1. Howard Zinn: You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train
You Can't Be Neutral documents the life and times of the historian, activist and author of the best selling classic "A People's History of the United States". Featuring rare archival materials, interviews with Howard Zinn as well as colleagues and friends including Noam Chomsky, Marian Wright Edelman, Daniel Ellsberg, Tom Hayden and Alice Walker.
It has an average vote of 6.5 on TMDB.
2. The Devil Never Sleeps
The Devil Never Sleeps is a “whodunit” documentary about family secrets. Filmmaker Lourdes Portillo received a phone call informing her of the mysterious death of her wealthy Mexican uncle Oscar. Officially ruled a suicide, Portillo’s relatives claimed murder, offering several possible suspects including a business partner, a ranch hand, and Oscar’s young widow who stood to inherit everything. Traveling to Mexico, Portillo attempts to learn the truth about her powerful uncle. Using interviews, old snapshots and home movies, she finds a complicated web of family secrets, intrigue, rumor and betrayal that makes her enigmatic uncle’s murder seem ever more likely, yet ever more obscure. As the Mexican saying goes, “When evil is lurking, the devil never sleeps.”
It has an average vote of 5 on TMDB.
3. The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
Hugo Chavez was a colourful, unpredictable folk hero who was beloved by his nation’s working class. He was elected president of Venezuela in 1998, and proved to be a tough, quixotic opponent to the power structure that wanted to depose him. When he was forcibly removed from office on 11 April 2002, two independent filmmakers were inside the presidential palace.
It has an average vote of 7.7 on TMDB.
4. Stoked: The Rise and Fall of Gator
A documentary exploring the rise and fall of 80s skateboard legend Mark "Gator" Rogowski.
It has an average vote of 5.9 on TMDB.
5. Her Name Is Sabine
A sensitive portrait of Sabine Bonnaire, the autistic sister of the french actress Sandrine Bonnaire.
It has an average vote of 5.1 on TMDB.
6. Harlan County U.S.A.
This film documents the coal miners' strike against the Brookside Mine of the Eastover Mining Company in Harlan County, Kentucky in June, 1973. Eastovers refusal to sign a contract led to the strike, which lasted more than a year and included violent battles between gun-toting company thugs/scabs and the picketing miners and their supportive women-folk. Director Barbara Kopple puts the strike into perspective by giving us some background on the historical plight of the miners and some history of the UMWA. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with New York Women in Film & Television in 2004.
It has an average vote of 7.6 on TMDB.
7. Mine
MINE is the powerful story about the essential bond between humans and animals told against the backdrop of one of the worst natural disasters in the U.S
It has an average vote of 6.9 on TMDB.
8. Prisoners of War (Prigionieri della guerra)
This haunting film comprises of footage shot during WWI from opposite sides of the conflict: Czarist Russia and the Austro-Hungarian empire. The filmmakers tinted the material with sensual colors from sepia to red, blue, and purple and slowed the footage to analyze the material. The total absence of commentary renders the material eloquent and disturbing. - MoMA
It has an average vote of 6 on TMDB.
9. Lo specchio di Diana (Lo specchio di Diana)
In 1926 the remains of two ships built by the Emperor Caligula were found at the bottom of Lake Nemi, near Rome. Mussolini had the lake drained and established a museum as a celebration of the imperial origins of Fascism, but the museum and ships were destroyed by fleeing Nazis in 1944. The film commemorates these events. - MoMA
It has an average vote of 6.2 on TMDB.
10. And... We Have Flavour (Y... tenemos sabor)
A documentary that gives a lyrical introduction to Afro-Cuban rhythms. The short features interviews, footage of impromptu street performances, and studio recordings.
It has an average vote of 5.8 on TMDB.
11. I'm Going to Santiago (Iré a Santiago)
This black-and-white film is a loving portrait of Santiago de Cuba and its people. It provides a view of Cuba as a picturesque country, the product of an earthy mix of black and criollo cultures. The film uses historical images which portray the end of the eighteenth century when Haitian slave owners fled with their slaves to Cuba after the Haitian Revolution.
It has an average vote of 6.2 on TMDB.
12. The New Klan: Heritage of Hate
Documents Ku Klux Klan activities in California, Georgia, Chicago, and Ohio.
13. 1971
Forty years before WikiLeaks and the NSA scandal, there was Media, Pennsylvania. In 1971, eight activists plotted an intricate break-in to the local FBI offices to leak stolen documents and expose the illegal surveillance of ordinary Americans in an era of anti-war activism. In this riveting heist story, the perpetrators reveal themselves for the first time, reflecting on their actions and raising broader questions surrounding security leaks in activism today.
It has an average vote of 6.7 on TMDB.
14. Who Is Bernard Tapie?
This documentary tells two stories simultaneously: it's a profile of Bernard Tapie, a wealthy man who rises and falls spectacularly in French society and may be on the rise again; and, it's a look at Marina Zenovich's fascination with Tapie, behaving oddly in spite of her awareness that she's being irrational. Politicians, athletes, friends, companions, and journalists comment on Bernard's charm, his rise to prominence in sports and politics, and his subsequent trouble with the law. Zenovich becomes fixated on her need to interview Tapie, becoming virtually a stalker in her quest.
It has an average vote of 6 on TMDB.
15. Britain's Holocaust Survivors
They experienced perhaps the greatest crimes against humanity the world has ever seen. Yet what do we know about the Holocaust survivors who made Britain their home? Britain's Holocaust Survivors takes a unique approach to recording the experiences of the last generation to have living memories of the Holocaust. The film takes viewers into the homes of a small group of extraordinary survivors, telling their stories with sensitivity, humour and compassion. A compelling cast of characters are revealed as they gradually reveal the horror of their past and how those experiences have shaped their lives.
16. Visa para un sueño (Visa para un sueño)
Documentary on the exodus of the Dominican illiterate laborers to Puerto Rico during the late 1980's to 1990. Focuses on the plight of Dominican women who, faced with no economic opportunities in Santo Domingo, embark in an illegal boat trip to Puerto Rico.
It has an average vote of 4 on TMDB.
17. Sueños atrapados (Sueños atrapados)
Discusses the mass immigration to the United States from the Dominican Republic due to the poor economic conditions there. Includes interviews with people, primarily women, who have emigrated and gives details on the hardships the travelers endure.
18. Las caras lindas de Tite Curet (Las caras lindas de Tite Curet)
Documents the life and musical production of Puerto Rican music composer, Tite Curet Alonso. Includes Tite Curet's last interview before his death.
19. Luisa Capetillo: pasión de justicia (Luisa Capetillo: pasión de justicia)
Features the life of feminist Luisa Capetillo in late 19th and early 20th century Puerto Rico.
20. On the Heights All Is Peace (Su tutte le vette è pace)
Found footage anti-war film comprising film documents of the Austro-Hungarian and Italian army on the Alpine front, and from first generation picture material by war-film pioneer Luca Comerio.
It has an average vote of 6 on TMDB.
