Documentary

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In July 1990, a dispute over a proposed golf course to be built on Kanien’kéhaka (Mohawk) lands in Oka, Quebec set the stage for a historic confrontation that would grab international headlines and sear itself into the Canadian consciousness. Pathbreaking filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin – at times with a small crew, at times alone – spent 78 days behind Kanien’kéhaka lines filming the armed standoff between protesters, the Quebec police, and the Canadian army. The result is a uniquely harrowing, unsettling, and impactful cinematic experience.Read More »

Declared a national treasure by the Australian government for its amazing photography and vision, this stunning masterpiece by Albert Falzon is, to quote Chris Darling directly, “one of the most beautiful surf films of all time!”

This classic 1972 surfing film reveals a fantasy that takes place in three exotic lands: Bali, Hawaii, and Australia. It takes you away to a world where surfers make their own houses, surfboards, and live in harmony with nature.Read More »

Academic virtuoso turned filmmaker Paul B. Preciado’s Berlin Film Festival award-winning doc tells his and others’ stories of transition through unique reenactments and visual interpretations of Virginia Woolf’s Orlando: A Biography.Read More »

Sonia García López (via DeepL) wrote:
Cristo is the first feature film directed and produced by Margarita Alexandre and Rafael Torrecilla. Evoking the work of Luciano Emmer, this art documentary tells the story of the life of Jesus using only Spanish paintings. In close harmony with the montage, the photographic technique used by Juan Mariné for the filming gives movement to the paintings by Titian, El Greco and Rubens, while the presence of the voices of Fernando Rey, José María Seoane, María Jesús Valdés and other actors of the period give the characters a sense of entity. The film received the category of National Interest from the Censorship Board, undoubtedly more inspired by the film’s exaltation of the national artistic heritage and its religious subject matter than by its artistic aspirations.Read More »

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World ecological collapse; the next ice-age has already begun! Lucky for us, governments know what to do…

As it was produced like a documentary and meant to be shown an episode of the series “Science Report”, many people still believe Alternative 3 was based on a true story. The fact it has never been repeated on British TV has given ammunition to conspiracy theorists who believe Alternative 3 was meant to blow the whistle on an actual government project and alien threat. The film was originally intended to be broadcast on April Fools’Day as a hoax, but it was delayed until June by industrial action
Music by Brian EnoRead More »

A fascinating chronicle of an unprecedented cross-cultural collaboration. In 1997 renowned conductor Zubin Mehta and celebrated Chinese film director Zhang Yimou (Raise the Red Lantern) joined forces on a production of Puccini’s opera Turandot in the Forbidden City of Beijing. The production was an undertaking on an epic scale with enormous sets, breathtaking hand-sewn Ming Dynasty costumes and hundreds of soldiers posing as extras. A fascinating chronicle of an unprecedented cross-cultural collaboration, The Turandot Project combines the pageantry of this opulent opera production with a spectacular cinematic portrait of the struggles and triumphs of Zubin Mehta and Zhang Yimou to mount their production in this most historic venue of China.Read More »

rogerebert.com:
“Last Stop Larrimah” is a funny little documentary. Set in the Australian Outback, in a tiny town with a population of 11 people, the film first gives a picture of a group of wisecracking citizens—mostly elderly—who call this middle-of-nowhere place home. They share stories of late-night revelries at the local watering hole (the only bar in town) and proudly point to the lack of a police station but the presence of a pet crocodile. The rusty bush landscape soaked in the orange sun makes Larrimah feel like an ideal retirement spot. But, as is always the case, there is trouble in paradise.Read More »

Thirty years, three generations, and a lifetime later, award-winning filmmaker Ralph Arlyck returns to San Francisco in search of Sean, the boy who was the subject of his controversy-sparking 1969 documentary.Read More »

The Los Angeles punk music scene circa 1980 is the focus of this film. With Alice Bag Band, Black Flag, Catholic Discipline, Circle Jerks, Fear, Germs, and X.Read More »