Genre: Historical Documentaries
Sorting: Most Recent | Most Popular
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Free Radicals: A History of Experimental Cinema (2012)
Cast: Stan Brakhage, Robert Breer, Pip Chodorov …
Directed by: Pip Chodorov
Avant-garde director Pip Chodorov offers viewers an intimate tour of experimental film and its creators in this documentary that features rare interviews, historical analysis, clips and more.
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American Experience: Custer's Last Stand (2012)
Cast: Michael Murphy
Directed by: Stephen Ives
This edition of the PBS series examines Custer's war record and impulsive nature, and his wife's role in shaping his legacy. Aided by rare photos and period accounts, historians…
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American Experience: Jesse Owens (2012)
Cast: Andre Braugher
Directed by: Laurens Grant
This documentary details Jesse Owens's early career; describes Adolf Hitler's outsized ambitions for the 1936 Olympics; explores the movement in Western democracies to boycott the…
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Parabeton: Pier Luigi Nervi und römischer Beton (2012)
Directed by: Heinz Emigholz
This survey by Heinz Emigholz places Pier Luigi Nervi's distinctive architecture in the context of ancient Rome's great concrete buildings. Emigholz illustrates what Nervi's…
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American Experience: Billy the Kid (2012)
Cast: Michael Murphy
Directed by: John Maggio
Billy the Kid -- just 21 years old when gunned down -- was born to poverty-stricken Irish immigrants but grew up to become one of the Old West's most infamous legends. Along the way, he…
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Ancient Alien Question: From UFOs to Extraterrestrial Visitations (2012)
Cast: Philip Coppens
Directed by: Gerard Lohan
Join Philip Coppens, host of the TV series "Ancient Aliens," as he reveals an array of astonishing truths about Earth's history and its link to the cosmos, including a radically…
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BAM150 (2012)
Cast: Alan Rickman, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Isabella Rossellini …
Directed by: Michael Sladek
This documentary profiles the venerable history of the Brooklyn Academy of Music, which has functioned as a performing arts center for 150 years. Interviews with artists of all genres…
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Booker's Place: A Mississippi Story (2012)
Cast: Raymond De Felitta, Frank De Felitta, Booker Wright …
Directed by: Raymond De Felitta
Prompted by a son's wish to honor his filmmaker father, this documentary uncovers the impact of a bold decision made by an African American waiter to expose the true state of race…
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Pray for Japan (2012)
Directed by: Stuart J. Levy
Filmmaker Stu Levy documents relief efforts in the Japanese region of Ishinomaki, Miyagi, a coastal city decimated by an earthquake and the devastating tsunami that followed. Meet victims who…
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The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 (2011)
Cast: Danny Glover, Harry Belafonte, Erykah Badu …
Directed by: Göran Olsson
From 1967 to '75, a film crew aimed cameras at major figures in the Black Power movement, creating hours of footage that remained unreleased for decades. In clips, Stokely Carmichael,…
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Ronald Reagan: An American Journey (2011)
Cast: Ronald Reagan
Directed by: Robert Kline
A Hollywood star who eventually became governor of California and the 40th President of the United States, Ronald Reagan ranks among the most important cultural and political figures of the…
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American Experience: Triangle Fire (2011)
Cast: Michael Murphy, Ami Ankin, Joanna Bonaro …
Directed by: Jamila Wignot
One of the deadliest fires in U.S. history occurred at New York City's Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in 1911, killing more than 140 workers -- mostly young women who were locked inside --…
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American Experience: Robert E. Lee (2011)
Cast: Jason Alan Carvell, Kara Jackson, Michael Murphy …
Despite being on the losing end in the American Civil War, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee remains one of the nation's most vital and popular military leaders. This installment of…
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American Experience: The Great Famine (2011)
Cast: David Ogden Stiers
Directed by: Austin Hoyt, Aisiyuak Yumagulov
This installment of "American Experience" sheds light on the devastating 1921 famine that left millions of Soviet Russians starving, a pandemic that prompted then-Secretary of Commerce…
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Secrets of the Dead: Lost in the Amazon (2011)
Cast: Liev Schreiber
Directed by: Peter von Puttkamer
PBS's acclaimed documentary series "Secrets of the Dead" sets out to find the fabled "Lost City of Z," charting Col. Percy Fawcett's final expedition into the Amazon in 1925 that…
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Wartorn 1861-2010 (2011)
Cast: James Gandolfini
Blending archival research with first-person accounts, this sobering film (executive produced by James Gandolfini) traces the history of posttraumatic stress, from the first documented Civil…
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Secrets of the Dead: China's Terracotta Warriors (2011)
Cast: Liev Schreiber
Putting 8,000 clay soldiers in historical context, this installment of "Secrets of the Dead" explores the origins of the famed terracotta warriors that were created -- in the span of only two…
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When the Drum Is Beating (2011)
Cast: Septentrional, Ulrick Pierre-Louis, Yvenel 'Saure' Etienne …
Directed by: Whitney Dow
This documentary explores the exceptional six-decade career of Haiti's most beloved musical act and national treasure, Septentrional -- a band whose joyous sound often contrasts with the…
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Chronicle of the Third Reich (2011)
Cast: Ian Kershaw, Brigitte Hamann, Goetz Aly …
Directed by: Michael Kloft
Sixty-five years after the fiery end of the Nazi empire in 1945, this authoritative documentary looks at the 12 years of German history that began with grand hopes of a better future for the…
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The Real Story: Escape from Alcatraz (2011)
Interviews with eyewitnesses and dramatic reenactments reveal the inside story on the events of June 11, 1962, when after months of meticulous planning, three inmates busted out of San…
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Sholem Aleichem: Laughing in the Darkness (2011)
Cast: Rachel Dratch, Hillel Halkin, Peter Riegert …
Directed by: Joseph Dorman
Discover the man behind the musical "Fiddler on the Roof" in this biography of Sholem Aleichem. Vintage photographs, film clips and interviews with historians reveal Aleichem's world and…
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Pompeii: Back from the Dead (2011)
Cast: Don Wildman
Directed by: Paul Elston, Steffan Boje
This documentary uncovers long-buried secrets of the Italian city of Pompeii, which was preserved by volcanic pumice and ash 2,000 years ago. Modern genetic technology is used to explore the…
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Elusive Justice: The Search for Nazi War Criminals (2011)
Cast: Candice Bergen
Directed by: Jonathan Silvers
This gripping documentary chronicles the work of several tireless individuals who for decades have dedicated themselves to tracking down former Nazis, forcing them to answer for the…
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The Queen's Palaces (2011)
Cast: Fiona Bruce
Directed by: Ian Leese
Fiona Bruce tells the fascinating stories behind the creation of Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and the Palace of Holyroodhouse, and leading experts share their knowledge of the kings and…
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From the Ground Up (2011)
Cast: Maureen Fanning, Una McHugh, Kate Richardson …
Directed by: Beth Gage, George Gage
Five 9/11 widows of New York firefighters pay tribute to their husbands by accomplishing extraordinary feats in their communities. Empowered by the tragedy, the women give new meaning to…