Browse Movies : 2017 : Documentary (Page #4)

Citizen Jane: Battle for the City is a story about our global urban future, in which nearly three-fourths of the world’s population will live in cities by the end of this century. It’s also a story about America’s recent urban past, in which bureaucratic, “top down” approaches to building cities have dramatically clashed with grassroots, “bottom up” approaches. The film brings us back mid-century, on the eve of the battles for the heart and soul of American cities, about to be routed by cataclysmically destructive Urban Renewal and highway projects.

The film details the revolutionary thinking of Jane Jacobs, and the origins of her magisterial 1961 treatise The Death and Life of Great American Cities, in which she singlehandedly undercuts her era’s orthodox model of city planning, exemplified by the massive Urban Renewal projects of New York’s “Master Builder,” Robert Moses. Jacobs and Moses figure centrally in our story as archetypes of the “bottom up” and the “top down” vision for cities.

They also figure as two larger-than-life personalities: Jacobs—a journalist with provincial origins, no formal training in city planning, and scarce institutional authority—seems at first glance to share little in common with Robert Moses, the upper class, high prince of government and urban theory fully ensconced in New York’s halls of power and privilege. Yet both reveal themselves to be master tacticians who, in the middle of the 20th century, became locked in an epic struggle over the fate of the city.

The documentary takes viewers into the warzone of ISIS-occupied Syria, where a band of anonymous activists known as Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently wage a counteroffensive against the terrorist group’s campaign of propaganda and misinformation. Armed with video cameras, these intrepid citizen journalists risk their lives to spread the truth about life under ISIS.

Prepare to be inspired and amazed by Richard Turner, one of the world's most renowned card magicians, who met adversity head-on and refused to let his disability define him.

Dina, an outspoken and eccentric 49-year-old in suburban Philadelphia, invites her fiancé Scott, a Walmart door greeter, to move in with her. Having grown up neurologically diverse in a world blind to the value of their experience, the two are head-over-heels for one another, but shacking up poses a new challenge. Filmmakers Dan Sickles and Antonio Santini construct seamless vérité scenes that lovingly frame Dina and Scott's vulnerable, yet matter-of-fact romance. Whether at the local nail salon, the warm beaches of Ocean City, Dina's racy bachelorette party, or on honeymoon in the Poconos, Dina captures the cadences and candid conversations of a relationship that reexamines the notion of love on-screen.

Showcases the 2016 SCORE World Desert Championship racing season, including the epic SCORE Baja 1000, the world’s toughest point-to-point desert race across a one-thousand-mile course in Mexico’s untamable Baja California Peninsula.

This HBO Documentary Film follows the American rock band Eagles of Death Metal as they recount their experiences before, during and after the tragic terrorist attack at their concert in Paris on November 13, 2015 – a heinous act of violence that claimed 89. The film spotlights the deep bond of friendship between band co-founders Jesse Hughes and Josh Homme as well as the intensely personal connection that the Eagles of Death Metal has always had with their devoted fans. That relationship, coupled with a profound sense of responsibility to help the Bataclan survivors cope with their physical and emotional wounds, inspired the band to return to Paris: first to perform with U2 at a rescheduled concert three weeks after the attacks, and later to finish the Paris show at the Olympia concert hall in front of their fans, many of whom were survivors of the earlier show.

Earth: One Amazing Day follows the journey of the sun for twenty four hours as it’s awesome power shapes the lives of all the animals on the amazing planet we call home. Even the most familiar species – ourselves. A breathtaking voyage across the continents and through the oceans and skies; Earth: One Amazing Day is an enchanting, big screen family friendly adventure that proves every day on Earth is heartwarming and inspiring.

In a forgotten massacre during Guatemala’s decades-long civil war, a young boy was spared, only to be raised by one of the very soldiers who killed his family. Nearly 30 years after the tragedy, it will take a dedicated team—from a forensic scientist to a young Guatemalan prosecutor—to uncover the truth and bring justice to those responsible… by finding the missing boy named Oscar.

In the early 1970s, one man stood up to the entire New York City police force. Hailed as a hero by many, hated by others, officer Frank Serpico made headlines when he blew the whistle on a culture of bribery and corruption within the department. This is his story.

Movie fans know the work of Harold and Lillian Michelson, even if they don’t recognize the names. Working largely uncredited in the Hollywood system, storyboard artist Harold and film researcher Lillian left an indelible mark on classics by Alfred Hitchcock, Steven Spielberg, Mel Brooks, Stanley Kubrick, Roman Polanski and many more.

In 1979, James Baldwin wrote a letter to his literary agent describing an unavoidable endeavor he was about to embark on: the writing of his last book, Remember This House. The book was to be an account of the lives and successive assassinations of three of his friends — Martin Luther King Jr., Medgar Evers and Malcolm X. Their murders permanently traumatized an entire generation. At the time of Baldwin's death in 1987, he left behind only thirty completed pages of this manuscript. In this documentary, master filmmaker Raoul Peck envisions the book James Baldwin never finished.

John G. Avildsen’s films have inspired millions of underdogs and shaped popular culture for decades, yet most people don’t even know his name. Discover the unknown legend behind Rocky and The Karate Kid in his official biography about a prolific filmmaker who directed seven actors to Academy Award nominations and earned his own Oscar for Best Director.

Documentary on New York City's vibrant underground ballroom scene fueled by young LGBTQ people staging elaborate dance competitions.

Takes a unique and in-depth look at the years and events leading up to the city-wide violence that began April 29, 1992, when the verdict was announced in the Rodney King case.

What makes a film score unforgettable? Score: A Film Music Documentary brings Hollywood's elite composers together to give viewers a privileged look inside the musical challenges and creative secrecy of the world's most international music genre: the film score. A film composer is a musical scientist of sorts, and the influence they have to complement a film and garner powerful reactions from global audiences can be a daunting task to take on. The documentary contains interviews with dozens of film composers who discuss their craft and the magic of film music while exploring the making of the most iconic and beloved scores in history: James Bond, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean, Titanic, The Social Network, Mad Max: Fury Road, and Psycho.

The life story of traditional Irish folk singer Joe Heaney, who is estimated to have recorded in excess of 500 traditional Irish sean nós ('old style') songs.

Step documents the senior year of a girls’ high-school step dance team against the background of inner-city Baltimore. As each one tries to become the first in their families to attend college, the girls strive to make their dancing a success against the backdrop of social unrest in the troubled city.

Steve McQueen: American Icon tells the story of one of America's most enduring and intriguing movie stars. This redemption story chronicles McQueen's exodus from wealth and excess to his little-known search for faith and meaning toward the end of his life. The story is hosted by American pastor Greg Laurie, who is not only an avid fan of "The King of Cool,” but also experienced a similarly troubled childhood as McQueen. In his mint replica "Bullitt" Mustang, Greg travels the country in search of the untold story of McQueen's final chapter and the redemption McQueen found in the skies above Santa Paula. The documentary features interviews with Steve's wife Barbara Minty McQueen who, as a New York model and amateur photographer, took hundreds of never-before-seen candid photographs of Steve in his last years.