Documentaries

NOTE:  While "in theaters in major markets," many "Independent" / Foreign Films and Documentaries are  available for home viewing in the U.S. through the IFC Video On Demand service (type in your zipcode and cable provider to see if this service as available to you) or for download via services like Sundance Now and/or Itunes / Amazon Instant Video.  Eventually, these films become available for rent in the U.S. via NetFlix or Blockbuster.com.   More obscure titles can also be found via Facets Multimedia's DVD Rental Service.


20 Feet from Stardom [2013] - PG-13 - 4 Stars
A Dream of Iron (orig. Cheol-ae-kum) [2013] - UR (would be PG-13) - South Korea (subtitled) - 3 Stars
A Town Called Brzotek [2014] - UR (would be PG-13) - Documentary about a small Polish town and a post-Holocaust Reconciliation - Poland / U.K. / USA (at times subtitled) - 3 1/2 Stars
Abdias do Nascimento [2011] - UR - Brazil (subtitled) - 4 Stars
Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry [2012] - R - 4 Stars
Ai Weiwei: The Fake Case [2014] - R - 3 Stars
African Independence [2013] - UR (would be PG-13) - 4 Stars
All the Difference [2016] - UR would be PG-13 - doc that followed two recent graduates from Chicago's Urban Prep Academy for Young Men through their subsequent years of college - 4 Stars
Apaporis: In Search of One River (orig. Apaporis: En Busca del Río) [2010] - UR - Colombia (subtitled) - 3 1/2 Stars
Babe's and Ricky's Inn [2011] - UR (would be PG-13) - 4 Stars
BaddDDD Sonia Sanchez [2015] - UR would be PG-13 - 4 Stars
Band of Sisters [2012] - (UR would be PG-13) - 4 Stars
Blackfish [2013] - PG-13 - 3 Stars
Brooklyn Castle [2012] - PG - 3 1/2 Stars
Cartel Land [2015] - UR (would be R) - 3 1/2 Stars 
Cave of Forgotten Dreams [2010] - UR - 3 Stars
Chimpanzee [2012] - G / A-1 - 3 Stars
Citizenfour [2014] - PG-13 - 4 Stars 
Congo: White King, Red Rubber, Black Death [2003] - UR (would be PG-13) - UK/Belgium/France (subtitled at times) - 4 Stars 
Conan Can't Stop [2011] - R - 3 Stars
Craigslist Joe [2012] - UR - 4 Stars
Dirty Wars [2013] - R - 3 Stars
Don't Stop Believin': Everyman's Journey [2013]- UR (would be PG-13) - Philippines/USA (at times subtitled) - 4 Stars
Gore Vidal: United States of Amnesia [2013] - UR (would be R) - 3 1/2 Stars
Handmade with Love in France (orig. Le Temps Suspendu) [2014] - UR (would be R) - France (subtitled) - 4 Stars
Inequality for All [2013] - PG - 3 Stars
Inside Job [2010] - R - 3 Stars
Jesse / Shadows of the Lynching Tree [2011] - UR - 4 Stars
Jews of Egypt [2013] - UR (would be PG-13) - Egypt (subtitled) - 3 1/2 Stars  
Life in a Day [2011] - PG-13 - 3 Stars
Life Itself [2014] - R - 4 Stars
Little Voices from Fukushima (orig: Chiisaki koe no kanon: sentakusuru hitobito) [2015]  - UR - Doc. about the after effects of the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster - Japan (subtitled) - 4 Stars
Marley [2012] - UR (would be R) - 3 1/2 Stars
Meet the Patels [2015] - UR would be PG-13 - 4 Stars 
Meru [2015] - R - 4 Stars
Mothers [2012] - UR - China (subtitled) - 4 Stars
Mountains and Clouds / The Senators Bargain (How Democracy Works Now) [2010] - UR - 4 Stars
My Perestroika [2010] - UR - Russia / U.K (subtitled) - 4 Stars
My Reincarnation [2011] - UR - 3 1/2 Stars
Negroes with Guns: Rob Williams and Black Power [2004] - UR - 3 1/2 Stars 
Nuclear Savage: The Islands of Secret Project 4.1 (2011) - UR - 3 1/2 Stars
One Lucky Elephant [2010] - UR - 3 Stars
Out in the Silence [2009] - UR - 3 1/2 Stars
Page One: A Year Inside the New York Times [2011] - R - 3 Stars
Project Nim [2011] - PG-13 - 3 Stars
Queen of Versailles [2011] - PG - 3 Stars
Room 237 [2012] - R - 3 1/2 Stars 
Samsara [2012] - PG-13 - 4 Stars 
Searching for Sugar Man [2012] - UR - 4 Stars
Sholem Aleichem: Laughing in the Darkness [2012] - UR - 3 Stars
The Best of Enemies [2015] - R - 2 1/2 Stars
The Central Park Five [2012] - UR - 4 Stars
The Fourth Partition / Czwarta Dzielnica [2013] - UR (would be PG-13) - Documentary about Polish Immigrants to Chicago - 3 1/2 Stars
The Green Wave [2010] - UR - Iran Exiles (dubbed) - 4 Stars
The Gatekeepers [2012] - UR - Israel (subtitled) - 4 Stars
The Interrupters [2011] - UR - 3 Stars 
The First Rasta [2010] - UR - 4 Stars
The Good Life / La Belle Vie [2015] - UR would be R - documentary by an American born film-maker of Haitian parents about her going back to Haiti and her struggles to integrate the memories of her parents / grandparents , her own American upbringing and the realities of Haiti today - U.S.A. / Haiti (subtitled at times) - 3 1/2 Stars
The Man Who Mends Women (orig. L'Homme qui répare les femmes) [2015]  - UR would be R - documentary about renowned Congolese doctor Dennis Mukwege who has helped some 35,000 rape victims in the conflicts in the Congo recover from their ordeals - Congo / Belgium / USA - (subtitled at times) - 4 Stars
The Other Dream Team [2012] - USA/Lithuania (at times subtitled) - UR - 4 Stars
The Source Family [2013] - UR would be R - 3 Stars
The Summer of the Gods [2015] - UR (would be PG) - Brazil / United States (dubbed) - 4 Stars
The Wrecking Crew [2008] - UR (would be PG-13) - 3 1/2 Stars  
Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman [2010+] - UR - TV Series
Time Suspended (orig. Tiempo Suspendido) [2015] - UR (would be PG-13) - Doc. about an aging Arg. 1970s-era human rights activist who now was coming down with Alzheimers - Argentina / Mexico (subtitled) - 4 Stars
Under the Sun (orig. V paprscích slunce) [2015] - UR would be PG - Russia / Czech Rep / Germany / Latvia (subtitled) - Remarkable Doc. about Contemp life in North Korea - 4 Stars
Vaclav Havel: A Life of Freedom (orig. Život podle Václava Havla) [2014] - UR would be PG-13 - nice and generally light documentary about the life of Czech hero / former dissident / then President Vaclav Havel - Czech Rep / France (subtitled) - 3 1/2 Stars
Walking the Camino: Six Ways to Santiago [2013] - UR would be PG-13 - 3 1/2 Stars 
We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks [2013] - R - 3 Stars
What Our Fathers Did: A Nazi Legacy [2015] - UR - 3 Stars
Where to Invade Next [2015] - R - Michael Moore doc about learning from other countries - 3 Stars