1. The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat (L'arrivée d'un train à La Ciotat)
Likely in June 1897, a group of people are standing along the platform of a railway station in La Ciotat, waiting for a train. One is seen coming, at some distance, and eventually stops at the platform. Doors of the railway-cars open and attendants help passengers off and on. Popular legend has it that, when this film was shown, the first-night audience fled the café in terror, fearing being run over by the "approaching" train. This legend has since been identified as promotional embellishment, though there is evidence to suggest that people were astounded at the capabilities of the Lumières' cinématographe.
It has an average vote of 7.108 on TMDB.
2. Berlin: Symphony of a Great City (Berlin, die Symphonie der Großstadt)
A day in the city of Berlin, which experienced an industrial boom in the 1920s, and still provides an insight into the living and working conditions at that time. Germany had just recovered a little from the worst consequences of the First World War, the great economic crisis was still a few years away and Hitler was not yet an issue at the time.
It has an average vote of 7.496 on TMDB.
3. Merkel-Jahre - Am Ende einer Ära (Merkel-Jahre - Am Ende einer Ära)
The film shines a light onto federal chancellor Angela Merkel and her now ending 16-year-long tenure. An era, not an episode. And a vagarious relationship history between the chancellor and the Germans. Who has changed whom here?
It has an average vote of 7 on TMDB.
4. King of Porn
Meet Ralph Whittington, who amassed one of the largest private collections of pornography ever. His collection can now be seen and studied at the Museum of Sex in New York City. Produced by Jeff Krulik. Premiered at AFI Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington DC as part of the I QUIT MY DAY JOB FILM FESTIVAL in 1996. –JK
It has an average vote of 4 on TMDB.
5. 1/57: Experiment with Synthetic Sound (Test) (1/57: Versuch mit synthetischem Ton)
Mostly dark, rejecting images which are repeated. A stone wall, the chamber of a revolver which is, at first not recognizable, a close-up of a cactus. The duration of the takes emphasises the photographic character of the pictures, simultaneously with a crackling, brutal sound.
It has an average vote of 4.5 on TMDB.
6. La ruta de don Quijote (La ruta de don Quijote)
A poetic journey through the paths and places of old Castile that were traveled and visited by the melancholic knight Don Quixote of La Mancha and his judicious squire Sancho Panza, the immortal characters of Miguel de Cervantes, which offers a candid depiction of rural life in Spain in the early 1930s and illustrates the first sentence of the first article of the Spanish Constitution of 1931, which proclaims that Spain is a democratic republic of workers of all kind.
It has an average vote of 5.2 on TMDB.
7. I Am an Old Smoking, Moving Indian Movie Star
A veiled Indian lady talks to the camera . Her story is told in images.
It has an average vote of 5.8 on TMDB.
8. X-Ray Audio: The Documentary
Cold War Leningrad: In a culture where the recording industry was ruthlessly controlled by the state, music lovers discovered an extraordinary alternative means of reproduction: they repurposed used x-ray film as the base for records of forbidden songs. Giving blood every week to earn enough money to buy a recording lathe, one bootlegger Rudy Fuchs cuts banned music onto such discarded x-rays to be sold on street corners by shady dealers. It was ultimate act of punk resistance, a two-fingered salute to the repressive regime that gave a generation of young Soviets access to forbidden Western and Russian music, an act for which Rudy and his fellow bootleggers would pay a heavy price.
9. Amazing Journeys
By land, by air, and by sea, viewers can now experience the struggle that millions of creatures endure in the name of migration as wildlife photographers show just how deeply survival instincts have become ingrained into to the animals of planet Earth. From the monarch butterflies that swarm the highlands of Mexico to the birds who navigate by the stars and the millions of red crabs who make the perilous land journey across Christmas Island, this release offers a look at animal instinct in it's purest form.
It has an average vote of 5.7 on TMDB.
10. The Making of Me
Martin Short narrates the story of "his own" birth to explain the subjects of sex, conception, pregnancy and childbirth in an entertaining and educational way.
11. The Dreamer
This year our mid-summer’s night was adorned with a glorious full moon. The weeks and days preceding the solstice were magically alive with crisp, cool breezes, bright, warm sunlight, and a general sense of heartbreaking clarity. The Dreamer is born out of this most poignant San Francisco spring.
12. Aerial New Zealand
Take an epic voyage over the remote island nation of New Zealand, the last habitable landmass to be discovered on the planet. No bigger than the state of Colorado, this small country offers an incredibly diverse landscape view that changes dramatically with each mile. From snow-capped mountains to sandy beaches, and from the glacier-carved Fiordland National Park to the crater lake of Mount Ruapehu, New Zealand is a land of extremes. It's a place where fire clashes with ice and people are always pushing the limits.
It has an average vote of 7.6 on TMDB.
13. Aerial Ireland
Take a cross-country flight over Ireland's natural wonders and ancient ruins. In this spectacular overview of the historically significant Emerald Isle, we soar over Neolithic tombs of the Celtic era, medieval castles of the Vikings, and modern cities humming with life. From the tower that inspired a novelist to the ancestral home of a famous stout, we explore the sites, the people, and the milestones of this unique gem of Western Europe.
It has an average vote of 7.571 on TMDB.
14. Quartet for the End of Time
A music documentary about Olivier Messiaen's transcendent masterpiece, that he composed in a World War II prison camp, and debuted there on January 15, 1941. This film was completed on the 75th Anniversary of that historic premiere, and features "The President's Own" United States Marine Band Ensemble performing in rehearsal and at The Phillips Collection, in Washington, D.C.
15. A Short Film About Some Trees That We Bought This Week
A short film about the curse of making plans.
16. Nisei (Second-generation) (Nisei (Segunda generación))
Follows Iwao Ichikawa, a second-generation Japanese Mexican, navigating racial segregation in Mexicali, Baja California during WWII, offering a poignant exploration of identity and belonging amidst adversity.
It has an average vote of 10 on TMDB.
17. Plating Blind
Nathan Quinell is a fully trained chef… he also happens to be legally deaf and blind. That’s never stopped him from chasing his dreams to become a full-time cook, but now Nathan must prove himself to his peers, his students and potential employers.
18. Sign of Protest
This short documentary focuses on protests surrounding a homophobic sign that hung behind the bar of Barney's Beanery in West Hollywood for many years.
19. The Dream Is Alive
The Dream Is Alive takes you into space alongside the astronauts on the space shuttle. Share with them the delights of zero gravity while working, eating and sleeping in orbit around the Earth. Float as never before over the towering Andes, the boot of Italy, Egypt and the Nile. Witness firsthand a tension-filled satellite capture and repair and the historic first spacewalk by an American woman.
It has an average vote of 7.5 on TMDB.
20. Decasia
A meditation on the human quest to transcend physicality, constructed from decaying archival footage and set to an original symphonic score.
It has an average vote of 6.4 on TMDB.
