1. Seven Songs for a Long Life
The intimate story behind our changing relationship with death. A terminal diagnosis used to mean death within months. Modern medicine allows patients to live on for years. A passionate and touching film about uncertainty, about the future that faces all of us, following five patients who choose to sing their way through life, with a score by Mark Orton.
2. My Beautiful Broken Brain
A profoundly personal voyage into the complexity, fragility and wonder of the human brain, after Lotje Sodderland miraculously survives a hemorrhagic stroke and finds herself starting again in an alien world, bereft of language and logic. This feature documentary takes us on a genre-twisting tale that is by turns excruciating and exquisite - from the devastating consequences of a first-time neurological experiment, through to the extraordinary revelations of her altered sensory perception.
It has an average vote of 7.1 on TMDB.
3. Murder Games: The Life and Death of Breck Bednar
Murder Games tells the true story of Breck Bednar, the 14 year-old schoolboy who was lured to his death after being groomed online by Lewis Daynes.
It has an average vote of 7.7 on TMDB.
4. Yarn
The traditional crafts of crochet and knitting have become one of the hottest movements in modern art. We follow a few International artists and knitters as they bring yarn to the streets and into our lives in new ways. Starting in Iceland, this quirky and thought-provoking film takes us on a colourful and global journey as we discover how yarn connects us all.
It has an average vote of 6.2 on TMDB.
5. Aracati (Aracati)
Vale do Jaguaribe, Ceará. Following the route of the Aracati wind, the film moves from the beach to the countryside. During this path, it observes the relationship between man and landscape, thetransformations of space and the limits between nature and artifice.
6. Olympia Part One: Festival of the Nations (Olympia - Fest der Völker)
The First part of Olympia, a documentary about the 1936 Olympic games in Berlin by German Director Leni Riefenstahl. The film played in theaters in 1938 and again in 1952 after the fall of the Nazi Regime.
It has an average vote of 6.9 on TMDB.
7. Olympia Part Two: Festival of Beauty (Olympia - Fest der Schönheit)
The Second part of Olympia, a documentary about the 1936 Olympic games in Berlin by German Director Leni Riefenstahl. The film played in theaters in 1938 and again in 1952 after the fall of the Nazi Regime.
It has an average vote of 6.8 on TMDB.
8. Corpus: A Home Movie About Selena
CORPUS explores the mass adulation and explosive posthumous recognition of Selena Quintanilla, the Tejano rock singer murdered by the president of her fan club in 1995. Pushing beyond the mainstream media's fascination with her violent death, Portillo interviews Selena's family and friends as well as the devoted fans that pilgrimage to Selena's grave in Corpus Christi, Texas, to pay homage to the slain star. Moving and provocative, this humble investigative portrait explores Selena's cultural significance as a pop icon and shines a light on the hopes, fantasies, fears, and realities of young Latinas today.
9. Mike Nichols: An American Master
With charm and wit, Nichols discusses his life and 50-year career as a performer and director.
It has an average vote of 6.3 on TMDB.
10. The Liberators
Medieval art treasures seized by the Nazis go missing at the end of World War II. Were they destroyed in the chaos of the final battles? Or were these thousand-year-old masterpieces stolen by advancing American troops? For over forty years, the mystery remained unsolved. A true detective story, "The Liberators" follows a dogged German art detective through the New York art world and military archives to the unlikeliest of destinations: a small town on the Texas prairie. Featuring interviews with Willi Korte and Texas attorney Dick DeGuerin, the film raises intriguing questions as to the motivations of the art thief and the whereabouts of the items that, to this day,
It has an average vote of 5.6 on TMDB.
11. Ovarian Psycos
In East Los Angeles, three young misfit women find solace in an unapologetic, feminist bicycle crew. They call themselves the Ovarian Psycos Bicycle Brigade.
It has an average vote of 6.9 on TMDB.
12. Look & See: A Portrait of Wendell Berry
A cinematic portrait of farmer and writer Wendell Berry. Through his eyes, we see both the changing landscapes of rural America in the era of industrial agriculture and the redemptive beauty in taking the unworn path.
It has an average vote of 6.7 on TMDB.
13. Taiga (Taiga)
The Darkhad and Soyon Uriyanghai peoples live in a vast valley in Northern Mongolia, much as their ancestors have for centuries. "Taiga" is the record of a long period spent by the German filmmaker Ulrike Ottinger among these people.
It has an average vote of 7.1 on TMDB.
14. The Models of 'Pickpocket' (Les modèles de 'Pickpocket')
A documentary that follows up on what happened to the three principle actors in Robert Bresson's "Pickpocket."
It has an average vote of 7 on TMDB.
15. Vital Signs
In “Vital Signs” , Barbara Hammer demonstratively transforms the horror of death into its opposite. She tenderly cares for a human skeleton, feeding it, dressing and caressing it, taking it for walks in the dark cabaret of an intimate relationship beyond death. She confronts pain and fear rather than repressing them.
It has an average vote of 7 on TMDB.
16. In the Darkness of the Theater I Take Off My Shoes (No Escuro do Cinema Descalço os Sapatos)
The National Ballet of Portugal is celebrating its 40th anniversary. Since its foundation, it has aimed to present the great classics, as well as to always welcome contemporary creations. Day-to-day life is demanding for dancers, choreographers, musicians, répétiteurs, seamstresses, light technicians, sound technicians, and other elements of a large staff that make it possible for dance to travel through the rehearsal rooms and linger in the hallways before making it onto the stage. This film follows not only the company’s creations and premieres, but mainly each dancer’s silent and structural work.
It has an average vote of 6.7 on TMDB.
17. Herb & Dorothy 50x50
A follow up to award winning documentary 'Herb & Dorothy', the film captures the ordinary couple's extraordinary gift of art to the nation as they close the door on their life as collectors. When Herb and Dorothy Vogel, a retired postal clerk and librarian, began collecting works of contemporary art in the 1960s, they never imagined it would outgrow their one bedroom Manhattan apartment and spread throughout America. 50 years later, the collection is nearly 5,000 pieces and worth millions. Refusing to sell, the couple launches an unprecedented gift project giving artworks to one museum in all 50 states. The film journeys around the country with the Vogels, meeting artists who are famous or unknown, often controversial, striking today's society with questions about art and its survival.
It has an average vote of 8 on TMDB.
18. Los Angeles Film Noir
A documentary about film noir films made in Los Angeles.
It has an average vote of 6.5 on TMDB.
19. How to Cook Your Life
A Zen priest in San Francisco and cookbook author use Zen Buddhism and cooking to relate to everyday life.
It has an average vote of 5 on TMDB.
20. Money & Life
Money & Life is an inspirational essay-style documentary that asks a provocative question: can we see the economic crisis not as a disaster, but as a tremendous opportunity? This cinematic odyssey connects the dots on our current economic pains and offers a new story of money based on an emerging paradigm of planetary well-being that understands all of life as profoundly interconnected.
It has an average vote of 10 on TMDB.
