[voodooray]

Catfish is quite a surreal documentary and there were allegations that it was faked. But it's well worth watching in my opinion.

thats like, the most depressing movie ive ever seen and im pretty sure it was scripted (or I hope so)

I can recommend Talhotblond for a good unambiguously real one.

[amar212]

Great music documentary about musical scene in Istanbul and Turkey narrated and acted by legendary Einsturzende Neubauten bassist Alexander Hacke.

Crossing the Bridge: The Sounds of Istanbul



Cinematography is beautiful, music is beyond words and production of music - all artists were recorded 100% live - is mesmerising.

It covers great amount of recent Turkish contemporary music (hip hop, punk, electronica, ethno-electronica..) together with some vintage *contemporary* artist and their plays.

Official Trailer > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fV3v5scd6EE

You can watch the entire movie on the YT but I wouldn't recommend it because the beauty of the sound production just have to be experienced in proper quality of DVD release.

One of the most beautiful closing songs ever recorded, with band playing on the boat in Bosphorus channel at the dawn and emotions that are beyond gorgeous.

[edbrat]

yes yes yes Hoop Dreams is brilliant. Anything by Nick Broomfield is very watchable.

CTRL + F "Senna" - you disappoint me GAF! Brilliant documentary, loved it and I don't even like F1.

[verbum]

My family is spread out across the country and we've lost a cousin (innocent bystander) and a good number of family friends to crack (addiction, prison, or death). My mom raised me alone and worked really long hours, so I used to stay with different family members during the summers. A lot of people who used to be around all the time one year would be gone the next year due to some drug related bullshit.

Crack babies (newborns addicted to crack while in the womb and had to be weaned using methadone right after birth, other physical problems as well).
Crack houses (abandoned houses taken over by crack addicts meant people were not safe in their neighborhoods)
Crack whores (addicts spreading HIV and other STD's trying to make money via sex)
were three of the bigger problems I remember.
I work at a children's medical center and we took care of the newborns. Mother was not available to the newborn. Quite a few ended up in foster care which caused more problems.
Crack was an evil thing, it ruined quite a few neighborhoods and family/social networks. Having an addict around meant nothing or no one was truly safe.

[Stat Flow]

Sub.

[Uchip]

my god how old is this thread?
and i can see myself at the top of this page D:

[Burger]

I'm trying to watch Man on Wire. God is it self-important. Most documentaries take a subject and slowly introduce you and convince you why such a thing is interesting or why it matters. This is just "suck a bunch of french weirdo's dicks!" from frame one. If you don't already think this man is the coolest person in the world the movie doesn't even try to help you out. Your average Frontline documentary on campaign finance reform reaches out more to the audience than this. Am I supposed to be tripping balls to watch this?

I loved it. I thought it was a romantic, poetic and hilarious way to present a subject which on the face of it is serious and dangerous. The feat itself is nothing short of mind-boggling in sheer scale and complexity. I believe it to be one of the great artworks of my lifetime, and I thought the documentary did an amazing job of showing this.

[sasimirobot]

sub. tired of crap dramas...

[bengraven]

Dark Days

again and again.

[JGS]

Documentary list is not complete without Love Crimes of Kabul.

One of the few times that my view of a culture completely changed (Like a 180).

http://www.hbo.com/documentaries/lov...eshaghian.html

[marathonfool]

Many popular documentaries have been listed already so I'll detail some of the less well known ones.

Control Room
Behind the scenes look at the media coverage of the Iraq War.

God Grew Tired of Us
Follow the journey of Sudanese refugees to New York. (My favorite of the last few years.)

Fog of War
Profile of Former Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara and his decisions.

I also recommend Cats of Mirikitani as another person suggested.

RFK from the American Experience is a great bio-doc.

[Flying_Phoenix]

Religious may not be the most informative documentary but it is pretty

Inside Job, which is about the financial crisis.

Should be top priority. Really eye opening.

This one is more likely to mislead you than to educate you. http://www.nybooks.com/articles/arch...chools/?page=1 The problem with schools is not administrators and teachers. It's the lack of social welfare that destabilizes the lives of children. Most children in unstable environments will be unable to learn regardless of what else you do.

This drove me fucking crazy. Most misleading conclusion in a left wing documentary since Bowling for Columbine's "Americans are violent because racism." Which is sorta true, but as usual Moore didn't dig nearly deep enough.

This Film Is Not Yet Rated - essential for anyone confused about movie ratings and MPAA, like the NC-17 debacles (Blue Valentine). I loved them tracking the MPAA members in their car. The Greatest Movie Ever Sold - I'm sure it's hip to hate Morgan Spurlock now, but this is a very funny and entertaining look at product placement. It was enlightening to me personally because afterwards, I'm spotting it everywhere. Can't unsee it now.

Not the best quality wise but very interesting films. And yes advertising is everywhere now. Lol.

[Cryptozoologist]

The Rules of Engagement (1997): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmOBNnz9Wms

Great documentary about the Waco standoff. Excellent documentary. Might make you hate some of our politicians (Chuck Schumer) if you don't already.

[DeEJaYMiND]

Saw this one last weekend:

Girl Model (2011)
Follows a complex supply chain between Siberia, Japan, and the U.S. within the modeling industry. The story is told through the eyes of the scouts, agencies and a 13 year-old model.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbALBvRek1k (Trailer)

[CaptainRizla]

Dogtown and Z-Boys

[TheJollyCorner]

if you lived in the US of A in the 80's/early 90's you might be interested in this for serious waves of nostalgia:




Hell, even if not, watch it. It's fascinating. Don't let the box art fool you.


I also recommend the various Berlinger Paradise Lost docs about the West Memphis Three.



The third (and final) one came out earlier this year.

[HarryHengst]

Children Full of Life is a beautiful little documentary:

In the award-winning documentary Children Full of Life, a fourth-grade class in a primary school in Kanazawa, northwest of Tokyo, learn lessons about compassion from their homeroom teacher, Toshiro Kanamori. He instructs each to write their true inner feelings in a letter, and read it aloud in front of the class. By sharing their lives, the children begin to realize the importance of caring for their classmates.

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=armP8TfS9Is

Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oc7S8HAfDzk

Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jd7YWx7idfE

Part 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEW65OKRiAk

Part 5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FGdXEBcdh4