Documentary Movies
Elvis on Tour (1972)
This documentary captures Elvis Presley on his 1972 American tour and includes rehearsals, interviews, archival television appearances and backstage moments. With Elvis at his most flamboyant, the film features well-known…
Moonwalk One (1972)
This documentary by Theo Kamecke from 1970 gives an indepth and profound look at the Apollo 11 mission to the moon. NASA footage is interspersed with reactions to the mission…
Nationtime (1972)
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,…
Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii (1972)
British progressive rock band Pink Floyd perform at the ancient Roman Amphitheater in the ruins of Pompeii, Italy in 1971. Although the band perform a typical live set from the…
Parade (1972)
A short film on the first Gay Pride March in San Francisco in 1971 the year after the Stonewall Riots. This film was lost for 50 years before it was…
FTA (1972)
A documentary about a political troupe headed by actors Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland which traveled to towns near military bases in the US in the early 1970s. The group…
Sapporo Winter Olympics (1972)
A documentary about the 1972 Winter Olympic Games in Sapporo, Japan.
Let Me Die a Woman (1972)
A documentary on the work of sex-change specialist Dr. Leo Wollman, including interviews with Dr. Wollman and a few of his patients, with an illustrated lecture on the various aspects…
I Am a Dancer (1972)
Documentary about the dancer Rudolf Nureyev.
Malcolm X (1972)
James Earl Jones narrates this fascinating and moving documentary about the life of the assassinated black leader through various sources.
Glastonbury Fayre (1972)
In the Summer of 1971 the Glastonbury legend was born when the organisers decided to try and create a festival that would be a forerunner for an ‘alternative and utopian…
Ingmar Bergman (1972)
Portrait of Ingmar Bergman, made while he was working on The Touch, about his professional and private life in the early 1970s.
Morning of the Earth (1972)
In the early ‘70s, founding member of Australian surf magazine Tracks, Albert Falzon, began filming off the North Coast of New South Wales, Hawaii, and Indonesia. He set out to…
Cousin Jules (1972)
An ode to rural France and the simple joys of life, Dominique Benicheti’s glorious masterpiece Cousin Jules captures the daily routine and rituals of Jules, a blacksmith, living with his…
Secret Rites (1971)
Pseudo-documentary about black magic and the study of witchcraft with a rare appearance by real-life occultist Alex Sanders.
Land of Silence and Darkness (1971)
Through examining Fini Straubinger, an old woman who has been deaf and blind since her teens, and her work on behalf of other deaf-blind people, this film shows how the…
The Moon and the Sledgehammer (1971)
The Page family lives without electricity or running water deep in the Sussex woods. Amidst ever-growing modernity and industrialization, the family carries out chores, hunts pheasants, builds steam engines, and…
On Any Sunday (1971)
Documentary on motorcycle racing featuring stars of the sport, including film star Steve McQueen, a racer in his own right.
Fidel (1971)
This film provides a unique view of Cuba’s leader, containing fascinating archive footage of the Bay of Pigs invasion and scenes of Che Guevara – alongside interviews with political prisoners.
Basic Training (1971)
Shot during the summer of 1970 at Fort Knox, Kentucky, Frederick Wiseman’s film Basic Training focuses on a group of men going through infantry training, showing how they are turned…
The Hellstrom Chronicle (1971)
A scientist explains how the savagery and efficiency of the insect world could result in their taking over the world.
Meeting the Man: James Baldwin in Paris (1971)
In 1970, a British film crew set out to make a straightforward literary portrait of James Baldwin set in Paris, insisting on setting aside his political activism. Baldwin bristled at…
The Murder of Fred Hampton (1971)
Fred Hampton was the leader of the Illinois Chapter of the Black Panther Party. This film depicts his brutal murder by the Chicago police and its subsequent investigation, but also…
Richard Pryor: Live and Smokin’ (1971)
Richard Pryor: Live & Smokin’ is the first stand-up act of Richard Pryor to be filmed out of the four that were released in total. This film was filmed in…
Minamata: The Victims and Their World (1971)
The first in a series of independent documentaries that Tsuchimoto made of the mercury poisoning incident in Minamata, Japan.
Blue Water White Death (1971)
Peter Gimbel and a team of photographers set out on an expedition to find and film, for the very first time, Carcharodon carcharias—the Great White Shark. The expedition lasted over…
The Lion at World’s End (1971)
The astonishing true story of a zoo-born lion who found himself in the pet department of Harrods, then the cellar of an antique shop in London and, ultimately the wilds…
Any Snow Any Mountain (1971)
The legendary director/producer Warren Miller hits the slopes of Squaw, Whistler, and Japan with skiers like Jim McConkey, Roger Staub, Pepi Stiegler in one of his earliest surviving ski movies.
Handicapped Future (1971)
A documentary by Werner Herzog exploring the different treatment accorded to the disabled in Germany and the USA.
David Lean: A Self Portrait (1971)
A television documentary on the life and career of British film director David Lean. Scenes of Lean directing are intercut with personal interviews in which the director explains his methods,…
7 Plus Seven (1970)
After a 7 year wait, director Michael Apted revisits the same group of British-born children from Seven Up! The subjects are interviewed as to the changes that have occurred in…
Gimme Shelter (1970)
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…
Elvis: That’s the Way It Is (1970)
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…
a.k.a. Cassius Clay (1970)
The study of crazy brilliance and flamboyant sincerity. a.k.a. Cassius Clay presents a fascinating look at the incredible life and achievements of one of the most courageous, outspoken and charismatic…
Ciao Federico! (1970)
A behind-the-scenes documentary about the filming of the Federico Fellini film, “Satyricon.”
Original Cast Album: Company (1970)
In 1970, right after the triumphant premiere of Stephen Sondheim’s groundbreaking concept musical Company, the renowned composer and lyricist, his director Harold Prince, the show’s stars, and a large pit…
More About the Language of Love (1970)
In this explicit sex education film based on clinical research made by American and Swedish doctors, a panel of experts in the field of sex education discuss various aspects of…
Searching for Tadzio (1970)
An account of Italian film director Luchino Visconti’s travels in search for a young actor to portray the role of Tadzio in his 1971 adaptation of Thomas Mann’s novella Death…
Legend of the Witches (1970)
A visual exploration into the origins of witchcraft in the UK and in particular the demystification of symbolism still embedded today within many modern religious artefacts and rituals. X-rated upon…
British Sounds (1970)
Jean-Luc Godard brings his firebrand political cinema to the UK, exploring the revolutionary signals in late ’60s British society. Constructed as a montage of various disconnected political acts (in line…