What's the best documentary you've seen?

swarm.of.bees

Some great docus listed so far.

That Fred Leuchter guy is a weird one alright. He build execution machines. What a nice guy.

Check out Reverend Death (by Jon Ronson). Thats one fúcked up dude.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1239277/

And pretty much anything by Nick Broomfield, particularly Kurt & Courtney and Biggie & Tupac. Also The Leader, His Driver and the Drivers Wife and His Big White Self (both about South Africa and Eugene Terre Blanche). All well worth a watch.
Somebody mentioned Cocaine Cowboys. Also well worth a look.

Da Shins Kelly

I just finished watching The Bridge.

Absolutely tragic. I've never seen anything quite like it.

Kylo Ren

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVndnukjNTw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0b90YppquE

boobar

Da Shins Kelly wrote: »

I'm on a documentary buzz these last few days, been watching one every night. I watched Capturing The Friedman's last night, which was excellent, and a little bit disturbing.

http://youtu.be/R10VjJgx1dU

I also saw Dear Zachary, which was so incredibly sad, and I've watched half of Paris Is Burning so far, which is very interesting.

What documentaries would you recommend?

I'm not a big fan of documentaries but I have to say The Cove is well worth watching. It's about the capture and treatment of dolphins in Japan. It would make you think twice about visiting SeaWorld.

sheesh

'the fog of war' I thought was really good saw it in the cinema link

reddivil

the union

This documentary should be force fed to misinformed idiots world wide!

louix theroux ultra zionists

bbc horizons documentaries are great too

How Many People Can Live on Planet Earth? is one i like.. Sir David Attenborough narrated.. shocking stuff..

cant wait for morgan freemans new shows..


'ever since i was a little boy, people have enjoyed the sound of my voice'

seafood dunleavy

One Day in September.

Chuck Stone

Caoimhín wrote: »

While we are on the topic, does anyone have a link to a good website that has good documentaries?

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Free+documentaries

Lawrence1895

- The Real Football Factories/Europe
- Life after people
- Mysteries of the Bible uncovered

electrobanana

boobar wrote: »

I'm not a big fan of documentaries but I have to say The Cove is well worth watching. It's about the capture and treatment of dolphins in Japan. It would make you think twice about visiting SeaWorld.

+1 for the cove..its pretty sick the way they treat the dolphins over there.
fair play to the guy that exposed it and the way he used high-tech equipment
was pretty good too.

Killer Pigeon

Century of Self:

(note: the video below is a compilation of all 4 episodes and is nearly 4 hours long)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyPzGUsYyKM

murrayp4

One word: Cosmos.

aligator_am

Another one worth mentioning is You're gonna miss me - about Roky Erickson, absolutely brilliant musician who got put in a mental home and electroshock treatment for smoking a joint

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVFLqzJB6qw

Edit to add: after his brother took care of him and got him sorted, he's now touring again, I got to see him a few years back in Oslo and he's still brilliant

A great song by him, 2 headed dog

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7aLXehSXAo

tallus

Hande hoche! wrote: »

Death of Yugoslavia.

The BBC docu about the break down of Yugoslavia was bloody excellent. Highly recommended.

Paddy Samurai

Paddy Samurai wrote: »

About 5 years ago I seen a documentary on more4 about Egyptian street kids in Cairo.Can't remember the name ,but can't get it out of my head.It was top notch!.

Took a while but I found it.
El-Banat Dol is the name of this documentary.Its available online and is well worth checking out.

Screened to audiences at the Cannes, Toronto, and New York film festivals, this fresh, irresistibly lively, intensely engaging documentary from widely acclaimed Egyptian director Tahani Rached (SORAÏDA, WOMAN OF PALESTINE and FOUR WOMEN OF EGYPT) follows a band of teenage girls living on the streets of Cairo. Rached won astonishing access to the girls’ world; this vigorous, cinematic film is built upon the deep trust of its subjects and the long experience of the filmmaker. Already at a disadvantage as impoverished and abused girls in a Muslim society, they encounter rape, drug addiction, prostitution, pregnancy and motherhood on the streets. While the girls’ troubles are not downplayed, neither are their courage, playfulness and vibrant camaraderie.

Rached brings alive the pulse of Cairo’s streets, offering an unsentimental portrait that avoids traps of guilt or cheap pity. What stands out is the strength and sheer joy that these girls project. With deft skill Rached reveals an invisible world and offers a loving homage to the inspirational, fierce girls who inhabit it

http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2006/796/cu4.htm

PandyAndy

Last documentary I watched was 'The Bridge'. It's about people who commit suicide by jumping off the Golden Gate bridge and their stories as told by their friends and families. This can be quite disturbing for some people, there are scenes of people jumping. That said, this is one documentary that you should watch.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0799954/


From the review in IMDB.

It's interesting where people choose to target their criticism of this film. Whether the director was there with his camera or not, the individuals would have done what they did. If setting up a camera to record the acts is morally questionable, is talking about it? Reporting it? Discussing it? It's clear that many don't want to face this issue for a variety of reasons that are both universal and specific to the Bay Area. Suicide is a difficult subject and whatever your point of view—"it's a sin" or "it's a release"—the interviews that the director exacts from survivors (in every sense of the word in one case) are the real soul of this movie.

People don't want to talk about it and communities don't want to take responsibility for those faced with mental illness. In the Bay Area there has been a controversial proposal to fence the Bridge so that it won't be so "easy" for the suicidal. This film makes it clear there's nothing easy about jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge.

The film doesn't raise the barricade controversy and the fact that there are patrols on the Bridge to identify those at risk. I think that was a wise choice because what the movie ends up being about is the sad, horrifying fact that those who leave their families or friends (or their communities at large) leave misery and apprehension and doubt. Perhaps, that's the point. Unable to cope with their own internal conflicts, they transfer it to others.

I don't remember a work of art dealing with the subject in such a direct manner leaving out psychological justification and medical terminology so we could pretend ignorance. From Shakespeare to Thelma and Louise, in our culture there's a false honor given to suicide. This movie makes it very clear that no honor or relief is ever the consequence of self-destruction.

The beauty of the area is so compelling here and the photography is just sensational. The opening sequence in particular, intercutting windsurfers with views of the subject, both the Bridge and a jumper.

As well, the range of people interviewed (casual witnesses, rescuers and the grim faces of family members and friends) is quite astonishing. Just when my gut would relax and I gained some composure, another sequence would start the dreadful realization that more agony was coming, more lives brutalized.

I found all aspects of this movie exceptional. Those interviewed, I hope, feel well treated by the film. I felt like there was great sensitivity and protection offered by the director. No one is blamed. There is no agenda for fences or better parenting or increased funding for mental health. The cinematography extraordinary. The soundtrack was perfect with the exception of the final song. It didn't have the weight of what preceded it. I'm not sure anything could have captured in summary what we had just seen.

I did find it hard to watch. Whether I needed to see it is debatable. But I certainly won't fault the filmmakers for doing it. Will it draw more people to jump? That remains to be seen. Will it stop anyone from jumping? I don't think so.

The film exposes the negligence we have towards those who want to die and how threatened we are by their state of mind. In one long anguished monologue, a woman reveals what she wished she would have done the night a friend said goodbye. I hope her message doesn't get lost in the hoopla about footage of people jumping or how the camera came to be set up that year. In agony, the woman states she will never ignore another person's need for help out of embarrassment for herself or embarrassment for the person making the threat. She will act to intervene the next time. And so will I.

BBFlowerPotMen

Dope Sick Love New York Junkies ...a HBO doc about drug addiction, just following around a few couple's that are junkies, you see them smoking crack, having T.Os(injecting) of crack and gear.. you see them suck cock.. rob, scam and rip off people its quite mental.

Dave!

'Fog of War' -- interview with Robert McNamara, and loads of archive footage from the Vietnam War, etc.

RachyPie

fontanalis wrote: »

Touching the Void about a mountain climbing expedition gone slightly wrong, unbelievable.

+1

Caoimhín

Chuck Stone wrote: »

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Free+documentaries

That is awfully clever of you, your mother must be very proud of such a smart young boy.

Chuck Stone

Caoimhín wrote: »

That is awfully clever of you, your mother must be very proud of such a smart young boy.

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Is+Chuck+Stone+the+smart+young+son+of+a+proud+Mother%3F

Rented Mule

End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones

and

Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten

Da Shins Kelly

PandyAndy wrote: »

Last documentary I watched was 'The Bridge'. It's about people who commit suicide by jumping off the Golden Gate bridge and their stories as told by their friends and families. This can be quite disturbing for some people, there are scenes of people jumping. That said, this is one documentary that you should watch.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0799954/


From the review in IMDB.

It is really excellent. I watched it earlier today, and I keep thinking about it. I feel like I want to watch it again, but I know that I don't. It's so compelling. The last scene was so, so shocking even though I kinda knew it was coming. The whole documentary was beautiful, yet utterly tragic.

Im Only 71Kg

just watched capturing the friedmans.......sick f*cks. had a good chuckle at the end when

arnie's brother turns out to be a steamer

Fred Cohen

"The Revolution will not be televised", an Irish film crew sitting in an ante room, waiting to interview the president as a coup takes place. It then covers the next 3 days and shows the power of the media and how the internet can overcome government control.

Entec

Highly recommended

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8z2jtha8Oqg

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0307197/

French documentary about the trial of a black American teenager accused of robbing and murdering an elderly white tourist at a Florida hotel. The film follows the teen's defense team as they build a case that shows ineptitude and prejudice on the part of the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office

DrHLecter

snooooort

hey! hey! hey! hey!

you want a good documentary .... i got a good documentary...i got a good fking documentary.

snoooooooortt

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXJZpjjDmco

those other asshles posting replies dont know ****. they dont know SHT. they all think they can just treat me like sht. who the fuk do they think they are.
fuk i got a nose bleed.

(seriously though most of it can be found in on youtube, its got a sequel thats pretty pretty pretty good, and that can be found on youtube with a bit of determination)

ok the start is tame...it just lays the background, miami shopping malls are getting riddled with tec-9's by moustachioed cubans by part 3 or 4. all true stuff. (grinds teeth)

Sea Devils

All the Hoop Dreams mentions in this thread made me dig it out and watch it again. Still can't get over how powerful and moving it is and I must have seen it at least three times.

Chuck Stone

Princess Peach wrote: »

March of the Penguins. No contest!

Its Morgan Freeman and penguins! No need to go on!

That's the right wing version.

The BBC did the reality version long before and it was way better.

thunderthing

Pumping Iron, but it's not entirely a doc, a little bit of extra drama thrown in.It's about body-building in the 70's, back when Arnold was in his prime, the golden age of bodybuilding.