Best Documentaries

A charismatic leader founds a commune in Los Angeles in the early '70s based on natural food, spiritual practices and psychedelic rock. This short-lived era is recreated with archival material and the memories of participants.

A documentary centered on a young man in Spain who claims to a grieving Texas family that he is their 16-year-old son who has been missing for 3 years.

A documentary that follows four children from three different countries on their individual voyages from orphanages to their new homes with families in the United States.

A profile of the noted and extraordinarily cheerful veteran New York City fashion photographer.

Plastic surgeon Dr. Mohammad Jawad returns to his native Pakistan to help those left horribly scarred by acid attacks.

The Paw Project chronicles the David and Goliath story of a tiny grassroots movement taking on big veterinary corporations in an effort to ban the de-clawing of cats.

Every year in India and China, millions of babies are killed, neglected or abandoned simply because they are girls.

The history of the Academy Awards.

Is there such thing as love before first sight? This doc explores the mail-order bride industry, chronicling on a group of Ukrainian women and the Western men they marry, in a search for modern love.

A documentary about young women who have been drawn into the sex trade - and how easy it is for a web-savvy generation to end up making porn.

A crew search for all of the old Atari 2600 game cartridges of "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" that were tossed into a landfill in the 1980s.

Learn how video games are made, marketed, and consumed by looking back at gaming history and culture through the eyes of game developers, publishers, and consumers.

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

Scours the deep-seated roots of this morally induced Marijuana campaign and reveal the fascinating path it has taken to get to where it is today.

Meet Mara, an endearing lion cub striving to be like her mother; Sita, a cheetah and single mother of five; and Fang, a proud leader of the pride who must defend his family from a rival lion.

Fifty years ago there were close to half-a-million lions in Africa. Today there are around 20,000. To make matters worse, lions, unlike elephants, which are far more numerous, have virtually no protection under government mandate or through international accords. This is the jumping-off point for a disturbing, well-researched and beautifully made cri de coeur from husband and wife team Dereck and Beverly Joubert, award-winning filmmakers from Botswana who have been Explorers-in-Residence at National Geographic for more than four years. Pointing to poaching as a primary threat while noting the lion's pride of place on the list for eco-tourists-an industry that brings in 200 billion dollars per year worldwide-the Jouberts build a solid case for both the moral duty we have to protect lions (as well as other threatened "big cats," tigers among them) and the economic sense such protection would make. And when one takes into account the fact that big cats are at the very top of the food chain-and that their elimination would wreak havoc on all species below them, causing a complete ecosystem collapse-the need takes on a supreme urgency.

An introduction to the greatest work of medieval literature, which draws upon new dramatic filmed sequences, contemporary images and the work of artists inspired by Dante's epic voyage of the imagination. This film provides the ideal starting point for the study of this major work. Entertaining and informative, Dante and the Divine Comedy will inspire viewers to want to study this work. Featuring: Visual interpretations of 'The Divine Comedy' by the Topiary Dance Group "The Doré illustrations, first published in 1861 " New location footage from Florence, Dante's birthplace " The themes " The plot " The characters " Interpretation and analysis by Professor Zygmont, Dr. Catherine Keen of St John's College, Cambridge, Dr. Simon Gilson of Warwick University, Dr. Robin Kirkpatrick of Robinson College, Cambridge, plus author and leading Dante authority Dr. Anna Lawrence.

A filmmaker decides to memorialize a murdered friend when his friend's ex-girlfriend announces she is expecting his son.

Louis Theroux documents some of the US's most bizarre happenings, events and rituals, by getting involved himself.

Adopted from South Korea, raised on different continents & connected through social media, Samantha & Anaïs believe that they are twin sisters separated at birth.

David Attenbourough narrates on the greatest of all adventures - the journey through life.

Four young friends set out to live on just $1 a day for two months in rural Guatemala. Armed with only a video camera, they battle hunger, parasites, and extreme financial stress as they attempt to survive life on the edge.

Two documentary filmmakers chronicle their time in Sonagchi, Calcutta and the relationships they developed with children of prostitutes who work the city's notorious red light district.

Adults share their most embarrassing teenage writings and art in front of total strangers at Mortified stage shows across the country, as the filmmakers explore what the show's popularity says about all of us.

A documentary about a man who impersonates a wise Indian Guru and builds a following in Arizona. At the height of his popularity, the Guru Kumaré must reveal his true identity to his disciples and unveil his greatest teaching of all.