Ken Burns documentary on the US Civil War is my favorite. Couple times a month I also try to watch PBS Frontline documentaries. You can find most of the recent ones at the site below.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/

This documentary on Idi Amin is hilarious. The iconic gif of him laughing that is used a lot on here can be found starting at 21:40. The whole thing is worth watching if you have the time. He was one of the great alpha dictators.

^Big Troll.

His title was "His Excellency, President for Life, Field Marshal Al Hadji Doctor Idi Amin Dada, VC, DSO, MC, Lord of All the Beasts of the Earth and Fishes of the Seas and Conqueror of the British Empire in Africa in General and Uganda in Particular"

I think its hilarious that he gave himself the "CBE" title - but instead of "Commander of the British Empire", it was "Conqueror". Classic.

Great thread.

Quote: (10-20-2011 01:43 AM)DLuzhin Wrote:  

The Century of the Self

It's about the rise of the consumer culture, and the modern narcissistic identity, and the role that Freudian psychoanalysis played in all of it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyPzGUsYyKM

"To many in both business and government, the triumph of the self is the ultimate expression of democracy, where power is truly moved into the hands of the people. Certainly the people may feel they are in charge, but are they really? The Century of the Self by Adam Curtis tells the untold and controversial story of the growth of the mass-consumer society. How is the all-consuming self created, by whom, and in whose interest?

The Freud dynasty is at the heart of this compelling social history. Sigmund Freud, founder of psychoanalysis; Edward Bernays, who invented public relations; Anna Freud, Sigmund's devoted daughter; and present-day PR guru and Sigmund's great grandson, Matthew Freud. Sigmund Freud's work into the bubbling and murky world of the subconscious changed the world. By introducing a technique to probe the unconscious mind, Freud provided useful tools for understanding the secret desires of the masses. Unwittingly, his work served as the precursor to a world full of political spin doctors, marketing moguls, and society's belief that the pursuit of satisfaction and happiness is man's ultimate goal..."

Happiness has always been the goal, from plato's republic to declaration of independence. Using material means to achieve it isn't even a new idea, see Aristippus. Other premises are cool though, looks worth exploring.

Can anyone recommend me any great Abraham Lincoln documentaries?

Watched FrackNation tonight.

http://fracknation.com/

Excellent documentary that discredits the popular anti-fracking documentary Gasland. I highly recommend a watch.

In FrackNation journalist Phelim McAleer faces threats, cops and bogus lawsuits questioning green extremists for the truth about fracking. McAleer uncovers fracking facts suppressed by environmental activists, and he talks with rural Americans whose livelihoods are at risk if fracking is banned. Emotions run high but the truth runs deep.

FrackNation was made after Phelim McAleer confronted GASLAND filmmaker Josh Fox at a Q&A in Chicago. McAleer asked Fox about instances of water being lit on fire well before fracking occurred in America and why he didn’t include that information in GASLAND. Fox said the information “wasn’t relevant.” McAleer disagreed and put their exchange on YouTube. Fox sued to have it removed. That’s when McAleer realized there was more to the story of fracking than Josh Fox was letting on.

FrackNation was funded by 3,305 backers on Kickstarter who generously donated $212,265 to have us investigate the truth about fracking. All funds from oil and gas companies or their executives were explicitly rejected. FrackNation is a film by the people, for the people.

True story of the brutal clash between Hungary and USSR in the water polo pool at the 1956 Olympics. As the Soviet tanks were suppressing the peoples' uprising in Hungary, the Water Polo team decided to give the population something to cheer about by kicking the Soviets ass in the water polo pool. Narrated by Mark Spitz this wonderful film, with much archive footage, tells the story of that clash. It includes interviews with the surviving players and shows what the Hungarian people went through. The team gave the people at home the one thing that the USSR had tried to take away ..... HOPE. Everyone should see this film, not just sports buffs and I urge everyone, if they get the chance, to visit Budapest. Like a lot of Eastern Europe, it is a beautiful City and the people are most friendly.

About programmed obsolescence: The lightbulb conspiracy.






Another must:

I really enjoyed Craigslist Joe..

Storyline(from IMDB)

In a time when America's economy was crumbling and sense of community was in question, one guy left everything behind to see if he could survive solely on the support and goodwill of the 21st century's new town square: Craigslist.






Watched it about a year ago, gonna have to watch it again.

Late reply, but appreciate the good leads on documentaries, which are by far my favorite genre.

Some of my favorites:

"Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam" - HBO doc; Heart-wrenching letters to home, narrated by a host of celebrities.
"Beyond the Mat" - Story of professional wrestling during the "Attitude" era of the late 1990's.
"Auschwitz: The Nazis and 'The Final Solution'" - Haunting yet compelling series on the Holocaust.
"Baseball" by Ken Burns - The quintessential documentary of the national pastime. There are no peers.
"The Civil War" by Ken Burns - Same as above, as it pertains to the Civil War. A masterpiece, arguably the best documentary series of all time.
"The War" by Ken Burns - Also very good; the opening interview in the final episode is sublime.
"Why We Fight" - Investigative documentary of the MIC, interviews with Chalmers Johnson (wonderful writer).
"Brotherhood: Life in the FDNY" - Story of several post 9/11 FDNY firehouses and their members.
"9/11" - CBS documentary covering FDNY response live; screened on the one year anniversary of 9/11. Gripping.
"Dark Days" - Old HBO documentary about the subterranean homeless population in NYC.
"Hoop Dreams" - Already mentioned previously, but a masterfully done documentary.
"The Money Masters" - Bill Still's original historical overview of the role of central banking in the USA.
"The Meth Epidemic" - PBS Frontline episode covering the exploding meth problem in the US; interesting to see past prognostications.
"The Prize" - Series based on Daniel Yergin's book of the same namesake. History of petroleum in the USA.

There are many more I've forgotten, but these are all worth the time.

Very redpill doc that I saw recently and that I heartily recommend.

The Central Park Five by Ken Burns. About the rape of an NYC woman in the 80s and how her attackers were wrongly convicted. The story is well-known but the doc manages to make it highly interesting.

Senna


I sure hope this was already mentioned.

There's one about tractor sized women trying to make a name for America in the 2008 Beijing summer olympics superheavyweight category - "Strong!".






It's regrettably the only documentary about olympic lifting I could find anywhere. On the upside there are some pretty hot female oly lifters in it, lower weight classes of course.

If you're interested in the olympic lifts then you'll learn that training can't outrun diet, at the least.

Whoever recommended Touching the Void, that one was very good.

"Krautrock: The Rebirth of Germany"

http://vimeo.com/34422894 <---streaming here.

BBC documentary about the musical/cultural renaissance of Germany. This one's for the music nerds. Basically, krautrock was a catch-all name for German bands (most with no relation to each other) making psychedelic, minimalist freakout music in the late 60s to early 70s. It features this literally mind-blowing music (it was a whole new structure and sound palette, no twelve-bar blues), juicy stock footage, incisive interviews... plus it's on point: only an hour long.

I always get so pumped up when I think about it. Incredibly inspiring. Modern day alternative and electronic music has many of its roots in what these bands did.

Pay attention especially to the parts on Kraftwerk, NEU!, and the mightiest band of them all, CAN!

My recommendations not mentioned previously mentioned (AFAIK):

Genghis Blues
Jiro Dreams of Sushi
Tim's Vermeer

and all-time #1 'if you think your life sucks, time to watch this again and get moving!'

The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition

I highly recommend:

The World at War
Dear Zachary
Auschwitz: The Nazis and 'The Final Solution' (great series about the Holocaust)
Voices from the Ghetto ("the story of a remarkable secret project conducted inside the Warsaw Ghetto during the World War II")

The new Ken Burns doc on the Roosevelt family premiered this week. You can watch it on the PBS website for free.

"Terror at the Mall" about the 2013 terrorist attack on the Mall in Kenya was awesome, very riveting.

Recently watched BLACKFISH, which covers Seaworld, whales, and the deaths that occurred at their facilities.

Fascinating doc. Recommended.

Check out Collapse. You dont have to believe everything he talks about, but its still fascinating stuff.

I know these don't qualify as a typical documentary, but in the sense, I think that they give you a glimpse into humanity that is somehow more effective than a conventionally narrated documentary.

Brilliant soundtrack by Philip Glass on Koyaanisqatsi:










My favorite one is probably Samsara. Definitely watch it stoned.

I strongly recommend you watch the "Hidden Colors" series 1,2 and 3. Although I'm not Black, it is very interesting to see the perspective of actual Black scholars, leaders, and professors when they talk about real Black history as many times in high school we're given the history through the eyes of a white person. Great films and I really recommend them.
















For my Hispanic Cats out there. There's a documentary on Hispanics in America from PBS, although I'm not too fond of PBS, but it shows real stories of the first Hispanics in America and their contributions to American society. The documentary is called "Latino Americans". Lots of people forget that Hispanics were also lynched in California during the California Gold Rush due to jealous whites who couldn't stand Latinos getting rich off the gold. Great documentary and every Hispanic person should see this.

I second recommendations for the hidden colors series.
I have actually got some of my white friends to watch them and they have all come out with better thoughts and ideas relating to racial and social climate today

Watching documentaries like this aren't just for black people.. its a great eye opening perspective on US history that is untold and directly involves black people.


On top of that..I recommend a documentary

Schooling the World: The White Man's Last Burden

Quote:Quote:

If you wanted to change an ancient culture in a generation, how would you do it? You would change the way it educates its children. The U.S. Government knew this in the 19th century when it forced Native American children into government boarding schools. Today, volunteers build schools in traditional societies around the world, convinced that school is the only way to a 'better' life for indigenous children. But is this true? What really happens when we replace a traditional culture's way of learning and understanding the world with our own? SCHOOLING THE WORLD takes a challenging, sometimes funny, ultimately deeply disturbing look at the effects of modern education on the world's last sustainable indigenous cultures.

I'm a huge fan of documentaries.

I recently watched "Jodorowsky's Dune". The doc is about the making of the movie "Dune", by cult director Alejandro Jodorowsky.

Jodorowsky managed to create an amazing, visually rich sci-fi universe (before Star Wars!), get Pink Floyd to write part of the soundtrack, and convinced Orson Welles, Salvador Dali, Mick Jagger and David Carradine to act on it. Yet, the film was never made.

Definitely in my top 10.

Have to add this one to this thread.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=888qHoAO-O4