Documentaries that are Positively Captivating

Murderball  (2005)

‘Murderball’ is a story like no other, told by men who see the world from a different angle. Quad rugby players have suffered injuries that have left them with limited function in all four limbs. Whether by car wreck, gunshot, fist fight, rogue bacteria or any of an endless list of possible misadventures, quad rugby’s young men have found their lives dramatically altered. Watching them in action — both on court and off — smashes every stereotype one has ever had about the handicapped. It also redefines what it is to be a man, what it is to live a full life, and what it is to be a winner.

Seymour: An Introduction  (2015)

Seymour Bernstein started playing the piano as a little boy, and by the time he turned 15 he was teaching it to others. He enjoyed a long and illustrious career as a performer before he gave it up to devote himself to helping others develop their own gifts. It’s a love letter to the study of music itself, and a film about the patience, concentration, and devotion that are fundamental to the practice of art.

Iris  (2015)

IRIS pairs legendary 87-year-old documentarian Albert Maysles with Iris Apfel, the quick-witted, flamboyantly dressed 93-year-old style maven who has had an outsized presence on the New York fashion scene for decades. IRIS portrays a singular woman whose enthusiasm for fashion, art and people are life’s sustenance and reminds us that dressing, and indeed life, is nothing but an experiment. Despite the abundance of glamour, she continues to embrace the values and work ethic established during a middle-class Queens upbringing during the Great Depression.

Spellbound  (2002)

Eight kids of wildly disparate ethnic, class, and regional backgrounds are followed from their individual hometowns to Washington D.C. for the National Spelling Bee Finals.

We Were Here  (2011)

This movie documents the coming of what was called the “Gay Plague” in the early 1980s. It illuminates the profound personal and community issues raised by the AIDS epidemic as well as the broad political and social upheavals it unleashed. It offers a cathartic validation for the generation that suffered through, and responded to, the onset of AIDS. It provides insight into what society could, and should, offer its citizens in the way of medical care, social services, and community support.

Pick of the Litter  (2018)

Follow a litter of puppies from the moment they’re born and begin their quest to become guide dogs for the blind. Cameras follow these pups through an intense two-year odyssey as they train to become dogs whose ultimate responsibility is to protect their blind partners from harm. Along the way, these remarkable animals rely on a community of dedicated individuals who train them to do amazing, life-changing things in the service of their human. The stakes are high and not every dog can make the cut. Only the best of the best. The pick of the litter.

March of the Penguins  (2005)

Emperor penguins overcome daunting obstacles in order to return to their breeding grounds for mating season. This tells the story of one year in the life of a flock — focusing on one couple in particular — as they trek across the Antarctic on an annual journey that invokes just about every major life experience: from birth to death, from dating to mating, from comedy to tragedy, and from love to fighting for survival.

Muscle Shoals  (2013)

There’s a place filled with magic and music, legend and folklore, where the river is inhabited by a Native American spirit who has lured some of the greatest Rock and Roll and Soul legends of all time, and drawn from them some of the most uplifting, defiant, and important music ever created. In Muscle Shoals, Alabama, music runs through the hills, the river, and the spirit of the people. It is a place where, even before the Civil Rights Movement really took shape, the color of your skin didn’t matter inside the studio.

Undefeated  (2012)

Set in the inner-city of Memphis, this chronicles the Manassas Tigers’ 2009 football season, on and off-the-field, as they strive to win the first playoff game in the high school’s 110-year history. A perennial whipping boy, in recent decades Manassas had gone so far as to sell their home games to the highest bidder, but that all changed in the spring of 2004 when Bill Courtney, a former high school football coach turned lumber salesman, volunteered to lend a hand.

Keep On Keepin’ On  (2014)

This movie depicts the remarkable story of 93-year-old jazz legend Clark Terry. A living monument to the Golden Era of Jazz, Terry–a mentor to Miles Davis–is among the few performers to have played in both Count Basie’s and Duke Ellington’s bands. In the 160’s, he broke the color barrier as the first African-American staff musician at on “The Tonight Show”.

Exit Through The Gift Shop  (2010)

Banksy is a graffiti artist with a global reputation. Fiercely guarding his anonymity to avoid prosecution, Banksy has so far resisted all attempts to be captured on film. This tells the true story of how an eccentric French shop keeper attempted to locate and befriend Banksy, only to have the artist turn the camera on its owner with spectacular results. As Banksy describes it, “It’s basically the story of how one man set out to film the un-filmable. And failed!

Bill Cunningham New York  (2011)

Bill is 80+ New York Times photographer Bill Cunningham. For decades, this Schwinn-riding cultural anthropologist has been obsessively and inventively chronicling fashion trends and high society charity soirées for the Times Style section in his columns “On the Street” and “Evening Hours.” His enormous body of work is more reliable than any catwalk as an expression of time, place and individual flair. In turn, this moive is a delicate, funny and often poignant portrait of a dedicated artist whose only wealth is his own humanity and unassuming grace.

The September Issue  (2009)

An intimate, funny and surprising look at Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of “Vogue” magazine for 20 years, and her team of larger-than-life editors as they create this must-have Bible of fashion. Filmmaker R.J. Cutler explores the untouchable glamour of Wintour’s Vogue to reveal the extraordinarily passionate people at its heart. Through them, we see close-up the delicate creative chemistry it takes to remain at the top of the ever-changing fashion field.

Survive and Advance  (2013)

North Carolina State’s improbable run to the 1983 NCAA basketball title is chronicled. Wolfpack guard Dereck Whittenburg helps tell the story of nine postseason wins under coach Jim Valvano, whose 1993 death capped a heartbreaking aftermath for the team.

Minding the Gap  (2018)

Compiling over 12 years of footage shot in his hometown of Rockford, IL, Bing Liu searches for correlations between his skateboarder friends’ turbulent upbringings and the complexities of modern-day masculinity. Bing captures 23-year-old Zack’s tumultuous relationship with his girlfriend deteriorate after the birth of their son and 17-year-old Keire struggling with his racial identity as he faces new responsibilities following the death of his father. While navigating a difficult relationship between his camera, friends, and his past, Bing ultimately weaves a story of generational forgiveness while exploring the precarious gap between childhood and adulthood.

Faces Places  (2017)

Agnès and JR have things in common: a passion for and the exploration of images in general, and more precisely, for places and for ways of showing, sharing, and exhibiting them. Agnès chose cinema. JR chose to create open air photography galleries. When they met in 2015, they immediately wanted to work together, to shoot a film in France, far from cities, during a trip in JR’s photographic truck.

Cave of Forgotten Dreams  (2011)

Cave of Forgotten Dreams follows an exclusive expedition into the nearly inaccessible Chauvet Cave in France, home to the most ancient visual art known to have been created by man. It’s an unforgettable cinematic experience that provides a unique glimpse of the pristine artwork dating back to human hands over 30,000 years ago – almost twice as old as any previous discovery.

Life Itself  (2014)

This documentary film recounts the inspiring and entertaining life of world-renowned film critic and social commentator Roger Ebert – a story that is by turns personal, funny, painful, and transcendent.

Apollo 11  (2019)

Apollo 11 is a cinematic space event film fifty years in the making. Featuring never-before-seen large-format film footage of one of humanity’s greatest accomplishments.

Little Miss Sumo  (2018)

Banned from competing professional, sumo wrestling champion Hiyori confronts the obstacles in and outside of the right as she fights gender inequality.

Hoop Dreams  (1994)

Two young men are followed during their entire high-school basketball career, beginning with their participation in playground games and ending with their being recruited by colleges. The obstacles these young men face include parental drug addiction, family poverty, and inner-city violence, as well as the usual obstacles that arise in competition, including physical injuries. While each aspires to leave their neighborhood, there are many reasons to suppose they may not be able to, despite each beating the odds against them by winning college scholarships.

Echo in the Canyon  (2019)

Love mid-60’s music like The Byrds, The Beach Boys, Buffalo Springfield, and the rest of the California Sound? You’ll love this movie.

Helvetica  (2007)

Yes. A documentary about a font which uses it as a lens through which it examines contemporary visual culture and how typeface is used, aesthetically, spatially, and culturally, to impart shape and character to urban environments. It then segues into a discussion with a number of acclaimed designers about their work, their creative visions and processes, and the aesthetic reasoning behind various decisions regarding font.

Free Solo  (2018)

Without using any ropes, a death-defying adventurer scales Earth’s tallest cliffs in this jaw-dropping, Oscar-winning documentary.

The Battered Bastards of Baseball  (2014)

In 1973, baseball lover and actor Bing Russell, father of Kurt Russell, starts an independent, single-A team composed of players that no one else wanted.

Agnelli (2017)

A profile of Gianni Agnelli (1921-2003), an Italian industrialist, jet-setter and grandson of Fiat founder Giovanni Agnelli, features remarks by family, friends and rivals, and archival footage and photographs. This is a profile in success and making a name for yourself.

10 Questions for the Dalai Lama (2007)

Questing filmmaker and intellectual Rick Ray interviews Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama — widely regarded as one of the wisest men in the world, asking His Holiness such questions seeking wisdom and the secrets to happiness.

Napoleon Hill’s Master Key (1954)

Dr. Napoleon Hill discusses the Master Key to Success. In this series, you will learn to take control of your mind and live a life that is truly yours. You will unlock your life’s purpose, and start living a life of success, wealth, and happiness.

Ai Weiwei  (2012)

The first feature-length film about the internationally renowned Chinese artist and activist, Ai Weiwei. In recent years, Ai has garnered international attention as much for his ambitious artwork as his political provocations. From 2008 to 2010, Beijing-based journalist and filmmaker Alison Klayman gained unprecedented access to Ai Weiwei. Klayman documented Ai’s artistic process in preparation for major museum exhibitions, his intimate exchanges with family members and his increasingly public clashes with the Chinese government. Klayman’s detailed portrait of the artist provides a nuanced exploration of contemporary China and one of its most compelling public figures.

The Barkley Marathons: The Race that Eats Its Young  (2015)

Based on a historic prison escape, this cult like race tempts people from around the world to test their limits of physical and mental endurance in this documentary that contemplates the value of pain.

Craigslist Joe (2012)

With only a laptop, cell phone, toothbrush and the clothes on his back, Joseph Garner sets out to travel the across the country solely working with the items and people he meets on Craigslist.

Becoming Warren Buffet (2017)

A profile of Warren Buffett, CEO of the holding company Berkshire Hathaway, includes a look at his career as an investor and a philanthropist, and recollections of his personal and professional lives while speaking to high-school students in his native Omaha.

Brené Brown: The Call to Courage  (2019)

Research professor and best-selling author Dr. Brené Brown dispels the misconception that courage and vulnerability are mutually exclusive. She challenges the viewer to show up, step into the arena, and answer their own call to courage.

Minimalism: A Documentary about the Important Things (2016)

How might your life be better with less? This movie examines the many flavors of minimalism by taking the audience inside the lives of minimalists from all walks of life—families, entrepreneurs, architects, artists, journalists, scientists, and even a former Wall Street broker-all of whom are striving to live a meaningful life with less.

Oceans

A documentary examining the vital role water plays in human existence and the cause-and-effect interplay between oceans and the environment. 84 minutes of wonderful visuals and classic voiceover by Pierce Brosnan.

Heal

These stories from spiritual leaders, physicians and those with chronic illnesses reveal the powerful connection between the human psyche and physical health.

Tony Robbins: I Am Not Your Guru

Embark on a journey – 6 days LIVE with Tony in a supportive environment of total immersion! You will gain a clear and deep understanding of what truly motivates you; thoughts, feelings and behaviors and build toward your own personal breakthrough.

Marley (2012)

The story of reggae’s greatest start who was more than a musician—he was an amazing influence on the world who lifted the spirits of a nation with unwavering positivity.

Happy (2011)

The name says it all: it’s about learning how to be a happy person.

I Am  (2010)

A story of how one man who had it all nearly lost everything after a near-death mountain-biking accident which put everything into perspective.

Man on Wire  (2008)

Ever think, “Yeah, I could do that…but I better not.”? Just take inspiration from a man who decided to prove to himself (and the world) that he could do anything he wanted…even at 1,300 feet above New York City.

Happy People (2010)

Werner Herzog’s brilliant documentary about life for the people in the village of Bakhta, in the Siberian Taiga. Peaceful. Beautiful.

Superhuman: Iceman  (2015)

The story of Wim Hof, an amazing Polish man who exercises mind over matter to unlock subconscious responses to control his body’s reactions to extreme conditions, specifically cold temperatures. For example, he has remained submerged in ice water for over two hours. You won’t believe what you see. You won’t forget it either.

Explained (Netflix)

A series of short (10-20-minute) mini documentaries about a wide range of subjects, from K-pop to Diamonds to Animal Intelligence and more. Truly, something for everyone.

20 Feet From Stardom  (2013)

What’s it like to be a backup singer? This thoughtful, inspiring picture goes behind the scenes to interview the passionate people who are always just out of the spotlight—but have a light of their own.

Miles Davies: Birth of the Cool  (2019)

Entertaining for longtime fans as well as casually interested viewers, this movies showcases the legacy of a truly brilliant artist.

Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story  (2017)

You might know her (vaguely) as a star of black & white films from the ‘30s and ‘40s. But her true story is so much more. This film follows the Hollywood icon as she helps develop technology that will best the Nazis. Seriously.

When We Were Kings  (1996)

The story of the famous “Rumble In The Jungle” heavyweight boxing match between Muhammad Ali and George Forman. But it’s more than boxing. It shows the building relationship between Muhammad Ali and the people of Zaire, as Ali was fighting to gain his title back after being stripped of it for avoiding the Vietnam draft.

Particle Fever  (2013)

This film follows six scientists as they try to create the Hadron Collider—the most expensive experiment in the history of the planet. Heavy on the science…but also a great reminder how what the human mind if capable of.

Jiro Dreams of Sushi  (2011)

Jiro Ono is an 85 year old master sushi chef that even after all this time still sees himself as a work in progress. Perfection in his mind can never be achieved despite his restaurant being regarded as one of the finest on earth. A story of dedication, passion and always seeking to become better.

Four Days In October  (2010)

The true story of the greatest comeback in baseball history, as the Boston Red Sox, who hadn’t won a Championship since 1918, take on the 26-time champion New York Yankees.

K2: Siren of the Himalayas  (2012)

There are few “blank spaces” on the map these days. One of them is K2, the second-highest mountain in the world. This documentary explores a climb up that mountain on the 100th anniversary of the first expedition, and the will of the human spirit.

30 for 30: You Don’t Know Bo  (2012)

A close look at two-sport athlete Bo Jackson and the creation of a legend. Even without winning a Super Bowl or World Series, Bo will forever be known as a cultural icon and one of the most famous athletes of all time.

Hungry For Change  (2012)

Think you know the best nutrition plan? You might be surprised at how the food industry doesn’t want you to know it. This documentary will change the way you look at food and might even change your life.

Planet Earth (BBC network)

An astonishing look at the Earth in a truly captivating series on BBC. From under the seas to some of the most incredible spots on the planet, you’ll see parts of the world you’ve never seen before.

Storm Surfers  (2013)

This documentary shows the amazing physical potential that all humans have in them, following a group of surfers with the goal of riding the largest waves on earth. Their motivation in their surfing pursuits will inspire you in tackling your own challenges whether they be of a physical nature or personal goals.