I watched Nina Conti: A Ventriloquist's Story - Her Master's Voice yesterday and it was so amazing I forgot how long it's been since I saw a really good documentary. I've watched everything Herzog has done in the past 6-7, Being Elmo, Carl Sagan's Cosmos, the 7 Up films and Jarvis Cocker's Outsider Art series. What are your favourite documentary films/series? (except nature docs? I can never get into them). I'm happy to watch films from any english-speaking country - but will also give it a go if they're subtitled.
posted by abbagoochie
on Mar 22, 2013 -
35 answers
I'm interested in watching more documentaries or miniseries about the fashion/clothing industry. Three I've rented recently were Valentino:The Last Emperor, The September Issue, and Signé Chanel. I especially enjoyed the last two as they really showed a lot behind the scenes about how stuff is made (both the media and the couture dressmaking sides).
[more inside]
posted by bluefly
on Mar 9, 2013 -
8 answers
Do you know of any good art and/or documentary blogs that profile artists or filmmakers?
[more inside]
posted by chara
on Apr 6, 2012 -
5 answers
Docofi:
Human Planet,
One Giant Leap,
Crossing the Bridge,
Baraka,
Playing for Change and the
Qatsi trilogy are all great examples of documentaries that don't follow a traditional narrative. I'm looking for more documentaries that are neither investigative (
Thin Blue Line,
Capturing the Friedmans) nor quest/mission based (
Catfish,
10 MPH), but rather paint a picture. If that's not clear enough, picture a nature documentary, but instead of animals the subject is "art" or "culture" or some kind of theme.
Bombay Beach,
The Gleaners and I and
Dark Days are sort-of good examples.
posted by omnigut
on Feb 15, 2012 -
13 answers
As a video editor, how can I best capitalize on a film's theatrical release?
[more inside]
posted by rocco
on Sep 8, 2011 -
2 answers
Help me identify (and hopefully watch) a documentary about people walking/skiing across Greenland and visiting an abandoned DEW station on the way.
[more inside]
posted by aesop
on Aug 3, 2011 -
6 answers
Suggestions, please, for provocative, informative, hilarious, and/or disturbing documentaries about religion and social/moral/ethical issues?
[more inside]
posted by devotion+doubt
on May 27, 2011 -
24 answers
I'm thinking of putting my resources into a documentary on a small quirky themepark that went out of business a while ago. What I need are good examples of feature length documentaries on unusual places so I can see how one would be produced.
[more inside]
posted by rileyray3000
on Apr 14, 2011 -
8 answers
I would like to make a short documentary. I want it to not suck. I know nothing.
[more inside]
posted by serazin
on Apr 1, 2011 -
13 answers
Looking for the title of an obscure documentary about the Japanese adaptations of Western products and traditions as they have been commodified in japan.
[more inside]
posted by codybaldwin
on Nov 4, 2010 -
2 answers
"The gunsight frames an image for destruction, whereas the camera's viewfinder frames one image for preservation, and all other possible images for destruction." Help me find the source of this paraphrased quote?
[more inside]
posted by Alterscape
on Oct 24, 2010 -
5 answers
Who are the artistic heirs to documentary filmmaker
Frederick Wiseman? Which contemporary individuals/groups are making similar films, filming similar things, or documenting life in the U.S. (with or without film) in similar ways?
[more inside]
posted by jjjjjjjijjjjjjj
on Sep 9, 2010 -
5 answers
ActivistFilter: I'm done, I'm going rogue, I'm fighting the system, I'm doing it Guerrilla style, I'm 100% serious: Our first project is a documentary,
but we don't know how to make a documentary. [more inside]
posted by DetonatedManiac
on Jun 2, 2010 -
19 answers
Looking for a video showing various common drugs, their appearance, how they're taken and their effects.
[more inside]
posted by Lorc
on May 3, 2010 -
5 answers
Can you help me identify movies about exercise? About working out, exercise trends, aerobics, jazzercise, etc. Sort of in the vein of
this SNL skit. To clarify, I am NOT looking for instructional videos [unless they are really funny or bizarre], documentaries are okay, but mostly I would like suggestions of movies...about exercising.
posted by rokabiri
on Jan 26, 2010 -
22 answers
When was the first time "school lunch" was ridiculed in a movie (most likely a teen flick) or a TV show? We're currently producing a documentary on school lunch, and we know that there was a cultural shift in how school lunch was perceived (great social achievement to grotesque laughingstock). If you can help us identify the first instance of this shift in popular culture, we'll give you a film credit.
posted by jacknose
on Nov 18, 2009 -
17 answers
I am working on a PhD in music theory and cognition. I hate wasting time, but sometimes my brain needs a break from reading/writing/listening/analyzing. Help me create a list of films and documentaries that relate in some way to my field so that I can stare at a screen sometimes and still feel like I'm feeding my unquenchable desire to learn about music and mind.
[more inside]
posted by nosila
on Nov 1, 2009 -
15 answers
Is there a documentary that contains basic info (+ maybe some cultural info) for every country in the world?
[more inside]
posted by nnevvinn
on Oct 16, 2009 -
5 answers
If you were giving a crash course on the history of Berlin 1933-1990, and you were limited to just a couple
films, which ones would you assign? Documentaries preferred, and they must have some kind of English language option.
[more inside]
posted by Beardman
on Oct 15, 2009 -
5 answers
I keep hearing about a documentary from the 1970s called "Glass India" - about glass blowing in India. Does anyone know where to buy it or download it?
posted by abirae
on Aug 19, 2009 -
3 answers
I am leaving for Beijing in a few days. I am bringing a video camera and plan to interview English-speaking Chinese people on the street. My goal is to edit the footage together into an informative and insightful piece. If you could ask the people of China any question, what would it be?
posted by srkit
on Aug 8, 2008 -
32 answers
I'm going to be filming a documentary in the Philippines about families supported by the pornography industry, and I'd like to hear any interesting questions you might have for the subjects.
[more inside]
posted by premiumpolar
on Jun 23, 2008 -
15 answers
I'm looking for a documentary about Fleetwood Mac that a friend had spoken highly of but which I can't seem to find. It might have been about the making of 'Rumours' but I only see a book about that on Amazon--no film. Anyone seen this?
posted by prior
on Mar 25, 2008 -
9 answers
Can anyone identify a specific documentary that details a film maker's work with wolves?
[more inside]
posted by bonobo
on Dec 30, 2007 -
9 answers
What would be a good, compelling subject for a short (7-15 minute) documentary film on an (for all intents and purposes) average college campus that hasn't been done a million times before?
posted by The Esteemed Doctor Bunsen Honeydew
on Sep 5, 2007 -
20 answers
Let's say I want to film an amateur, feature-length documentary. One can assume I'd use a digital camera for relative cheapness and expediency, but which cameras are good enough to do a professional-looking job? I'd be on a very tight budget. This does not take into account the sound equipment, but perhaps you could also comment on that?
[more inside]
posted by Vic Morrow's Personal Vietnam
on Aug 14, 2007 -
13 answers
What are some small film/documentary companies that have put their films online for pay download?
[more inside]
posted by yellowbinder
on Jul 24, 2007 -
2 answers
In Werner Herzog's
Lessons of Darkness there are a few images toward the end of oilfield workers
igniting uncapped oil wells. Presuming these are the same workers who had been working to put out the oil field fires (and I think they are), why are they igniting those wells?
[more inside]
posted by OmieWise
on Jan 2, 2007 -
9 answers
Who holds copyright to
Hearts of Darkness^, and why did they block inclusion of the documentary in the recently-released
Apocalypse Now: The Complete Dossier DVD set?
posted by mwhybark
on Dec 23, 2006 -
10 answers
A good friend of mine completed his first feature-lenght documentary this year. Now he wants to submit it to different documentary festivals.
[more inside]
posted by amusem
on Oct 16, 2006 -
15 answers
About 5 years ago I saw a very funny, possibly fake documentary about middle aged singles looking for romance, but I have no idea what the title of the film could be. Help!
[more inside]
posted by maryh
on Sep 7, 2006 -
4 answers
