Television Feature length documentaries

I found this little gem on iPlayer:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episo...d-scenes-and-characters-on-a-london-bus-route

Heartwarming documentary from 1985about everyday people in London along the route of the 31 bus. Some incredible characters and I found myself laughing at the brazen Irish lady, wondering if the lovely little girl made it as a pianist and enjoying the final fellow's joie de vivre and community spirit.
 
Still hitting the Al Jazeera 'Empire' docu series hard. Altough their anti US and anti West bias sometimes get out of hand, it is very good viewing.

Anyone got any Al Jazeera tips?
 
The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling is a great watch and available on Sky On Demand. Made by Judd Apatow, its a fairly in-depth and comprehensive retrospective of Shandling's life, warts and all. If you have a specific interest in The Larry Sanders show or just keen to get an insight into the highs and lows of a comic genius give it a watch.
 
Watching this Canadian documentary series 'The Fifth Estate', it is quality.
 
prath92 said:
It’s got nothing to do with that shite Benedict Cumberbatch film right?
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Noooo.

It is an investigative documentary sort of show that has been on for like 30+ years in Canada.

Some truly fascinating cases, and they really go in depth.
 
Watching this documentary "Exporting Raymond" about the creator of "Everybody loves Raymond" when he goes to Russia and tries to create a Russian version of his show. Obviously it isn't a success, and the absolute incredible stuff he encounters in his attempt is hilarious.
 
SwansonsTache said:
No, most complaints seem to be regarding Raymond being perceived as too feminine, and his wife not dressing posh enough.
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I dont get how he managed to have a succesful career anywhere. Bet Russians have amazing sitcoms and like Baraka.
 
caid said:
I dont get how he managed to have a succesful career anywhere. Bet Russians have amazing sitcoms and like Baraka.
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They have an acquired taste of comedy to put it mildly.

Also I've never seen a country with bigger disparity between the male and female population. How the Russian males ever get laid is a mystery to me.
 
SwansonsTache said:
They have an acquired taste of comedy to put it mildly.

Also I've never seen a country with bigger disparity between the male and female population. How the Russian males ever get laid is a mystery to me.
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Getting punched in teh face is a sure fire way according to the russian sitcom im watching. They do have fantastic taches tto be fair to them
 
ArmandTamzarian said:


This is pretty fascinating.
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Man, that is incredible, thanks for posting. Its difficult to know if the stuff they are observing is unique to that group and whether they are some super advanced group or whether some of the things have been observed elsewhere. Maybe I missed it, but it is absolutely amazing that they were able to get that footage and they were not deemed a threat, even in instances of clear agitation or fierce rivalry.

Also, wasn't there an episode of Modern Family where one of the main characters had a reflex to smile when he or she was saying something sad? The one guy who couldn't stop smiling through talking about his favourite chimps being massacred was slightly odd
 
Watched Icarus and stop at nothing:Lance armstrong, both really good watch both on Netflix.
 
Dawson City: Frozen Time - In 1978 a huge collection of lost silent film reels were discovered in Dawson City, Yukon, buried and preserved under a former hockey rink/swimming pool. This event served as the culmination of the film as it painstakingly tracked the history of Dawson, starting from the feverish heights of the Klondike Gold Rush when the population was 40.000 through the following years when only a couple of thousands lived there, using the restored silent film footage and later uncovered photographs. A quite compelling documentary with effective tugging at your heartstrings music and it was surprisingly conventional for a Bill Morrison film.

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They Shall Not Grow Old - Rather shoddy in terms of form and structure but the manipulated footage comes alive vividly and is quite effective. I can already feel Claude Lanzmann turning over in his grave at the impending inevitably of holocaust footage being given the same treatment.




The soldiers are returned to an eerie, hyperreal kind of life in front of our eyes, like ghosts or figures summoned up in a seance. The faces are unforgettable.
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Watched the 4th episode of the Ken Burns Vietnam documentary last night. It's very good but so long, nearly too long for me.
 
datura said:
Etre et Avoir was very good, Capturing the Friedmans, Bus 174.

If you can track down 'Darwin's Nightmare' that Storyville showed I'd highly recommend it.
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Good shout. Did you know Lopez sued the producers for the extent they used his image to sell the film which he thought would be for 'educational use' but ended up being a massive commercial success. Not sure what to think about that!
 
Just watched They Shall Not Grow Old. An interesting look at a fairly small but massively damaging part of the war (as in, it's all focussed around the trenches in France) . It gets across something I've often been taught when it comes to WWI - that they went out there having a bit of fun initially, but it eventually becomes very bleak of course.

It also got across the resilience of the British Army I think. I especially like the line "by the end of the war I'd had quite enough and was ready to leave" (paraphrasing). Typically British understatement.

Very sad to hear how they were treated afterwards, and how a lot of people back home barely even noticed they were gone, or appreciated what happened. That surprises me, as you'd surely think the many reports of death flooding back to families would've been enough to have an idea once word spread, or at least make people want to ask more about what was going on. Even if many didn't want to talk about it, as I believe was often the case (including with my own great grandad), it must've made them feel a bit worthless.
 
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Just finished watching Wild Wild Country on Netflix. It’s about the fallout resulting from the foundation of Rajneeshpuram, a “city” built in Oregon during the 80s by followers of a spiritual leader - “The Bhagwan”.

Was a great watch, thought it was pretty balanced, lets people talk and leaves it to the viewer to make up their own mind as to who is in the wrong. Amazing story, hard to believe it all happened.

I thought the people from the town of Antelope were very intolerant, and I wonder how it would all of turned out if they had been more welcoming. Saying that, Sheela seemed sociopathic, showed no remorse for poisoning and attempted murder.

The one negative of the documentary for me is that we didn't really get any insight into what life in the commune was like for people living in it. Either they were all so brainwashed that they put up with hard living conditions, or maybe it was actually a good place to live for a certain type of person.

I read on wikipedia that there is now a Christian youth camp at the former site of Rajneeshpuram, I expect the citizens of Antelope are more at ease with this cult compared to the former one.
 
Not feature length but this is basically the doco thread now right?

Loads of Unreported World on All 4. The carjacking recovery one in South Africa is mad. He's following a private security firm who chased a stolen car. Stopped outside the zoo in the middle of the city, and just while he was there they also stopped a mugging across the road, and then after that got shot at by some other carjackers just a bit further down the road. Crazy.
 
Chimp Empire on Netflix is a brilliant watch. It's directed by the same guy who did My Octopus Teacher, they follow the largest chimp community in the world and show how the society is structured and how they interact with rival groups. Here's a little update for those who have already seen it (contains spoilers).
 
The Jinx part 2 starts this week. One of my favourite ever documentaries
 


8 episodes rather than feature length, but a gripping documentary.

Prepare to be angry.
 
Ripley is really good. So well filmed compared to the 3 body problem.

Edit: thought this was the television thread.
 
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Nobody suggested Hoop Dreams since 2013, so I'll say that. Also Spellbound. Also Ken Burns' Vietnam War, but someone did suggest that. Also Carrier. Also American Factory. Also The U.S. and the Holocaust. Also Man on Wire. Also Free Solo. Also Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse. Also Dear Zachary. Also The Fog of War. Also The Most Dangerous Man in America. Also Inequality For All. Also The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley.


Rado_N said:


8 episodes rather than feature length, but a gripping documentary.

Prepare to be angry.
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Does it avoid that Netflix thing of just stretching documentaries out as far as possible?
 
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