Documentary
Design for Death
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Design for Death

1948
A Best Documentary Oscar winner, Design for Death uses clips from captured Japanese newsreel footage, historical dramas and propaganda films to trace the steps that led to Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor. In an effort to educate audiences and prevent future wars, Theodor S. Geisel (aka Dr. Seuss) created this cautionary film, using his expertise in Asian history to explore the unheeded warning signs of World War II.

Directed by:

  • Theodor S. Geisel
  • Helen Geisel
    • rating:2.4.png 2.4 Average Rating


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    Something to Do with the Wall
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    Something to Do with the Wall

    1990
    In 1989, as filmmakers Ross McElwee and Marilyn Levine's documentary about the Berlin Wall's 25th anniversary was nearing completion, history intervened, the wall came tumbling down and the duo decided to keep filming the pending cultural shifts. The monumental event intersecting this intimate film about sweeping political change reveals a portrait of the German people both excited and apprehensive about their reunified country's future.

    Directed by:

  • Ross McElwee
  • Marilyn Levine
    • rating:2.4.png 2.4 Average Rating


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    What Are We Doing to Our Children and Our Planet
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    What Are We Doing to Our Children and Our Planet

    2008
    Filmmaker and concerned mother Judy Apicella follows up her exposé of vaccines, Shoot 'em Up, with this broader look at global contamination. Her interviews with medical experts reveal that today's advances may be endangering our children's future. The film goes beyond the issues of air, water and ground pollution to examine human contamination through vaccines and antibiotics that are creating stronger, more resistant bacteria.

    Directed by:

  • Judy Apicella
    • rating:2.4.png 2.4 Average Rating


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    Climb Against the Odds
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    Climb Against the Odds

    1999
    Narrated by Oscar winner Olympia Dukakis, this affecting documentary follows 12 women who face seemingly insurmountable odds on an expedition up North America's tallest peak: Alaska's towering Mount McKinley. But scaling it isn't their only challenge -- five of them are also breast cancer survivors, and their struggles on and off the mountain serve as an inspiring tribute to women's courage under daunting circumstances.

    Directed by:

  • Karen Carlson
    • rating:2.3.png 2.3 Average Rating


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    Kilimanjaro for Hope
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    Kilimanjaro for Hope

    2008
    Follow a group of novice hikers, including director Holly Stadtler, as they scale the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest mountain, in an effort to raise money for sick children, including Hope, a baby born 12 weeks premature. As the climbers ascend the treacherous peak, they contend with altitude sickness and injuries, finding that not all have the strength to reach the summit in this breathtaking documentary.

    Directed by:

  • Holly Stadtler
    • rating:2.3.png 2.3 Average Rating


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    Homo Promo
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    Homo Promo

    1993
    Hollywood's relationship with the gay community and the way it portrays them on film has run the gamut from incendiary to awkward to heartbreakingly poignant. This documentary explores the industry's attempts to include gay themes by way of trailers of vintage films (those made between 1956 and 1977), including "Tea and Sympathy," "Outrageous," "Midnight Cowboy" and more, and looks at how the films were marketed to moviegoers.

    Directed by:

  • Jenni Olson
    • rating:2.3.png 2.3 Average Rating


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    White Thunder
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    White Thunder

    2004
    Director Victoria King helms this documentary about the fateful 1931 voyage of the &NFi;S.S. Viking&NFi_;, which sailed from Newfoundland with plans to film (aboard the ship) the final scenes of a lavish Hollywood picture about Newfoundland sealers. Sadly, an explosion on the vessel took the lives of the filmmaker, Varick Frissell, and 26 others. King delves into the tragedy in this affecting film, also taking time to cover Frissell's enduring life story.

    Directed by:

  • Victoria King
    • rating:2.3.png 2.3 Average Rating


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    When We Were Boys
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    When We Were Boys

    2009
    Capturing the realities of student life at an elite private school for privileged boys, filmmaker Sarah Goodman focuses on two friends and faithfully follows them over the course of two years as they move from grade eight to the senior school. As with any boys who have been friends since grade school, Noah and Colin are bound to drift apart. But must they sever their boyish ties completely in their quest to become men?

    Directed by:

  • Sarah Goodman
    • rating:2.3.png 2.3 Average Rating


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    Showbiz Goes to War
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    Showbiz Goes to War

    1982
    While a few Hollywood celebrities such as James Stewart and Clark Gable saw combat during World War II, the majority used their talents to rally the American public through bond sales, morale-boosting USO tours, patriotic war dramas and escapist film fare. Comedian David Steinberg plays host for this star-studded, 90-minute documentary, which looks at the way Tinseltown helped the United States' war effort.

    Directed by:

  • Norman Sedawie
  • Gail Gibson Sedawie
    • rating:2.3.png 2.3 Average Rating


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    Festival Pass with Chris Gore
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    Festival Pass with Chris Gore

    2002
    Festival Pass takes cineastes all over the map in search of the newest and the best movies screened at various film festivals. Movie guru Chris Gore, who also edits Film Threat Magazine, travels to distances near and far to interview celebrities such as Bob Odenkirk (of Melvin Goes to Dinner), Harvey Pekar (the inspiration for American Splendor), William H. Macy (doing press for The Cooler), Paul Rudd (talking about The Shape of Things) and more.

    Directed by:

  • Mary Jo Intorcio
    • rating:2.3.png 2.3 Average Rating


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    Blake: The Marriage of Heaven and Hell
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    Blake: The Marriage of Heaven and Hell

    2006
    Featuring dramatizations by Oscar-winning actress Anne Baxter and Tony winner George Rose, this 1983 documentary looks at the life and works of Englishman William Blake, a prolific poet, engraver, painter and mystic. Though his symbolic expressions of religious visions -- especially in his book &NFi;The Marriage of Heaven and Hell&NFi_; -- brought the innovative Blake a measure of fame, his genius went largely unrecognized during his lifetime.

    Directed by:

  • Penny Price
    • rating:2.3.png 2.3 Average Rating


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    Comme Les Oiseaux...
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    Comme Les Oiseaux...

    1993
    French filmmaker Dominique Delouche showcases Monique Loudières, the famous principal dancer of the Paris Opera Ballet, in this documentary profile featuring her inspired interpretations of selections from "Giselle," "Don Quixote" and "In the Night." The fascinating film also includes a look at Loudières's coaching sessions with dancers such as Jerome Robbins, Violette Verdy, Yvette Chauviré and others.

    Directed by:

  • Dominique Delouche
    • rating:2.3.png 2.3 Average Rating


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    Robert Frost: A Lover's Quarrel with the World
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    Robert Frost: A Lover's Quarrel with the World

    1963
    One of the 20th century's finest poets, Robert Frost used nature as a source for insights into deeper truths, his verse earning international recognition and four Pulitzer Prizes. Shirley Clarke's Oscar-winning documentary explores the life of this complex man. A loner who surrounded himself with a large audience, a rebel who sought acceptance, Frost once said, "I would have written of me on my stone: I had a lover's quarrel with the world."

    Directed by:

  • Shirley Clarke
    • rating:2.3.png 2.3 Average Rating


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    Hair World
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    Hair World

    2004
    A bad hair day takes on new meaning in this behind-the-scenes documentary, which plunges into the world of professional hairstylists and coiffure-cutting competitions. Cameras follow an American team of stylists as they go head-to-head against the world's most talented snippers. Interviews with professional stylists such as Robert Cromeans, Stephen Moody of Vidal Sassoon and John Paul Mitchell provide insight into the highly competitive arena.

    Directed by:

  • Cynthia Adra
    • rating:2.2.png 2.2 Average Rating


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    History Lessons
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    History Lessons

    2000
    In a trilogy of experimental documentaries, director Barbara Hammer rewrites history by inserting lesbians and lesbian imagery throughout educational films, newsreels, medical footage and more from the past century.

    Directed by:

  • Barbara Hammer
    • rating:2.2.png 2.2 Average Rating


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    Refusenik
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    Refusenik

    2007
    Offering a glimpse into a little-known battle of the Cold War era, this documentary follows the 30-year fight to free Jews in the U.S.S.R. from Soviet oppression, a movement that resulted in the emigration of more than a million Jews out of Russia.

    Directed by:

  • Laura Bialis
    • rating:2.2.png 2.2 Average Rating


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    Now and Then
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    Now and Then

    1995
    Waxing nostalgic about the bittersweet passage from childhood to puberty in this tender coming-of-age tale, four childhood girlfriends -- Teeny, Chrissy, Samantha and Roberta -- recall the magical summer of 1970. During their walk down memory lane, they reconcile experiences with boys, secrets, bullies and more. Lesli Linka Glatter directs; Gaby Hoffmann, Ashleigh Aston Moore, Cloris Leachman, Thora Birch and Christina Ricci co-star.

    Directed by:

  • Lesli Linka Glatter
    • rating:3.8.png 3.8 Average Rating


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    Now and Then (1995)
    A heartwarming movie about four childhood girlfriends who, in adulthood reunion, relive their experience of the life-changing summer of 1970, including a mystery death, divorce, standing up to the boys, first kiss, and the meaning of true friendship. Each explores her unique identity amidst family and friends. Beautifully directed by Lesli Linka Glatter.
    - Frances   
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