Top 100 News Movies (English), a list by bbrodka1963

7.6

/4507/

78

/196/

68

/78/

4.0

/7258/

98

/80/

83

/160/

86

/23/

3.5

age 16+

A story of two coalitions – ACT UP and TAG (Treatment Action Group) – whose activism and innovation turned AIDS from a death sentence into a manageable condition. Despite having no scientific training, these self-made activists infiltrated the pharmaceutical industry and helped identify promising new drugs, moving them from experimental trials to patients in record time.

80

8.0

/10197/

82

/552/

77

/195/

3.8

/5911/

92

/25/

84

/71/

3.0

age 12+

Through interviews filmed over four years, Noam Chomsky unpacks the principles that have brought us to the crossroads of historically unprecedented inequality – tracing a half-century of policies designed to favor the most wealthy at the expense of the majority – while also looking back on his own life of activism and political participation. He provides penetrating insight into what may well be the lasting legacy of our time – the death of the middle class, and swan song of functioning democracy.

80

7.8

/53114/

76

/1935/

73

/635/

3.6

/20234/

95

/113/

86

/2893/

80

/28/

3.5

age 13+

Documentary filmmaker Robert Kenner examines how mammoth corporations have taken over all aspects of the food chain in the United States, from the farms where our food is grown to the chain restaurants and supermarkets where it's sold. Narrated by author and activist Eric Schlosser, the film features interviews with average Americans about their dietary habits, commentary from food experts like Michael Pollan and unsettling footage shot inside large-scale animal processing plants.

79

8.5

/2720/

78

/45/

78

/8/

3.8

/2596/

91

/23/

98

/4/

68

/6/

2.5

A turbulent newsroom drama that intimately chronicles the working days of broadcast journalist Ravish Kumar as he navigates a spiraling world of truth and disinformation.

79

7.4

/1211/

81

/55/

68

/25/

3.6

/837/

91

/44/

88

/20/

78

/12/

3.5

age 13+

A behind-the-scenes look inside the case to overturn California's ban on same-sex marriage. Shot over five years, the film follows the unlikely team that took the first federal marriage equality lawsuit to the U.S. Supreme Court.

79

7.2

/18694/

69

/315/

68

/244/

3.8

/4698/

95

/106/

91

/1029/

78

/32/

3.5

Documentary depicting the lives of child prostitutes in the red light district of Songachi, Calcutta. Director Zana Briski went to photograph the prostitutes when she met and became friends with their children. Briski began giving photography lessons to the children and became aware that their photography might be a way for them to lead better lives.

79

78

8.2

/8424/

74

/523/

78

/192/

3.7

/2429/

82

/17/

83

/40/

81

/5/

age 13+

An unlikely team of activists and innovators hatches a bold mission to save endangered species.

77

7.0

/323/

75

/19/

75

/5/

100

/12/

72

/10/

3.0

Shot clandestinely over a two year period, this film provides a rare look into the second most isolated country on the planet held in a stasis by a brutal military regime for almost a half century. From over 100 interviews of people across Burma, including the recently released Aung San Suu Kyi, interwoven with stunning footage of Burmese life this documentary is truly unique.

77

7.3

/578/

78

/20/

67

/10/

3.4

/246/

78

/23/

92

/23/

3.5

Our healthcare system is broken. Potent forces fight to maintain the status quo in a medical industry created for quick fixes, rather than prevention; for profit-driven, rather than patient-driven, care. Healthcare is at the center of an intense political firestorm in our nation's capital. But the current battle over cost and access does not ultimately address the root of the problem: we have a disease-care system, not a health-care one. After decades of opposition, a movement to introduce innovative high-touch, low-cost methods of prevention and healing is finally gaining ground.

74

7.2

/290/

66

/20/

68

/13/

3.5

/256/

90

/10/

58

/6/

4.0

Documentary focusing on the environmental and economic injustice and corporate control in West Virginia and its rippling effect on all American workers. This film tells the story of a hard-working people who have historically had limited choices and have never benefited fairly from the rich natural resources of their land. The failure to diversify the economy has insured control by outside, unrestricted corporations with the support of politicians kept in their positions by these very same companies.

74

8.2

/3347/

80

/184/

75

/80/

3.9

/1988/

75

/44/

90

/58/

67

/15/

2.0

age 12+

Five million Americans suffer from Alzheimer's disease and dementia—many of them alone in nursing homes. A man with a simple idea discovers that songs embedded deep in memory can ease pain and awaken these fading minds. Joy and life are resuscitated, and our cultural fears over aging are confronted.

72

8.2

/29563/

80

/1650/

77

/805/

3.7

/17852/

76

/33/

77

/188/

63

/10/

2.0

age 10+

A look at how climate change affects our environment and what society can do to prevent the demise of endangered species, ecosystems, and native communities across the planet.

72

6.6

/1410/

70

/95/

63

/26/

3.3

/469/

86

/22/

70

/42/

68

/10/

3.5

France’s Bordeaux region has long commanded respect for its coveted wine, but shifts in the global marketplace mean that a new, voracious consumer base in China is buying up this finite product. Bordeaux both struggles with and courts the spike in demand, sending prices skyrocketing. Narrated by Russell Crowe, Red Obsession is a fascinating look at our changing international economy and how an obsession in Shanghai affects the most illustrious vineyards in France.

70

6.9

/606/

69

/62/

68

/13/

3.4

/845/

80

/20/

65

/4/

70

/6/

3.0

age 13+

Filmmakers Robert Kenner and Melissa Robledo reunite with investigative authors Michael Pollan and Eric Schlosser to take a fresh look at our efficient yet vulnerable food system.

70

6.8

/349/

70

/17/

72

/10/

82

/17/

67

/6/

56

/6/

3.0

Nicholas Vreeland walked away from a worldly life of privilege to become a Tibetan Buddhist monk. Grandson of legendary Vogue editor Diana Vreeland and apprentice of photographer Irving Penn, Nicholas' life changed drastically upon meeting one of the Dalai Lama's teachers. Soon thereafter, he gave up his glamorous life to live in a monastery in India, ultimately returning to his roots in photography to help his fellow monks rebuild their monastery.

70

69

7.7

/7470/

76

/384/

75

/228/

3.7

/6498/

63

/8/

81

/44/

46

/4/

Film from Andrew Morgan. The True Cost is a documentary film exploring the impact of fashion on people and the planet.

69

7.3

/6632/

74

/553/

69

/198/

3.4

/2501/

84

/31/

72

/67/

68

/12/

2.0

age 12+

Have you ever read the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policies connected to every website you visit, phone call you make, or app you use? Of course you haven’t. But those agreements allow corporations to do things with your personal information you could never even imagine. This film explores the intent hidden within these ridiculous agreements, and reveals what corporations and governments are legally taking from you and the outrageous consequences that result from clicking “I accept.”

68

7.2

/793/

69

/97/

71

/39/

3.4

/910/

79

/18/

2.0

age 6+

A beautiful love story in danger. Our future depends on an amazing love story between the flowers and fauna consisting of bees, butterflies, birds and bats, which allow these species to reproduce. Delicate and graceful, the flowers are not content to be the ultimate symbol of beauty. On the contrary, their vibrant colors and their exotic flavors are so many wonders that attract pollinators and drunk with desire. All these animals are involved in a complex dance of seduction on which one third of our crops, a dance without which we could survive ... Pollen presents the unsung heroes of the global food chain. Their fantastic worlds are full of stories, drama and beauty. While a fragile and threatened, essential for the balance of the planet, it should now actively protect ...

69

66

6.6

/3852/

69

/483/

63

/96/

3.2

/1581/

85

/111/

Not since the invention of the Internet has there been such a disruptive technology as Bitcoin. Bitcoin's early pioneers sought to blur the lines of sovereignty and the financial status quo. After years of underground development Bitcoin grabbed the attention of a curious public, and the ire of the regulators the technology had subverted. After landmark arrests of prominent cyber criminals Bitcoin faces its most severe adversary yet, the very banks it was built to destroy.

74

65

7.6

/2893/

77

/202/

75

/95/

3.7

/5413/

67

/6/

78

/40/

age 15+

Compared to girls, research shows that boys in the United States are more likely to be diagnosed with a behaviour disorder, prescribed stimulant medications, fail out of school, binge drink, commit a violent crime, and/or take their own lives. The Mask You Live In asks: as a society, how are we failing our boys?

81

64

7.8

/2561/

75

/63/

72

/42/

3.7

/905/

97

/62/

91

/144/

82

/13/

Going beyond the occasional news clip from Burma, the acclaimed filmmaker, Anders Østergaard, brings us close to the video journalists who deliver the footage. Though risking torture and life in jail, courageous young citizens of Burma live the essence of journalism as they insist on keeping up the flow of news from their closed country.

63

6.8

/177/

41

/5/

40

/17/

96

/25/

68

/5/

69

/13/

2.5

age 13+

Following the journey of an Evangelical minister trying to find the courage to preach about the growing toll of gun violence in America. Reverend Rob Schenck, anti-abortion activist and fixture on the political far right, breaks with orthodoxy by questioning whether being pro-gun is consistent with being pro-life.

59

6.2

/520/

68

/55/

60

/16/

3.3

/354/

58

/24/

65

/4/

1.5

On January 1, 2014, recreational marijuana sales began in Colorado. With all eyes on ground zero of the green rush, The Denver Post became the first major media outlet to embrace it and appointed the world’s first marijuana editor. Legalization is not just an experiment for society, but a risk for the dying industry of newspapers to hedge its bets on the booming business of marijuana. Ricardo Baca sets out to report on history in the making with a team of straight-laced staff writers and fish out of water freelancers in tow for The Cannabist as it unfolds. Policy news, strain reviews, parenting advice and edible recipes are the new norm in the unprecedented world of pot journalism.

68

58

7.0

/4811/

70

/168/

65

/72/

3.3

/1014/

73

/15/

68

/187/

Pete Postlethwaite stars as a man living alone in the devastated future world of 2055, looking at old footage from 2008 and asking: why didn’t we stop climate change when we had the chance?

79

57

8.2

/3800/

79

/205/

74

/47/

3.6

/812/

91

/21/

The Culture High tears into the very fibre of the modern day marijuana debate to reveal the truth behind the arguments and motives governing both those who support and oppose the existing pot laws.

72

54

7.1

/1956/

73

/225/

71

/44/

3.4

/353/

67

/9/

84

/56/

age 13+

A documentary about the development and spread of the virtual currency called Bitcoin.

74

53

7.4

/1992/

74

/118/

72

/57/

3.5

/777/

89

/18/

82

/20/

60

/6/

age 15+

Documentary exploring the human tendency to be dishonest. Inspired by the work of social scientist, Dan Ariely, the film interweaves personal stories, expert opinions, behavioral experiments, and archival footage to reveal how and why people lie.

72

52

7.1

/1646/

60

/57/

64

/38/

3.5

/4981/

100

/6/

71

/20/

Primary is a documentary film about the primary elections between John F. Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey in 1960. Primary is the first documentary to use light equipment in order to follow their subjects in a more intimate filmmaking style. This unconventional way of filming created a new look for documentary films where the camera’s lens was right in the middle of what ever drama was occurring. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with The Film Foundation in 1998.

62

48

7.1

/2945/

70

/115/

67

/30/

2.6

/859/

50

/16/

98

/244/

31

/5/

age 13+

Adam Carolla and Dennis Prager examine the reality of life and discourse on college campuses in modern America.

73

46

7.7

/2993/

76

/99/

71

/48/

3.4

/547/

71

/7/

78

/12/

Documentary about the modern apocalypse caused by a rapacious banking system. 23 leading thinkers – frustrated at the failure of their respective disciplines – break their silence to explain how the world really works.

74

44

7.7

/932/

70

/33/

69

/22/

3.9

/2177/

76

/488/

During a two-day period before and after the University of Alabama integration crisis, the film uses five camera crews to follow President John F. Kennedy, attorney general Robert F. Kennedy, Alabama governor George Wallace, deputy attorney general Nicholas Katzenbach and the students Vivian Malone and James Hood. As Wallace has promised to personally block the two black students from enrolling in the university, the JFK administration discusses the best way to react to it, without rousing the crowd or making Wallace a martyr for the segregationist cause. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with The Film Foundation in 1999.

71

42

6.9

/1449/

72

/188/

66

/44/

78

/14/

A documentary exploring how money and the trading of value has evolved, culminating in Bitcoin.

75

40

7.3

/809/

75

/47/

69

/26/

3.4

/489/

100

/6/

64

/1/

79

/4/

A first-hand look into the revolutionary rise of the “citizen investigative journalist” collective known as Bellingcat. Comprised of various distinct personalities from around the globe, Bellingcat is an online association of talented and dedicated truth-seekers utilizing advanced digital research techniques to upend the world of journalism. De facto leader Eliot and his fellow researchers give us exclusive access into their tight-knit world as they demonstrate the unlimited power of open source investigation. In cases ranging from the MH17 disaster to the hidden crimes of the Syrian regime, the group’s power and growing global influence is examined and explored.

78

40

7.7

/468/

74

/22/

57

/10/

4.0

/2131/

100

/13/

85

/12/

Documentary by John Pilger looks at the awful truth behind white Australia's dysfunctional relationship with Indigenous Australians

65

39

7.0

/595/

73

/31/

49

/14/

57

/14/

81

/37/

62

/8/

The story of a mom whose son healed from all allergies and asthma after consuming raw milk, and real food from farms. It depicts people all over the country who formed food co-ops and private clubs to get these foods, and how they were raided by state and local governments.

74

39

7.0

/701/

80

/44/

62

/16/

3.4

/378/

92

/13/

75

/40/

The theory of evolution and a re-write of American history are caught in the crosshairs when an unabashed Creationist seeks re-election as chairman of America's most influential Board of Education.

73

36

6.6

/309/

61

/22/

73

/15/

100

/8/

71

/5/

67

/6/

The dramatic inside story of the monumental collision of interests at Ground Zero in the decade after 9/11.

76

36

7.5

/679/

68

/26/

70

/20/

3.5

/296/

95

/19/

81

/4/

74

/10/

An unsettling and eye opening exploration into the spread of the radical Islamic school Red Mosque, which trains legions of children to devote their lives to jihad, or holy war, from a very young age. With incredible access and chilling footage, Among the Believers is a timely and relevant look into the causes that have led to the growth of radical Islam in Pakistan and around the world.

78

36

7.4

/672/

78

/52/

64

/10/

3.6

/356/

100

/7/

85

/22/

Los Angeles' Skid Row is home to one of the largest homeless populations in the United States. And we found, inside that community, the remarkable and enormously moving stories of Olympic athletes, Harvard attorneys, accomplished musicians, scholars. We found poverty, drugs and mental illness, of course - but more importantly we found life, hope and incredibly powerful human journeys.

73

36

8.1

/4629/

77

/37/

73

/26/

3.5

/400/

66

/10/

The Weight of Chains is a Canadian documentary film that takes a critical look at the role that the US, NATO and the EU played in the tragic breakup of a once peaceful and prosperous European state - Yugoslavia. The film, bursting with rare stock footage never before seen by Western audiences, is a creative first-hand look at why the West intervened in the Yugoslav conflict, with an impressive roster of interviews with academics, diplomats, media personalities and ordinary citizens of the former Yugoslav republics. This film also presents positive stories from the Yugoslav wars - people helping each other regardless of their ethnic background, stories of bravery and self-sacrifice.

80

35

7.4

/599/

75

/21/

80

/15/

3.5

/572/

100

/5/

In 2008, Natasha, a newly rich woman, decides to open an independent TV station in Russia and builds an open-minded team of outcasts. By 2020, Natasha has lost everything to Russia's war between Propaganda and Truth.

75

34

7.6

/751/

73

/44/

72

/16/

3.5

/580/

Popcorn

85

/183/

Poverty, Inc. explores the hidden side of doing good. From disaster relief to TOMs Shoes, from adoptions to agricultural subsidies, Poverty, Inc. follows the butterfly effect of our most well-intentioned efforts and pulls back the curtain on the poverty industrial complex - the multi-billion dollar market of NGOs, multilateral agencies, and for-profit aid contractors. Are we catalyzing development or are we propagating a system in which the poor stay poor while the rich get hipper?

68

34

6.9

/601/

73

/23/

58

/6/

3.4

/209/

64

/14/

76

/35/

72

/9/

Four children enter a high-stakes lottery. If they win, they can attend one of the best schools in New York. A look at the crisis in public education, The Lottery makes the case than any child can succeed.

70

34

7.3

/1232/

78

/70/

68

/18/

3.5

/322/

62

/21/

83

/11/

57

/9/

Nearly 100 years after its creation, the power of the U.S. Federal Reserve has never been greater. Markets and governments around the world hold their breath in anticipation of the Fed Chairman's every word. Yet the average person knows very little about the most powerful - and least understood - financial institution on earth. Narrated by Liev Schreiber, Money For Nothing is the first film to take viewers inside the Fed and reveal the impact of Fed policies - past, present, and future - on our lives. Join current and former Fed officials as they debate the critics, and each other, about the decisions that helped lead the global financial system to the brink of collapse in 2008. And why we might be headed there again.

87

31

8.2

/245/

84

/22/

87

/3/

100

/5/

82

/16/

This is a David and Goliath story of one veterinarian's battle to protect her patients (tigers, lions and even house cats) from big corporations, with their big corporate money, that will shamelessly do anything to animals to increase their bottom line. She starts a grassroots movement that is fueled by passion, but appears to be losing the battle. Then, unexpectedly, she realizes that the corporations accidentally left her a giant loophole. In a scramble to take advantage of this unforeseen gift, she leads the crusade passing legislation protecting animals from de-clawing in seven cities in just six weeks.

71

31

7.6

/955/

78

/65/

73

/21/

3.5

/272/

50

/8/

83

/18/

An intimate and inspirational portrait of Segway inventor, Dean Kamen, and his 15-year quest to solve the world's safe water crisis. SlingShot focuses on noted Segway inventor Dean Kamen and his work to solve the world's water crisis. An eccentric genius with a provocative world view, Kamen is an inspiration for future scientists. His inventions help people in need and ease suffering.

70

31

7.9

/49/

61

/10/

71

/22/

3.5

/885/

73

/45/

Filmed in part in front of a live audience at The New Amsterdam Theater in New York City, this Stan Lee tribute takes viewers on an action-packed journey throughout the life of Lee and across the Marvel Universe, sharing never-before-seen interviews and archive footage with Lee himself from deep within the Marvel and ABC News archives.

79

29

7.6

/191/

70

/11/

77

/6/

86

/7/