Ground Breaking Documentaries
Documentaries that have made an impact by exposing the public to new ideas and unconventional storylines.
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- DirectorSkye BorgmanStarsJan BrobergBob BrobergMary Ann BrobergThe twisting, turning, stranger-than-fiction true story of the Brobergs, a naive, church-going Idaho family that fell under the spell of a sociopathic neighbor with designs on their twelve-year-old daughter.
- DirectorEric DionysiusEric MistlerStarsAC/DCPhil RuddBon ScottFilmed coverage of Australian band AC/DC's '79 appearance in Paris intercut with quasi-fictional interludes.
- DirectorChris HuntStarsAgnetha FältskogBenny AnderssonBjörn UlvaeusThe history of ABBA's success told in retrospective by its former members.
- DirectorNick BroomfieldStarsAileen WuornosNick BroomfieldArlene Pralle1992, Florida, USA. Aileen Wuornos is claimed to be the world's first female serial killer.
- DirectorSlavko NowytskiStarsAlexander BykovetsLubov DrashevskaMotria DutkaA documentary about the man made famine in Ukraine where on Stalin's order millions of people were starved to death in 1932-33.
- DirectorJerome HillStarsBurgess MeredithFredric MarchAlbert SchweitzerThis biographical drama/documentary narrative written by Dr. Albert Schweitzer and spoken by Fredric March, traces the life of Dr. Schweitzer (with actors playing the characters), from his birth in France up to about the age of 30 when he makes the decision to go to French Equatorial Africa and build his jungle hospital. The latter half of the film encompasses a full day in the hospital-village following the 80s-plus Samaritan in his daily rounds.
- DirectorFederico CaddeoStarsDario ArgentoLamberto BavaBarbara BouchetA celebration of the genre with interviews by many contributors - a gialli filmmakers.
- DirectorSusan WinslowStarsMilton BerleHumphrey BogartWilliam C. BullittWWII newsreel footage intercut with Beatles songs performed by other artists like Helen Reddy and Rod Stewart, juxtaposing the music with war imagery.
- StarsPatricia LoudBill LoudLance LoudFollows the real lives of the Loud family, a motley group of suburbanites.
- DirectorBobb HopkinsStarsErnest BorgnineMerle HaggardBobb HopkinsAcademy Award winner Ernest Borgnine, star of the classic train movie "Emperor of the North", hosts this remarkable examination of the uniquely America Hobo. Hear compelling tales of life as a migratory worker from these notable former Hobos, such as Pulitzer Prize winner, James A Michener, country music legend Merle Haggard, and many other adventurous free spirits who have crisscrossed our vast nation on the awesome railroads
- DirectorMassimo MazzuccoStarsPaolo AttivissimoAldo FallaiPeter LindberghThis documentary examines the authenticity of the photographic record of NASA's Apollo missions.
- DirectorChris SmithStarsMark BorchardtMike SchankTom SchimmelsDocumentary about an aspiring filmmaker's attempts to finance his dream project by finally completing the low-budget horror film he abandoned years before.
- DirectorNik PanicStarsGeoffrey MooreAmbra MooreJ.J. AbramsAnd The Winner Isn't is a satirical documentary charting Geoffrey Moore and his daughter Ambra's journey through Hollywood, as the pair track down celebrities and industry insiders in their bid to find out what it takes to become an Academy Award winner.
- DirectorDonna DeitchStarsDonna DeitchGwen WellesDocumentary about the death from cancer of Gwen Welles, who starred in such films as Nashville, Henry Jaglom's "Eating", New Years Day and Roger Vadim's "helle".
- DirectorAdam SmallPeter StuartStarsM. Otis BeardDennis DanellBrent LilesA documentary following the 1982 tour of punk bands Youth Brigade and Social Distortion.
- DirectorPenn JillettePaul ProvenzaStarsGeorge CarlinDon RicklesChris RockOne hundred superstar comedians tell the same very, VERY dirty, filthy joke--one shared privately by comics since Vaudeville.
- DirectorJames WestbyStarsMari Ane AndersonMarty ArnoLance BangsEqual parts personal essay, intense rumination, and playful satire, AT THE VIDEO STORE is an ode to the death (and life!) of the American Video Store.
- DirectorJayne LoaderKevin RaffertyPierce RaffertyStarsPaul TibbetsHarry S. TrumanW.H.P. BlandyDisturbing collection of 1940s and 1950s United States government-issued propaganda films designed to reassure Americans that the atomic bomb was not a threat to their safety.
- DirectorBonni CohenJon ShenkStarsRobin BourlandDaisy ColemanCharles ColemanA look at the effects that online bullying has on the lives of teenagers and their community.
- DirectorIsaac JulienStarsPam GrierFred WilliamsonMelvin Van PeeblesFilmmaker Isaac Julien uses film clips and interviews to illustrate the history of the so-called "blaxploitation" genre.
- DirectorMichael PaxtonStarsSharon GlessMichael S. BerlinerHarry BinswangerA documentary focusing on the life of novelist and philosopher Ayn Rand, the author of the bestselling novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged and originator of the Objectivist philosophy.
- DirectorBárbara PazStarsHector BabencoRegina BragaWillem Dafoe"I have already lived my death and now all that is left is to make a film about it." So said the filmmaker Hector Babenco to Bárbara Paz when he realized he did not have much time left. She accepted the challenge to fulfill the last wish of her late partner: to be the main protagonist in his own death. In this tender immersion into the life of one of the greatest filmmakers from South America, Babenco himself consciously bares his soul in intimate and painful situations. He expresses fears and anxieties, and also memories, reflections, and fantasies, in this face-off between his intellectual vigor and physical frailty, which were the hallmarks of his career. From the onset of cancer at the age of 38 until his death at 70, Babenco made of the cinema his medicine and the nourishment that kept him alive. "Babenco - Tell me when I Die" is Barbara Paz's first feature film, but is also in a way Hector's last work: a film about filming so never to die.
- DirectorCharles BandStarsMarta AndersonRika AokiRene BondThis outlandish compilation of trailers and clips spotlights the women-in-prison sub-genre of grindhouse exploitation films.
- DirectorKevin KerslakeStarsJoan JettDavid BowieEvelyn McDonnellDocumentary about rock star Joan Jett.
- DirectorEugenio ErcolaniGiuliano EmanueleStarsUrsula AndressMarcello AvalloneLuca Barbareschi2 1/2 hour-documentary on the rise and fall of one of the most controversial Italian genres every created. Starting with Deep River Savages arriving to the infamous Cannibal Ferox.