Documentary Movies

The most explosive barehanded combat sequences ever filmed. An electrifying video of martial arts mastery and mayhem. This program takes a behind-the-scenes look at the weapons, the mystical eastern philosophy,…

From the unique vantage point of 200 miles above Earth’s surface, we see how natural forces – volcanoes, earthquakes and hurricanes – affect our world, and how a powerful new…

Documentary about a small town in Austria.

“From waterfalls to water-sports, crystal-clear pools to tropical island lagoons, Playboy’s famous playmates get ‘wet and wild’ in an all-new series of exciting escapades and provocative nude scenes.”

The story of a black lesbian’s relationship with a white, upper middle class high school girl.

Sam Kinison live at the Felt Forum, 2/14/89. Also has opening act Carl Labove plus Sam’s 3 MTV videos.

Their job is stealing, their lives a cruel dead end. Director Jon Alpert takes his cameras undercover for this hard-hitting look at men who live by theft and suffer addiction….

On the eve of 1987’s Second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights, surviving families and friends of people who have died of AIDS prepare panels to be…

A documentary about Forbidden City, a San Francisco Chinese-American nightclub open from the 1930s to the 1960s.

Portrait of a private coal company in East Berlin’s Prenzlauer Berg district in 1988/89. The feisty woman boss runs the business with humour and understanding. Her seven male employees respect…

A testament to NASA’s Apollo program of the 1960s and ’70s. Composed of actual NASA footage of the missions and astronaut interviews, the documentary offers the viewpoint of the individuals…

From an official perspective, marginal youth culture did not exist in East Germany. The topic of subcultures was taboo in the GDR, and groups such as goths, skinheads, anti-skins, punks…

Thomas Hart Benton’s paintings were energetic and uncompromising. Today his works are in museums, but Benton hung them in saloons for ordinary people to appreciate.

A film about the Medical Intensive Care Unit at Boston’s Beth Israel Hospital. The film is concerned with how people face death. More specifically the film presents the complex interrelationships…

Celebrities and creatives — including musician David Byrne, performance artist Spalding Gray, comedian Sandra Bernhard, radical activist Abbie Hoffman, and poet Allen Ginsberg– recall their earliest sexual experiences.

A documentary about the closure of General Motors’ plant at Flint, Michigan, which resulted in the loss of 30,000 jobs. Details the attempts of filmmaker Michael Moore to get an…

A camera crew follows Helmut Newton, the fashion and ad photographer whose images of tall, blond, big-breasted women are part of the iconography of twentieth-century erotic fantasy. He’s on the…

A survey of the artistic history of the comic book medium and some of the major talents associated with it.

A fascinating documentary focusing on backstage realities of art and business during the British synthesizer band’s 1988 American tour.

Water-themed vignettes.

Filmmaker Morley Markson shows Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, Allen Ginsberg, Timothy Leary, and other ’60s rebels, then and now in a follow up to his 1971 film “Breathing Together: Revolution…

The film evolves around questions of identity, popular memory and culture. While focusing on aspects of Vietnamese reality as seen through the lives and history of women resistance in Vietnam…

The updated autobiography of Britain’s most controversial film director, the maker of Women in Love, The Devils, The Music Lovers, Tommy and The Rainbow, is as unconventional and brilliant as…

A locomotive journey traversing the North to the South of the German Democratic Republic on the eve of its dissolution. Labourers, punks, mothers, intellectuals, young and old are implored to…

Young male students at a local Iranian school are asked about their feelings on homework.

A Grandfather recounts his life under communist rule, from apprentice miner to prisoner to pensioner.

A concert movie on an unprecedented scale, Rattle And Hum captures U2 – on and off the stage – during their triumphant Joshua Tree tour. From the giant technicolour stadium…

A documentary film about the life of pianist and jazz great Thelonious Monk. Features live performances by Monk and his band, and interviews with friends and family about the offbeat…

This special is hosted by Patrick Stewart and traced the history of Star Trek from its inception with “The Cage” through to Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home and the…

The biography of former Beatle, John Lennon—narrated by Lennon himself—with extensive material from Yoko Ono’s personal collection, previously unseen footage from Lennon’s private archives, and interviews with David Bowie, his…

This documentary offers a rare glimpse of the legendary Soviet filmmaker, Andrei Tarkosvky, at work. Tarkovsky made only seven films in his brief, but brilliant, career; Michal Leszczylowski’s respectful movie…

Documentary about jazz great Chet Baker that intercuts footage from the 1950s, when he was part of West Coast Cool, and from his last years. We see the young Baker,…

A panel of experts examines the five main suspects in the Jack the Ripper murders and determines which of them is the most likely to have committed the crimes.

Errol Morris’s unique documentary dramatically re-enacts the crime scene and investigation of a police officer’s murder in Dallas.

An exploration of the heavy metal scene in Los Angeles, with particular emphasis on glam metal. It features concert footage and interviews of legendary heavy metal and hard rock bands…

A world of strong colours between documentary and fiction, centered on the life and work of modernist painter Amadeo de Souza Cardoso.

An exploration of technologically developing nations and the effect the transition to Western-style modernization has had on them.

A young woman wanders around New York City and stumbles across a number of strange characters and settings that represent the “underground” areas of the city. She sees stand up…

Gathered together for one night, the legendary names of Reggae and more meet at Fort Charles, Jamaica for a musical event that would reverberate around the world!

In 1986, Luciano Pavarotti was invited to Beijing to present La Bohème, conduct master classes and perform concerts for more than 150 million people. Academy Award-winning filmmaker DeWitt Sage captures…