Browse Movies : Variance Films : Documentary

Deep in the San Fernando Valley, amidst rows of dilapidated warehouses, was rock n' roll's best kept secret: Sound City. America's greatest unsung recording studio housed a one-of-a-kind console, and as its legend grew, seminal bands and artists such as Fleetwood Mac, Neil Young, Rick Springfield, Tom Petty, Metallica and Nirvana all came out to put magic to tape. Directed by Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Foo Fighters) and featuring interviews and performances from the iconic musicians who recorded some of rock’s greatest albums at the studio, Sound City doesn’t just tell the story of this real-life rock ’n’ roll shrine, it celebrates the human element of music as Grohl gathers some of rock's biggest artists to collaborate on a new album.

An experimental documentary that contemplates the signs of loss and change in the American South as potent metaphors of personal and collective destiny.

A documentary made over the course of 15 years telling the story of Victor DeNoble's journey from research scientist to star informant against the tobacco industry.

When Nirvana burst onto the scene in 1991, the music they played spoke directly to an angry and disenfranchised generation. Grunge took over MTV and radio overnight… but just three years later, the drug-related deaths of several musicians and the suicide of Kurt Cobain closed the books on an all too brief era. Patty Schemel, the acclaimed drummer for Courtney Love's seminal rock band Hole, was in the middle of all of it. The openly gay woman who always felt different never dreamed she would be in a multi-platinum band, touring with legends… or that, thanks to drug addiction, she could lose it all. Given a video camera just before Hole's infamous Live Through This world tour, Patty filmed everything the shows, the parties, and startlingly intimate footage of Kurt and Courtney. This footage has never been seen... until now.

A documentary chronicling the history, ideology and aesthetic of Norwegian black metal.

Academy Award®-nominated directors Carl Deal and Tia Lessin (Trouble the Water; co-producers of Fahrenheit 9/11 & Bowling for Columbine) follow the money behind the rise of the Tea Party. Citizen Koch investigates the impact of unlimited, anonymous spending by corporations and billionaires on the electoral process, featuring stories of life-long Republicans whose loyalty is tested when their families become collateral damage in the GOP fight to take organized labor out at the knees.

Admit it: you don’t really read the endless terms and conditions connected to every website you visit, phone call you make or app you download. But every day, billion-dollar corporations are learning more about your interests, your friends and family, your finances, and your secrets, and they’re not only selling the information to the highest bidder, but also sharing it with the government. And you agreed to all of it. This disquieting exposé demonstrates how every one of us is incrementally opting-in to a real-time surveillance state, click by click- and what, if anything, you can do about it.

In Israel, soccer is king, and Bnei Sakhnin has become the first team from an Arab town to win the prestigious Israeli Cup and represent Israel in European competition. Fielding Arab, Jewish and foreign-born players, owned by an Arab, and coached by a Jew, Bnei Sakhnins success has begun to represent a symbol of coexistence, a potential bridge between Arabs and Jews in Israel.

From a basketball academy in West Africa to the high-pressure world of American prep schools, the documentary follows four particularly tall West African teenagers with big hearts, open minds, and NBA dreams.

Four children enter a high-stakes lottery. If they win, they can attend one of the best schools in New York.

Documents story of Miami musician Clarence Reid and his alter ego Blowfly, the original dirty rapper. A major force in the Miami soul scene of the 60s and 70s, Reid wrote Top-10 songs for some of the greatest R&B acts of the era, while at the same time, his X-rated recordings and stage antics as Blowfly made him a star of the "party record" scene.