Channels
Documentary
2013

Popular Documentary Movies

How We Used to Live
How We Used to Live
Documentarian Paul Kelly returns to the festival with his latest collaboration with the band Saint Etienne, following the loose trilogy of London films Finisterre, What Have You Done Today, Mervyn Day and This Is Tomorrow, all recently published on BFI DVD. In the decade since Finisterre Kelly has built a reputation as a distinctive voice in British cinema, developing a lyrical style that draws on the psychogeography and people of the city and its culture. How We Used To Live is effectively a prequel to Finisterre, a meditation on London life today and a glance back at a receding Britain. Using colour footage from the 1950s to the 1980s, taken from the BFI National Archive, the film covers the ‘New Elizabethan’ age from the optimism of the post-war era to the dawn of Thatcherism. Soundtracked by Saint Etienne’s Pete Wiggs and scripted by the band’s Bob Stanley with Travis Elborough, the film is for anyone who has ever tried to understand their city. (Source: LFF programme)
How We Used to Live 2013
Madness in the Desert: The Paris to Dakar Story
Madness in the Desert: The Paris to Dakar Story
In 1977 French motorcyclist Thierry Sabine was in serious trouble, lost in the Libyan Desert and dying from thirst. Whilst most men would weep and think back over their lives, Thierry thought about coming back - to do a rally across the Sahara Desert. The 9000km Paris-Dakar, the world's craziest race, was born. The rally became a beacon for eccentric adventurers battling the terrain in customised vehicles, seduced by the romance of the desert and the extreme challenge. It soon became a victim of its own rapid success, shrouded in controversy, overwhelmed by corporate interests, responsible for over 60 deaths and decreed vulgar by the Vatican. Finally, in 2008, this incredible event was brought to an end by terrorism. This is the story of the biggest motorsport event the world has ever seen and one of the greatest challenges of human endeavour ever conceived, from those that took part. How the West took on a landscape of incredible beauty and scale. And lost.
Madness in the Desert: The Paris to Dakar Story 2013
Tupac - Aftermath
Prime Video
Tupac - Aftermath
Tupac: Aftermath is a delicate sequel to Tupac: Conspiracy, which takes the viewer to the days following the death of the rap artist. Cover-Ups, decpetion and rumor flowed through both Las vegas and Los Angeles, setting up the biggest unsolved murder case- and biggest lies about it, in recent history. Interviews with his close family and friends- as well as those who were inspired by him- perfectly reflect the fire, intensity and passion of this artist. not to be missed, find out the rest of the story in Tupac:Aftermath.
Tupac - Aftermath 2013
The Otherside
The Otherside
Known by music fans as the birthplace of Jimi Hendrix and grunge rock, there is a new music scene brewing in the Pacific Northwest. Seattle hip hop artists are redefining the genre and exploding onto the national scene as they attempt to capitalize on the do-it-yourself digital age of the music world. Some have found success, but others wonder if the dream of “making it” in a crowded industry is still attainable. While the fame and attention mounts, gain a firsthand look at the eclectic mix of artists that define northwest hip hop, as they work to conquer a genre that has long been inaccessible to a city void of major labels. THIS IS THE OTHERSIDE.
The Otherside 2013
Nora Noh
Nora Noh
Nora Noh, the best fashion designer, who dominated the scene of Korean women’s fashion and culture of the time. She was the first person ever to hold a fashion show in Korea and to make designer readymade clothes. She boldly dressed the Korean singer Yoon Bok-hee in a miniskirt and styled the duo vocal group Pearl Sisters in pantallong (flare-style pants). One day, when Noh was preparing for her show, a young stylist named Suh Eun-young comes to see her out of the blue. What kind of show will the two of them create amidst their differences and conflicts?
Nora Noh 2013
JFK in Tampa
JFK in Tampa
November 1963, four days before Dallas, President John F. Kennedy came to Tampa. It was a magical day that is captured in the Emmy Award-winning documentary JFK in Tampa, filled with heartfelt memories, film of Kennedy’s Tampa appearances and his messages to the Tampa crowds. Producer Lynn Marvin Dingfelder, videographer and editor Larry Wiezycki, and videographer Colin Kelly created this vintage video time capsule that promises to take you back to simpler times, capturing a joyous day in our city's history.
JFK in Tampa 2013
Genius on Hold
Prime Video
Genius on Hold
The story of Walter L. Shaw, a telecommunications genius, and his son Walter T. Shaw, a ruthless jewel thief, is a metaphor and a symbol for its time - for the twentieth century and for today.
Genius on Hold 2013
Fiamme di Gadda - A spasso con l'ingegnere
Fiamme di Gadda - A spasso con l'ingegnere
Fiamme di Gadda - A spasso con l'ingegnere 2013
Boundary
Boundary
This documentary reveals the tension and tragedy of the Cambodian-Thai border conflict through the stories of an ex-soldier and villagers on both sides.
Boundary 2013
Jewels
Jewels
A story about survival, belief in the physical memory of things, as if still-life was always part of the scientific possibility or of the nightmare of extinction.
Jewels 2013
Hue: A Matter of Colour
Hue: A Matter of Colour
A documentary that weaves together personal journeys, historical facts and expert analysis to show the world through the eyes of those touched by the issue of "colourism".
Hue: A Matter of Colour 2013
Shooting Bigfoot
Prime Video
Shooting Bigfoot
A fascinating and touching portrait of men who are obsessed with monsters and their adventures to find them.
Shooting Bigfoot 2013
Confessions of a Male Stripper
Confessions of a Male Stripper
Male stripping is booming in the UK. Every weekend in most major cities, women are paying to see men get naked. The Dreamboys is the biggest male stripping agency of them all and ex-stripper David Richards is in charge. He claims to know what women want, and is prepared to do whatever it takes to give it to them. David is on the search for some 'fresh meat' to join his London troupe and meets the men that come forward to auditions. Who are they, why are they doing it and what impact is it having on their lives? Like never before, this First Cut film lifts the lid on this exotic world of sex, fantasy and temptation and shines a light on the private lives of the men whose job it is to bare all. First Cut is the critically acclaimed, eclectic documentary strand that showcases distinctive new films by up and coming directors.
Confessions of a Male Stripper 2013
Sole Survivor
Sole Survivor
In the history of aviation, there have been only 14 of them: sole survivors of a commercial aviation disaster. Most have never spoken publicly about the loss, the guilt, the immense pressure of feeling "spared." Who, after all, could ever truly understand? The answer is only each other. Sole Survivor brings four of them together (George Lamson, Cecilia Cichan, Bahia Bakari and Jim Polehinke) to share their very complex, personal stories for the first time. They revisit the most harrowing moments of their lives in an effort to heal and overcome their most perplexing questions.
Sole Survivor 2013
RD Manda Lembranças
RD Manda Lembranças
RD Manda Lembranças 2013
The Portraitist
The Portraitist
During the 30s, the young Catalan teacher Antoni Benaiges takes office at a rural school in northern Spain. Antoni has a simple project: he wants to teach his pupils to write and to be free through the use of the printing press. But his dream ends very soon. An individual and collective story in memory of the victims of the Franco's repression.
The Portraitist 2013
Valentino's Ghost
Valentino's Ghost
The documentary exposes the ways in which America's foreign policy agenda in the Middle East drives the U.S. media's portrayals of Arabs and Muslims. The film lays bare the truths behind taboo subjects that are conspicuously avoided, or merely treated as sound bites, by the mainstream American media: "Why do they hate us?" "Why do we hate them?" What were the events that led to the 9/11 attacks? What are the politics behind the U.S.-Israeli relationship? Why is there a robust debate about these subjects in Europe, the Arab World and in Israel itself, but not in the U.S.? Valentino's Ghost provides a fresh inquiry which challenges the media's daily barrage of rhetoric and misinformation about our complex and vital relationship with this part of the world
Valentino's Ghost 2013
From the Depths
From the Depths
Both an activist and a documentarian, Valentina Pedicini also brings her background in anthropology to this impressively captured, claustrophobic nonfiction feature. Venturing beneath sea level, From the Depths profiles the lone woman at work in the last coal mine in Sardinia, Italy.
From the Depths 2013
Mexican Fighter
Prime Video
Mexican Fighter
The historical impact of Mexican fighters in mixed martial arts.
Mexican Fighter 2013
To Singapore, with Love
To Singapore, with Love
Tan Pin Pin employs a strictly external perspective for this portrait of her hometown, the tropical economic powerhouse of Singapore, interviewing political exiles in London, Thailand and Malaysia, who are to this day unable to return home.
To Singapore, with Love 2013
Akira Tsuboi Documents
Akira Tsuboi Documents
Documentary about japanese painter Akira Tsuboi.
Akira Tsuboi Documents 2013
4,000-Year-Old Cold Case: The Body in the Bog
4,000-Year-Old Cold Case: The Body in the Bog
Documentary following the discovery and investigation of a 4,000-year-old body that was preserved in a peat bog in Cashel in the Irish midlands
4,000-Year-Old Cold Case: The Body in the Bog 2013
32 Hours 7 Minutes
32 Hours 7 Minutes
A documentary film on the legacy of the U.S. Express - once known as the Cannonball Run - and the controversy shrouding the incredible secret behind the record time set on the last such illegal race nearly a quarter century ago.
32 Hours 7 Minutes 2013
Decency
Decency
A cry from the revolutionary wilderness. About the solidarity that disappeared.
Decency 2013
Plot for Peace
Plot for Peace
This is the untold story behind History, a well-kept secret behind the world-wide icon: Nelson Mandela's release was a Plot for Peace. For the first time, heads of state, generals, diplomats, master spies and anti-apartheid fighters reveal how Africa's front line states helped end apartheid. Their improbable key to Mandela's prison cell was a mysterious French businessman, dubbed "Monsieur Jacques" in classified correspondence. His trade secret was trust
Plot for Peace 2013
In Search of Blind Joe Death: The Saga of John Fahey
In Search of Blind Joe Death: The Saga of John Fahey
In Search of Blind Joe Death: The Saga of John Fahey is a documentary film about the legendary American guitarist, composer and provocateur John Fahey, 1939-2001. Fahey is often considered the godfather of 'American primitive guitar'. This cinematic exploration features Pete Townshend, Chris Funk of The Decemberists and Joey Burns of Calexico. These stellar musicians, along with Fahey associates and friends such as the famous 'Dr. Demento', radio broadcaster Barry Hansen, explore the legacy of this profoundly influential artist. The film was recorded in the Washington D.C. area where John Fahey was born, along the Mississippi Delta from Memphis to New Orleans, in Los Angeles, Toronto, Austin, New York and in Oregon where Fahey spent his last two decades.
In Search of Blind Joe Death: The Saga of John Fahey 2013
Hi-Ho Mistahey!
Prime Video
Hi-Ho Mistahey!
Alanis Obomsawin tells the story of Shannen’s Dream, a national campaign to provide equitable access to education for First Nations children, in safe and suitable schools. She brings together the voices of those who have successfully brought the Dream all the way to the United Nations in Geneva.
Hi-Ho Mistahey! 2013
Siblings Are Forever
Siblings Are Forever
The siblings Magnar and Oddny never left their childhood home. They run the family farm as it was run by several generations before them. Time seems to be standing still, as it is running out.
Siblings Are Forever 2013
Live and Let Live
Prime Video
Live and Let Live
Live and Let Live is a feature documentary examining our relationship with animals, the history of veganism and the ethical, environmental and health reasons that move people to go vegan.
Live and Let Live 2013
Ho Scoperto la Basilicata
Ho Scoperto la Basilicata
Ho Scoperto la Basilicata 2013
Restore Gulu: Child Soldier No More
Restore Gulu: Child Soldier No More
Watoto documentary.
Restore Gulu: Child Soldier No More 2013
Fatal Assistance
Fatal Assistance
Haitian born filmmaker Raoul Peck takes us on a 2-year journey inside the challenging, contradictory and colossal rebuilding efforts in post-earthquake Haiti.
Fatal Assistance 2013
Jamel Shabazz Street Photographer
Paramount+
Jamel Shabazz Street Photographer
Documentary following the career of Brooklyn-born photographer Jamel Shabazz, who captured hip-hop in its infancy long before it became a worldwide phenomenon. His iconic images of kids sporting sneakers and savvy street style caught the essence of hip-hop as it exploded onto the streets of New York. Intimate interviews with Shabazz and hip hop pioneers explore the hundreds of individual stories and urban history behind a revolutionary cultural movement.
Jamel Shabazz Street Photographer 2013
Fishcakes & Cocaine
Fishcakes & Cocaine
Revolving around four unorthodox inhabitants of an isolated Hebridean peninsula, this film offers an insight into an off-grid existence; exploring the peculiarities of living in a harsh natural environment while intimately delving into dwellings nestled around scraggy Scoraig. Contrasting intricate daily chores with the vast landscape, the film reveals a deep desire for isolation and distance from contemporary society among this remote community.
Fishcakes & Cocaine 2013
For the Sake of the Sun
For the Sake of the Sun
A report on hospital clowns.
For the Sake of the Sun 2013
Odonates
Odonates
From water to air the lives of Odonates undergo dramatic change. This short film explores the life of an insect that predates the dinosaurs by 100 million years. Dragonflies and Damselflies were the first aerial predators, dominating the sky with powerful two and a half ft wingspans. Today they are smaller but there are 6,000 species worldwide. Here in James River Park we discover their unique abilities through flight, sight, and reproduction.
Odonates 2013
La Sauceda, de la utopía al horror
La Sauceda, de la utopía al horror
Documentary filmed between September 2012 and March 2013. It tells the story of a valley in the mountains that extends through the north of the provinces of Cádiz and Málaga, the last Republican bastion in the area when Franco's troops already occupied all of them. the nearby regions. La Sauceda was bombed and the town destroyed forever by the air force and four columns of Franco's army. The survivors were locked up in the Marrufo farmhouse, in the municipality of Jerez de la Frontera, where five or six people were shot every day. With the testimonies of the interviewees, everything that happened in those months from the summer of 1936 to the winter of 1937 is reconstructed and the work carried out by the Forum and the Association since 2011 to locate the mass graves is also narrated, in which in the summer of In 2012, the bodies of 28 people were exhumed.
La Sauceda, de la utopía al horror 2013
27+
27+
Features making-of and documentary about Keiko Kitagawa's photo book "27."
27+ 2013
Where Should the Birds Fly?
Where Should the Birds Fly?
The film tells the compelling and moving stories of two remarkable young women living in Gaza and the struggle of Gazans trying to maintain their humanity and humor while hoping to find some sense of normality in a world that is anything but normal.
Where Should the Birds Fly? 2013
The Tale of the White Cranes
The Tale of the White Cranes
This story began in the seventies. Then the American ornithologist George Archibald turned to Soviet scientists led by Vladimir Flint with a proposal to cooperate in the protection of the white Siberian crane. This species was little studied and was considered endangered. Since then, we know much more about white cranes. Now on Earth there are two disparate populations of Siberian Cranes. One is East Siberian. These birds nest in the north of Yakutia and migrate to China. There are more than three thousand of them, and in the near future they are not threatened with extinction. A few thousand kilometers away, another population of Siberian Cranes lives. They nest in the lower reaches of the Ob, and fly to India or Iran for the winter. There are only twenty of them left. This film is about how people are trying to save this West Siberian branch of white cranes.
The Tale of the White Cranes 2013