Thought-Provoking Documentaries
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Landscape Film, Roberto Burle Marx
Movie
Directed by João Vargas Penna • Documentary • 2019 • Brazil • Portuguese with English subtitles
Featuring Roberto Burle Marx, Amir HaddadA journey through the art and life of the Brazilian landscape architect and painter best known for the iconic black-and-white mosaic promenades that line Rio ...
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Jazz on a Summer's Day
Movie
Directed by Bert Stern • Documentary • 1959 • US • English
Featuring Louis Armstrong, Thelonius Monk, Anita O'DayFilmed at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival and directed by renowned photographer Bert Stern, this film features intimate performances by an all-star line-up of musical legends includin...
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Invisible Valley
Movie
Directed by Aaron Maurer • Documentary • 2021 • US • English, Spanish with English subtitles
Featuring Congressman Raul Ruiz"Invisible Valley" weaves together the disparate stories of undocumented farmworkers, wealthy snow- birds, and music festival-goers over the course of a year in California...
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Coming Out Under Fire
Movie
Directed by Arthur Dong • Documentary • 1994 • US • English
Featuring Salome Jens, Phillis Abry, David BarrettArthur Dong’s award-winning films masterfully explore the LGBTQ experience and powerfully illustrate the many faces of the gay rights struggle in America. He dramatically reveals the...
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The Raft
Movie
Directed by Marcus Lindeen • Documentary • 2018 • Sweden • English, Swedish, French, German, Japanese, Spanish with English subtitles
Featuring Daniel Gimenez Cacho, Fe Seymour, Maria BjornstamIn the summer of 1973, a young international crew of six women and five men embarked together on an un...
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M. C. Escher: Journey to Infinity
Movie
Directed by Robin Lutz • Documentary • 2021 • Netherlands • English, Dutch, Italian and German with English subtitles
Featuring Stephen Fry, George EscherEqual parts history, psychology, and psychedelia, Robin Lutz’s entertaining, eye-opening portrait of M.C. Escher gives us the man through his...
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In Case of Emergency
Movie
Directed by Carolyn Jones • Documentary • 2020 • US • English
Featuring Cathlyn Robinson, Michelle Lyon, Rabih SaadFollowing emergency nurses and their patients in seven unique settings across the U.S, this documentary sheds light on the biggest healthcare crises facing Americans today, and the...
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In Balanchine's Classroom
Movie
Directed by Connie Hochman • Documentary • 2021 • US • English
Featuring George Balanchine, Jacques d'Amboise, Merrill Ashley"In Balanchine's Classroom" takes us back to the glory years of George Balanchine's New York City Ballet through the remembrances of his former dancers and their quest to...
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Hitler's Hollywood
Movie
Directed by Rüdiger Suchsland • Documentary • 2018 • Germany • German with English subtitles
Featuring Udo Kier, Susan SontagNarrated by Udo Kier, Rüdiger Suchsland's film suggests that the Third Reich was an immersive movie starring the German nation created by Propaganda Minister Joseph Goeb...
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Harold and Lillian: A Hollywood Love Story
Movie
Directed by Daniel Raim • Documentary • 2017 • US • English
Featuring Harold Michelson, Lillian Michelson, Mel BrooksMovie fans know the work of Harold and Lillian Michelson, even if they don't recognize the names. Working largely uncredited in the Hollywood system, storyboard artist Harold and...
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The Goddesses of Food
Movie
Directed by Verane Frediani • Documentary • 2017 • France • French with English subtitles
Featuring Dominique Crenn, Barbara Lync, Alice WatersIn the male dominated food universe, discover the women changing the game on all levels. "Goddessess of Food" presents the best female chefs, including...
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The Force
Movie
Directed by Peter Nicks • Documentary • 2015 • US • English
Featuring Sean Whent, Cat Brooks, Jonathan CairoWinner of the Directing Award at the Sundance Film Festival "The Force" is a cinema vérité look inside the long-troubled Oakland Police Department as it struggles to confront federal dema...
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Double Take
Movie
Directed by Johan Grimonprez • Documentary • 2009 • Belgium, Germany, Netherlands • English
Featuring Alfred Hitchcock, Ron Burrage, Mark PerryJohan Grimonprez uniquely combines 60's advertising, hysterical Red Menace newsreels, and Alfred Hitchcock into a black comedy journey through the globa...
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Fiddler’s Journey to the Big Screen
Movie
Directed by Daniel Raim • Documentary • 2022 • US • English
Featuring Jeff Goldblum, Norman Jewison, TopolNarrated by Jeff Goldblum and directed by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Daniel Raim, this documentary captures the humor and drama of director Norman Jewison's quest to recreate the lost world ...
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The Woman Who Loves Giraffes
Movie
Directed by Alison Reid • Documentary • 2019 • Canada • English
Featuring Anne Innis Dagg, Tatiana Maslany, Victor GarberIn 1956, 23-year-old biologist Anne Innis Dagg made a solo journey to South Africa to study giraffes in the wild. In "The Woman Who Loves Giraffes", Anne (then 86) retraces ...
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Denise Ho - Becoming the Song
Movie
Directed by Sue Williams • Documentary • 2020 • US • English and Cantonese with English subtitles
Featuring Denise Ho"Denise Ho – Becoming the Song" profiles the openly gay Hong Kong singer and human rights activist Denise Ho. Drawing on unprecedented access, the film explores her remarkable jo...
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Machines
Movie
Directed by Rahul Jain • Documentary • 2017 • India, Finland, Germany • Hindi with English subtitles
Marrying stunning visuals with social advocacy, Rahul Jain's debut documentary - winner of the Special Jury Award for Cinematography at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival - takes audiences into the ...
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Defining Hope
Movie
Directed by Carolyn Jones • Documentary • 2017 • US • English
Featuring Rudolph Bilotti Sr., Berthold Cohen, Charlotte Cohen"Defining Hope" weaves the stories of patients with life-threatening illnesses, and the nurses who guide them as they make choices about how they want to live, how much m...
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To Be and To Have
Movie
Directed by Nicolas Philibert • Documentary • 2002• France • French with English subtitles
Featuring Georges LopezThe one-room schoolhouse, where one teacher instructs several grades at once, is generally regarded as a quaint thing of the past. However, Nicolas Philibert offers an in-depth look...
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The Competition
Movie
Directed by Claire Simon • Documentary • 2016 • France • French with English subtitles
Featuring Alain Bergala, Emilie Deleuze, Xanae BoveClaire Simon, one of France’s leading documentarians, gives an enlightening all-access tour behind the scenes at France’s premiere film school, La Femis, dur...
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The Challenge
Movie
Directed by Yuri Ancarani • Documentary • 2017 • France, Italy • Arabic with English subtitles
Featuring Khaled Al-Hammadi, Nasser Al-KaabiThis exquisite documentary enters the surreal world of Qatari sheikhs with a passion for falconry. The opulence of this Middle Eastern gas state is on displ...
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Bugs
Movie
Directed by Andreas Johnsen • Documentary • 2016 • Denmark • English, Danish with English subtitles
Featuring Josh Evans, Roberto Flore, Ben Reade"Bugs" is an artful and thoughtful new documentary that provides a perfect entry point to insect cuisine. Watch as filmmaker Andreas Johnsen and his ...
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Bix: "Ain't None of Them Play Like Him Yet"
Movie
Directed by Brigitte Berman • Documentary • 1981 • US • English
Featuring Bix Beiderbecke, Richard Basehart, Doc CheathamCornetist / pianist / composer Leon “Bix” Beiderbecke (1903-1931) was jazz’s man who got away. Beiderbecke became a legend even in his short lifetime, bringing an amazing new...
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The Reason I Jump
Movie
Directed by Jerry Rothwell • Documentary • 2021 • US, UK • English
Featuring Jordan O'Donegan, Jeremy Dear, David MitchellBased on the best-selling book by Naoki Higashida and winner of the Audience Award at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, "The Reason I Jump" is an immersive cinematic explorat...