Documentaries

T

Thinning

Runt
May 13, 2014
132
9
Southern Hemisphere
I was wondering if anyone has any favourite documentaries they would like to share. I personally LOVE food documentaries, they are a part of the reason I now eat vegan and mostly clean/raw. I find it amazing how one hour of film can convey such a powerful message..

Anyway, I'm juice cleansing at the moment and just watched "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead". I found it really interesting, I might even see if I can extend my fast longer than the three days I typically do.

I also liked Forks Over Knives quite a bit, and on an un-food related note "The Union" was a really interesting documentary about weed. Then again, I did watch it high, so don't take my word for it :lol:

Now I'm on break from uni I want to learn about things I'm truly passionate about in my own time and would love to see what you guys are interested in :)
 
It's not really a food documentary but I loved ''The Secret Life of The Manic Depressive'' by Stephen Fry. I'm not bipolar myself but I cried while watching it, it was very touching.

I hope this works:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGDl6-lyfMY

I'm always interested in seeing more documentaries though! Could you perhaps give more some titels of great food documentaries that you enjoyed?

I've seen a lot of documentaries but I always forget titles. I remember Girl Model and Killing us Softly - though I'm not sure I can call that last one a documentary. I also liked the documentary Ballerina and A Year With The English National Ballet, both are on Youtube. Louis Theroux is always great. His documentary on nazis was very impressive.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWszjIkw80k
 
Sasja said:
It's not really a food documentary but I loved ''The Secret Life of The Manic Depressive'' by Stephen Fry. I'm not bipolar myself but I cried while watching it, it was very touching.

I hope this works:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGDl6-lyfMY

I'm always interested in seeing more documentaries though! Could you perhaps give more some titels of great food documentaries that you enjoyed?

I've seen a lot of documentaries but I always forget titles. I remember Girl Model and Killing us Softly - though I'm not sure I can call that last one a documentary. I also liked the documentary Ballerina and A Year With The English National Ballet, both are on Youtube. Louis Theroux is always great. His documentary on nazis was very impressive.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWszjIkw80k
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Oooooh I will check those out!!

Well, before I get into food docs can I just say "Speaking Dolls" was really good, it's a recent one about the life of a model type thing. I think you have to pay to watch it on Vimeo (I did) but it's worth the couple dollars.

Earthlings is your typical scary don't-eat-meat-go-vegan type film, I think it's important if you decide to watch it to realise that not EVERY slaughter house is like that, but nonetheless it reiterated to me why I am a vegan. I also firmly believe that everyone who eats meat should be exposed to that sort of thing, not to convert them but just to open their eyes so they can make an informed decision about what they eat. There's a really good quote about if slaughterhouses had glass windows, the whole world would be vegan. I disagree but I think having the insight to make an informed choice is good.

Food Inc is about the food industry as a whole, becoming very industrialised. It doesn't support a certain type of diet but more just goes inside corporations.

Forks Over Knives is about adopting a plant based lifestyle from a health point of view- I showed this to my parents and now they eat less animal products (yay!).

Vegucated is a very true documentary about 3 people trying to eat a plant based diet for 6 weeks. In the end not all of them stay 100% vegan but it poses some interesting pros and cons about making the switch and the lifestyle.

Supersize me is an oldy but a goodie, very anti fitspo - you won't be binging after you watch that haha. All about fast food.

Right now I'm off to watch "Food Matters". I'll let you know how that goes :) :)

I'm sure there's more I've enjoyed and I can suggest more if you would like but they are a good start off the top of my head! Hehe.
 
Thinning said:
Oooooh I will check those out!!

Well, before I get into food docs can I just say "Speaking Dolls" was really good, it's a recent one about the life of a model type thing. I think you have to pay to watch it on Vimeo (I did) but it's worth the couple dollars.

Earthlings is your typical scary don't-eat-meat-go-vegan type film, I think it's important if you decide to watch it to realise that not EVERY slaughter house is like that, but nonetheless it reiterated to me why I am a vegan. I also firmly believe that everyone who eats meat should be exposed to that sort of thing, not to convert them but just to open their eyes so they can make an informed decision about what they eat. There's a really good quote about if slaughterhouses had glass windows, the whole world would be vegan. I disagree but I think having the insight to make an informed choice is good.

Food Inc is about the food industry as a whole, becoming very industrialised. It doesn't support a certain type of diet but more just goes inside corporations.

Forks Over Knives is about adopting a plant based lifestyle from a health point of view- I showed this to my parents and now they eat less animal products (yay!).

Vegucated is a very true documentary about 3 people trying to eat a plant based diet for 6 weeks. In the end not all of them stay 100% vegan but it poses some interesting pros and cons about making the switch and the lifestyle.

Supersize me is an oldy but a goodie, very anti fitspo - you won't be binging after you watch that haha. All about fast food.

Right now I'm off to watch "Food Matters". I'll let you know how that goes :) :)

I'm sure there's more I've enjoyed and I can suggest more if you would like but they are a good start off the top of my head! Hehe.
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I'll definitely watch that one, I find documentaries about the fashion industry and especially the models very interesting (though very often depressing as well).

Thank you so much for all your recs! I must admit that I myself do eat meat and I've never seen any of these (except Supersize me) so maybe my thoughts will be influenced by them as well. :blush:

I also remembered the crazy The Queen of Versailles (2012). If you want to see some horrible rich people, definitely watch that. It's unbelievable.
 
@Sasja I hope you enjoy them :) I don't think you should feel like I'm pressuring you into changing your lifestyle! But they're just ones I'm glad I watched because they really opened my mind up to what I'm eating :p

And ooh I will check that one out too :) and haven't finished Food Matters yet (watching last half now) but it's really interesting so far!
 
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Some what currently come to mind:

The Act of Killing - a disturbing insight into the minds of mass murderers.

Exit through the Gift Shop – a meditation on what constitutes artistic authenticity and originality.

Grizzly Man - chronicles the trials and travails of bear-aficionado Timothy Treadwell, who for a time lived amongst his beloved ursine brethren. Suffice to say, 'Didn'tendwell' would have been a more accurate surname.

Hoop Dreams – concerns the fortunes of two African-American teenagers attempting to make it as pro-basketball players. No interest in sports required.

The King of Kong – one man's quest to become the top-ranked Donkey Kong player transmogrifies into a borderline-mythic tale of good versus bizarrely-haired evil.

This Model Life – a three-part series following a trio of models at different levels of experience within the fashion industry – one of whom being Erin O'Connor.

The Secret of Drawing – a set of four programmes delineating the historical, psychological, aesthetic and narrative parameters of sketching.

---

Shall post more, should others rise recalled.

Golden ice said:
He's a great actor. Did you ever see him in Jeeves and Wooster?
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Golden ice, I'd recommend sampling A Bit of Fry and Laurie if you've not yet done such.
 
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Poppy Bounder said:
The Act of Killing - a disturbing insight into the minds of mass murderers.
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Disturbing indeed, I felt literally sick after watching it. Still I recommend it if you can stomach the cruelty.

Searching for Sugar Man is a documentary about the musician Rodriguez, beautiful (a little tragic) story, great music.
 
I absolutely loved the documentary "Picture Me" by former model Sara Ziff. It was a peak into the modeling industry in the mid-2000's and just kind of shows her as a model through the years and the various things she goes through. Very good watch. I actually watched it online for free, which is a plus (I think @Violet posted a link somewhere, not sure where though).
 
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Golden ice said:
He's a great actor. Did you ever see him in Jeeves and Wooster? Absolutely hilarious. I never knew that he suffered with this.
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I love Jeeves and Wooster! I think it was perfect for them. And like Poppy Bounder said, I would definitely recommend A Bit of Fry and Laurie as well, it's very funny.
 
Liz said:
Disturbing indeed, I felt literally sick after watching it. Still I recommend it if you can stomach the cruelty.
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That said, the experience is moderately leavened by the peculiar insistence of one interviewee on making a fat gangster cross-dress as often as possible.

Sasja said:
I love Jeeves and Wooster! I think it was perfect for them. And like Poppy Bounder said, I would definitely recommend A Bit of Fry and Laurie as well, it's very funny.
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One imagines that both series will be particularly intriguing for American viewers as they showcase Hugh Laurie afore he became a Household name over there. By that token, Blackadder from Series 2 ought slither unto the agenda.
 
The September Issue, Girl Model, Bill Cunningham New York and Chasing Beauty are all fashion/modelling industry related. They're all on Netflix too besides The September Issue I believe, though there is another Anna Wintour documentary there as well :)
 
Thinning said:
Have you seen Blackfish? Apparently so good!
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I think so if it was about the abuse going on with orcas at sea world and how one orca spazzed out and started to attack the trainers, which is totally understandable since whales and all sea or wildlife are not meant to be prisoners for our entertainment.
 
A few interesting documentaries I saw recently:

- "Pray the Devil Back to Hell" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1202203/ - a story of Liberian women who start a protest to restore peace in their country

- "I am a Woman Now" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2190287/ - first generation of transsexuals, very interesting

- "Breathing Earth" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2600524/ - very beautiful and very peaceful story of a Japanese Artist, Susumu Shingu, who creates wind powered sculptures and dreams of wind - powered village.

- "Sweet Dreams" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2280836/?ref_=nm_flmg_dr_1 - A heartwarming and heartbreaking story of women in Rwanda who form a drumming band and then decide to open a first ice cream shop in the country.

- "Optimists" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3115910/ I guess that was the festival favourite :) Just watch the trailer ;)
 
Does anyone watch any 'vice' videos on youtube? They're quite short, sweet documentaries on heaps of topics. Such a good form of procrastination
 
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