1970s Documentary Movies

Filmed on the rooftops of lower Manhattan, this performance film features the original Last Poets performing 28 numbers adapted from their legendary Concept-East Poetry appearance at New York's Paperback Theater in 1969. Described as “a conspiracy of ritual, street theater, soul music and cinema."

SELECTION documents a KISZ (Hungarian Young Communist League) chapter at an oil refinery that is interested in hiring a musical act as entertainment for young workers. The documentary shows the group discussing their criteria for the band, as well as their interviews with the individual bands. It is quickly apparent that the group isn’t interested in any sort of musical talent or the potential audiences’ interest. Rather, they are focused on ideological or moral issues that may be perceived as negative, such as groupies or outfits that are seen as too trendy. They settle on the musical group that is potentially the easiest to control, the youngest band. SELECTION works as a larger metaphor for what censorship was like in Socialist Hungary and was banned from being publicly screened until 1982.

Somewhat crazy semi-documentary by director Joe D'Amato is a strange series of Burlesque performances from around the globe. Actress and dancer Amanda Lear hosts these mostly musical numbers designed to get people on stage.

A trip into the everyday life of the modern Sami population in Scandinavia.

A documentary about the history of the anarchist-led workers' movement in Brazil. It shows the transformation of immigrants into the first urban workers and chronicles the most important strikes, the successes and defeats of the movement, from the end of the 19th century until 1922.

Le Quang Vinh, a revolutionary student leader, was arrested in Saigon in August 1961. A show trial and death sentence followed. World-wide protests altered it to “life imprisonment” on Con Son, the Devil’s Island. The humiliating “Tiger-Cages” and the methods of torture are shown.

Sweet Toronto is a documentary by D.A. Pennebaker of the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival, a one day festival held September 13, 1969 at Varsity Stadium on the campus of the University of Toronto and attended by some 20,000 people. John Lennon played as part of the Plastic Ono Band, whose members also included Yoko Ono, Klaus Voorman, Alan White, and Eric Clapton. The video also features a selection of other acts: Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, and Bo Diddley.

This student film by the award-winning Helena Třeštíková bears many of the hallmarks of her later work. Made as a graduation piece when she was at the FAMU Film and TV Academy in Prague, we see the director developing the distinctive observational style of filmmaking that she has used so effectively throughout her career. Over the course of several months, she follows a young pregnant woman as she becomes slowly acquainted with the joys and responsibilities of motherhood.

A collection of death scenes, ranging from TV material to homemade super 8 movies.

Between fiction and documentary, this film shows a portrait of the persona of a transsexual that goes far beyond simplistic voyeurism. The film offers a respectful image of masculine sexuality, with a character ahead of its time, through the telling of Betty about his childhood, daily life, pleasure, self-esteem and social marginalization.

On 15th April 1961 the anti-revolutionary forces bombed the airports of San Antonio de los Baños, Ciudad Libertad, and Santiago de Cuba in an attempt to eliminate the Cuban air force. This incident portended an imminent invasion. On the next day, while the victims of the bombing were being buried, Fidel Castro proclaimed the state of war. On the morning of 17th April mercenaries went ashore at Bay of Pigs, and proceeded to occupy two centrally situated places: Playa Larga and Playa Girón. Meanwhile, paratroopers landed north of this area in order to control the only access roads to these two beaches, which ran through the Zapata swamp. Thus, the occupiers created a centre of force in Bay of Pigs and appointed a provisional government. They intended to take over power by fighting a war of attrition, with the aid of the U.S.

Commissioned by the Maeght Gallery with the exhibition of Joan Miró, organized by the French Ministry of Cultural Affairs at the Grand Palais, which opened on May 17, 1974 in Paris. This film was shot in six days in Montroig del Camp (at the Miró) and Tarragona during the implementation process, by Josep Royo, a tapestry by Joan Miró. Five people worked for eight months in the realization of this tapestry, using wool 1200kg and 600kg for the warp. The total weight of 3500kg and a half was six meters wide by 11 meters long. They need a purpose built weaving loom. The day of the attack on the World Trade Center in New York on September 11, 2001, the tapestry was placed in the lobby of one of the towers when they were demolished.

In a futuristic, antiseptic food factory, workers select healthy chicks, while the rejects are carried along a conveyor belt until they are crushed by a mallet and drop into a garbage bin. A single black chick appears among the yellow and is shoved toward the garbage bin. Before the mallet strikes, the gasping chick rebels.

Martin Scorsese's documentary intertwines footage from The Band's incredible farewell tour with probing backstage interviews and featured performances by Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, and other rock legends.

A detailed chronicle of the famous 1969 tour of the United States by the British rock band The Rolling Stones, which culminated with the disastrous and tragic concert held on December 6 at the Altamont Speedway Free Festival, an event of historical significance, as it marked the end of an era: the generation of peace and love suddenly became the generation of disillusionment.

Reconstruction of the life of Wilsinho, who was a dangerous criminal by the time he was 14. After getting arrested multiple times, he finally was killed by the police at the home of his girlfriend Geni.

A portrait of John Grierson, the first Canadian Government Film Commissioner and founder of the National Film Board in 1939. Interweaving archival footage, interviews with people who knew him and footage of Grierson himself, this film is a sensitive and informative portrait of a dynamic man of vision. Grierson believed that the filmmaker had a social responsibility, and that film could help a society realize democratic ideals. His absolute faith in the value of capturing the drama of everyday life was to influence generations of filmmakers all over the world. In fact, he coined the term 'documentary film'.

Documentary on one of Brazil's most controversial personalities: Getúlio Vargas, an ex-president.

After an extensive immersion work on abandoned childhood, Ciro Durán presents, from his point of view, the life of street children, who have broken all family ties and have regrouped to survive in the concrete jungle.

Various MGM stars from yesterday present their favorite musical moments from the studio's 50 year history.

Any given Sunday of 1974 in Spain, soccer games in several stadiums, the sarcastic voice of commentators, the inevitable presence of advertising. Goal! The victors and the defeated.

Documentary about the Italian men that visit Hungary to meet girls and the Hungarian women that fall in love with them.

Amateur and professional bodybuilders prepare for the 1975 Mr. Olympia and Mr. Universe contests as five-time champion Arnold Schwarzenegger defends his Mr. Olympia title against Serge Nubret and the shy young Lou Ferrigno.

In this "fake documentary", a doctor returns to Brazil after his studies in Paris. Setting out to practice Medicine, he becomes an indigenous messiah and, in time, a cannibal.

Documents the lives of infamous fakers Elmyr de Hory and Clifford Irving. De Hory, who later committed suicide to avoid more prison time, made his name by selling forged works of art by painters like Picasso and Matisse. Irving was infamous for writing a fake autobiography of Howard Hughes. Welles moves between documentary and fiction as he examines the fundamental elements of fraud and the people who commit fraud at the expense of others.

A documentary about the life and films of director John Ford.

An intimate look at the Woodstock Music & Art Festival held in Bethel, NY in 1969, from preparation through cleanup, with historic access to insiders, blistering concert footage, and portraits of the concertgoers; negative and positive aspects are shown, from drug use by performers to naked fans sliding in the mud, from the collapse of the fences by the unexpected hordes to the surreal arrival of National Guard helicopters with food and medical assistance for the impromptu city of 500,000.

A documentary about elderly aunt Veronica who wants to accomplish two things in her life: re-cultivate a long-neglected vineyard and visit her son abroad

On July 31, 1970, in Las Vegas, Nevada, Elvis Presley staged a triumphant return to the concert stage from which he had been absent for almost a decade. His series of concerts broke all box office records and completely reenergized the career of the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll.

This documentary tells the story of Bruce Lee and his unsuccessful efforts to start a acting career in the U.S., he returned to Hong Kong where he became an international star, and his death at age 32.

Illustrates the life of Saturnino Huillca, a peasant union leader, and the motivations that lead the Quechua peasantry to undertake the struggle for their social activists. The events that came to constitute a force of pressure that moved the country and made it see the importance of carrying out the agrarian reform.

An illustration of the difficulties women encounter when they seek to achieve economic integration and equality with men in a country at the height of revolution.

A closer look at the making of "Klute" (1971). The project follows the complex shooting on multiple locations in New York with major stars Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland, under the direction of Alan J. Pakula. The two actors and the director share a little about their perspectives on the film and the experience of being part of it.

Documentary on legendary Belgian billiard player Raymond Ceulemans.

Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire present more golden moments from the MGM film library, this time including comedy and drama as well as classic musical numbers.

Documentary on the Panamanian struggle for the rescue of the lands of the so-called Canal Zone, militarily occupied by the forces of the American army.

A report on the National Black Political Convention held in Gary, Indiana, in 1972, a historic event that gathered Black voices from across the political spectrum, among them Jesse Jackson, Dick Gregory, Coretta Scott King, Richard Hatcher, Amiri Baraka, Charles Diggs, and H. Carl McCall.

The daily life of two families from Nezahualcóyotl.

A powerful Palestinian documentary starring Vanessa Redgrave about the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) and its role in Lebanon, as well as the daily struggles and resistance of the Palestinian people under Israeli occupation. Filmed right after the Tel al-Zaatar massacre, the film highlights the Palestinian fight for identity, dignity, and homeland.

Screened in the official competition at the Cannes Festival, this controversial documentary depicts a hypnosis session in which participants, under its influence, inflict pain on themselves and others. The film addresses important themes such as manipulation, abuse of power, and collective obedience.