Computers and the Internet - Documentaries & TV Shows

All interviews in this documentary were shot over a long weekend at a 1984 hacker conference by the Whole Earth Catalog editors Stewart Brand and Kevin Kelley in Sausalito, California. The event itself (the hacker conference) was inspired by Steven Levy's classic book "Hackers - Heroes of the Computer Revolution".

What happens when a Berkeley hippie turns detective and gets mixed up with the CIA and the KGB? NOVA follows computer sleuth Cliff Stoll as he tracks a data thief through a maze of military and research computers.

Three part documentary series that tells the story of the birth of the personal computer, with the candid recollections of PC pioneers, like Steve Wozniak, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates.

The development of Arpanet, the Internet and the World Wide Web from 1969 to 1998 is explored.

Code Rush follows the people of Netscape Communications during an intense period in 1998, when it was all but certain that Microsoft had already won control of the Internet user's desktop. When all hope seems fading, a group of dedicated developers work their hardest to push out a very special release.

While Microsoft may be the biggest software company in the world, not every computer user is a fan of their products, or their way of doing business. While Microsoft's Windows became the most widely used operating system for personal computers in the world, many experts took issue with Microsoft's strict policies regarding licensing, ownership, distribution, and alteration of their software. The objections of many high-profile technology experts, most notably Richard Stallman, led to what has become known as "the Open Source Movement," which is centered on the belief that computer software should be free both in the economic and intellectual senses of the word. Eventually, one of Stallman's admirers, Linus Torvalds, created a new operating system called Linux, a freely distributed software which many programmers consider to be markedly superior to Windows. Revolution OS is a documentary that examines the genesis of the Open Source Movement, and explores and explains the technical and intellectual issues involved in a manner understandable to computer aficionados and non-techheads alike.

Traces the birth and failure of new media company govWorks.com.

In the late 1980s two Melbourne teenage computer hackers known as Electron and Phoenix stole a restricted computer security list called 'Zardoz' and used it to break into some of the world's most classified and supposedly secure computer systems. So fast and widespread was the attack no-one could work out how it had happened, until one of the hackers called the New York Times to brag about it. Ten years after their arrest, this dramatized documentary reveals not only how they did it but why, taking us headlong into the clandestine, risky but intoxicating world of the computer underground.

Through eight episodes, director Jason Scott covers the 25 year history of the Dial-Up Bulletin Board System, a modem-connected computer system that let others connect to a computer over a phone line and leave messages and trade files. Containing 200 interviews, episodes mostly consist of elaborate montages of dozens of people composing a narrative. BAUD is an introduction to the start of the BBS. SYSOPS AND USERS is a montage of stories and thoughts on running BBSes. FIDONET covers the amateur network of computers called Fidonet. MAKE IT PAY covers the BBS Industry. ARTSCENE covers the ANSI art scene of the 1990s. HPAC covers Hacking and Phreaking BBSes. COMPRESSION discusses the ARC-ZIP battle of 1988. NO CARRIER discusses the "end" of the dial-up BBS.

Steal This Film is part one of a series, documenting the movement against intellectual property produced by The League of Noble Peers and released via the BitTorrent peer-to-peer protocol.

Although technology continues to evolve, a group of die-hard gamers refuses to abandon the classic arcade games of yesteryear. The 80's live on for these enthusiasts, who compete against each other and history to record the world's highest scores. Portland gamer Bill Carlton is one of the most brazen, fearlessly taking on some of the toughest records on the books. HIGH SCORE follows Bill as he attempts to take down the Atari classic Missile Command and its twenty year-old record. To get the 80 million points he'll have to play the game on one quarter for over two days straight. There is no pause button. There will be no sleep. There can only be one victor in this classic story of Man versus Missile Command.

1982's Video Game World Champions share their philosophies on joysticks, groupies and life.

With limited sound, simple graphics, and tiny amounts of computing power, the first games on home computers would hardly raise an eyebrow in the modern era of photorealism and surround sound. In a world of Quake, Half-Life and Halo, it is expected that a successful game must be loud, fast, and full of blazing life-like action. But in the early 1980s, an entire industry rose over the telling of tales, the solving of intricate puzzles and the art of writing. Like living books, these games described fantastic worlds to their readers, and then invited them to live within them. They were called "computer adventure games", and they used the most powerful graphics processor in the world: the human mind. Rising from side projects at universities and engineering companies, adventure games would describe a place, and then ask what to do next. They presented puzzles, tricks and traps to be overcome. They were filled with suspense, humor and sadness. And they offered a unique type of joy as players discovered how to negotiate the obstacles and think their way to victory. These players have carried their memories of these text adventures to the modern day, and a whole new generation of authors have taken up the torch to present a new set of places to explore. Get Lamp is a documentary that will tell the story of the creation of these incredible games, in the words of the people who made them.

Will man go beyond biology? It's an age-old dream to create intelligent machines that equal their human creators. Computer experts around the world, like Raymond Kurzweil and Hiroshi Ishiguro, strive to fulfill their bold visions. Meanwhile, of all people one of the pioneers of the computer age, Joseph Weizenbaum, battles against the limitless faith of society in the redemptive powers of technology. A fascinating yet uncanny and sometimes grotesque journey into science reality.

After viewing this provocative documentary, you will never look at Wikipedia the same way. Filmmakers Scott Glosserman and Nic Hill engagingly explore the history and cultural implications of one of the most traveled and referenced sites on the Internet. A whole range of opinion is expressed about the impact of Wikipedia on the archiving of learning, from interviews with founder Jimmy Wales to commentators suspicious of the site's supposed neutrality. The documentary delves into the EssJay controversy in which a Wikipedian made false claims about his academic credentials and the battle over journalist John Seigenthaler's inaccurate entry. Evenhandedly weaving multiple perspectives about the impact of Wikipedia, the film provokes a deeper conversation on how knowledge is formed and what future generations will learn about history and the world.

CODE 2600 documents the Info-Tech Age, told by the events and people who helped build and manipulate it. It explores the impact this new connectivity has on our ability to remain human while maintaining our personal privacy and security.

A documentary on the workings and beliefs of the self-described "hacktivist" collective, Anonymous.

A documentary that follows the journeys of indie game developers as they create games and release those works, and themselves, to the world.

A documentary that details the creation of Julian Assange's controversial website, which facilitated the largest security breach in U.S. history.

An intellectual freedoms documentary based around the interpersonal triumphs, and defeats of the three main characters against the largest industry in the known universe. The media industry.

A documentary that explores the downloading revolution; the kids that created it, the bands and the businesses that were affected by it, and its impact on the world at large.

The story of programming prodigy and information activist Aaron Swartz, who took his own life at the age of 26.

A documentary about the world of software and the software makers. How do people from outside the industry see it and what do people from inside the industry think about regular computer users?

Two Canberra based brothers become entangled in a cover up that involves a remote outback community and key members of the Australian Government.