Browse Movies : 2016 : Documentary

After stumbling upon a bizarre “competitive endurance tickling” video online, wherein young men are paid to be tied up and tickled, reporter David Farrier reaches out to request a story from the company. But the reply he receives is shocking—the sender mocks Farrier's sexual orientation and threatens extreme legal action should he dig any deeper. So, like any good journalist confronted by a bully, he does just the opposite: he travels to the hidden tickling facilities in Los Angeles and uncovers a vast empire, known for harassing and harming the lives of those who protest their involvement in these films. The more he investigates, the stranger it gets, discovering secret identities and criminal activity.

Our world—a magnificent blue planet, dotted with gossamer clouds and gleaming in the brilliant flood of sunlight—is changing. From space, the Earth blazes at night with the electric intensity of human expansion across the globe. But it is within our power to protect the planet. While we continue to explore and gain knowledge of our galaxy, we also develop a deeper connection to the place we all call home.

In 1985, recent film school graduate Will Allen became a member of The Buddhafield, a Los Angeles area spiritual group. Also acting as the group’s official videographer, he began to document their activities, which centered on the mysterious leader they called Michel, or The Teacher. Over time, the group’s dark side began to surface as total devotion turned to paranoia, until finally, unexpected truths about their enlightened leader were revealed – all in front of Allen’s camera. This incredible, 22-year archive of video footage became the basis for Holy Hell. Now, for the first time since he left the group, Allen turns the camera on himself and asks fellow ex-cult members to come to terms with their past and the unbelievable deceit they experienced

A subversive comedy in which Michael Moore, playing the role of "invader," visits a host of nations to learn how the U.S. could improve its own prospects. The creator of Fahrenheit 9/11 and Bowling for Columbine is back with this hilarious and eye-opening call to arms. Turns out the solutions to America's most entrenched problems already existed in the world - they're just waiting to be co-opted.

The tale of a rebel who never fit into today’s art world… yet has become one of its most provocative, rabble-rousing characters nevertheless. At once a portrait of the artist as a young troublemaker, an alternate history of modern art and a quintessential New York story, Art Bastard is as energetic, humorous and unapologetically honest as the uncompromising man at its center: Robert Cenedella.

From past to present, unveiling the behind-the-scenes characters and the clients beholden to its charm, CRAZY ABOUT TIFFANY’S is the first, fully authorized documentary capturing how a simple jewelry store has woven itself into pop culture to become a global phenomenon. This captivating glimpse will take us from the moment each jewel is conceived by the first female Tiffany Design Director, Francesca Amfitheaterof, to the Tiffany-designed trophy hoisted at the Super Bowl, and to the jewel-adorned Oscar red carpet in Hollywood.

Today, all anybody needs to run is the determination and a pair of the right shoes. But just fifty years ago, running was viewed almost exclusively as the domain of elite male athletes who competed on tracks. With insight and propulsive energy, director Pierre Morath traces running’s rise to the 1960s, examining how the liberation movements and newfound sense of personal freedom that defined the era took the sport out of the stadiums and onto the streets, and how legends like Steve Prefontaine, Fred Lebow, and Kathrine Switzer redefined running as a populist phenomenon.

After Steven Spielberg's classic Raiders of the Lost Ark was released 35 years ago, three 11-year-old boys from Mississippi set out on what would become a 7-year-long labor of love and tribute to their favorite film: a faithful, shot-for-shot adaptation of the action adventure film. They finished every scene...except one; the film's explosive airplane set piece.

Over two decades later, the trio reunited with the original cast members from their childhood in order to complete their masterpiece.

The German-Jewish philosopher Hannah Arendt caused an uproar in the 1960s by coining the subversive concept of the "Banality of Evil" when referring to the trial of Adolph Eichmann, which she covered for the New Yorker magazine. Her private life was no less controversial thanks to her early love affair with the renowned German philosopher and Nazi supporter Martin Heidegger. This thought provoking and spirited documentary, with its abundance of archival materials, offers an intimate portrait of the whole of Arendt's life, traveling to places where she lived, worked, loved, and was betrayed, as she wrote about the open wounds of modern times.

In A Space Program, internationally acclaimed artist Tom Sachs takes us on an intricately handmade journey to the red planet, providing audiences with an intimate, first person look into his studio and methods. The film is both a piece of art in its own right and a recording of Sachs’ historic piece, Space Program 2.0: MARS, which opened at New York’s Park Avenue Armory in 2012.

For Space Program 2.0: MARS, Tom and his team built an entire space program from scratch. They were guided by the philosophy of bricolage: creating and constructing from available yet limited resources. They ultimately sent two female astronauts to Mars in search of the answer to humankind’s ultimate question… are we alone?

The story behind JT LeRoy, the fictional writer created by American author Laura Albert.

Bodyguards & Protection Agents are the individuals on the front lines for the rich, famous, and powerful. These individuals deal with violence, stalkers, isolation, and potential loss of life every single day.

Pulitzer Prize-winning food critic Jonathan Gold shows us a Los Angeles where ethnic cooking is a kaleidoscopic portal to the mysteries of an unwieldy city and the soul of America.

Takes us to the front lines of entrepreneurship in America, capturing the struggles and triumphs of six recent college graduates who put everything on the line to build startups in Detroit. Shot over 17 months, it’s an honest, in-the-trenches look at what it takes to launch a startup.

The story of Steve Gleason, a former defensive back for the New Orleans Saints who was diagnosed with ALS at age 34 and given only five years to live. The doc uses his personal video journals to show just how inspirationally he lived following his diagnosis.

Follows the Cinderella story of Dutch immigrant Harry deLeyer and his transformative relationship with a broken down Amish plow horse –named Snowman – that he rescued off a slaughter truck bound for the glue factory. In less than two years, Harry and Snowman would go on to win the triple crown of show jumping, beating the nation’s blue bloods and traveling the world together as they became the media darlings of the 1950s and 60s. Their chance meeting at a Pennsylvania horse auction saved them both and crafted a friendship that would last a lifetime, as told by 86-year-old Harry firsthand.

Arguably the most influential creator, writer, and producer in the history of television, Norman Lear brought primetime into step with the times. Using comedy and indelible characters, his legendary 1970s shows such as All In the Family, Maude, Good Times, and The Jeffersons, boldly cracked open dialogue and shifted the national consciousness, injecting enlightened humanism into sociopolitical debates on race, class, creed, and feminism.

Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You is the definitive chronicle of Mr. Lear’s life, work, and achievements, but it is so much more than an arm’s-length, past-tense biopic; at 93, Mr. Lear is as vital and engaged as he ever was.

Filmmaker Chris Bell's (Bigger Stronger Faster) hard-hitting and thought-provoking expose of Big Pharma, its marketing practices and their impact on the staggering level of addiction to prescription drugs in North America.

The film focuses on the challenges of guiding gifted young people through the struggles of mastering the cello. Through the words and actions of master cello teacher, Paul Katz, it’s clear that this deep study of music not only prepares wonderful musicians, but builds self-esteem and a cultural and aesthetic character that will be profoundly important throughout his students’ lives.

At a remote Mojave Desert high school extraordinary educators believe that empathy and life skills, more than academics, give at-risk students command of their own futures. This coming-of-age drama watches education combat the crippling effects of poverty in the lives of these so-called “bad kids.”