Discussion Interesting free documentarys. Please share your finds!

[7threst]

Hi FamiFam! I am what they call a cord cutter, so I don't watch cable TV. I'm also very uninterested in streaming so apart from CrunchyRoll I don't have Netflix, HBO, Disney+ and all that sort of stuff.

What I do have is an internet connection so I have access to YouTube and I constantly come across interessting documentarys that seem to be either to old school to gain tracktion or are too niche. I love to share these videos with you but I would also like to learn of new interesting documentaries I don't know about. All subjects go, so no shame to promote your niche with an interesting video!

Of course, a small description on what it is about and what you like about it is greatly appreciated!

 

[7threst]

Let me start!

Title: American Street Kid
This documentary is about kids living on the streets in LA and the harsh reality that comes with it. It's a sad and harsh documentary of street life, but at the same time the way these kids keep clinging to their hopes and dreams while navigating their harsh life is extremely inspiring!



Title: Gangs and guns: stopping Chicago's revenge killings
This documentary is about gang killings in Chicago and the people who try to put an end to it. This is a reality I really have no clue about and just don't understand because I can't not having lived in this harsh environment. The people working to stop the gun and gang violence in this documentary are heroes to me!



Title: Camp Hollywood: Wannabe Stars in a No-Star Hotel
This one is about people who tried to make it in Hollywood but kind of failed (or keep failing), while staying in a hotel that is full of people who try to make it. It's like the hotel of broken dreams and it makes for intrigueing watching.



Title: Infamy The Movie
I've always been interested in graffiti and Infamy is one of a few ( Syle Wars being the most important and influential I feel) documentarys that show what is so nice and unique about graffiti with cool interviews of people really invested in the culture.



Edit: lmao, some video's don't seem to embed correctly, let me see if I can fix this.

 

[Síriocaz]

LEMMiNO's documentary about Jack the Ripper is absorbing.

 

[slide's]

I will always take an opportunity to plug Kanopy—if you have a library card and your library has Kanopy as one of their services (many, many US public library systems do and I think it's available in lots of other countries), you can watch a whole ton of cool stuff for free & without ads & with usually solid quality. loads of interesting documentaries on there, including lots of well-known ones.

Kanopy - Stream Classic Cinema, Indie Film and Top Documentaries

kui

www.kanopy.com

for now I'll shout out Kedi, which follows the stray & feral cats of Istanbul, and Koyaanisqatsi, the landmark non-narrative documentary about modern human civilization.
they've also got on there most of the work of Frederick Wiseman, who is probably my favorite documentarian—he makes fascinating films about human institutions, free of voiceover or on-screen descriptive text or anything else explicitly narrative, but they are masterfully shot & edited and always engaging. I'd recommend Ex Libris (about the New York Public Library) or City Hall (about Boston's municipal government) to start out.

and if you don't have access to Kanopy, Jon Bois has got some real bangers on youtube, whether you care about sports or not. not especially niche at this point but worth having in the thread:

 

[Síriocaz]

I will always take an opportunity to plug Kanopy—if you have a library card and your library has Kanopy as one of their services (many, many US public library systems do and I think it's available in lots of other countries), you can watch a whole ton of cool stuff for free & without ads & with usually solid quality. loads of interesting documentaries on there, including lots of well-known ones.

Kanopy - Stream Classic Cinema, Indie Film and Top Documentaries

kui

www.kanopy.com

for now I'll shout out Kedi, which follows the stray & feral cats of Istanbul, and Koyaanisqatsi, the landmark non-narrative documentary about modern human civilization.
they've also got on there most of the work of Frederick Wiseman, who is probably my favorite documentarian—he makes fascinating films about human institutions, free of voiceover or on-screen descriptive text or anything else explicitly narrative, but they are masterfully shot & edited and always engaging. I'd recommend Ex Libris (about the New York Public Library) or City Hall (about Boston's municipal government) to start out.

and if you don't have access to Kanopy, Jon Bois has got some real bangers on youtube, whether you care about sports or not. not especially niche at this point but worth having in the thread:

This dude also has an insane video about American football scores and how an NFL score of 6-1 is the holy grail of what he calls 'Scorigami', which is a "canonical" term in NFL broadcasts now.

He also takes his time to mock the early 20th century Bears and the couple of thousands of people who bought tickets for a rainy game that ended 0-0 lol