Can anyone recommend any independent, niche oriented documentaries that I could buy/rent/download?

December 20, 2004 9:48 AM

Can anyone recommend any independent, niche-oriented documentaries that I could buy/rent/download? [more inside]

I'm a big fan of independent community- or interest-centric documentaries, especially those made by fans, even if I don't know much about the community in question. I'm talking about labors of love like Millennium's End: The Fandom Menace or Star Woids (about the lineups for Episode I and Star Wars fandom in general); BBS: The Documentary (about the history of the BBS); Dogtown and Z-Boys (about the birth of skateboarding in SoCal). Ideas?

posted by armage to Media & Arts (38 answers total)

I am Trying to Break Your Heart, filmed during Wilco's making of the namesake album. In a nutshell, the band went through a small personal hell to create an album that was summarily dismissed by the recording industry. Wilco decides to buy out the album rights, markets it themselves, and Reprise ends up buying back the album, with egg on face.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 10:01 AM on December 20, 2004

Not sure where to get them, but just about any documentary done with Telefilm Canada involvement should fit your bill.

They should be basically public domain, considering I paid for them (along with the rest of Canada). The documentary channel in Canada often plays them.
posted by shepd at 10:05 AM on December 20, 2004

Hands on a Hard Body about a truck giveaway contest in Tx.

Running on the Sun about the Badwater Ultramarathon through Death Valley.

Instrument about Fugazi.
posted by OmieWise at 10:15 AM on December 20, 2004

Not quite sure if these fit your criteria, but they both involve very insular communities.
Brother's Keeper

Devil's Playground
posted by skwm at 10:17 AM on December 20, 2004

You might like Scratch, about hip-hop DJs and culture, from its birth to modern trends. I knew nothing about the culture or most of the artists featured before, but I absolutely loved the movie. The interviews are hysterical. The music is great. The editors did an excellent job of pulling it all together.

I've since purchased a handful of CDs, been to shows, and bought the DVD, which I've watched numerous times.

It might be on the commercial side of what you're looking for, but no more than Dogtown and Z-Boys, I'd think.
posted by jewishbuddha at 10:22 AM on December 20, 2004

Oooh, I definately second Hands on a Hard Body.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 10:22 AM on December 20, 2004

I found Jupiter's Wife pretty interesting, especially considering it was made for about $400. The filmmaker's personality grated on me a bit, but it's got some surprising twists.
posted by kindall at 10:29 AM on December 20, 2004

Music-oriented:
"Dig"
"The Mayor of Sunset Strip"

Anything by Errol Morris - Most people have seen his recent stuff, but his first film ("Gates of Heaven", I think) is unbelievable. It's about a pet cemetery.
posted by mzurer at 10:35 AM on December 20, 2004

Errol Morris' "Vernon, Florida" and "A Brief History of Time". Anything by Mark Lewis! I also thoroughly enjoyed "American Movie". And I second "Scratch" as a great film.
posted by Specklet at 10:41 AM on December 20, 2004

I always wondered about the same creepy people (usually carrying tote bags filled with newspapers) that I'd always see at free movie screenings until I watched Cinemania. Then I just found them sad and even more creepy.
posted by FreezBoy at 10:48 AM on December 20, 2004

Oh, I also enjoyed Spellbound about eight teenagers at the national spelling bee.
posted by FreezBoy at 10:49 AM on December 20, 2004

I loved Daughter From Danang: American Experience> Powerful documentary about a Vietnamese-American immigrant reuniting with her birth mother in Vietnam.

I also have to second the recommendation for American Movie. This documentary is good, and also it shows the Wisconsin I actually knew, instead of the Hollywood stereotyped version of my former home.
posted by spinifex23 at 10:56 AM on December 20, 2004

A while back I caught "Hype!" on TV - it seems like it fits your bill about communities and niche-oriented - it's centered the trajectory of Seattle/Northwest music.

I liked "Hell House". And to continue quoting the Errol Morris filmography - "Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control" is good.
posted by milkrate at 11:00 AM on December 20, 2004

Harlan County USA - Academy Award winner about miners in KY
Trekkies - even if you don't care about Star Trek
Heavy Metal Parking Lot - what goes on in the parking lot outside a heavy metal concert. Also Tie-Dyed, same thing, Dead shows
Trembling Before G-d - a bit arty in a strange way but a great look at the conflicts within the gay Orthodox Jewish culture
Bookwars - about the booksellers on the streets of NYC
Genghis Blues - blind American Tuvan throat singer goes to compete in Tuvan contest.
Pornstar - about Ron Jeremy and the porn industry that employs him
Saltmen of Tibet - the guys who still bring salt over the old salt roads
American Pimp
Theremin - the guy who made that woodley-woo machine
Rabbit in the Moon - about the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII

I also agree with American Movie, Hands on a Hard Body and Errol Morris's movies, all of them. A few other lists of documentaries that I've seen via the VT Film Fest are here , here, and here if you're looking for some more lists to browse.
posted by jessamyn at 11:01 AM on December 20, 2004

I will second "My Brother's Keeper". Fantastic docu. Also, I like pretty much anything by Errol Morris, but I thought the recent one with McNamara was one of his best. "Fog of War" it was called.

How bout "The Thin Blue Line"? Isn't that a classic?
posted by spicynuts at 11:02 AM on December 20, 2004

If you haven't seen Cane Toads, you haven't really lived.

Not only is it a great doc, but I'm convinced it's the underlying source for a lot of the 'mockumentaries', especially Christopher Guest's stuff.
posted by chaz at 11:19 AM on December 20, 2004

The Cruise is my all-time favorite documentary.

I second Fog of War, Spellbound, and Fast Cheap & Out of Control. Also: Hoop Dreams, Buena Vista Social Club, The Weather Underground, and the very odd Grey Gardens.
posted by naomi at 11:22 AM on December 20, 2004

Winged Migration made me cry (in a bad way)
posted by yodelingisfun at 11:36 AM on December 20, 2004

There are no documentaries finer than Okie Noodling and Hell House.
posted by COBRA! at 11:51 AM on December 20, 2004

Along the lines of 'Dogtown and Z-Boys', you might want to consider 'Stoked - The Rise and Fall of Gator' (2002). It's about skateboarding legend Mark 'Gator' Ragowski. I haven't seen it myself but I've heard good things.
posted by hendrixson at 11:54 AM on December 20, 2004

Paradise Lost made me very, very angry.

Also, Touching the Void.
posted by Sticherbeast at 12:03 PM on December 20, 2004

I am total documentary nut. These are some favorites, mostly downloaded off P2P:

Whole - Amputee wannabes

The Backyard - Working class kids into backyard wrestling

Startup.com - dotcom entrepreneurs

Stoked: The Rise and Fall of Gator - 80's skateboarding and murder

To Be and To Have - French country school life

Caught in the Act - Crims in police holding cells

Urgences - Paris psych ward

Domestic Violence I + II - Wives and wife beaters

Capturing the Friedmans - Family split apart by accusations of pedophilia

The Filth and the Fury - Rethinks the Sex Pistols/Punk

The Lifestyle - Aging swingers

Touching the Void - Recreates a mountaineering accident

A + A2 - Aum Shinrikyo Cult who gassed subway in Japan

Raw Deal: A Question of Consent - My favorite film.

Paradise Lost - Paradise Lost 2 - doco on the Memphis Three, accused of Satanic murders

Aileen Wornos: The Selling of a Serial Killer and it's amazing sequel Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer . These are directed by Nick Broomfield, who has made many interesting films about subcutures such as the army, gangter rappers, and grunge.

Also worth seeking out is the BBC series Louie Theroux's Wild Weekends, in which the presenter gets involved with all kind of strange subcultures, swingers, Neo-Nazis, Boers, porn stars, etc.

Happy hunting.
posted by dydecker at 12:04 PM on December 20, 2004

Some of these might have larger budgets and higher profiles than you'd prefer.

I'm a big fan of the Maysles brothers. 'Grey Gardens,' about the two Edie Sedgwicks, and 'Salesman,' about door-to-door Bible salesmen, are both available in Criterion editions (as are Monterey Pop and a series about conceptual-artist Christo. Other directors to check out: D. A. Pennebaker, Errol Morris, Emile de Antonio (especially 'Millhouse').

Penelope Spheeris' 'Decline of Western Civilization' movies, about punk rock and heavy metal, are entertaining, as is the unintentionally-hilarious 'Welcome to Death Row.' And for music I actually enjoy listening to, there's 'Straight No Chaser,' 'Standing in the Shadows of Motown,' 'Konkombe,' 'Keepintime' and Roots Rock Reggae.'

Turning to politics, I greatly enjoyed 'Campaign,' 'The War Room,' 'A Perfect Candidate,' 'Journeys With George,' 'Outfoxed' and Robert Greenwald's Un- trilogy.

Seconded: too many to list, though Paradise Lost, Devil's Playground and Hell House especially stand out. Did someone mention 'Style Wars' and 'Riding Giants?' This thread is great.
posted by box at 12:40 PM on December 20, 2004

Response by poster: Awesome, folks, I knew I could count on you. (Needed to give the g/f some suggestions for Christmas/birthday gifts, you know...)
posted by armage at 2:24 PM on December 20, 2004

I have watched a number of new documentaries recently. I have found many enthralling, including (and already mentioned): Cinemania, Spellbound, Riding Giants, Touching The Void, etc.

Along the lines of Dogtown and Z-Boys (and Riding Giants - both directed by Stacy Peralta), check out another compelling surfing documentray Step Into Liquid.

Folks, thanks for the tips on others to add to my Netflix queque.
posted by ericb at 3:43 PM on December 20, 2004

BTW - as mentioned by hendrixson , "Stoked - The Rise and Fall of Gator" was also directed by Stacy Peralta. Check out the movie's website.
posted by ericb at 3:49 PM on December 20, 2004

*documentary*
posted by ericb at 3:50 PM on December 20, 2004

My mistake - meant to say Stacy Peralta is also profiled in "Stoked..."
posted by ericb at 3:52 PM on December 20, 2004

Hands on a Hard Body, Grey Gardens, The Holy Ghost People, DiG!.
posted by ifjuly at 7:06 PM on December 20, 2004

I enthusiastically second Cane Toads and Gates of Heaven. Also: Tribute, about tribute bands (featuring two duelling Monkees tribute bands, a Kiss tribute, a Queen tribute, and some others) ... it's one of those truth is stranger than fiction documentaries.
posted by kmel at 8:07 PM on December 20, 2004

Well, I scanned pretty quickly, and every one that I could think of was posted. Except:

Little Dieter Needs To Fly.

This one moved me to tears.
posted by docpops at 9:04 PM on December 20, 2004

"Children Underground" and pretty much everything that Docurama puts out. A second vote for The Backyard. So many, so many.

Like many here, I eagerly await the coming days of continuous international documentary creation and sharing over the web. Let's not wait for Hollywood or Sundance to notice us, eh? Let's make and share our damned movies.
posted by squirrel at 12:39 AM on December 21, 2004

The Gleaners & I, or Glaneurs et La Glaneuse. About the history of gleaning, dumpster diving, garbage picking, and trash-scavenging in France, from Biblical history to the present. It's a beautiful film, full of stunning colors & imagery, directed by Agnes Varga & filmed in digital..

Also, Ross McElwee has an interesting style--sort of like the filmic equivalent of online diaries! He's done some cool films like Six O'Clock News & Sherman's March.

The Stone Reader (on MeFi a while ago) is the perfect film for literary geeks & compulsive readers.
posted by soviet sleepover at 2:05 AM on December 21, 2004

May I recommend a couple of my favourites?
Idi Amin Dada (1974). Directed by Barbet Schroeder. A comedy, includes soundtrack on accordion by Idi himself.
Triumph of the Will, a Leni Riefenstahl Film. Nazis. Does this mean the thread ends?
posted by Meatbomb at 2:35 AM on December 21, 2004

Anything, anything by Errol Morris. "Gates of Heaven" is simply incredible.
"Hands on a Hard Body"
"Spellbound"
Most Les Blank films.
"Theremin"
"Chac", if you can track down a copy. An enormously moving doc about a Vietnamese-American going to VN and meeting her family for the first time. (I normally hate this kind of movie and think they're mawkish, but this one was great.)
"The War Room"
"A Great Day in Harlem", the story of the amazing Art Kane photograph of almost every jazz giant of its time.
"Gigantic (A Tale of Two Johns)" is a fun, offbeat doc about They Might Be Giants. It even has a Ken Burns parody, and Michael McKean reciting TMBG lyrics in a deadpan voice.
posted by Vidiot at 4:47 AM on December 21, 2004

Many of my favorites have been mentioned above, but there's one I saw this year that was excellent. Bus 174 is a great film about a hijacked bus in Rio (its almost a companion piece to City of God). The suspense is comparable to many great fictional thrillers. Even my wife (who doesn't share my love of docs) found it fascinating.
posted by phirleh at 6:37 AM on December 21, 2004

HBO played a couple short but interesting docs semi-recently - "born rich" about kids who never had to think about working, and then - can't remember the name, about dwarves/little people. It probably had a generic name since I can't think of it.

"American Pimp" is one of the most depressing documentaries I have ever seen. Not like tragic and revelatory, but just deeply deeply misogynistic and misanthropic (not the documentary itself, but the people you get to know).

And, my favorite doc of all time would have to be "Microcosmos", about insects. It's an amazing world.
posted by mdn at 7:29 AM on December 21, 2004

Some of the best documentaries out there are of the social-issue persuasion. I recommend The Corporation and Blue Vinyl about corporate accountability, Deadline on criminal justice, Born into Brothels about youth and photography, and Before You Go about HIV/AIDS and family. Don't get turned off by the "touchy feeliness" of these topics - these films are entertaining and hard-hitting. If you're into this genre of docs, you should check out MediaRights, a nonprofit that connects filmmakers, activists, educators and youth, and the place where I am privileged to work :)
posted by shirag at 11:44 AM on December 22, 2004