Favourite Documentaries?
 

There have been a few top quality doc's posted in the film thread, so a thread dedicated to them is needed I think. They can be feature length documentaries or even DVD making of doc's. As long as they are 30 mins+ is the only criteria. Something to start the ball rolling:


Haiti is generally regarded as one of the most dangerous places on Earth to live and this doc concentrates on 2 brothers living on opposite sides of the law. One brother is desperate to escape Haiti and uses his own music to speak to the world outside and the other deeply embroiled in the countries violence and gang power.

What seems like an obvious choice to plump for, is not always an easy decision to choose sides for with a way of life that is the norm and not the exception and fatalism an accepted way of life.

Not always an easy watch but enthralling and fascinating nonetheless.

Human, All Too Human was a documentary series done by BBC on Nietzsche, Sartre, and Heidegger. Each one had their own episode. Each episode consisted on the lives of each philosopher and a general overview of their ideas. I was more interested in their lives.

That one you posted int he Krautrock thread was pretty good too. I had always listened to a bit of Krautrock and never got into an actual phase. Now I have tons of it.

That was damn fine.

Linkage here for anyone wanting to check it out again:

YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

This is really cliche but I love any documentary by/with David Attenborough. I love nature and animals, and find everything he researches just fascinating. Plus the cinematography is always amazing - I always wonder how they get those tiny cameras in places like echidna's pouches and snake's nests!

Best docu I've seen for years was Baghdad ER. (I think that's what it was called)

If you are lucky enough to live in the U.K and didn't get a chance to watch this before then this series of docs was superb:

Catastrophe - Channel 4

I'm not particularly clued up when it comes to science but it's informative without ever being academical. I have seen the series 3 times now.

This also bowled me over:

BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | How long is a piece of string?

Watched all 26 odd episodes of this a while back

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...BL._SS500_.jpg

Originally aired on the BBC in the mid 60s & narrated by Sir Ralph Richardson it's bascially just archive footage & telling you what happened, and all the better for it.
It makes a nice refreshing change to watch something that educates you and doesn't treat you like a moron.

THe one documentary that I wholeheartedly encourage every MBer to watch:
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51gVvVPKiUL._.jpg

Great thread! I've been getting a little tired of fiction films lately so I've downloaded a whole bunch of docs.

I've heard about this one a long time ago but never got around to seeing it. Thanks for reminding me...(:

As for my favorite documentary:
http://oslo12.files.wordpress.com/20...dieterpstr.jpg

An amazing story from one of my favorite documentary (try as I might I never really could get into most of his fiction films, Stroszek being the exception) filmmakers about an amazing human being, a German fighter pilot who survived a Vietnamese POW camp. Herzog later made it into a feature film (Rescue dawn) with Christian Bale which I felt was very underwhelming. So if you haven't seen that one, I strongly suggest you go for the documentary instead, it's infinitely more powerful to hear this story being told first hand by the man who went through it all and lived to tell the tale.

Well your last few post in the film thread prompted me to make this thread TBH. :)

A few, off the top of my head:

http://www.musicmotion.com/content/m...icles/4380.jpg
This woman is amazing. There's been rumor that she's not deaf, but I think the real story is that she is not completely deaf. The documentary is absolutely inspiring. Not only does she create her own music through feeling vibrations, but she teaches others, like her to do the same.

http://a0.vox.com/6a00c2251d8df0604a...6dd80005-500pi
This was a slow-pace film, but in the end, all worth it. If you aren't familiar with Andy Goldsworthy's art, definitely check it out. He creates all his pieces with nature and in its natural environment. Aside from the picture that's captured, all of his art is destroyed sooner or later. I might be due for a revisit of this one.

http://blogs.citypages.com/amadzine/...istocrats.jpeg
Vulgar and hilarious. This will not get old for me.

http://thisdistractedglobe.com/wp-co...d%20poster.jpg
This one is my favorite of all that I've listed thus far. Absolutely wonderful. I wish I had the balls to do something similar.

http://www.punkbands.com/resources/a...0509066741.jpg

http://distorciondvd.blogdiario.com/...anhardcore.jpg

You don't see a pattern forming, do you?

Touch the Sound and Rivers and Tides were amazing.

I don't get around to watching as much docos as I'd like but I've enjoyed watching this series in the last year.

I love documentarys. Anything that portrays an extraordinary human I'm right into. There is actually a series called extraordinary humans which I sort of watched. I watch ones on animals hunting techniques every so often (eg cheetas). :)

CNN Cold War series.

Those are my favorite too. I was glued to this one animal doc that I watched on TV last night called White Falcon, White Wolf. It really was interesting to see how the lives of all these different animals unfolded. It really opened my eyes up to the fact that they aren't so different from us, I was blown away by the human-like qualities they possesed. The footage was insane. It had some really beautiful, beautiful moments in it, and overall I give it a 10/10.

i think zeitgeist is a great documentary...it discusses religion and how it still plays a role in american politics to this day and how people need to be more aware and question things a bit more. a very general documentary...but if it sparks your interest there is a sequel called zeitgeist: addendum and covers the federal reserve and how the system is designed to keep us all in debt as a form of monetary slavery. really great stuff.

Fascinating stuff duga. Thanks for that.

Dear god, not another one.

Am I missing something? I thought Zeitgeist was a fantastic doc.\

Loved "Global Metal", Sam Dunn is a lucky, lucky guy.
Planet Earth was awesome too, especially in HD!

And I just started part one of When the Levees Broke. Spike Lee's film about the Hurricane Katrina disaster in New Orleans. It's heartbreaking.

Zeitgeist, along with Zeitgeist: Addendum were excellent. A lot of naysayers and doubters love to hate on it, but that's to be expected. That being said, I'd just like to point out that you can like Zeitgeist and still not think that it gives you all the answers to all the problems in the world. You can even like it and still be a Christian. Among other things, it's a much-needed backlash at the American global propaganda machine. Wow, that sounded a bit militant, didn't it?

Regarding comparative religion and mythology, I prefer Joseph Campbell's The Power of Myth. It was broadcast on TV in 6 parts 20 years ago, but there is also a DVD.

Grizzly Man and Encounters at the End of the World are two of my favourite documentaries.

Grizzly man is like my second favorite Herzog documentary. Amazing film.

Grizzly man was fascinating. I thought the guy living out in the wild seemed more nuts than anything else really. His supposed understanding of bears and their lives and psychology was more a fantasy than anything real I think ..

But then he did get eaten as well, so there you go.

great doc...but it is hard to watch just for that fact. the man was obviously so absorbed in the world of the bears and truly thought he had some sort of connection with them. then he got eaten. it bothers me to think about what was going through his head at that time.

Yeah, Treadwell was a complete lunatic. Then again, he's not the only madman out there trying to befriend dangerous wild animals. There's actually a docu series on national geographic with some douche trying to befriend lions. Let's hope that one won't have the same tragic ending.

The scene where Herzog listens to his final moments was one of the most moving pieces of cinema I've seen. Very very disturbing.

Just watched Afghan star, its a really great documentary about a music tv show in Afghanistan.

This was one of those rare moments when documentaries are so much more powerful than any fiction film out there. His decision to keep the recording private only adds to the power of the scene.

Jesus...what happened?

For the life of me I can't remember what it's officially called, but that infamous fly-on-the-wall documentary on Graham Taylor's car-crash of an attempt to get England to world cup USA 94 is one my favourites - a really fascinating, behind-closed-doors look at the England set-up at work.

It's only about an hour long, and here in its entirety in case anyone's a bit bored...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8XIrYDVfOE

I remember seeing this documentary and thinking...my God! We don't stand a chance if the powers that be employ tossers like this to run our national team.

And, of course, by appointing that genius Steve McClueless they basically let it happen all over again eh.

And here's another old fav documentary that I just remembered...

http://www.whatmyworldslike.com/blog...8/07/kings.jpg
^ More great sporty stuff, this time about the Rumble the In the Jungle. More absolutely fascinating stuff.

There are a few more examples I remember watching but I just don't remember what they were called! If I do, I guess I'll come back to this thread sometime.

A whole world survives in the N.Y underground rail system and the director spent many hours with them and finding people with hope, humour and even love. Fascinating doc and the only time that DJ Shadow has allowed his music to be used in a film and it fits so well.

^ That seems very interesting, would love to watch the whole thing.

Which reminds me of this unbelievably sad documentary I watched about a filmmaker following around this homeless guy through his life on the streets and ventures into finding public accomodation and getting out of his bad habits such as drug and alcohol abuse and vandalism. His girlfriend also becomes pregnant and it follows them through that journey as well. It is one of the saddest things I've ever watched. I can't remember what it was called or where I watched it - does anyone know it or have any idea what I'm on about?

^ I once watched a documentary on a herion addict, it was extremely interesting, yet slightly sickening. I learned quite a bit from it.

He listened to a recording of Timothy Treadwell and his girlfriend being attacked and eaten by a bear.

Zeitgeist was crap, in addition to getting a lot of facts wrong it was just poorly made, I'm talking "anyone on youtube could have copied and pasted it together" poor. Sure Michael Moore makes stuff up but at least he's a talented craftsman and entertainer. Zeitgeist is pretty much the bottom of the conspiracy nut barrell.

Anyway.

From my experience, many of the best documentaries are those that function as character studies rather than try to be educational or full of lectures.

Case in point. My favorite documentary.

http://markwilson.files.wordpress.co...ican-movie.jpg

This is required viewing for anyone that has aspirations of becoming a filmmaker, or better yet someone who understands from experience just how fustrating the process can be. It's about an amateur filmmaker and his friend who try to make a low budget horror movie so he can make enough money to fund a longtime pet project.

It's freaking hilarious, but surprisingly touching and inspirational at the same time. This is proof that documentaries can be just as funny and entertaining as fictional films if not more so. This movie should have gotten a best picture nomination. You can't help but love these guys.





I still can't watch these scenes without hurting myself with laughter.

http://img696.imageshack.us/img696/2550/baraka.jpg

I am sure If I would call it a documentary..... As much as it is just a profound display of the world in images and sounds.



If anyone owns a Blu-ray Player and can sit through a movie with no words and can just enjoy seeing the world in its beauty and more into its darker sad imagery. This is a must own, its been called the "arguably the highest quality DVD that's ever been made"

It caught me off guard and I shed a few tears the first time I watched it in the scenes with the dead can dances- The Host Seraphim's came on.

I am ready for the sequal Samsara to be released this year.... Ill have to make a trip to imax to see it hopefully.

There was a documentary called Leyton Orient : Club For a Fiver which was a fly on the wall documentary about the club as they faced an uncertain financial future.
But it's mostly known for the half time dressing room rants of the manager John Sitton.

I wish they'd release this on DVD.