Seen: Documentaries

Seven female Iranian documentary filmmakers show their personal and professional worlds.

Sepideh wants to become an astronaut. She spends her nights exploring the secrets of the universe, while her family will do anything to keep her on the ground. The expectations for a young Iranian woman are very different from Sepideh's ambitions, and her plans to go to university are in danger. But Sepideh holds on to her dream! She takes up the fight and teams up with the world's first female space tourist, Anousheh Ansari.

A look at the life of activist, musician, and cultural icon Kathleen Hanna, who formed the punk band Bikini Kill and pioneered the "riot grrrl" movement of the 1990s.

In this documentary, Stephen Hawking tries to explain what science can tell us about the meaning of life through physics, philosophical discussion,and Hawking's own unique scientific perception, he attempts to shed light on humanities most profound question.

Worldwide, alcohol abuse kills more people than HIV, nearly 3.3 million per year. Profiling recovering alcoholics, medical professionals and justice practitioners, this investigation exposes the benefits of a little-known drug Naltrexone.

A former banker in Germany, who entered the business with the advent of modern computer systems reminisces of his working years in some of the world-leading banking corporations.

In 1999, King Jigme Wangchuck approved the use of television and Internet throughout the largely undeveloped nation of Bhutan, assuring the masses that rapid development was synonymous with the "gross national happiness" of his country, a term he himself coined. Director Thomas Balmès's film Happiness begins at the end of this process as Laya, the last remaining village tucked away within the Himalayan kingdom, becomes enmeshed in roads, electricity, and cable television. Through the eyes of an eight-year-old monk impatient with prayer and eager to acquire a TV set, we witness the seeds of this seismic shift sprouting during a three-day journey from the outskirts of Laya to the thriving capital of Thimphu. It is here the young boy discovers cars, toilets, colorful club lights, and countless other elements of modern life for the first time.

As a young Indian girl born outside caste, Thulasi is trying to box her way out of poverty, but the struggle for an independent life is hardest outside the ring.

Follows the routines of those employed at Studio Ghibli, including filmmakers Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata, and Toshio Suzuki as they work to release two films simultaneously, The Wind Rises and The Tale of the Princess Kaguya.

Documentary about a Finnish mining company struggling with production and environmental management problems.

An epic 12-year journey into the brutal and secretive world of Irish Traveler bare-knuckle fighting. This film follows a history of violent feuding between rival clans.

An examination of the life of acclaimed 'horse whisperer' Buck Brannaman, who recovered from years of child abuse to become a well-known expert in the interactions between horses and people.

As the Large Hadron Collider is about to be launched for the first time, physicists are on the cusp of the greatest scientific discovery of all time -- or perhaps their greatest failure.

CERN scientists prepare to restart the Large Hadron Collider, the largest and most powerful particle accelerator. It is to run it at a higher energy than before, when it detected a subatomic particle that may be the elusive Higgs boson.

'The Devil's Miner' tells the story of 14-year-old Basilio who worships the devil for protection while working in a Bolivian silver mine to support his family.

Finnish men in sauna, speaking straight from the heart.

A documentary on the The Chicks (formerly the Dixie Chicks) in the wake of singer Natalie Maines' anti-George W. Bush statement at a 2003 concert.

Documents Marco Pantani's battle with addiction after winning Tour de France and Giro d'Italia in 1998 until his death from cocaine poisoning six years later.

The film is a funny, dramatic and tragicomic search for the truth about a Song. A Song that everybody in the Balkans claims it is theirs.A Song that appears as a love song, as a religious hymn and even as a song inciting for battle. An exciting journey around Turkey, Greece, Macedonia, Albania, Bosnia, Serbia and Bulgaria. A film showing with a sense of humor some of the typical features of the character of the people on the Balkans, as for example their habit of appropriating all that is good and denying the others the right to possess the same qualities, the same songs, the same customs, the same temperament.

In a city with 15 hour power cuts, hundreds of people risk their lives to steal electricity. With the first female chief of the electricity company vowing to eliminate all illegal connections, the lines are drawn for a battle over electricity.

A 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.

A look into the Los Angeles punk rock scene, that was largely ignored by the rock music press of the time.

Documentary showcase, what life was like for the music artists living during the Los Angeles Heavy Metal scene in the mid and late 1980s.

The Decline of Western Civilization III is a 1998 documentary film that follows the gutter punk lifestyle of homeless teenagers.

An examination of America's win-at-all-cost culture from the perspective of bodybuilding and performance enhancing drugs, as it focuses on a pair of siblings chasing their dream.