Browse Movies : 2016 : Documentary (Page #3)

In the fall of 2008, at the dawn of the Great Recession, General Motors, Ford and Chrysler - three of the most famous and powerful American industrial companies- found themselves on the verge of total collapse.

Live Another Day is the story of why it happened and how these companies were really rescued by the U.S. Government. Based on the book Crash Course, by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Paul Ingrassia, the film provides exclusive insights and anecdotes from all the major participants at the center of this uniquely North American drama: the key members of President Obama’s Automotive Task Force, top executives of GM, Ford, Chrysler, and the UAW; politicians, journalists and academics.

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.

Peter Dunning is the proud proprietor of Mile Hill Farm, which sits on 187 idyllic acres in Vermont. The land’s 38 harvests have seen the arrivals and departures of three wives and four children, leaving Peter with only animals and memories. The arrival of a film crew causes him to confront his history and his legacy, passing along hard-won agricultural wisdom even as he doubts the meaning of the work he is fated to perform until death. Haunted by alcoholism and regret, Peter veers between elation and despair, often suggesting to the filmmakers his own suicide as a narrative device. He is a tragedian on a stage it has taken him most of his life to build, and which now threatens to collapse from under him. At once a postcard from paradise and a cautionary tale for our times, Peter and The Farm sifts through the potential energy of a human life, that which is used and that which is squandered.

Forced onto the streets in her 50s, Mimi found "home" at a Santa Monica laundromat. Taking shelter there for 20 years, Mimi's passion for pink, and living without looking back, has taken her from homelessness to Hollywood's red carpets. This is the fascinating and moving story of one incredibly strong woman’s survival against all odds.

After traveling the world alongside migrating birds and diving the oceans with whales and manta rays, Jacques Perrin and Jacques Cluzaud return to more familiar ground, the lush green forests and megafauna that emerged across Europe following the last Ice Age. Winter had gone on for 80,000 years when, in a relatively short period of time the ice retreated, the landscape metamorphosed, the cycle of seasons was established and the beasts occupied their new kingdom. It was only later than man arrived to share this habitat, first tentatively as migratory hunter/gatherers, then making inroads in the forest as settled agriculturalists, and later more dramatically via industry and warfare.

Chronicles the history of racial inequality in the United States, examining how our country has the highest incarceration rate in the world, with the majority of prisoners being African-American. From the rebirth of the KKK to the Black Lives Matter movement, director Ava DuVernay traces the history of racism in the U.S. and how such fear and division facilitate a system that drives such mass criminalization.

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.”

From Academy Award-winning director and master storyteller Ron Howard, comes the extraordinary journey of the greatest band in history: The Beatles.

Filmmaker Jen Senko explores the transformation of her father from a non-political life-long Democrat to a radicalized Right-Wing fanatic, she discovers that this is a widespread phenomenon, especially among older white men. She uncovers the forces behind the media that changed him completely: a plan by Roger Ailes under Nixon to create a media run by the GOP, The Powell Memo and the dismantling of the Fairness Doctrine, all of which would ultimately result in a media which would misinform millions, divide families and even the country itself.

They were the Brangelina of ’70s South Korea—the romance between the debonair film director Shin Sang-ok and glamorous actress Choi Eun-hee took them to the heights of South Korean society. Fame took a toll on their love, but it also attracted unbelievable twists of fate. The two find themselves kidnapped by the North Korean regime, and they are forced to play along with a bizarre filmmaking project led by superfan cinephile Kim Jong-il. Enduring torture, imprisonment, and surveillance, their romance is rekindled, and they realize escape is only possible through filmmaking—but the smallest mistake in their plans could cost them their lives.

This film noir of the most twisted order is meticulously crafted with an analog-loving sensibility, offering incredible archive footage of the era that even includes rare clandestine audio recordings of Jong-il discussing his plot for a cinematic paradise. The tapes deliver a chilling yet fascinating glimpse into the psychology of the North Korean dictatorship and what happens when art, love, and megalomania collide.

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.

Academy Award-Winning documentary filmmaker Charles Ferguson (Inside Job, No End in Sight) turns his lens to address worldwide climate change challenges and solutions in his new film. Ferguson explores the comprehensive scope of the climate change crisis and examines the power of solutions already available.

August 1st 1966 was the day our innocence was shattered. A sniper rode the elevator to the top floor of the iconic University of Texas Tower and opened fire, holding the campus hostage for 96 minutes in what was a previously unimaginable event. Tower combines archival footage with rotoscopic animation of the dramatic day, based entirely on first person testimonies from witnesses, heroes and survivors, in a seamless and suspenseful retelling of the unfolding tragedy. The film highlights the fear, confusion, and visceral realities that changed the lives of those present, and the rest of us, forever - a day when the worst in one man brought out the best in so many others.

U.S. abortion clinics are fighting to survive. Since 2010, hundreds of laws regulating abortion clinics have been passed by conservative state legislatures, particularly in the south. These restrictions, known as TRAP laws (or Targeted Regulations of Abortion Providers) are spreading across America. Faced with increased costs of compliance and the alarming fear of violence from protestors, the stakes for the women and men on the frontlines couldn't be any higher. As the battle heads to the U.S. Supreme Court, TRAPPED follows the struggles of the clinic workers and lawyers fighting to keep abortion safe and legal for millions of American women, many of them poor and uninsured.

The never-before-told story of the ten grueling years leading up to Twisted Sister’s legendary career, recounted directly by the band themselves, their managers and their biggest fans.

The film centers on the disgraced former congressman Anthony Weiner, whose career went off the rails twice, both times for public revelations about his sex life.

In January 2015, Noma, recognized as the World’s Best Restaurant, and led by its charismatic chef René Redzepi, moved its entire team from Denmark to Japan. Known for his one-of-a-kind cooking and for distilling the Danish landscape and “time and place” onto a plate, can Redzepi and his team apply their philosophy to an entirely foreign experience, using ingredients that they’ve never seen before, all whilst under the intense pressure and scrutiny that comes with running the world’s best restaurant? For the first time ever, this food filled documentary will offer a glimpse into the mind of one of the world’s most influential people (Time Magazine) and his international team, as they undertake one of the biggest challenges of their careers.

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

In the age of social media, nearly every day brings a new eruption of outrage. While people have always found something to be offended by, their ability to organize a groundswell of opposition to—and public censure of—their offender has never been more powerful. Today we’re all one clumsy joke away from public ruin. Can We Take A Joke? offers a thought-provoking and wry exploration of outrage culture through the lens of stand-up comedy, with notables like Gilbert Gottfried, Penn Jillette, Lisa Lampanelli, and Adam Carolla detailing its stifling impact on comedy and the exchange of ideas. What will future will be like if we can’t learn how to take a joke?

A documentary on the life and times of Danny Fields. Since 1966, Danny Fields has played a pivotal role in music and “culture” of the late 20th century: working for the Doors, Cream, Lou Reed, Nico, Judy Collins and managing groundbreaking artists like the Stooges, the MC5 and the Ramones.