theatrical release. It has been restored, and is now available on DVD--with extras.

The 5-82 Battalion readies for deployment to Iraq with a three-week simulation in the Mohave Desert, where the U.S. military operates several replica Iraqi towns. It's Disneyland for war games!

A documentary film about the Zaballeen, a community of Egyptian Coptic Christians who make their living by collecting a recycling Cairo's garbage.

Edmon Roch's suspenseful spy thriller of a documentary about Garbo, the double agent who saved the world by helping the Allies win World War II, goes the distance with any narrative espionage story. And, it's all true!

The Garden is about the South Central Farmers, a group of dirt-poor Los Angelenos who took a track of urban ruin and turned it into an Eden--only to see the flora they so lovingly planted and tended be bulldozed by a selfish land owner. This film is about their dignity, determination and their fight to preserve their garden--and what they've done to recover from its loss.

A brilliant documentary appreciation of the legendary George Harrison, his life and mission. Directed by Martin Scorsese.

Rock Camp! follows four girls through a remarkable week of Rock 'n' Roll camp, where they learn to play instruments, form bands and perform for masses. But the Portland, Ore.-based Rock Camp for Girls teaches more than music--it provides a positive environment where hard work and determination pay off in empowering participants with...

Giuliani Time (2005) is a probing investivation of the origins of the man who would be president.

With on camera interviews and archival footage, filmmaker Peter Kunhardt profiles Ms. Magazine founder Gloria Steinem and chronicles her career as a leading activist for the recognition of women's equality.

Alex Gibney's documentary about the drug-influenced career of iconic countercultural journalist Dr. Hunter S. Thompson is a fascinating account of the 1960s and 70s.

Filmmaker Jeff Stilson follows comedian Chris Rock on his hilarious, yet disturbing and sometimes alarming investigation of the social implications and economic impact of African-American women's preoccupation with having good -- that is to say 'straight' -- hair.

In The Good Soldier, documentary filmmakers Lexi Lovell and Michael Uys interview a cadre of highly decorated soldiers who'd fought valiantly in America's wars -- from World War II to Iraq -- and, in doing so, have come to the conclusion that warfare neither a righteous nor effective way to resolve differences of opinion, ideology and/or national interests.

The NJ Nets auditions dancers aged 60 and older, and hires twelve of them to become the team's senior citizen hip hop squad to perform for basketball fans at home games.

Filmmakers Pamela Yates and Paco de Onis chronicle ongoing international efforts to bring José Efraín Ríos Montt, the Guatemalan dictator and military commander, to justice for his role in the genocide in that country. Yates provides prosecutors with archival footage she shot for a previous documentary as evidence of Montt's guilt.

Adam Yauch's doc about the 2006 Boost Mobile Elite 24 Hoops Classic basketball game held in Harlem's famous Rucker Park, with 24 top high school players from across the country competing to be number one.

Harvard Beats Yale 29-29 is Kevin Rafferty's nostaligic replay of the amazing playoff game between the undefeated football teams of the two Ivy League giants.

Jyll Johnstone’s documentary profiles the delightful, effervescent and beautiful Mimi Weddell who, at age 93, continues to work as an actress and model. She’s an inspiration to us all.

Connie Field's comprehensive and galvanizing seven-film, eight and a half hour documentary series about the defeat of Apartheid in South Africa focuses attention on different aspects of how South Africa's violent and heinous system of racial intolerance and abuse was brought to an end by the collective efforts of thousands of men and women...

Embedded with Marines deployed in Afghanistan, Danfung Dennis follows Sgt. Nathan Harris as he is wounded and returns home to North Carolina for treatment, rehabilitation and to try to reestablish his normal life.

HEY BOO: Harper Lee and ‘To Kill a Mockingbird,’ is a biographical documentary about Nelle Harper Lee, author of the popular literary masterpiece 'To Kill A Mockingbird.' The film uses archival footage of Lee and clips from her novel's movie adaptation to present Lee's life and legacy.

Filmmaker Dana Brown covers the world's most challenging professional surfing competitions, the Triple Crown competitions, held each year on the North Shore of Oahu. Great footage of world class surfers, with commentary by Brown and surfing world super stars.

Prompted by his mother's decline and death, filmmaker Mark Wexler embarked on a world-wide investigation of attitudes towards longevity. Examining his own outlook and beliefs, Wexler appears in the film, interviewing and interacting with Jack LaLanne, Ray Bradbury and other famous long life gurus, as well as the world's most senior citizens.

Hubble 3D is a documentary about NASA's final shuttle mission to repair the orbiting telescope that has given us such a revealing window into outter space.

Filmmakers Marshall Curry and Sam Cullman present the story of Daniel McGowan, sentenced to life in prison for crimes of arson committed against lumber companies and national parks in the name of the Earth Liberation Front, the now disbanded radical conservationist group deemed by the F.B.I. to be the biggest terrorist threat to the United States.

In I.O.U.S.A., filmmaker Patrick Creadon describes the depth of America s national debt and analyses its origins, tracing it back to 1835, during the presidency of Andrew Jackson, the last and only time that country had a balanced budget and zero debt. The nation is currently in the hole for 8.7 trillion dollars, and that sum is growing quickly.

In A Dream is about how muralist Isaiah Zagar transformed a rundown Philadelphia neighborhood. Shot by his son, Jeremiah Zagar, the film also explores the artist's troubled family dynamic.

Weissensee Jewish Cemetery in Berlin is an age old burial place that has survived war and social unrest, including the Holocaust. Britta Wauer's documentary profiles the place and establishes its significance in Jewish history and tradition.

Petra Seeger's documentary follows Nobel Prize winning neuroscientist Eric Kandel as he returns to Vienna in search of memories of his childhood. Kandel's meetings with citizens in today's Vienna are intercut with archival footage, family photographs and reenactments. The film focuses on Kandel's research on memory, and actually shows how nerve...

An alarming analysis of how the US financial establishment caused the global financial crisis of 2008, which at a cost over $20 trillion, caused millions of people to lose their jobs and homes in the worst recession since the Great Depression, and nearly resulted in a global financial collapse. This is a wake up call about conditions that still...

Filmmakers Steve James and Alex Kotlowitz follow The Interrupters, a group of social workers, reformed gang members and concerned citizens who are dedicated to preventing outbreaks of death-dealing violence among Chicago's inner city residents.

'In The Footsteps of Marco Polo' documents the great travel adventure of Frances O'Donnell and Denis Belliveau, who left their homes in Queens, NY to trace the 25,000 mile route followed by Marco Polo, the great 13th Century Venetian explorer.

Filmmaker Deann Borshay Liem was adopted from a South Korean orphanage by an American couple, but she discovers that her identity was switched during the adoption process. This film covers her efforts to find out what happened to the little girl whose identity she assumed when she was adopted.

In The Shadow of The Moon is a documentary film about NASA's moon missions and the extraordinary astronauts who manned them.

Michael Madsen's documentary explores the issue of nuclear waste disposal and what is being done to safeguard humankind against its present dangers and the possibility of a future nuclear doomsday.

Famous for her study of chimpanzees in Tanzania, Dr. Jane Goodall brings her compelling message of environmental conservation and animal rights to audiences in this biodoc that presents her personal story from childhood in England to her first encounters with chimpanzees in Africa, and on to her formal studies at Cambridge, her two marriages, motherhood and her travels (300 days a year!) for personal appearances to educate and help the people of the world through her Roots and Shoots programs.

Famous for her study of chimpanzees in Tanzania, Dr. Jane Goodall brings her compelling message of environmental conservation and animal rights to audiences in this biodoc that presents her personal story from childhood in England to her first encounters with chimpanzees in Africa, and on to her formal studies at Cambridge, her two marriages,...

Filmmaker Tamra Davis creates an intimate and moving biodoc about her former friend, Jean-Michel Basquiat, the gifted young graffiti artist whose career rapidly rose from New York street artist during the 1970s to art world celebrity from 1981 until the time of his death in 1988, at the age of 27.

Academy Award-nominated Jesus Camp is an extraordinary exposé about the well-organized Evangelical indoctrination of children in heartland America to become soldiers for Christ.

Filmmaker Jonathan Demme follows former President Jimmy Carter on a nationwide book tour for his highly controversial best selling book, Palestine Peace Not Apartheid, with Habitat for Humanity stops along the way.

A documentary on the life and career of Joan Rivers, made as the comedienne turns 75 years old.

Film review of Julien Temple's tribute documentary to the late Joe Strummer, frontman for The Clash.

John Muir In The New World is a biographical documentary about one of America's most influential and effective environmentalists. The film shows how Muir's interests and mission evolved from his childhood through to the end of his life, and in the process delivers a fascinating history of the environmental movement in the US, and serves as a...

A documentary film that chronicles the real life horror story of cult leader Jim Jones and his Peoples Temple.

Aaron Woolf's documentary follows eco-acrivists Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis as they track the prevalence of corn in the American diet.

Master filmmakers Chris Hegedus and D.A. Pennebaker follow Chicago's French Pastry School's Jacquy Pfeiffer and 15 other master sweetmakers as they prepare for and take the test to become Meilleurs Ouvriers de France (Best Craftsmen of France) for their extremely tasty and beautifully designed confections.

Cyril Tuschi's fascinating profile of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, one of the world's richest men and now imprisoned, investigates whether the Russian oil mogul is guilty of economic malfeasance or a victim of Russian president Vladimir Putin's power plays?

Vitali Klitschko and Wladimir Klitschko, two brothers from Ukraine, dominate the world of professional boxing. Both have held world championship titles. This film profiles their personalities and careers.

Ian Palmer's up close, personal and quite brutal documentation of the periodic bare knuckle boxing matches between feuding Irish 'travelers' families who've been trying to settle their differences for over a decade by beating each other up. This documentary follows the boxers of the Quinn McDonagh family into battle.

Yves Saint-Laurent and Pierre Berge, his lifetime business partner and lover, built an enduring fashion and lifestyle empire, and were among the world's most influential lifestyle trend setters. Using archival footage of Saint-Laurent and Berge, as well as on camera interviews with Berge and other Saint-Laurent intimates, filmmaker Pierre...

A lioness struggles to feed her two cubs and protect them from a rival pride and other aggressive wildlife on a remote island in Botswana.

There are 130-million migrant workers in China, all of whom try to get home to reunite with their families for the New Year holiday. Chinese-Canadian filmmaker Lixin Fan follows one family as they make the arduous and frustrating journey from the crowded city where they work to their rural farmland home.

During the 1990s, New York's nightlife was ruled by Peter Gatien, owner of Limelight and several other hot spot clubs. These were havens for wildly uninhibited -- and often drug-fueled -- all night partying. They were the scene where celebrities and wannabes wanted to be seen. In 'Limelight,' filmmaker Billy Corben chronicles the rise and demise of club king Gatien and his realm.

Lioness , by Meg McLagan and Daria Sommers, profiles a group of courageous women soldiers who were deployed to Iraq as support personnel--mechanics, cooks, and clerks--but found themselves in actual combat situations. Known as Team Lioness, they are the first generation of American women to return home as combat veterans, and their debriefing...

Subtitled 'Stories of Doctors Without Borders,' 'Living in Emergency' follows the lives and work of dedicated physicians, nurses and support staff who work with Medicines Sans Frontieres, the international NGO that provides health care in third world countries where medical attention is otherwise unavailable. Director Mark Hopkins focuses on...

The Lobotomist presents the life, work and times of Dr. Walter Freeman, who conceived of, promoted and practiced the lobotomy, a surgical procedure used to cure mental illness. Using archival footage and interviews, the film questions whether Dr. Freeman a genius or a monster?

Part of Carnegie Hall's tradition was to rent apartments above the concert hall to artistic tenants. Marlon Brando, Paddy Chayefsky and Isadora Duncan were among those who resided in the studios. Filmmaker (and tenant) Josef Astor videotaped his creative neighbors. When everyone received eviction notices to allow for conversion of their living...

Filmmakers Greg Jacobs and Jon Siskel follow the intense and vigorous competition between four extremely talented Chicago high school poetry teams to win top honors at Chicago's annual 'Louder Than A Bomb' teen poetry slam.

Fine New York City love stories are interwoven into an entertaining, heartwarming documentary.

Following 9/11, Paul McCartney organizes Concert For New York, a once-only performance of A-list musicians and entertainers presented to fortify the spirits of New Yorkers and raise funds for rebuilding their lives. Albert Maysles and Bradley Kaplan document his monumental effort.

Director Jeffrey Blitz follows various individuals and their families who've become instant multimillionaires by winning Megaball, and show the effects -- some good, some bad -- their huge fortunes have had on their lives. Blitz also presents a compact and interesting history of lottery playing in the US, and how it has been used to raise funds...

Made In India follows an American couple, Linda and Brian Switzer, who hire a surrogate mother In India to bear their child. The documentary examines this fairly common practice from the standpoint of ethics and practicality.

Man On Wire is a documentary film about the 'artistic crime of the century,' when tightrope walker Philippe Petit walked between the World Trace Center towers during the summer of 1974.

Manda Bala is a documentary film about the violent class struggle in Brazil, and how cottage industries have sprung up around the frequent kidnappings that occur as the rich steal from the poor and the poor take revenge.

Filmmaker Gemma Atwal follows a four-year-old boy in India as he become a well-known marathon runner and local hero.

The remarkable story of Mark Hogancamp, a man who was beaten to death, revived by paramedics and, unable to remember anything about his life, began to create an alternative reality by constructing Marwencol, a miniaturized model of an imaginary French community during World War II populated by dolls that represent characters in his past and...

This first-ever documentary about Meat Loaf follows the iconic rocker, aged 59, as he launches a worldwide tour to promote his latest album, Like A Bat Out Of Hell III.

In Megamall, filmmakers Vera Aronow, Roger Grange and Sarah Mondale chronicle how the citizens of Nyack, a rural residential community in Rockland County, New York, and other Rockland County residents fought against the construction of the nation's second largest mall in their neighborhood, and how the Pyramid Companies of Syracuse, New York,...

Michael Jackson rehearses for the This Is It tour. The performances were to be the King of Pop's come back, but the tour had to be cancelled due to Jackson's untimely death two weeks before the premier in London. The film is intended to satisfy bereft fans.

Filmmaker Bill Morrison mines the archives of the British Film Institute to find footage for his remarkable and poetic study about the coal mining industry in County Durham, in North East England.

Mitzi Gaynor Razzle Dazzle is will dazzle you. This documentary follows the career of shapely, seductive and always smiling Mitzi Gaynor, showcasing her sequined and spangled spectacular performances. She's a splendid star and her documentary is delightfully entertaining.

This first-ever virtual reality documentary follows a fictitious character named Molotov Alva who, armed with a virtual camera, has left his real life to enter virtual reality in search of the creator.

Movie review of The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers.

In Moving Midway, Godfrey Cheshire chronicles the relocation of his family's ancestral home, an antebellum plantation house--named Midway--from it's original foundation, now surrounded by urban sprawl, to a more secluded spot several miles away. The film's a smart, perceptive treatise on the changing South, family values and race relations.

Documentary director Marc Levin's film is about Leroy "Nicky" Barnes, the notorious gangster who ran the heroin trade in Harlem until he was indicted, then turned State's evidence and entered the witness protection program.

My Kid Could Paint That records the phenomenon of Marla Olmstead, a four year old girl whose abstract paintings have been compared to those of Jackson Pollack and Pablo Picasso, and have sold (cumulatively) for $300,000. But, did she paint them?

Anne Aghion's 'My Neighbor My Killer' documents the mandated process of reconciliation in Rwanda, following the genocide of Tutsis by Hutus in 1994.

Following five 30-somethings, filmmaker Robin Hessman shows how the lives, life styles, social and political attitudes of ordinary Russian citizens have changed during Perestroika, in the aftermath of the demise of the Soviet regime.

Following the relationship between Tibetan spiritual master Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche and his son, Yeshi, Jennifer Fox's fascinating documentary is a study about how Tibetan Buddhist tradition and teachings are transmitted from one generation to the next.

In documenting journalist Lawrence Wright’s one-man play, My Trip to Al-Qaeda, filmmaker Alex Gibney takes us beyond the confines of the stage presentation, and into locations where the writer/performer discovered and wrangled with the material, the ideas and interpretations he first presented in his Pulitzer Prize-winning book, The Looming...

A documentary film about the brutal massacre of 200,000 Chinese civilians by Japanese soldiers during the World War II occupation of Nanking.

Forty years after the 1964 murders of civil rights workers James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, the State of Mississippi's indictment and trial of 80 year old racist preacher Edgar Ray Killen, the alleged mastermind of the killings, brings out dissension about whether the belated revelation of truth and consequent punishment will bring reconciliation to the community or dredge up old wounds and ignite tensions.

Nostalgia For The Light - Movie Review of Nostalgia For The Light - 2010

Completed in 1948 but never released until 2010, 'Nuremberg: Its Lesson For Today' is an extremely important cinematic document. It is the...

Completed in 1948 but never released until 2010, 'Nuremberg: Its Lesson For Today' is an extremely important cinematic document. It is the official recording of the first Nuremberg Trial (November 20, 1945 to October 1, 1946) of Nazi war criminals. The film contains evidentiary archival footage as well as footage shot at the trial itself. The...

Nursery University (2008) tracks a cross section of NYC parents trying to get their toddlers into the 'right' nursery schools that will fast track them to placement in elite private schools that will lead them to Ivy League colleges that promise eventual fame, fortune and fulfillment of the larger-than-life American dream.

Taking place from one Halloween to the next, 'October Country' is the haunting tale of a rural New York State family trapped in an intergenerational cycle of spousal and child abuse, teenage pregnancy, drug abuse, debilitating depression and other syndromes that haunt them like ghosts.

Nicole Opper's documentary follows Avery Klein-Cloud, an African-American teenager who lives in Brooklyn, New York with her adoptive parents, two gay white women, and their other interracial adopted children, as she decides she wants to find her birth mother and discover her roots.

Flora, an African elephant, was adopted by circus producer David Balding from the elephant orphanage that took her in and cared for her after her mother was killed in the wild. Flora has become a star and has a lot of fans, but she's now an adult and needs the company of other elephants. Balding must find another home for her and, in doing so,...

Documentarian Nina Davenport signed on to chronicle the experiences of a young Iraqi, Muthana Mohmed, whom Liev Schreiber had hired to work on Schreiber's narrative feature, Everything Is Illuminated, shot on location in Prague in 2003.

Margaret Brown's documentary traces the history of Mardi Gras in Mobile, Alabama, where 'mystic' parading began 13 years before New Orleans was founded, and shows that the still celebrated tradition both reflects and impacts city's contemporary culture and politics, including attitudes towards racism and behavior between black and white citizens.

“Orgasm, Inc.“ is Liz Canner’s entertaining and infuriating expose about the profit-driven pharmaceutical industry’s medicalization and commercialization of female sexuality.

What happens when a generation's ultimate anti-authoritarians -- punk rockers-- become society's ultimate authorities -- dad's? With a large chorus of Punk Rock's leading men - Blink-182's Mark Hoppus, Red Hot Chili Peppers' Flea, Rise Against's Tim McIlrath- The Other F Word follows, Jim Lindberg, 20-year veteran of skate punk band, Pennywise,...

The assassination of John F. Kennedy changed the course of history. To this date, circumstances surrounding the event remain a mystery. Robert Stone's probing documentary looks into the facts, and attempts to answer the hard question: Was Lee Harvey Oswald acting alone?

Filmmaker Andrew Rossi looks at the inner workings of the New York Times, especially at its adjustment to and coverage of new media.

A gripping profile of the life and times of Phil Ochs, the inspiring singer/songwriter whose topical songs of protest reflected the social millieu and political events of the 1960s and 1970s.

An entertaining documentary about how Steinway prepares its pianos for premiere pianists playing headline concerts and recitals in the world's most famous auditoriums.

Filmmaker Wim Wenders' 3D documentary about Pina Bausch, the esteemed dancer and choreographer.

The film documents the protests staged by the citizens of a Rossport, a small coastal town in Ireland's County Mayo to prevent Shell Oil from laying a gas pipe that will disrupt local fishing and farming -- the community's economic base -- and entirely change their peaceful way of life.

Planet B-Boy brings breakdancing into focus. Director Benson Lee presents dedicated and determined B-Boy dance crews from Las Vegas, Osaka, Seoul and France who spark the high voltage international "Battle of the Year" competition in Braunschweig, Germany. The stories, personalities, attitude and astonishing skills are captivating. All these B-Boys are winners. So's the film.

Terming modern times as the 'Age of Plastic,' filmmaker Werner Boote travels around the globe to investigate the impact the ubiquitous use of the synthetic material has had on modern life and question whether the dangers it poses outweigh its benefits and the convenience it provides.

'Pressure Cooker' is a documentary about Philadelphia inner city high school students who find their way to a better life by dedicating themselves to Wilma Stephenson's culinary arts class.

This compelling documentary about the wrongful conviction of one man in Mexico exposes the overall corruption in that country's criminal justice system.

In Project Nim, filmmaker James Marsh presents the story of Nim, a baby chimpanzee who was taken from his birth mother and raised as a human child. Nim was taught sign language and used it to communicate with his human 'family.' But, in the end, his species-specific nature and behavior made him an outcast, and he was institutionalized in a...

Director Jessica Yu's fascinating and unusual documentary film sets the lives of four repentant miscreants within the larger context of Euripides' classical Greek dramas.

A documentary study of the history and social impact of the Pruitt-Igoe housing project in St Louis, Missouri.

Quantum Hoop is about Caltech's basketball team, a dedicated group of young scholars who play their games with the same sort of persistence they apply to their studies, even though they hold the record for the most games lost. David Duchovny narrates this smart and seductive documentary about smart people who've really got game.

Beautifully shot and well researched, Queen of the Sun is a complete overview of the lives and history of honeybees and how they interact with and impact human society. The film also investigates the causes, implications and impending impact of the colony collapse disorder, which is currently reaching pandemic proportions.

Filmmaker Marshall Curry follows three adolescent go-kart racers as they compete for the national championship, in hopes of advancing to careers as professional drivers in NASCAR, one of America's favorite spectator sports.

The Rape of Europa is a gripping nonfiction thriller about the systematic plunder of Europe’s great and invaluable art treasures by the Nazis during the period of the Third Reich and World War II.

Following five survivors of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, filmmaker Jim Whitaker traces how each has found ways to cope with their overwhelming grief and rage, and move into productive and joyful phases of their lives.

A comprehensive history of gospel music -- all 200 years of it -- as revealed through on camera interviews with performers and historians, and a compilation of rousing archival footage of some of the gospel greats in performance.

Irreverent comedian Bill Maher travels around the world from the Wailing Wall to the Vatican to backwater America challenging religious pundits and just plain folk about their various religious beliefs.

Filmmakers Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger follow a platoon of US soldiers deployed to Afghanistan's Korengal Valley for one year, during which they establish a high ground fire base outpost which they name Restrepo, after the platoon's much admired-medic, Juan "Doc" Restrepo, who was killed in action shortly after they arrived in the war...

Filmmaker Chris Paine follows two major auto makers and a couple of start ups in their race to make and market an electric car that would free Americans from dependency on foreign oil, clean up the environment and make millions for the manufacturer.

In RFK Must Die: The Assassination of Bobby Kennedy, now available on DVD, BBC reporter Shane O'Sullivan investigates the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, and comes to the conclusion that Sirhan Sirhan, now serving a life sentence for the murder, did not act alone.

Rise Up follows three aspiring young reggae artists as they strive to establish successful careers. The film takes you into their homes in Kingston, and introduces you to some of Jamaica's leading cultural commentators and reggae's top artists.

Some 30 years after film director Roman Polanski, at age 44, was accused of having sex with a 13-year old girl, the scandalous case, still controversial and fascinating, is the subject of Marina Zenovich’s documentary, Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired.

Filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich directs this Tom Petty documentary to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

This documentary investigates the real life social interactions of devoted players of massively-multiplayer online games, and follows them several of them into their alternative lives in the cyberspace realm of the very popular 'The World of Warcraft' game.

British filmmaker Gillian Wearing advertised in London and Newcastle for participants in this documentary about method acting teacher Sam Rumbelow and his improvisational workshop. We follow seven subjects as they are coached by Sam Rumbelow to create characters who eventually appear in mini-films.

The man who would be president travels to Kenya, the land of his father's birth, and to South Africa.

RJ Cutler's documentary, a dishy profile of fashion editor Anna Wintour, provides a rare insider glimpse of the prima fashionista's 20-year tenure at Vogue and her influence over the fashion industry.

Sicko is a about health care in the U.S. Michael Moore, in his inimitably entertaining style, shows a shocking number of Americans don't have health insurance because they can't afford it, and those who do may go bankrupt due to illnesses HMOs won't cover. People die unnessarily. It could be you, your kin or friends. You must see this film.

A biographical documentary and tribute film about Harry Belafonte, tracking the life and career of the reknown and highly respected entertainer and civil rights activist.

Leon Gast's documentary follows the life and work of Ron Galella, the king of the paparazzi, who was during the course of his career slugged by Marlon Brando, sued by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and slurred by most of his colleagues. Galella is a fascinating character, not at all like you'd expect him to be.

Soldiers of Conscience is a documentary about the soldiers' dilemma of whether killing is an acceptable action in war. Statistics show that there are many soldiers who grapple with this issue of morality.

Filmmaker Tom Wolfe chronicles the gay krewes of New Orleans as they make history by staging drag balls for Mardi Gras.

In i Soul Power i , director Jeffrey Levy-Hinte uses archival footage to replay the performances by James Brown, Bill Withers, B.B. King, Celia Cruz, Miriam Makeba and legendary musical titans at the mega-concert presented in 1974 in Zaire, as companion to the famous "Rumble In The Jungle" boxing match between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman.

A cross between an ethnographic study and a sports documentary, Splinters follows events leading up to the first surfing championship in Papua New Guinea.

David Hoffman's Sputnik Mania examines America's response to the Soviet launch of Sputnik in October 1957. Perceived as a blow to America's role as world leader and an imminent threat, Sputnik initiated the race to space, armaments development and stockpiling, and a sort of political and social paranoia in the American people. Parallels to post-9/11 American policy are evident.

Errol Morris expands on the infamous photographs of U.S. soldiers torturing suspected terrorists imprisoned at Abu Ghraib to expose the U.S. military's 'standard operating procedure' as cruel and inhumane.

The story of Jack and Ina Soep Polak and how their great love survived the Holocaust.

Panoramic shots of exquisite snow clad mountain top terrain and men on skis speeding through velvet powder and hurtling off cliffs in wildly energetic somersaults through the crisp cold air make this documentary film about extreme skiing’s pioneers and pros a thrill for armchair adventurers.

Filmmakers Violeta Ayala and Dan Fallshaw went to the Western Sahara to document UN-monitored refugee camps and family reunions, but the discovery of what they perceived to be -- and what residents refer to as -- enslavement of black Africans by white Arab 'masters,' lead them to make Stolen, a film surrounded by intrigue, danger and controversy...

The Stoning of Soraya is the true story of the stoning to death of a women in rural Iran because her husband falsely accused her of adultry. The shocking story, smuggled out of Iran by an Iranian journalist who was living in France, became a best selling book that brought world wide attention to the stoning of women.

Focusing on the period from the introduction of the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy in 1993 to its repeal in 2010, filmmakers Fenton Baily and Randy Barbuto document the struggle for gays and lesbians to be able to able to serve in the military without threat of being discharged because of their sexual preferences, and any other form of discrimination.

Robert Cringely's in-depth interview with Steve Jobs, conducted in 1995 and thought to be lost, has been found, restored and will be shown at select Landmark Theaters for a very limited run.

Filmmakers Ilisa Barbash and Lucien Castaing-Taylor follow sheep herders as they drive 3,000 sheep through the Beartooth Mountains of Montana during the summer of 2003. This was the final sheep drive along that trail, ending a tradition that had been followed annually since the early 1900s. The film is pure cinema verite, an example of what the...

Filmmaker Errol Morris profiles Joyce McKinney, former beauty queen and Miss Wyoming.

Filmmaker Alex Gibney's Taxi To The Dark Side is a shocking expose about the American military's torture of prisoners--many of whom have been shown to be innocent of any crime--in Afghanistan, Iraq and Cuba. In this interview, he discusses making this film, and his ideas about the aesthetics and responsibilities of making documentary films.

Adrian Grenier, who stars as a paparazzi-chased celebrity in 'Entourage,' follows 14-year-old Austin Visschedyk, who actually began his paparazzo...

Filmmaker Michel Gondry turns his camera on his aging Aunt Suzette to document her stories about her life in rural France, where she worked as a school teacher for 34 years, and about her relationships with the rest of the family, including her now 54-year old son.

Filmmaker Sascha Paladino follows musicologist and banjo virtuoso Bela Fleck to Uganda, Tanzania, Mali and Gambia to bring the banjo back to the area where it originated, discover banjo-related and other African instruments and record tracks with local musicians.

Back inthe 1970s, Houston's Kashmere High School Band dazzled audiences with its unique musical style and performance flair. The band reunites in 2008 to pay tribute to their former music teacher and band leader, the legendary Conrad O. Johnson, Sr -- otherwise known as Prof. This inspiring documentary links the band's past and present...

Pat Tillman turned in his multimillion dollar pro football contract, became an Army Ranger and set off to war in Afghanistan, where he was killed by friendly fire. Amir Bar Lev documents Tillman's life and shows his family's battle to get to the truth about his untimely death.

A funny and engaging profile of Lynda and Jools Topp, otherwise known as the Top Twins. Together, they are one of New Zealand's leading comedy acts. Playing characters ranging from socialites to country bumpkins, they are a cross between Garrison Keillor and Dame Edna. They also happen to be identical twins, and both are lesbians who speak out...

Traces of The Tade: A Sory From The Deep North is a deeply personal documentary made by seminarian-turned-filmmaker Katrina Browne, who sets out to investigate her forebears occupation as prominent New England slave traders and tries to identify what that fact of family history means to her living relatives and herself.

In Trouble The Water, filmmakers Tia Lessen and Carl Deal follow a New Orleans Ninth Ward couple, Kimberly and Scott Roberts, who've survived Katrina with some remarkable footage of the devastating hurricane and its aftermath. This is the story of the Roberts' extended family and neighbors, and how they're heroically coping with the government's failure to provide them with relief as promised.

Dalton Trumbo was a Hollywood screenwriter who refusted to answer questions posed by the House Un-American Activities Committee and was blacklisted. Using archival footage, interviews and Trumbo's letters (read by great actors), this documentary profiles the civil rights hero and chronicles his life.

Beijing-based director Jia Zhangke uses documentary and narrative storytelling to create 24 City, chronicling how the closure of an outdated factory in Sichuan Province effects the lives of 30,000 workers for whom the factory was not just a job, but a way of life.

Manassas High School's inspiring football coach Bill Courtney spurs his teamm the Tigers, to strive for their school's first-ever playoffs -- in the team's 110 year history.

'Under Our Skin' presents a thorough investigation of Lyme Disease and its devastating effects on the bodies and lives of several people who are suffering from the affliction. Interviews with doctors, scientists and public health officials provide information about this little known and much feared disease that is reaching epidemic proportions across the United States.

'Unmistaken Child' is a fascinating documentary that provides rare insight into the intricate processes and rituals whereby Buddhists locate the child whom they consider to be the reincarnation of their recently deceased Geshe Lama Konghog.

Under The Boardwalk: The Monopoly Story is all about the world's most popular board game. Set within the context of the annual World Monopoly Championship Competition, the documentary introduces the game's best players and recounts its history and proliferation to some 110 countries, each with its own location-specific edition. The film is fun...

<i>Until the Light Takes Us</i> is a documentary about the heavy metal movement in Norway, where musicians have adopted a satanic style and have been accused of church burnings and murder.

Seven documentary films trace the lives of fourteen Brits from age seven to age 49.

In Up The Yangtze, director Yung Chang boards a cruise ship touring the Three Gorges Dam area. While following the stories of young crew members who've lost their homes due to the Yangtze's rising waters, he investigates social, economic and environmental issues caused by the controversial dam project.

A documentary film about the final years of the career of Valentino Garavani, the legendary haute couture designer whose fashions dressed wealthy and celebrated women for half a century.

A documentary about teenage girl prostitutes in New York City and the GEMS (Girls Education and Mentoring Services) that helps them to find a new direction in life.

Filmmaker Ari Folman investigates his troubling hallucinations generated by memories of his experiences in the 1982 Lebanon War. The film, produced entirely in animation, pushes the boundaries of documentary filmmaking. It is a profoundly compelling and creative representation of the horrors of war and their lasting effects on the human psyche.

In War Don Don, lawyer-turned-filmmaker Rebecca Richman Cohen covers the war crimes trial of Sierra Leone dictator Issa Sesay, responsible for genocide and crimes against humanity in the Sierra Leone war. The case is considered the most important war crimes tribunal since the Trials at Nuremberg.

A penetrating investigatiion of the relationship between combat and post-traumatic stress disorder, and how the understanding of the condition has evolved from the time of the Civil War to the present.

Filmmaker Lucy Walker follows New York-based Brazilian artist Vik Muniz back to Rio de Janiero, where he photographs garbage pickers at the Jardim Gramacho dump and eventually invites several of them to participate in an art exhibit based on images of them. The film is a vital and inspiring testimonial to the transformative effects art can have...

By presenting an overview of recent flooding, drought, and other water-related disasters in Bangladesh, India and New Orleans, director Jim Burrough's 'Water Wars: When Drought, Flood and Greed Collide' presents a prescient look into the future of fresh water access and control, which many believe will be the cause for World War III.

We Are Together: The Children of Agape (aka Thina Simunye ), documentarian Paul Taylor follows young children residents of Agape Orphanage in the Natal, South Africa as they sing their way into the hearts of people who can help them reshape their lives and better their circumstances. The kids' compelling stories and a brilliant soundtrack...

We Are Wizards is a documentary film about ardent Harry Potter fans whose hobbies--including the magical arts, rock and roll and website building--revolve around J.K. Rowling's popular fictional hero.

Ondi Timoner's documentary looks at the career and influence of Josh Harris, the Internet visionary and artist who rose to fame during the 1990s dot.com boom. The film chronicles Harris' 'Quiet' project, in which 100 people lived together for 30 days in an underground bunker while their every move and interaction was observed and recorded, and...

Luna, a baby orca, is found swimming solo off the coast of Vancouver Island. Seperated from his mom and pod, the lonely baby befriends local people and becomes a part of the community, until marine mammal experts rule that he must return to the company of his own species.

At documnary film about how crass consumerism is consuming humankind and leading to the shopocalypse.

In 'When Strangers Click,' filmmaker Robert Kenner reveals the stories of several very different people who sought to develop relationships through online dating.

When You're Strange, a documentary by Tom DiCillo, chronicles the rise of Jim Morrison and the Doors from obscurity to fame, overnight fame. Frontman Jim Morrison is the featured player, but band members Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger and John Densmore are key figures in archival footage that follows the group into recording studios and on tour, showing Morrison's personal contradictions and growing…

Three high school buddies join the National Guard and get sent to Afghanistan for a nine month tour of duty from which they return with war traumas weighing heavily on their shoulders. We see where these young soldiers have come from. The question is, where what will become of them?

In Morgan Spurlock's cheeky documentary, the fast food filmmaker trudges through the Middle East, Afghanistan and Pakistan, asking strangers, "Have you seen Osama bin Laden?"

Movie review of <i>Which Way Home</i>, a documentary by filmmaker Rebecca Cammisa, who follows Latin American children who leave their homes and families to hop on freight trains and travel hundreds of miles to try to enter the U.S. illegally in hope of finding new and better life.

Filmmaker Ted Woods reveals the strong undercurrent of racial prejudice in the sport of surfing and profiles the black athletes who've stood strong against it.

Whiz Kids chronicles the experiences of three talented high school students who enter their science research projects in the Intel Science Talent Search competition, hoping to win the $100,000 prize, glory and career it promises.

'Who Killed the Electric Car?' chronicles GM's conspiracy to prevent proliferation of automobiles that ran quietly and efficiently on electricity.

Filmmaker Laura Israel's controversial documentary investigates how the construction of wind turbines in two rural New York State towns impacts the lives of local citizens.

Documentary filmmaker and Harvard professor Richard P. Rogers died of cancer in 2001, at age 57. Following his death, his wife, photographer Susan Meiselas, asked one of his students, Alexander Olch, to sort through footage Rogers had been shooting for years, with the intention of making an autobiographical documentary about his youth (among the privileged and alcoholic residents of the Hamptons), career and, eventually, his illness. Using Rogers' footage, Olch made this fascinating documentary.

Directors Jacques Perrin and Jacques Cluzaud and their crew of 500 people spanned the globe for four years to capture these amazing and startlingly beautiful images of various species of migrating birds as they fly thousands of miles twice annually in search of food.

A Wink And A Smile follows ten aspiring women through the Seattle Academy of Burlesque's six week-long training program that prepares them for their debut performances as strippers.

A classic documentary film about the Vietnam War era.

Taking us to Nepal, where Nepalese Maoist guerrillas are at war with the Royal Nepalese Army, filmmaker Kiran Deol follows 'Silu,' a rebel woman serving on the front lines as a battalion commander with the Nepalese Maoists.

Rod Freedman directs this documentary about Sidney Bloch, a highly respected South African psychiatrist who is seeking to relieve feelings of guilt he still has forty years after he graduated from medical education in Apartheid-ruled South Africa, where he witnessed rampant discrimination against his 'colored' classmates, but was incapable of...

The story of 84-year-old actress Zypora Spaisman and her efforts to save New York's Yiddish Theater.

Shot over four years, this film follows a disparate group of China's Gen X-ers who're seeking to reconcile personal goals and attitudes with their country's traditional social, cultural and political mores and new opportunities to get ahead and accumulate wealth.

A chorus of spunky senior citizens belts punk, R & B and rock classics to sold-out audiences in concert halls in their home town of Northampton, Massachusetts, and around the world. This documentary film is their story, their well-deserved moment of glory.

Anthony Baxter's film chronicles the struggle of Scottish townsfolk to prevent US real estate mogul Donald Trump from building a huge golf resort on a stretch of pristine, protected and environmentally sensitive coastal dunes that borders their community.