Browse Movies : 2013 : Documentary : B

In 1968, a young college drop-out named George A. Romero directed Night of the Living Dead, a low budget horror film that shocked the world, became an icon of the counterculture, and spawned a zombie industry worth billions of dollars that continues to this day.

Birth of the Living Dead shows how Romero gathered an unlikely team of Pittsburghers -- policemen, iron workers, teachers, ad-men, housewives and a roller-rink owner -- to shoot a revolutionary guerrilla style film that went on to become a cinematic landmark, offering a profound insight into how our society worked in a singular time in American history.

The documentary takes audiences to the frontlines of Detroit, a city where some residents seem to think of arson as a sport. Detroit has more fires than any city in the United States: A population drop from 1.85 million in 1950 to near 700,000 today has left 80,000 abandoned structures as kindling. The result is a city with 30,000 fire calls a year — the highest fire-load in America. On average, Detroit sees 30 structure fires daily (firefighters estimate that more than 90% are set intentionally), while Los Angeles, with a population of 4 million, sees only 11 structure fires per day.

Mark Mori’s Bettie Page Reveals All is an intimate look at one of the world’s most recognized sex symbols, featuring Bettie Page herself telling her story for the first time in her own words. In Mori’s documentary, the real Bettie Page emerges from the veil of myth and rumor via interviews Mori taped a decade prior to her death in 2008.

Blackfish tells the story of Tilikum, a performing killer whale that killed several people while in captivity. Along the way, director-producer Gabriela Cowperthwaite compiles shocking footage and emotional interviews to explore the creature’s extraordinary nature, the species’ cruel treatment in captivity, the lives and losses of the trainers and the pressures brought to bear by the mulit-billion dollar sea-park industry.

A documentary that recounts the life of the Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Ralph Branca, who lost the 1951 National League pennant to the New York Giants by giving up the game-winning home run.

Following world famous French soprano Natalie Dessay from the first repetitions until the premiere under the direction of Jean-Francois Sivadier, we meet a very special woman, a piece of art, a myth: La Traviata.

Follows the influential 1970s band Big Star. The band was formed in 1971 in Memphis by former Box Tops lead singer Alex Chilton and Chris Bell. Jody Stephens and Andy Hummel filled out the original lineup. While the band never achieved mainstream success, it became a big influence on the likes of REM, the Flaming Lips and more.

The documentary feature chronicling the creation of the legit musical version of Green Day album “American Idiot”.