1. Athens Rising: The Sicyon Project: Volume One
Featuring dozens of performances from the living rooms, backyards, and unconventional venues throughout Athens, GA, the first Athens Rising film takes a deep look at music, dance, food, stand-up comedy, strange theater, visual art, and the origins of AthFest.
It has an average vote of 10 on TMDB.
2. Pretend Not to See Me
Life and art intersect on a spectacular Newfoundland farm where visual artist Colette Urban mounts thirteen art performances in the fields and barns of her property. Resilient, determined, self aware and funny, Colette embraces the transformative power of art as she restages the significant art performances of her thirty-year career. With the camera as her audience she transforms the quotidian into a playful world of the imagination with elaborate costumes and idiosyncratic self invented rituals.
3. A Life on the Farm
A strange story from Somerset, England about a filmmaking farmer and the inspiring legacy of his long-lost home movies.
It has an average vote of 7 on TMDB.
4. By Rook Or By Left Hook
In 2003, Dutch artist Iepe Rubingh became the first World Champion of Chessboxing. This brain-busting combination of alternating rounds of chess and boxing was in fact an art performance calling for more balance in a world of extremes, and the audience reaction was so electric that it inspired Rubingh to push it as a real sport. Rubingh’s methodical ability to achieve balance in the ring is put to the test outside of it when impulsive British TV Producer Tim Woolgar takes up the sport and his opposing vision for success creates a rift between them, endangering chessboxing’s future.
5. The Divide
The Divide tells the story of 7 individuals striving for a better life in modern day US and UK - where the top 0.1% owns as much wealth as the bottom 90%. By plotting these tales together, we uncover how virtually every aspect of our lives is controlled by one factor: the size of the gap between rich and poor.The film is inspired by "The Spirit Level" by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett.
It has an average vote of 6.7 on TMDB.
6. When We Were Kings
It's 1974. Muhammad Ali is 32 and thought by many to be past his prime. George Foreman is ten years younger and the heavyweight champion of the world. Promoter Don King wants to make a name for himself and offers both fighters five million dollars apiece to fight one another, and when they accept, King has only to come up with the money. He finds a willing backer in Mobutu Sese Suko, the dictator of Zaire, and the "Rumble in the Jungle" is set, including a musical festival featuring some of America's top black performers, like James Brown and B.B. King.
It has an average vote of 7.7 on TMDB.
7. DIVISOR / VILLEURBANNE (DIVISOR / VILLEURBANNE)
Documentation of Lygia Pape’s 1968 performance Divisor - reactivated in the city of Villeurbanne in October 2014. Commissioned by Institut d'Art Contemporain de Villeurbanne / Rhône-Alpes.
It has an average vote of 10 on TMDB.
8. Balkan Baroque (Balkan baroque)
Balkan Baroque is a real and imaginary biography of the Yugoslavian performance artist Marina Abramovic. Rather than a mechanical reproduction of the artist's work, the film tries to create a new reality by translating the performances into cinematographic images that intensify the fictional context of the film. Abramovic plays herself, but ,appearing in multiple forms, blurs her own identity. Memories and fantasies intermingle with day to day rituals. The chronological narrative often breaks to reflect the interior voyage of the protagonist from the present to the past and back to the present. The result is a visually impressive film. Balkan Baroque had its world premiere at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, 1999.
It has an average vote of 5.5 on TMDB.
9. The Queen and Her Prime Ministers (Die Queen und ihre Premiers)
Queen Elizabeth has worked with 14 Prime Ministers, including holding confidential weekly meetings. It is not known whether she has influenced her Prime Ministers, or what happens when they clash.
It has an average vote of 7 on TMDB.
10. A Year in Space
Follow astronaut Scott Kelly's 12-month mission on the International Space Station, from launch to landing, as NASA charts the effects of long-duration spaceflight by comparing him to his identical twin on Earth, astronaut Mark Kelly.
It has an average vote of 7.375 on TMDB.
11. Diorama
A ritual of transformation and awakening within the walls of the only existing original ‘diorama’ building in London
12. A Queer City
A documentary following three young nascent drag artists as they navigate a rising queer scene in Norwich City - a place wherein they express their queerness and identities freely through performance, visual artistry, and community.
It has an average vote of 7 on TMDB.
13. Interview With A Murderer
A famed criminologist reexamines the evidence in this powerful interview with murderer Bert Spencer, suspected in the killing a paperboy in 1978.
It has an average vote of 6 on TMDB.
14. The Birth of Punjabi Garage
Yung Singh and Ministry of Sound present: The Birth of Punjabi Garage The documentary has a wealth of unseen archive footage showing exactly how it was in the garages and studios of the young Bradford and Manchester lads from the beginning, to the events, weddings and festivals that marked their success. The documentary is bookended by Yung Singh and his infamous and iconic Boiler Room, giving credit to the elders who paved the way for the continuation of South Asian presence in British dance culture. This documentary was produced in tandem with Yung Singh and is the first documentary to explore the genre. Documentaries have covered Bhangra, the 80s Daytimers and the Asian Underground but the South Asian diaspora’s involvement in the early 2000s Garage scene has never been covered and we are therefore proud to bring this to you!
15. The Great Hack
Data—arguably the world’s most valuable asset—is being weaponized to wage cultural and political wars. The dark world of data exploitation is uncovered through the unpredictable, personal journeys of players on different sides of the explosive Cambridge Analytica/Facebook data story.
It has an average vote of 6.874 on TMDB.
16. The Fall
The Fall tells the remarkable story of a South African barefoot runner, an American track-and-field prodigy, and the events behind one of the most memorable moments in sporting history – the 1984 LA Olympics. The film charts two journeys, from rural South Africa under apartheid and the rolling hills of Southern California, to the starting line of the women’s 3,000 metres. It uncovers a tale of betrayal and exploitation, of the blurred lines between politics, media and sport, and of the dedication and sacrifice required to compete at the highest level. It’s a story that split governments and divided nations, but at its heart is a tale of two young women who, despite the turmoil in their lives, just wanted to run.
It has an average vote of 8.6 on TMDB.
17. Discovering Hamlet
IN 1988, rising star Kenneth Branagh tackled the role of Shakespeare’s prince of Denmark for the first time in his professional career under the guidance of celebrated actor Derek Jacobi. Narrated by Patrick Stewart, this hour-long film documents how Kenneth Branagh and Derek Jacobi, two intelligent and passionate men, found new depths in Shakespeare’s classic drama, Hamlet. Filmmakers Mark Olshaker and Larry Klein follow the company through four weeks of rehearsals, from the first read-throughs to opening night.
It has an average vote of 5.7 on TMDB.
18. The Endurance
Documentary on the Shackleton Antartic expedition. A retelling of Sir Ernest Shackleton's ill-fated expedition to Antarctica in and the crew of his vessel 'The Endurance', which was trapped in the ice floes and frigid open ocean of the Antarctic in 1914. Shackleton decided, with many of his crew injured and weak from exposure and starvation, to take a team of his fittest men and attempt to find help. Setting out in appalling conditions with hopelessly inadequate equipment, they endured all weather and terrain and finally reached safety. Persuading a local team of his confidence that the abandoned team would still be alive, he set out again to find them. After almost 2 years trapped on the ice, all members of the crew were finally rescued.
It has an average vote of 6.779 on TMDB.
19. Luke Tyburski's 500 Man
Luke Tyburski is no stranger to extreme endurance challenges, and the 500 Man triathlon was just that, an extreme challenge but this time he wasn't alone.
It has an average vote of 6 on TMDB.
20. Escape from the World's Most Dangerous Place
Successful model Samira Hashi makes an emotional return to Somalia, one of the most dangerous places in the world and the place she was born. Civil war broke out in 1991, 10 days after Samira's birth, but two years later her family managed to flee the country and she grew up in the UK.Now, as Samira and the war both turn 21, she's going back for the first time to visit the people and places she left behind. The contrast with her safe and glamorous life in London could not be starker as she experiences firsthand the war's effect on a generation of young people growing up in conflict.