Last updated March 19, 2024
Two didactic pranksters known as the Yes Men -- Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonanno -- employ monkey business to highlight the political and economic shenanigans surrounding ecological catastrophes like the 1984 Union Carbide disaster in India.
Details about The Yes Men Fix the World
Drawing on the nonfiction books Fast Food Nation and The Omnivore's Dilemma, director Robert Kenner's provocative, Oscar-nominated documentary looks at the food industry's detrimental effects on human health and the environment.
Details about Food, Inc.
Though China's government is Communist, the third grade election for the prestigious position of Class Monitor at the Evergreen Primary School in Wuhan is being decided by a democratic vote. In this enlightening documentary, filmmaker Weijun Chen captures all the action as the three candidates -- two boys and a girl -- go all out to win: performing in a talent show, debating each other and delivering speeches to their classmates.
Details about Please Vote For Me
Always ready to hurl himself into the heart of the action, journalist and author Hunter S. Thompson was fearless as well as reckless. This admiring documentary looks beyond his wild antics to focus on the pluck and principles that made him a success. Home movies, audiotapes and unpublished materials offer added insight into a complex cult figure renowned for his love of sex, drugs and alcohol. Johnny Depp narrates.
Details about Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson
Filmmaker Anders Østergaard's Oscar-nominated documentary profiles the courageous efforts of a renegade band of Burmese reporters (aka the Burma VJs) who -- in the face of a repressive regime and media censorship -- refuse to be silenced.
Details about Burma VJ
Who really benefits from the pink ribbon campaigns: the cause or the company? In showing the real story of breast cancer and the lives of those who fight it, this film reveals the co-opting of what marketing experts have labeled a "dream cause."
Details about Pink Ribbons, Inc.
This documentary chronicles the extraordinary efforts of Mohamed Nasheed, during his term as president of the Maldive Islands, to fight global warming and prevent rising ocean levels from deluging his low-lying archipelago nation right off the map.
Details about The Island President
Carl Colby, the son of enigmatic Cold War-era CIA op William Colby, gets to know his father in discussions with contemporaries and historians. Their insights illuminate the elder Colby's life as well as America's intelligence system then and now.
Details about The Man Nobody Knew: In Search of My Father CIA Spymaster William Colby
The AIDS crisis forever changed gay culture in San Francisco, as examined in this absorbing documentary from David Weissman, who explores the disease's impact on five individuals. Vintage film clips accompany their sobering stories.
Details about We Were Here
Filmmakers Marshall Curry and Sam Cullman examine the case of Daniel McGowan, a member of the radical environmental group Earth Liberation Front who was arrested for committing arson against two Oregon timber companies.
Details about If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front
Contemporary immigration issues between the United States and Mexico receive careful study in this documentary, which uses extensive interviews to outline the experiences and perspectives of ordinary citizens in the Mexican countryside. In examining the economic factors prompting Mexicans to seek work in the United States and the social pressures that result, the film presents an affecting look at a complex political and moral issue.
Details about The Other Side of Immigration
In this provocative documentary, filmmaker Matthew Galkin profiles recently released prisoner Dr. Jack Kevorkian, the infamous "Dr. Death" who helped more than 100 people commit suicide in the 1990s with his controversial right-do-die philosophy. Now running for a congressional seat in Michigan, Kevorkian maintains the legality of his actions and plots a new course as a public servant while friends and family weigh in on his choices.
Details about Kevorkian
In his first feature film, director Bob Bowdon takes aim at America's public school system, revealing a self-serving network of wasteful cartels that squander funding and fail to deliver when it comes to academic testing and basic skills. Both parents and teachers want change, but reform is an uphill battle in the face of heel-digging bureaucrats and so-called "dropout factories." It's a bona fide crisis that's burgeoning out of control.
Details about The Cartel
A tale of hubris, sex and power, Client 9 takes an in-depth look at the rapid rise and dramatic fall of New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer. With a promising career and his sights on the presidency, Spitzer fell from grace amid a sordid prostitution scandal.
Details about Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer
Since the first atomic bomb exploded in 1945, scientists and world leaders have grappled with the apocalyptic dangers and paradoxes posed by nuclear weapons. Lucy Walker's documentary presents an unblinking look at humanity's lethal predicament.
Details about Countdown to Zero
Exploring the history of poverty in developing countries, filmmaker Philippe Diaz contends that today's economic inequities arose as a result of colonization, military conquest and slavery, with wealthier countries seizing the resources of the poor. Narrated by Martin Sheen, this absorbing documentary includes interviews with numerous historians, economists and sociologists who shed light on the ongoing conditions that contribute to poverty.
Details about The End of Poverty?
Filmmaker Stephen B. Strout's inspiring documentary focuses on entrepreneurs Bob King and his wife, Kelly, who in 1996 -- without financial funding -- developed a method of converting waste vegetable oil into a renewable source of biodiesel fuel.
Details about Revolution Green: A True Story of Biodiesel in America
Obesity causes 110,000 American deaths each year and plays a role in one-third of all cancer deaths. Yet, despite ballooning concerns, little is being done on the public policy level, as this probing documentary explains. Exploring the issue from individual, political, scientific and cultural perspectives, the film features appearances by Bill Clinton, Ralph Nader, Arnold Schwarzenegger, former Surgeon General Richard Carmona and others.
Details about Killer at Large: Why Obesity is America's Greatest Threat
This documentary from director Stefan Forbes examines the political and personal life of the late Lee Atwater, notorious for his no-holds-barred strategies that powered the campaign of George H.W. Bush. Forbes analyzes Atwater's pivotal role in the rise of the Republican Party in the 1980s, and also documents a decidedly less partisan side of the strategist, including his passion for playing the blues.
Details about Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story
Former CIA analyst Ray McGovern discusses the inner workings of the U.S. spy factory and explains how the agency's mission has evolved from uncovering facts about global security to delivering conclusions that support White House policy. In this installment of the Speaking Freely film series, McGovern examines the CIA's role in promoting the invasion of Iraq and speaks candidly about the rapidly changing geopolitics of the Middle East.
Details about Speaking Freely: Vol. 3: Ray McGovern
Experience an intimate account of the Osama bin Laden operation, from crucial intelligence gathering to the burial at sea. Explore the details of how the operation was planned and executed, and see through the eyes of the highly trained SEAL Team 6.
Details about Killing bin Laden
Hailed "the hottest gathering in the world" by Wired magazine, TED is an annual event where an eclectic group of brilliant minds exchange bold ideas for the future. Actress Daphne Zuniga is your host on this all-access tour of the conference.
Details about The Future We Will Create: Inside the World of TED
In this unflinching documentary chronicling the genocide in Darfur, former Marine Capt. Brian Steidle is forever transformed by the atrocities he witnesses as a military observer for the African Union.
Details about The Devil Came on Horseback
Featuring behind-the-scenes footage and unprecedented access to its hallowed halls, this program from National Geographic takes viewers on an in-depth tour of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue -- the White House. Interviews with presidents and first ladies offer a revealing look at what goes into running that famous household, and White House employees give viewers a taste of the preparations involved in hosting a state dinner.
Details about National Geographic: Inside the White House
Using jaw-dropping footage that was previously classified by the U.S. government, this fascinating documentary compiled by special effects filmmaker Peter Kuran and narrated by William Shatner chronicles the development of the atomic hydrogen bomb. Highlights include an underwater detonation of an atomic bomb designed to test the effect of the blast on ships at sea, as well as an interview with nuclear weapons developer Edward Teller.
Details about Trinity & Beyond: The Atomic Bomb Movie
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