1. Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory (La Sortie de l'Usine Lumière à Lyon)
Working men and women leave through the main gate of the Lumière factory in Lyon, France. Filmed on 22 March 1895, it is often referred to as the first real motion picture ever made, although Louis Le Prince's 1888 Roundhay Garden Scene pre-dated it by seven years. Three separate versions of this film exist, which differ from one another in numerous ways. The first version features a carriage drawn by one horse, while in the second version the carriage is drawn by two horses, and there is no carriage at all in the third version. The clothing style is also different between the three versions, demonstrating the different seasons in which each was filmed. This film was made in the 35 mm format with an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, and at a speed of 16 frames per second. At that rate, the 17 meters of film length provided a duration of 46 seconds, holding a total of 800 frames.
It has an average vote of 6.696 on TMDB.
2. Aan ons den arbeid
Documentary that shows the changing attitude towards immigrant labor in The Netherlands. The documentary follows three immigrants that arrived in Holland 30 years ago to work in a bakery.
It has an average vote of 8.5 on TMDB.
3. Pussy Riot: Rage Against Putin (Pussy Riot, rage against Poutine)
Pussy Riot make a comeback after a long absence to stand with Ukraine. Their story and their struggle are told through archival footage and interviews with the group’s members.
It has an average vote of 8 on TMDB.
4. Antonio García-Trevijano: Transición e historia política de España en primera persona (Antonio García-Trevijano: Transición e historia política de España en primera persona)
Spanish jurist and republican thinker Antonio García-Trevijano expounds his political thought and reflects on the recent political history of Spain.
It has an average vote of 4 on TMDB.
5. Girls Taking Time Checks
Almost 200 women file by a device on the wall from which they take their time checks. A man runs half-way across the screen at the end of the film.
It has an average vote of 5.6 on TMDB.
6. Panorama of Machine Co. Aisle
A camera on an overhead crane travels down a large, long aisle where men are shown working on large machinery on either side. Carts carrying equipment are shown traveling on rails down the aisles. There are also men walking in the aisles. From Bitzer's Westinghouse Works series.
It has an average vote of 5 on TMDB.
7. Testing Large Turbines, Westinghouse Co. Works
On the left of the screen, a small group of men lift the top off of what appears to be a turbine with a crane and continue to check the machine, tightening various parts with wrenches. On the right side, a few men appear to be testing the workings of what may be a turbine.
It has an average vote of 3.8 on TMDB.
8. The Annanacks
This short documentary depicts the formation in 1959 of the first successful co-operative in an Inuit community in Northern Québec. The film describes how, with other Inuit of the George River community, the Annanacks formed a joint venture that included a sawmill, a fish-freezing plant and a small boat-building industry.
9. Hotet Mot Demokratin - om Göteborgskravallerna 2001
On June 14, 2001, during the ongoing EU summit, the police surrounds Gothenburg political center. This is the prelude to the most violent confrontations between police and protesters in Sweden for decades. The threat to democracy is a film about the events that preceded what is increasingly starting to resemble a major assault on democracy. The film follows the preparation of the extra-parliamentary left for the protests against the summit and reflects thoughts and ideas on how, as an individual and a collective, one can make his voice heard in today's society.
10. Along Came a Catdidate (La historia detrás del candigato)
When Sergio Chamorro and Daniel Cruz declared their cat Morris an eligible candidate in the municipal elections of Mexico's state of Veracruz, they thought of it as a joke. But the cat's surging popularity on social media made them reconsider. Now a leading candidate, Morris's political opponents are urging citizens not to vote for the feline.
11. Political Bodies (Corpolítica)
At a time when the far right is ascending to power around the world, the 2020 Brazilian municipal elections saw a surprising and unprecedented record of LGBT candidates. This film follows four young queer politicians during their electoral campaigns and reveals their struggle to affirm their rights to exist and be heard.
It has an average vote of 10 on TMDB.
12. The Yes Men
A comic, biting and revelatory documentary following a small group of prankster activists as they gain worldwide notoriety for impersonating the World Trade Organization on television and at business conferences around the world.
It has an average vote of 7 on TMDB.
13. The last campaign
After four years of the Trump administration, Jonathan Katz, a Jewish activist from New York, travels across the American Midwest to support the presidential candidacy of Bernie Sanders. Committed body and soul to a revolution through the ballot box, his deepest convictions are shaken. While it is the last campaign for him, as it is for Bernie, he meets a new generation of activists for whom it is the first.
14. Beyond Barricades
Beyond Barricades is a documentary on political punk band Anti-Flag, featuring interviews with Tom Morello, Billy Bragg, Tim McIlrath, Brian Baker & More. The film explores the trials and tribulations of playing politically charged music and devoting your life to activism.
It has an average vote of 8 on TMDB.
15. 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.
16. Total Disaster
Armed with realistic bird puppets, trickster environmental activists pretend to be oil company Total—staging a satirical press conference to introduce “RéHabitat,” a program to rescue animals from the East African Oil Pipeline by relocating them to “more sustainable” habitats. Using humor and mischief, they expose a deadly ecological disaster in a zany effort to help #StopEACOP.
17. Schade, daß Beton nicht brennt (Schade, daß Beton nicht brennt)
(Schade, daß Beton nicht brennt)
18. Factory
A cinema verite study of the world of the blue-collar worker and the economic and psychological bind in which he is caught.
19. Stonebreakers
In a year of uprisings and political unrest, Stonebreakers documents the fights around monuments in the United States and explores the shifting landscapes of the nation's historical memory.
It has an average vote of 7 on TMDB.
20. McLibel
McLibel is a documentary film directed by Franny Armstrong for Spanner Films about the McLibel case. The film was first completed, as a 52 minute television version, in 1997, after the conclusion of the original McLibel trial. It was then re-edited to 85 minute feature length in 2005, after the McLibel defendants took their case to the European Court of Human Rights.
It has an average vote of 6.7 on TMDB.