iCM Favorite Documentaries (2019)
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- DirectorPedro González-RubioStarsJorge MachadoRoberta PalombiniNatan Machado PalombiniBefore their inevitable farewell, Jorge, a young man of Mayan roots, and Natan, his half-Italian son, spend time together living off the Banco Chinchorro coral reef.
- DirectorDziga VertovStarsMikhail KaufmanElizaveta SvilovaA man travels around a city with a camera slung over his shoulder, documenting urban life with dazzling invention.
- DirectorJonas MekasStarsJonas MekasStan BrakhageRobert BreerDirector Jonas Mekas provides an intimate glimpse of his personal life by constructing a feature length narrative from over 30 years of private home movie footage.
- DirectorRaúl RuizStarsPascal BonitzerJean BaudrillardA cinéma vérité documentary about the elections in Paris which reflexively inverts in on itself.
- DirectorLucien Castaing-TaylorVerena ParavelStarsBrian JannelleAdrian GuilletteArthur SmithA documentary shot in the North Atlantic and focused on the commercial fishing industry.
- DirectorTerence DaviesStarsTerence DaviesGeorge HarrisonJack HawkinsA filmmaker looks at the history and transformation of his birthplace, Liverpool, England.
- DirectorChris MarkerStarsAmilcar CabralFlorence DelayArielle DombasleA woman narrates the contemplative writings of a seasoned world traveler, focusing on contemporary Japan.
- DirectorChantal AkermanHotel Monterey is a cheap hotel in New York reserved for the outcasts of American society. Chantal Akerman invites viewers to visit this unusual place as well as the people who live there, from the reception up to the last story.
- DirectorSara GómezStarsMario BalmasedaYolanda CuéllarMario LimontaIn Miraflores, Cuba, the growing romance between Mario, a factory worker, and Yolanda, a schoolteacher, throws into relief the differences in their perspectives and values in Revolutionary Cuba.
- DirectorChantal AkermanA documentary examining the effect of a man dragged to death on the residents in Jasper, Texas.
- DirectorKent MackenzieStarsYvonne WilliamsHomer NishTom ReynoldsFollows a family of Native Americans living in the City of Angels.
- DirectorFrederick WisemanStarsPaul HoldengräberElvis CostelloPatti SmithA look within the walls of the New York Public Library.
- DirectorAlbert MayslesDavid MayslesCharlotte ZwerinStarsMick JaggerKeith RichardsMick TaylorWhen three hundred thousand members of the Love Generation collided with a few dozen Hells Angels at San Francisco's Altamont Speedway, the bloody slash that transformed a decade's dreams into disillusionment was immortalized on this film.
- DirectorAbbas KiarostamiStarsHossain SabzianMohsen MakhmalbafAbolfazl AhankhahThe true story of Hossain Sabzian, a cinephile who impersonated the director Mohsen Makhmalbaf to convince a family they would star in his so-called new film.
- DirectorOctavio GetinoFernando E. SolanasStarsMaría de la PazFernando E. SolanasEdgardo SuárezDivided into three segments, namely 1 Neocolonialism, 2 Act for liberation, 3 Violence and liberation, the documentary lasts more than 4 hours this deals with the defense of the revolution and the revolution of the third world such as the revolt of the students in the United States and Western Europe, Czech citizens protest against the Soviet Union's State bureaucracy and also the revolution that (probably) is unprecedented in Argentina.
- DirectorIlisa BarbashLucien Castaing-TaylorIn the summer of 2003, a group of shepherds took a herd of sheep one final time through the Beartooth Mountains of Montana, in the extreme north-west of the United States. It was a journey of almost three hundred kilometres through expansive green valleys, by fields of snow, and across hazardous, narrow ridges - a journey brimming with challenges. The aging shepherds do their very best to keep the hundreds of sheep together; the panoramic high mountains are teeming with hungry wolves and grizzly bears.
- DirectorBen RiversBen RussellStarsRobert Aiki Aubrey LoweHunter Hunt-HendrixNick McMasterA man in search for the creation of utopia in the present. First, as a member of a commune on an Estonian island, then alone in the majestic wilderness of Northern Finland and later as the singer of a neo-pagan, black metal band in Norway.
- DirectorPatricio GuzmánStarsAbilio FernándezSalvador AllendeThe chronicle of the political tension in Chile in 1973 and of the violent counter revolution against the democratically elected government of Salvador Allende.
- DirectorHarun FarockiAndrei UjicaStarsIon CaramitruElena CeausescuNicolae CeausescuThis documentary uses news footage and amateur video to paint a vivid picture of Romania's 1989 revolution and the fall of dictator Nicolae Ceausescu.
- DirectorFrederick WisemanStarsRichard LordExplores the world of a boxing gym in Austin, Texas, dwelling on the discipline of training as people from all walks of life aspire to reach their personal best.
- DirectorEduardo CoutinhoStarsEduardo CoutinhoElizabeth TeixeiraFerreira GullarA filmmaker returns to Northeast Brazil after twenty years to resume his film (a profile of assassinated peasant leader João Pedro Teixeira) which was shut down by a right-wing military coup in 1964.
- DirectorHeinz EmigholzThe last eight banks designed and furnished by Louis H. Sullivan.
- DirectorMiguel GomesStarsSónia BandeiraFábio OliveiraJoaquim CarvalhoDocu-drama about Portuguese social life in the countryside during the busy month of August
- DirectorJoshua OppenheimerAnonymousChristine CynnStarsAnwar CongoHerman KotoSyamsul ArifinA documentary which challenges former Indonesian death-squad leaders to reenact their mass-killings in whichever cinematic genres they wish, including classic Hollywood crime scenarios and lavish musical numbers.
- DirectorSergey LoznitsaA look at the 2013 and 2014 civil unrest in the Ukrainian capital's central square.
- DirectorEdwin S. PorterA panorama of Coney Island, taken at night: the camera sweeps across the scene from a vantage point well above the area. It then moves in for closer views of Dreamland and Luna Park.
- DirectorTsai Ming-liangStarsKang-sheng LeeDenis LavantTsai Ming-liang returns with this latest entry in his Walker series, in which his monk acquires an unexpected acolyte in the form of Denis Lavant as he makes his way through the streets of a sun-dappled Marseille.
- DirectorAdirley QueirósStarsMarquim do TropaDilmar DurãesGleide FirminoShots at a black music party in the outskirts of Brasilia injure two men that get scarred for life. A third man comes from the future to investigate what happened and to prove that it is all the society's fault.
- DirectorAlain CavalierStarsNine d'UrsoThibault DuteilMaia FontaineThe experience of living through two periods of depression and the quiet expectation of a third has endowed a filmmaker with the capacity to perceive the true beauty of life and to capture it on film.
- DirectorMichael GlawoggerMonika WilliStarsBirgit MinichmayrFiona ShawRobin A Townsend"I want to give a view of the world that can only emerge by not pursuing any particular theme, by refraining from passing judgment, proceeding without aim. Drifting with no direction except one's own curiosity and intuition." (Michael Glawogger) More than two years after the sudden death of Michael Glawogger in April 2014, film editor Monika Willi realizes a film out of the film footage produced during 4 months and 19 days of shooting in the Balkans, Italy, Northwest and West Africa. A journey into the world to observe, listen and experience, the eye attentive, courageous and raw. Serendipity is the concept - in shooting as well as in editing the film.
- DirectorRobert J. FlahertyStarsAllakariallakAlice NevalingaCunayouIn this silent predecessor to the modern documentary, film-maker Robert J. Flaherty spends one year following the lives of Nanook and his family, Inuits living in the Arctic Circle.
- DirectorNicolás Echevarría
- DirectorStephanie SprayPacho VelezStarsChabbi Lal GandharbaAnish GandharbaBindu GayekA documentary about a group of pilgrims who travel to Nepal to worship at the legendary Manakamana temple.
- DirectorJean RouchStarsJean RouchA documentary short depicting a Hauka ceremony where young workers are possessed by British colonial officers.
- DirectorAbbas KiarostamiStarsMania AkbariAmina MaherKamran AdlA visual social examination in the form of ten conversations between a driving woman and her various pick-ups and hitchhikers.
- DirectorKirsten JohnsonStarsKirsten JohnsonAisha BukarEric W. DavisExposing her role behind the camera, Kirsten Johnson reaches into the vast trove of footage she has shot over decades around the world. What emerges is a visually bold memoir and a revelatory interrogation of the power of the camera.
- DirectorJRAgnès VardaStarsAgnès VardaJRJeannine CarpentierDirector Agnes Varda and photographer/muralist J.R. journey through rural France and form an unlikely friendship.
- DirectorJoão Rui Guerra da MataJoão Pedro RodriguesStarsCasperDanielUncle KanThe word panchão was first heard in Macao. From the Chinese pan-tcheong or pau-tcheong, dictionaries define it as a Macanese regionalism also known as China cracker. Who inhabits the ancient IEC Long firecracker factory?
- DirectorLisandro AlonsoStarsMisael SaavedraHumberto EstradaRafael EstradaA man chop down trees, organizes the trunks, clean them, stops to defecate, lunch, nap and continues to sell its timber.
- DirectorCharles SheelerPaul StrandThis groundbreaking silent documentary captures the beauty and majesty of the New York City in its streets, skyscrapers, bridges, rail yards and harbors.
- DirectorChantal AkermanStarsChantal AkermanNatalia AkermanSylvaine AkermanFilmmaker Chantal Akerman documents the life of her mother Natalia Akerman, a Polish immigrant and survivor of Auschwitz.
- DirectorMati DiopStarsMagaye NiangWasis DiopBen D. BeyeMagaye Niang, the main actor of Senegalese film classic Touki Bouki (1973), is an average farmer today. After a screening of the film he recalls his first love, who left the country years ago.
- DirectorAgnès VardaStarsFrançois WertheimerAgnès VardaJean La PlancheVarda films and interviews gleaners in France in all forms, from those picking fields after the harvest to those scouring the dumpsters of Paris.
- DirectorGlauber RochaIn 1966, José Sarney was elected governor of Maranhão for the first time. To register his inauguration speech and his political pledge to the population of the state, the politician invited the main figure of the Cinema Novo, the great filmmaker Glauber Rocha, to capture everything and turn into a great event. However, Rocha's nervous camera and combative spirit end up capturing a lot more than what Sarney had expected, by showing the contrast between the eloquent words spoken about progress and the harsh reality faced by the poor people.
- Without a doubt this is the finest railroad moving picture ever made, and for variety and beauty of scenery it can hardly be surpassed the world over. This view is taken from the front of a rapidly moving locomotive, over a stretch of track made up of a continuous series of reverse curves; and every turn opens a vista of surpassing beauty. Conwy Castle itself, one of the most picturesque and historic spots in Wales, appears from time to time in the picture.
- DirectorJean-Luc GodardWorkers on a car factory argue with revolutionary students.
- DirectorJorge FurtadoStarsPaulo JoséCiça ReckziegelDouglas TraininiThe ironic, heartbreaking and acid "saga" of a spoiled tomato: from the plantation of a "Nisei" (Brazilian with Japanese origins); to a supermarket; to a consumer's kitchen to become sauce of a pork meat; to the garbage can since it is spoiled for the consumption; to a garbage truck to be dumped in a garbage dump in "Ilha das Flores"; to the selection of nutriment for pigs by the employees of a pigs breeder; to become food for poor Brazilian people.
- DirectorJean RouchAfter experience a bad catch, the inhabitants of a fishing village hold a ceremony to honour Mammy Water and restore their fortunes.
- DirectorMati DiopStarsHenriette NhungGhe BüiMike N'GuyenA movie set in a forest near Marseille. Henriette, French-Vietnamese director, turns Dangerous Liaisons by Laclos, assisted by her son Mike. But the main actor disappears and everything must stop already. The film loses Valmont and in turn, the director deserts the set. She leaves behind her entire crew aboard a ghost ship whose young Mike becomes a captain. During her wanderings in the port city, Henriette discovers a world that reminds her of what she left, Vietnam. She meets a man haunted by a long journey without return.
- DirectorEdgar MorinJean RouchStarsAngeloNadine BallotCatherineA documentary about the everyday lives of ordinary Parisians, done in the style of cinéma vérité.
- DirectorPatricio GuzmánStarsGaspar GalazLautaro NúñezLuís HenríquezA documentary about two different searches conducted in the Chilean Atacama Desert: one by astronomers looking for answers about the history of the cosmos, and one by women looking for the remains of loved ones killed by Pinochet's regime.
- DirectorSalomé LamasThis 21st century El Dorado is an inhospitable place, where untold numbers of people live and work in the most precarious of conditions, hoping both for gold and a better life.
- DirectorFrederick WisemanDocumentary filmmaker Frederick Wiseman takes us inside the Massachusetts Correctional Institution Bridgewater where people stay trapped in their madness.
- DirectorCorneliu PorumboiuStarsAdrian PorumboiuCorneliu PorumboiuFilmmaker Corneliu Porumboiu discusses a snowy soccer match from 1988 with his father, who was the head referee for the game.
- DirectorAdirley QueirósStarsWellington AbreuMarquim do TropaAndreia VieiraA dystopian reflection on the current Brazilian political climate since the dismissal of President Rousseff, through two renegade characters waiting for redemption in the city of Brazilia.
- DirectorApichatpong WeerasethakulStarsDuangjai HiransriKome Kongkiat KomesiriSaisiri XoomsaiA film crew documents a folk story-exquisite corpse combination by random Thai people; the story is reenacted.
- DirectorAnqi JuStarsXianbo HouIn all its simplicity, a completely unique film, shot more than 10 years ago and only now edited. A poet sets off on a 'business trip' through inhospitable Xinjiang. The physically exhausting trip provides an existential brothel visit, bumping on bad roads and a glimpse of a disappearing world, but also 16 melancholy poems.
- DirectorFernando BirriStarsGuillermo Cervantes LuroMaría Rosa GalloFrancisco PetroneEveryday the children of the neighborhood known as "Tire Dié", in the city of Santa Fe, wait for the train to ask for money, shouting "Tire dié!" (toss me a dime!) to the passengers. Considered the first survey-on-film in Latin America.
- DirectorRobert GreeneStarsKate Lyn SheilStephanie CoatneyMichael Ray DavisActress Kate Lyn Sheil prepares to portray the role of Christine Chubbuck, a real-life news reporter who took her own life on local Florida television in 1974.
- DirectorBen RiversHerzog-influenced imagining of ecological possibilities for four locations, anticipating Earth's impending post-societal collapse.
- DirectorLaura PoitrasStarsEdward SnowdenGlenn GreenwaldWilliam BinneyA documentarian and a reporter travel to Hong Kong for the first of many meetings with Edward Snowden.