Movie Listings by Genre

Director: Jon Else    More Info


 J. Robert Oppenheimer led the Manhattan Project, the name given to the effort to build the Atomic Bomb. This is his story, including his change to opposing the bomb. Excellent documentary with footage of the tests and effects of the bombs on Japan; nominated for an Academy Award.

Director: Murray Lerner    More Info
Starring: Isaac Stern, David Golub, Tan Shuzhen

 The subject of this Academy Award winning documentary is the visit of Isaac Stern and David Golub to China.

Director: Ken Burns    More Info
Starring: David McCullough

 Ken Burns demonstrated his unique filming techniques that would later become his trademark in this excellent telling of the difficult construction associated with the world-famous bridge and its meaning to the people of New York City. Nominated for an Oscar for Best Documentary.

Director: Penelope Spheeris    More Info


 The Los Angeles punk music scene from December 1979 through May 1980 is the subject of this documentary, which has it all–music, performances, fans, substance abuse, and violence.

Director: Arnold Schwartzman    More Info
Starring: Orson Welles, Elizabeth Taylor

 A winner of the Academy Award for Best Documentary, this is the story of the Holocaust as shown through film footage and photographs.

Director: Malcolm Leo    More Info
Starring: David Scott, Johnny Harra, Paul Boensh III, Rhonda Lyn, Debbie Edge, Larry Raspberry, Emory Smith, Elvis Presley, Dolores Hart

 This is a very good documentary featuring Elvis Presley performing and interspersed with actors portraying him in different phases of his life.

Director: Kevin Rafferty    More Info


 This is a thought-provoking documentary that is almost entirely taken from government film and educational footage to "help" the population (not only U.S., but Marshall Island inhabitants, for example, who were near the site of our Bikini Island atomic bomb tests) understand the atomic bomb. As an example, for those old enough, the TV ads that ran on dealing with a bomb blast, including "Duck and Cover," will be of interest.

Director: Les Blank    More Info
Starring: Werner Herzog, Claudia Cardinale, Mick Jagger, Klaus Kinski, Jason Robards

 This documentary of Werner Herzog's filming of "Fitzcarraldo" is an amazing piece of film. With obstacles of the jungles of Ecuador and warring native tribes to contend with, Les Blank was able to bring home this documentary.

Director: Patrick Montgomery    More Info
Starring: Malcolm McDowell

 "The Compleat Beatles" is a documentary about the Beatles rock group from their modest beginnings through their stellar performances as the most popular group of their day.

Director: John Zaritsky    More Info


 Canadian filmmaker John Zaritsky takes on the topic of missing children in this Academy Award-winning documentary. A boy goes missing during a trip from Ottawa to Colorado. After Canadian and U.S. police do not appear interested in finding him, and despite the high probability that the boy is dead, the boy's parents hire a Private Investigator who, along with the boy's brother and Zaritsky's cameras, follows the trail of the boy.

Director: George T. Nierenberg    More Info


 This rousing documentary by George T. Nierenberg covers the world of gospel music. Three of the founders of the gospel music world (Thomas A. Dorsey, Willie May Ford Smith, and Sallie Martin) were guests of honor at the 1982 Gospel Music Convention in St. Louis, and their careers are the centerpiece of this excellent film with lots of great gospel songs.

Director: Emile Ardolino    More Info
Starring: Jacques d'Amboise, Carolyn d'Amboise, Christopher d'Amboise, Judy Collins, Janet Eiber, Kevin Kline, Chita Rivera, Peter Gennaro

 A winner of the Academy Award for Best Documentary, this is the story of Jacques d'Amboise who works with inner-city kids showing them how dance can reveal a glow of light apart from their world of poverty.

Director: Godfrey Reggio    More Info


 Taken from the Hopi Indian word "Koyaanisqatsi" meaning life in turmoil, this documentary explores the serenity of nature compared to the turbulence of modern, urban life.

Director: Bertrand Tavernier    More Info
Starring: Roosevelt Barnes, Joe Cooper, Hayward Mills, Poppa Nele

 The evangelical movement and the blues and gospel singers are used to focus on the Deep South and its unique society.

Director: George Stevens Jr.    More Info
Starring: Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Joel McCrea, Warren Beatty, Jack Palance, Spencer Tracy, Fred MacMurray, Many Guest Stars

 This is an insightful documentary–about the life of director George Stevens–featuring personal interviews and home movies concerning his distinguished film career.

Director: Robert Richer    More Info
Starring: Carly Simon, Peter,Paul&Mary, Roy Scheider, Ellen Burstyn, Orson Welles, Meryl Streep, Jill Clayburgh, Pete Seeger, Benjamin Spock, Helen Caldicott

 This is a filmed documentary of the 1982 anti-nuke rally in New York City.

Director: Jonathan Demme    More Info
Starring: David(1) Byrne, Tina Weymouth, Chris Frantz, Jerry Harrison, Bernie Worrell, Alex Weir, Steven Scales, Lynn Mabry, Ednah Holt

 This is one of the great concert performance films of all time. Director Jonathan Demme beautifully captured footage from four consecutive performances of David Byrne and the Talking Heads. It is all music, with no interviews, cutaways, or other distracters. Originally filmed during four consecutive days in December 1983.

Director: Martin Bell    More Info
Starring: Tiny, DeWayne, Rat, Shadow

 This insightful documentary explores the lives of children who live and work on the streets of Seattle's Tenderloin district. The film received an Academy Award nomination for Documentary Feature.

Director: Andrew J. Kuehn    More Info
Starring: Donald Pleasence, Nancy Allen

 Donald Pleasence and Nancy Allen narrate this documentary featuring a collage of scenes from horror films. A "must" for fans.

Director: Robert Epstein    More Info
Starring: Harvey Fierstein

 On 22 November 1978, a gay member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, Harvey Milk, and Mayor George Moscone were assassinated. This Academy Award-winning documentary focuses on the life of Harvey Milk and provides an insightful perspective of the event as well as San Francisco culture.

Director: Michael Apted    More Info


 Using longitudinal research methods, Michael Apted uses this psychological study of British cohorts over the years at ages 7, 14, 21, and 28 that shows how people age and are molded by society.

Director: Brigitte Berman    More Info
Starring: Brigitte Berman

 Told through interviews and film clips, this is the story of Artie Shaw, one of the U.S.'s finest clarinetists. His personal life was hectic as he went through seven marriages (including Ava Gardner and Lana Turner) and five bands. Brigitte Berman not only directed but narrated this good documentary, which won an Academy Award for Best Documentary.

Director: Michael Apted    More Info
Starring: Sting, Omar Hakim, Darryl Jones, Kenny Kirkland, Branford Marsalis, Dolette McDonald, Janice Pendarvis, Trudie Styler

 "Sting" fans will enjoy this good documentary about Sting and his band featuring their first live show in Paris.

Director: Maria Florio    More Info
Starring: Martin Sheen, Burgess Meredith

 Winner of the Academy Award for Best Documentary, this film provides a sympathetic view of the forced relocation of Navaho Indians in Arizona.

Director: George Butler    More Info
Starring: Bev Francis, Rachel McLish, Lori Bowen, Carla Dunlap, George Plimpton

 This second "Pumping Iron" film highlights the women at a bodybuilding contest in Las Vegas, emceed by George Plimpton. It's every bit as good as the original, and more fun than the predecessor. Bev Francis, the Australian woman who is probably the world's most muscular woman, is a highlight.