1. Boblo Boats: A Detroit Ferry Tale
For over 85 years, steamship Ste. Claire transported generations of Detroiters to Boblo Island, an amusement park nestled in the waters between the US and Canada. When the vessel comes under threat of ruin, a doctor, psychic and amusement park fanatic unite to save their beloved steamship from the scrapyard. Interweaving local lore and mythology, "Boblo Boats" explores the whitewashed history of amusement parks and one crew's crusade to bring back the memories.
It has an average vote of 7 on TMDB.
2. The Groveland Four
July, 1949: four young black men are wrongly accused of rape by a 17-year-old farm wife in rural Lake County, Florida. The case of “The Groveland Four” included a race riot, torture, multiple murders, two trials and a Supreme Court reversal. Though widely covered by the national press, the case has been largely forgotten... even though it helped lay a foundation for the Civil Rights Movement.
3. The Red Elvis (Der rote Elvis)
A documentary on the late American entertainer Dean Reed, who became a huge star in East Germany after settling there in 1973.
It has an average vote of 7.3 on TMDB.
4. The Witness from the Balcony of Room 306
Oscar nominated documentary short from 2008
It has an average vote of 5.5 on TMDB.
5. Days of Waiting: The Life & Art of Estelle Ishigo
The story of Estelle Ishigo, one of the few Caucasians interned with Japanese Americans during World War II. The wife of a Japanese American, Ishigo refused to be separated from her husband and was interned along with him. Based on the personal papers of Estelle Ishigo and her novel Lone Heart Mountain.
It has an average vote of 7 on TMDB.
6. Political Animals
The story of four pioneering lesbian politicians and the battles they fought to pass a wide range of anti-discrimination laws.
It has an average vote of 5.5 on TMDB.
7. Steal This Film
Steal This Film focuses on Pirate Bay founders Gottfrid Svartholm, Fredrik Neij and Peter Sunde, prominent members of the Swedish filesharing community. The makers claimed that 'Old Media' documentary crews couldn't understand the internet culture that filesharers took part in, and that they saw peer-to-peer organization as a threat to their livelihoods. Because of that, they were determined to accurately represent the filesharing community from within. Notably, Steal This Film was released and distributed, free of charge, through the same filesharing networks that the film documents.
It has an average vote of 5.617 on TMDB.
8. We Are George Floyd
On May 25th, 2020, Derek Chauvin, a Minneapolis police officer, murdered George Floyd, a black man, by driving his knee into George's neck for 8 minutes and 45 seconds until he died. This film chronicles New York City's overwhelming response.
9. Controlling Britney Spears
Britney Spears has said that her conservatorship had become “an oppressive and controlling tool against her”. This New York Times investigation reveals much of how it worked, including an intense surveillance apparatus that monitored every move she made.
It has an average vote of 7.2 on TMDB.
10. Ghosts of Ole Miss
In the fall of 1962, a dramatic series of events made Civil Rights history and changed a way of life. On the eve of James Meredith becoming the first African-American to attend class at the University of Mississippi, the campus erupted into a night of rioting between those opposed to the integration of the school and those trying to enforce it. Before the rioting ended, the National Guard and Federal troops were called in to put an end to the violence and enforce Meredith's rights as an American citizen.
It has an average vote of 7 on TMDB.
11. The Uncomfortable Truth
When the award-winning filmmaker of "An Ordinary Hero", Loki Mulholland, dives into the 400 year history of institutional racism in America he is confronted with the shocking reality that his family helped start it all from the very beginning.
12. Anne Braden: Southern Patriot
Anne Braden: Southern Patriot is a first person documentary about the extraordinary life of this American civil rights leader. Braden was hailed by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in his 1963 Letter from Birmingham Jail as a white southerner whose rejection of her segregationist upbringing was eloquent and prophetic. Ostracized as a red in the 1950s, she fought for an inclusive movement community and mentored three generations of social justice advocates. Braden’s story explores not only the dangers of racism and political repression but also the power of a woman’s life spent in commitment to social justice.
It has an average vote of 10 on TMDB.
13. Get In The Way: The Journey of John Lewis
Biographical documentary about John Lewis, the civil rights icon, respected legislator and elder statesman who continues to practice nonviolence in his determined fight for justice.
14. We The People 2.0
American citizens who are normally marginalized, forgotten and left to fend against toxic dumps and other violations, come to understand that the only way to survive and save their communities is to challenge the system head-on.
15. Redlining: Mapping Inequality in Dayton & Springfield
See how New Deal-era Redlining maps delineated risk areas for federally-backed mortgages and home-ownership programs, resulting in a wealth gap that continues to impact communities and Black families today.
16. Reggie
One of sport’s first and most influential megastars, beloved baseball icon and 5-time World Series champion Reggie Jackson contemplates his legacy as a trailblazing Black athlete fighting for dignity, respect, and a seat at the table in this intimate and revealing documentary exploring his life and barrier-busting career.
It has an average vote of 5.15 on TMDB.
17. A City Decides
A City Decides chronicles the events that led to the integration of the St. Louis public schools in 1954. An Oscar-nominated short documentary from 1956.
It has an average vote of 5.7 on TMDB.
18. Always in Season
When 17-year-old Lennon Lacy is found hanging from a swing set in rural North Carolina in 2014, his mother's search for justice and reconciliation begins while the trauma of more than a century of lynching African Americans bleeds into the present.
It has an average vote of 6.8 on TMDB.
19. The Son
Using unpublished photos taken by Italian war photographer Enrico Sarsini, and the reconstruction of key events, this film examines the battle for a strategically-located church that was defended by Azerbaijani teenager Natig Gasimov. After his surrender and interrogation by Armenian forces, he was never heard of again. This film finds out what happened to Natig and who may be responsible. Filmed over a period of three years, filmmaker Karan Singh spoke to witnesses in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Italy and Russia in his search for the truth.
20. I Am Not Your Negro
Working from the text of James Baldwin’s unfinished final novel, director Raoul Peck creates a meditation on what it means to be Black in the United States.
It has an average vote of 7.713 on TMDB.