In past blogs, I’ve discussed my love for movies and my love for Netflix, but my greatest loves are documentaries. They change the way you think, they open your eyes to new people, new issues, new places, new cultures… and the best part about them: they’re real.
The titles that follow are documentaries that I highly recommend. Some are political, some are about social issues, some are cultural, some of them are religious and all of them are heart-felt. You don’t have to agree with the position they take or the issue they address to enjoy these films, which can change your opinion or open your eyes to a new perspective or argument.
Please enjoy! Put these on your netflix Queue or rent them from SRO, but remember to watch them with an open mind!
Jesus Camp
This Oscar-nominated documentary offers an unfiltered look at a revivalist subculture in which devout Christian kids are being primed to deliver the fundamentalist community’s religious and political messages. Building an evangelical army of tomorrow, the Kids on Fire summer camp in Devil’s Lake, N.D., is dedicated to deepening the preteens’ spirituality and sowing the seeds of political activism.
Born into Brothels
British filmmaker Zana Briski’s Oscar-winning documentary is a portrait of several unforgettable children who live in Calcutta, India’s red-light district, where their mothers work as prostitutes to ensure their survival. Spurred by the kids’ fascination with her camera, Briski decides to teach them photography. As they begin to look at and record their world through new eyes, the kids awaken to their own talents and sense of worth. One talented boy, Ajivit, is invited to Amaterdaam to take and critique photos of other children.
Very Young Girls
Like an American version of Born into Brothels, this startling documentary concerns prostitution in New York City. The film captures the heartbreaking stories of underage girls — many as young as 13 — who’ve been forced into prostitution, exposing how pimps use isolation, violence and drugs to keep girls dependent. Many of the girls interviewed take part in GEMS, a shelter and mentoring program founded by activist Rachel Lloyd — once a prostitute herself — that helps them transition out of “the life.”
Unmistaken Child
Filmmaker Nati Baratz follows the spellbinding journey of Tibetan Buddhist monk Tenzin Zopa as he travels far and wide to identify the child who is the reincarnation of his deceased master, Lama Konchog. (Zopa comes across some of the cutest babies you’ll ever see). Acting on instructions from the Dalai Lama, the shy Zopa relies on astrology, dreams and other signs to locate the child, knowing that if he succeeds, he must also convince the boy’s parents to release their child into his care.
At the Death House Door
This documentary examines the state of the death penalty in Texas, filmed from the perspective of a Hunstville “death house” chaplain who witnessed nearly 100 executions over the course of his career. The film also dissects the controversial execution of Hunstville inmate Carlos De Luna, who died by lethal injection in 1989, despite evidence that suggested his innocence.
The Cove
This riveting documentary, and winner of the Audience Award at Sundance, follows a group of animal activists to a scenic cove in Taijii, Japan, where they use surveillance equipment to capture footage of a secretive and heavily guarded operation run by the world’s largest supplier of dolphins. As the daring group risks their lives to expose the horrifying truths behind the capture of dolphins for the lucrative tourist industry, they also uncover an environmental catastrophe. These “suppliers of dolphins” are extremely cruel to the dolphins when they capture them and, when they’re done selling the trapped dolphins to trainers and places like Sea World, they slowly and brutally kill them and sell the meat on the market, passing it as whale meat, despite its high level of mercury.
Sicko
I realize that not everyone is a flaming liberal like me, but Michael Moore makes some really good films– everyone could admit that. In this Oscar-nominated documentary, Moore sets his sights on the plight of the uninsured. Moore asks the difficult questions and gets to the truth behind the health care crisis. In the United States, 50 million people have no health insurance, while those that do have to fight with their health insurance providers to acquire coverage.
Food, Inc.
Drawing on Erin Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation and Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma, director Robert Kenner’s documentary explores the food industry’s detrimental effects on our health and environment. Kenner spotlights the men and women who are working to reform an industry rife with monopolies, questionable interpretations of laws and subsidies, political ties and rising rates of E. coli outbreaks.
For the Bible Tells Me So
In this Sundance documentary, director Daniel Karslake goes to the Bible to examine the ways in which conservative Christian groups have used — and sometimes exploited — holy Scripture to deny human rights to gays and lesbians around the world. Highlights include interviews with V. Gene Robinson, the first openly gay bishop in the Anglican Communion, and Chrisry Gephardt, the lesbian daughter of former U.S. Rep. Dick Gephardt.
The U.S. vs. John Lennon
Davis Leaf’s provocative documentary — produced in collaboration with Yoko Ono — examines John Lennon’s growing involvement in antiwar efforts from 1966 to 1976 and the U.S. government’s attempts to silence him. The film, which picks up Lennon’s story as he begins to shed his Beatles identity and adopt the role of a peace activist, features interviews with Carl Bernstein, Walter Cronkite, Mario Cuomo and Angela Davis, among others.
V-Day: Until the Violence Stops
This documentary follows the grassroots impact of the V-Day movement — whose goal is to end violence against women — in five international communities while exposing the pervasive and cultural forms of violence that women experience all over the world.
This is What Democracy Looks Like
During the 1999 World Trade Organization summit in Seattle, activists gathering to promote economic justice managed to shut down the WTO during a days-long demonstration. Violent clashes with police were broadcast from news outlets around the world. This powerful documentary tells the story from the hearts and lenses of more than 100 activists who turned their cameras on the police.
Tying the Knot
Director Jim de Sève’s documentary takes a concerted look at the heated and ongoing debate about same-sex marriage in the United States. Focusing on two gay couples who’ve become entangled in laws forbidding homosexual wedlock, the film puts a human face on the issue.
