HBO Documentary Films
Description
Moonlight daydream illuminates the life and genius of David Bowie, one of the most influential artists of our time. Told through sublime, kaleidoscopic, never-before-seen footage and performances, this experiential cinematic odyssey explores Bowie's creative, musical and spiritual journey. The film is guided by the icon's own narration and is the first officially sanctioned film on the artist.
3) First cousin once removed: [a story of life after memory ... inside the mind of poet Edwin Honig]
Pub. Date
[2014]
Description
A distinguished poet, translator, critic and teacher, Edwin Honig wrote dozens of books and poems that attracted critical praise around the world. His seminal translations awakened English-speaking readers to previously overlooked literary giants, resulting in honorary knighthoods from the king of Spain and the president of Portugal. Acclaimed documentary filmmaker Alan Berliner paints a deeply personal portrait of his "good friend, cousin and mentor"...
5) Gasland
Pub. Date
[2010]
Description
In 2009, filmmaker Josh Fox learned his land was on top of the Marcellus Shale, a giant reservoir of natural gas that stretches across huge stretches of the northeast United States, and that he would be paid to lease his land for natural gas extraction. Fox documented his cross-country trek to find out if the controversial process of hydraulic fracturing (or fracking) is actually safe. What he unearthed was a discovery about a practice that is understudied...
Pub. Date
2014
Description
The epic rivalry between half-pipe legends Kevin Pearce and Shaun White is documented in this exhilarating ride into the world of extreme snowboarding. With both practicing more and more breathtaking and dangerous tricks leading up to the Vancouver Winter Olympics, everything suddenly changes for Kevin when a horrific crash leaves him fighting for his life. When he recovers, all he wants to do is get on his snowboard again, even though medics and...
Pub. Date
[2015]
Description
It chronicles how five generations of one American family have shared the "glorious burden" of collecting, preserving and documenting a treasure trove of photographs, rare books and artifacts relating to Abraham Lincoln. In the years following the Civil War, Peter Kunhardt's ancestors, in particular, his great- grandfather, Frederick Hill Meserve, collected photographs that might have been lost forever.
Pub. Date
[2018].
Description
From executive producer Channing Tatum and director Deborah Scranton (The War Tapes) comes a deeply personal documentary that highlights the intimate relationship between veterans and their K9 companions, both during combat and as they readjust to civilian life. Focusing on three courageous dogs (Layka, Mika and Pepper) and the soldiers who served by their side in the most elite forces in the military.
Pub. Date
[2018].
Description
Follows Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. during the volatile last three years of his life, from the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965 to his assassination in April 1968. Drawing on revelatory stories from his inner circle of friends, the film provides a clear window into the civil rights leader's character, showing him to be a man with an unshakeable commitment to peaceful protest in the face of an increasingly unstable country. Illuminating and...
Pub. Date
[2016]
Description
A look at the life of journalist James Foley, who was kidnapped in Syria in 2012 and became the first American citizen to be killed by the terrorist group ISIS. Friends, family and professional colleagues share their recollections of him in this documentary. Directed by Brian Oakes who was a childhood friend of Foley's, this award-winning documentary provides an in-depth look into the life and work of American journalist James Foley, who was captured...
12) Hot coffee
Pub. Date
[2011]
Description
Analyzes and discusses so called "frivolous law suits" and the impact of tort reform on the United States judicial system. Discusses several cases and relates each to tort reform in the U.S.: Liebeck v. McDonald's Restaurants (public relations campaign to instigate tort reform); Colin Gourley's malpractice lawsuit and caps on damages; the prosecution of Mississippi Justice Oliver Diaz and judicial elections; Jamie Leigh Jones v. Halliburton Co. and...
Pub. Date
[2009]
Description
Momentum in Science features 25 leading scientists, a primetime state-of-the-science report revealing the most cutting-edge research advances. Three additional specials (The Memory Loss Tapes; Grandpa, Will You Remember Me? with Maria Shriver; and Caregivers) capture what it means to experience the disease, to be a child or grandchild of one who suffers, and to care for those who are affected.
Author
Pub. Date
2009
Description
The daughter of 65-year-old deaf couple Paul and Sally Taylor documents their decision to receive cochlear ear implants that may allow them to hear for the very first time. Although entirely capable and successful without the surgery - Paul as a developer of early deaf-assistive technology, Sally as a strongly communicative and gifted lip reader - the surgery is expected to be life-changing. In the first half of the film the filmmaker, her siblings,...
16) Citizenfour
Series
Description
With unprecedented access, this gripping behind-the-scenes chronicle follows award winning director Laura Poitras and journalist Glenn Greenwald's remarkable encounters with whistle-blower Edward Snowden in a hotel room in Hong Kong, as he hands over classified documents that provide evidence of mass indiscriminate and illegal invasions of privacy by the NSA.
17) A small act
Pub. Date
2011
Description
"When Hilde Back sponsored a young, rural Kenyan student, she thought nothing of it. She never imagined her quarterly donation of $15 would pave the way for Chris Mburu's journey to Harvard Law School. Years later, Chris has become a United Nations human rights lawyer working to combat genocide and discrimination. He decides to seek out the stranger who dramatically transformed his life and is astonished to learn his benefactor, Hilde, is a Holocaust...
18) Which way home
Pub. Date
c2009
Description
A feature documentary that follows unaccompanied child migrants on their journey through Mexico as they try to reach the United States. We follow children like Olga and Freddy, 9-year old Hondurans, who are trying to reach their parents in the US. Children like Jose, a 10-year old El Salvadoran, who has been abandoned by smugglers and ends up alone in a Mexican detention center, and Kevin, a streetwise 14-year-old Honduran, whose mother hopes that...
Pub. Date
c2014
Description
"An official selection of the Sundance Film Festival, Life According to Sam follows one family's courageous fight to save their only son from a rare and fatal aging disease. Directed by Oscar winners Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine (Inocente), this highly personal and life-affirming journey is propelled by the captivating presence of Sam Berns. Funny, perceptive and fiercely intelligent, 16-year old Sam is the catalyst for his physician parents' relentless...
Pub. Date
c2014
Description
"An official selection of the Sundance Film Festival, Life According to Sam follows one family's courageous fight to save their only son from a rare and fatal aging disease. Directed by Oscar winners Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine (Inocente), this highly personal and life-affirming journey is propelled by the captivating presence of Sam Berns. Funny, perceptive and fiercely intelligent, 16-year old Sam is the catalyst for his physician parents' relentless...