Documentary Collection

Hollywood Chinese is a captivating look at cinema history through the lens of the Chinese American experience. Directed by triple Sundance award-winning filmmaker, Arthur Dong, this documentary is a voyage through a century of cinematic delights, intrigues, and treasures. It weaves together a wondrous portrait of actors, directors, writers, and movie icons who have defined American feature films, from the silent era to the current new wave of Asian American cinema. At once entertaining and enlightening, Hollywood Chinese reveals long-untold stories behind the Asian faces that have graced the silver screen, and weaves a rich and complicated tapestry, one marked by unforgettable performances and groundbreaking films, but also by a tangled history of race and representation.

The creative chemistry of four brilliant artists —drummer John Densmore, guitarist Robby Kreiger, keyboardist Ray Manzarek and singer Jim Morrison— made The Doors one of America's most iconic and influential rock bands. Using footage shot between their formation in 1965 and Morrison's death in 1971, it follows the band from the corridors of UCLA's film school, where Manzarek and Morrison met, to the stages of sold-out arenas.

Can the dream world be a fully functional parallel reality? Joseph Gordon-Levitt and leading scientists take you to the cutting edge of dream research in this documentary produced for Christopher Nolan's "Inception."

The Marbles started filming on the 25th of March 2021 the day Greece celebrated its 200th year of freedom, and outlines the case for the Parthenon Marbles to be returned to Athens. Documenting the ups and downs that have occurred since.

Happy is a 2011 feature documentary film directed, written, and co-produced by Roko Belic. It explores human happiness through interviews with people from all walks of life in 14 different countries, weaving in the newest findings of positive psychology. Director Roko Belic was originally inspired to create the film after producer/director Tom Shadyac (Liar, Liar, Patch Adams, Bruce Almighty) showed him an article in the New York Times entitled "A New Measure of Well Being From a Happy Little Kingdom". The article ranks the United States as the 23rd happiest country in the world. Shadyac then suggested that Belic make a documentary about happiness. Belic spent several years interviewing over 20 people, ranging from leading happiness researchers to a rickshaw driver in Kolkatta, a family living in a "co-housing community" in Denmark, a woman who was run over by a truck, a Cajun fisherman, and more.

Enter the colorful world of Emmy-winning, Oscar-nominated Patricia Field, the costume designer behind Sex and the City, Emily in Paris, Ugly Betty, and The Devil Wears Prada. A queer, first-generation Greek-American, this fiery redhead defied the odds to become a fashion icon. Features interviews with Kim Cattrall, Lily Collins, Sarah Jessica Parker, Michael Urie, and more.

With searing insight that shines light in dark corners, EATING OUR WAY TO EXTINCTION is a compelling feature documentary that opens the lid on the elephant in the room no one wants to talk about. Confronting and entertaining, this documentary allows audiences to question their everyday choices, industry leaders and governments. Featuring a wealth of world-renowned contributors including Sir Richard Branson and Tony Robbins, it has a message of hope that will empower audiences.

The story of Jesus Christ has been portrayed countless times throughout the history of cinema, from the chaste and embryonic staging of the silent film era to the frenetic dynamism of the digital age at the beginning of the 21st century. Death and rebirth are present in a perpetual cycle in which the sacred myth is transformed into the product of a spiritual franchise.

Worldwide stories of human-animal bonds, following pet owners and rescuers with dogs, cats, pigs, goats and birds of prey. Features interviews, archives and viral clips showing people's connections with their animals.

Documentary of the making of the groundbreaking Disney/Pixar animated hit movie.

It's 24 hours of pure exhilaration, complete exhaustion, and it's not for the faint of heart or the ill-prepared. It is the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans. But before you win it, you have to master finishing it. This film chronicles the dedication, the determination and the spirit required to not just survive 3,000 grueling miles, but to be in a position to win one of the greatest races in history.

Cast and crew speak on adapting One Shot as the first Jack Reacher film, casting Tom Cruise, earning Lee Child's blessing, additional character qualities and the performances that shape them, Lee Child's cameo in the film, and shooting the film's climax.

Interviews and archival footage weave together to tell the story of the Master of Suspense, one of the most influential and studied filmmakers in the history of cinema.

In full-on investigative mode, reporters from The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Hollywood Reporter doggedly pursue the story of US $3.5 billion missing from a Malaysian wealth fund. They trace the dirty money, via real estate deals and movie financing, back to the top tiers of the Malaysian government. Incredibly (but oh, how fitting!), the audacious swindlers chose to back the 2014 blockbuster The Wolf of Wall Street. Hollywood A-listers, including Leonardo DiCaprio, attended lavish parties hosted to launch the film. The embezzlement was orchestrated by a flamboyant fancier, Jho Low, and Riza Aziz, the stepson of the then-Malaysian Prime Minister. As the truth finally comes to light, assets are frozen and the fall-out begins.

A 6 part documentary of making of Batman franchise.

Documentary film on events that happened on August 28th in African-American history, shown at the Smithsonian African-American History Museum.

The history of New York City's Apollo Theater in Harlem is given the full treatment.

A documentary about a lost generation of young Russians: arriving from places all over Russia, they now live in an improvised private shelter in Tbilisi in Georgia: a student couple, a singer, a journalist, a Navalny activist, a gay blogger, and former politician. They are ordinary citizens who had never considered emigration. They do not belong to the famous avant-garde resistance but are still committed to an open and democratic civil society. In the last six months, 500,000 Russians are said to have left Russia. They are threatened not by tanks or missiles, but by the regime's ever-increasing repression, which hits any criticism of the war and any form of civic activism. Forced to leave their homeland by Putin's war, they live as digital dissidents searching for a new home.

A documentary following Christy Turlington and other models during spring fashion week in Milan, Paris and New York.

With the completion of the third part of the trilogy, a debt is also repaid to the anonymous women who stood up in dark times – from the 1-1-4 movement and the Lambrakis Youth to the torture chambers of EAT-ESA and the General Security. Portraits of ordinary women who experienced firsthand the true value of struggle.

A documentary about the Paul Verhoeven's cult classic Basic Instinct.

After geopolitics forced him into exile, Alexey Molchanov spent 2023 on a journey to reclaim his athletic glory and honor his iconic mother’s towering legacy by attempting the most dominant season in the history of the deadly sport of freediving.

Bruce Law Stunts is a Hong Kong documentary.

A camera crew follows Helmut Newton, the fashion and ad photographer whose images of tall, blond, big-breasted women are part of the iconography of twentieth-century erotic fantasy. He's on the go from L.A., to Paris, to Monte-Carlo, to Berlin, where he was a youth until he escaped from the Nazis in 1936. We see him on shoots, interviewing models, and discussing his work.

When actress Annabelle Gurwitch was fired from a play by Woody Allen, she wondered how she would cope with being downsized by a cultural icon. Turning to friends in show business, she was assured she was not alone. Everyone she knew, from her rabbi to her gynaecologist, had their own account of getting the boot. Featuring interviews with comedians, economists and regular working folks, and drawing on her hugely popular book, Fired! is a humorous look at downsizing in America.

Enjoy a peek behind the scenes of the 1999 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue with cover model/host Heidi Klum on a tour of paradise: an exotic private island brimming with the world's most beautiful women. Newcomers Amber Noelle Ehresmann and Anouk Voorveld join supermodels Niki Taylor, Eva Herzigova and many more--plus see SI Swimsuit's most revealing effort ever: models wearing nothing but body paint.

In terms of language concentration and the number of ethnic groups per unit of area, Dagestan ranks first in the world. It is the only place on Earth where, within an area of 50,000 km², around 120 nationalities live, speaking 60 languages. For centuries, representatives of different religions and ethnic groups have lived here, and despite their close proximity, all have preserved their national identity, hold their traditions in sacred regard, and carefully preserve their cultural heritage.

Documentary made by Toho for the Masterworks reissue of all of its Kurosawa films. This one focuses on "Sanjuro" (1962).

Three single friends travel to Paris for ten days for the journey of a lifetime and in search of true love. From 'meet cutes' at the Luxembourg Gardens, to strolls down the tree-lined Champs-Élysées, will first dates lead to happily ever after or heartbreak?

Acclaimed composer Michael Giacchino made his directorial debut with Marvel Studios' Special Presentation "Werewolf by Night." This behind-the-scenes special explores Giacchino's vision, style and approach to bringing the chilling story to life, as well as offering an insider's look at the between-the-scenes making of "Werewolf by Night."

This documentary revives the story of "Nueve Reinas" and the legacy of its creator, Fabián Bielinsky. After years of perseverance, his script became a phenomenon: more than 1.2 million viewers, critical acclaim, and remakes in Hollywood and India. He then surprised fans with The Aura, a thriller that established him as a versatile director, before his sudden death. Actors and crew will return to the original locations, while his family and previously unseen footage reveal the man behind the artist.

The documentary follows Nicolas Vlavianos (1929-2022), a renowned sculptor, in the final years of his life. It captures the moment — when he is around 90 years old — that he returns to an old drawer, tries to pick up his tools, and realizes he no longer has the strength to hold them. That simple gesture becomes the symbolic trigger: the end of his long creative cycle and the beginning of a farewell to his art. From there, the film documents the dismantling of Vlavianos’s studio and workspace, and the gradual process of his withdrawal from physical creation. It’s not just a retrospective of works: it’s a portrait of decline, memory, mortality, and legacy.

"A Species Odyssey" portrays the origins of Mankind from the moment the first primate stood up on their hind legs and set off to conquer the African Savanna, to modern Man, setting off to conquer space. 7 million years of triumph fraught with difficulties and extraordinary events that make Man what he is today.

Nestled in a mountainous rainforest in Alaska is the town of Whittier, where nearly the entire population lives in a single apartment building. They bring new meaning to the idea of getting along with your neighbor.

A look at the unusual process used in the making of the film Shortbus (2006) featuring interviews, behind the scenes footage and clips from the feature film. Director John Cameron Mitchell starts with the concept of using real sex in a film with a positive message. The cast of unknowns is selected from homemade audition tapes and then a callback audition workshop. More acting workshops are used to develop the characters and script. The project overcomes a number of obstacles and the rest of the film's development is followed up until its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival.

Augusto and Paulina have been together for 25 years. Eight years ago, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Both fear the day he no longer recognizes her.

This documentary for PBS by award-winning filmmaker David Grubin and narrated by Richard Gere, tells the story of the Buddha’s life, a journey especially relevant to our own bewildering times of violent change and spiritual confusion. It features the work of some of the world’s greatest artists and sculptors, who across two millennia, have depicted the Buddha’s life in art rich in beauty and complexity. Hear insights into the ancient narrative by contemporary Buddhists, including Pulitzer Prize winning poet W.S. Merwin and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Join the conversation and learn more about meditation, the history of Buddhism, and how to incorporate the Buddha’s teachings on compassion and mindfulness into daily life.

A quick overview of Swedish film history, featuring a breathtaking cavalry of scenes from about 170 films.

The making of the movie 'Rat Race'.

As a visually radical memoir, CAMERAPERSON draws on the remarkable footage that filmmaker Kirsten Johnson has shot and reframes it in ways that illuminate moments and situations that have personally affected her. What emerges is an elegant meditation on the relationship between truth and the camera frame, as Johnson transforms scenes that have been presented on Festival screens as one kind of truth into another kind of story—one about personal journey, craft, and direct human connection.

This is the story of Africa's first Boxing World Champion, Battling Siki. Who was this boxer born in Senegal, decorated for Bravery in World War I? Why do so few know that he fought and won the World Light Heavyweight Title aged 25, only to lose it controversially six months later? And why was his life cut short on a New York Street aged 28?

Survivors, witnesses, and experts tell the story of the tragic fire that engulfed a residential tower block in London — and the investigation that ensued.

Three charming 20-something grandsons take a unique journey with their grannies to discover their historic and personal legacies through stories from the Second World War. Three grandsons embark an anarchic journey into the past – a complex road movie about intergenerational dialogue in Great Britain, Germany and Hungary. Granny Project is a seven-year-long investigation of three young men coming to terms with their heritage through the extraordinary lives of their grandmothers: an English spy, a dancer from Nazi Germany and a Hungarian communist Holocaust survivor. The film deals with classic values and taboo-like historical topics, and the method used is equally important as it gives an insight to the zeitgeist of the young today.

After escaping Russia's communist revolution, Léon Theremin travels to New York, where he pioneers the field of electronic music with his synthesizer. But at the height of his popularity, Soviet agents kidnap and force him to develop spy technology.

A French documentary or, one might say more accurately, a mockumentary, by director William Karel which originally aired on Arte in 2002 with the title Opération Lune. The basic premise for the film is the theory that the television footage from the Apollo 11 Moon landing was faked and actually recorded in a studio by the CIA with help from director Stanley Kubrick.

A documentary film that explores the relationship between publicists and journalists in Hollywood.

In 1967, experimental filmmaker Jorgen Leth created a striking short film, The Perfect Human, starring a man and women sitting in a box while a narrator poses questions about their relationship and humanity. Years later, Danish director Lars von Trier made a deal with Leth to remake his film five times, each under a different set of circumstances and with von Trier's strictly prescribed rules. As Leth completes each challenge, von Trier creates increasingly further elaborate stipulations.

Man's landing on the moon was our greatest technological achievement. The Apollo 11 mission was truly the stuff of dreams. For the first time, our species walked on another celestial body. Even more remarkable was their ability to make it back. This is the story of the July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 moon landing. Drama with digitally remastered original footage.

On July 31, 1970, in Las Vegas, Nevada, Elvis Presley staged a triumphant return to the concert stage from which he had been absent for almost a decade. His series of concerts broke all box office records and completely reenergized the career of the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll.

The Summit is a 2012 documentary film about the 2008 K2 disaster directed by Nick Ryan. It combines documentary footage with dramatized recreations of the events of the 2008 K2 disaster. On the way to and from the summit, eleven climbers died during a short time span creating one of the worst catastophes in climbing history. Much of the documentary footage was captured by Swedish mountaineer Fredrik Sträng. Sträng was planning to do a Documentary which was aborted due to the fact that he did not reach the summit. The footage was still valuable to help solving what really did happen since all the climbers had different stories about what happened.

Flubs and bloopers that occurred on the set of some of the major Warner Bros. pictures of 1938.

Cristiano Ronaldo: The World at His Feet follows the footballer from his beginnings in Portugal, breakthrough start with Manchester United and current career at Real Madrid.

A night of drunken chaos rocks a quiet Dutch town in this shocking documentary about a teen's birthday invite that accidentally went viral on Facebook.

Sachin Tendulkar plays himself in this sports-docudrama that traces the life and times of one of the world’s biggest cricket phenomenas.​

Documentary about the victorious German national football team - called "Die Mannschaft" - and their journey to the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.