Best documentaries you have seen

RollieFingers

xalot wrote: »

Senna,
Bolwing for Columbine and Capturing the Friedmans spring to mind.

Watched Blackfish on Netflix and found it very moving.

Is Blackfish on the Irish netflix? Been wanting to watch this for a while now!

stoneill

POP - the science of Bubbles

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0176phj

Gongoozler

I've started watching the staircase myself. Just the first part so far. Interesting but not sure it needs to be eight parts, and honestly its a bit off putting.

Was interested in watching blackfish but I'd find it very upsetting to watch animal cruelty pieces.

RayCon

Not sure if they've been mentioned but most of the ESPN 30 for 30 documentaries are excellent.

RollieFingers

RayCon wrote: »

Not sure if they've been mentioned but most of the ESPN 30 for 30 documentaries are excellent.

Straight Outta L.A is quality!

DMcL1971

Paully D wrote: »

Thanks for the recommendations on The Staircase. I'm halfway through and really enjoying it.

How or why was the case made into a documentary and how did they get the sort of access that they got, following the accused, the prosecution etc? I've never seen anything like it for such a trial.

I would search for the answer myself but don't want to risk seeing the outcome of the trail or any other subsequent spoiler material online.

Don't worry no spoilers below.

The documentary was made by the french film maker Jean-Xavier de Lestrade who had won an Acadeny Award in 2001 for his documentary 'Murder on a Sunday Morning'. He wanted to make another documentary about the workings of the American criminal justice system. So he was on the lookout for an interesting case to be the subject of his next documentary. He said "I was looking for a story where a man or woman had been accused of killing someone they loved very much, a kind of passionate story." The Peterson case came to his attention as it was a high profile case at the time due to Peterson being a published author, his wife being a wealthy executive and their living in a large mansion.

Peterson's defence lawyer David Rudolf had been approached by many news organisations and TV shows who were interested in doing a documentary on the case but he was strongly opposed to this. However Michael Peterson himself was concerned that he would not receive a fair trial in his community of Durham, as he was unpopular with the local power structure due to his criticism of local politics in his newspaper column. So he decided that it would be a good idea to let an outside documentary team follow them so that the local authorities would be aware that someone independent would be watching what they do and that it might help to keep them in check.

The film maker initially was unsure about whether to commit to following the trial, until he met the Prosecution lawyers and heard how "narrow minded" their view on the case was, at that point he committed to the film. At the outset he was not aware of the many interesting twists and turns the case would end up taking. He followed Peterson and his defence team for two years and accumulated over 600 hours of footage.

When you have finished watching all eight episodes I would recommend watching the follow up documentary made in 2013 and then read the 'Wikipedia' page.

Paully D

DMcL1971 wrote: »

Don't worry no spoilers below.

The documentary was made by the french film maker Jean-Xavier de Lestrade who had won an Acadeny Award in 2001 for his documentary 'Murder on a Sunday Morning'. He wanted to make another documentary about the workings of the American criminal justice system. So he was on the lookout for an interesting case to be the subject of his next documentary. He said "I was looking for a story where a man or woman had been accused of killing someone they loved very much, a kind of passionate story." The Peterson case came to his attention as it was a high profile case at the time due to Peterson being a published author, his wife being a wealthy executive and their living in a large mansion.

Peterson's defence lawyer David Rudolf had been approached by many news organisations and TV shows who were interested in doing a documentary on the case but he was strongly opposed to this. However Michael Peterson himself was concerned that he would not receive a fair trial in his community of Durham, as he was unpopular with the local power structure due to his criticism of local politics in his newspaper column. So he decided that it would be a good idea to let an outside documentary team follow them so that the local authorities would be aware that someone independent would be watching what they do and that it might help to keep them in check.

The film maker initially was unsure about whether to commit to following the trial, until he met the Prosecution lawyers and heard how "narrow minded" their view on the case was, at that point he committed to the film. At the outset he was not aware of the many interesting twists and turns the case would end up taking. He followed Peterson and his defence team for two years and accumulated over 600 hours of footage.

When you have finished watching all eight episodes I would recommend watching the follow up documentary made in 2013 and then read the 'Wikipedia' page.

Brilliant stuff mate, thanks for the detailed response, I appreciate it.

R P McMurphy

DMcL1971 wrote: »

Don't worry no spoilers below.

The documentary was made by the french film maker Jean-Xavier de Lestrade who had won an Acadeny Award in 2001 for his documentary 'Murder on a Sunday Morning'. He wanted to make another documentary about the workings of the American criminal justice system. So he was on the lookout for an interesting case to be the subject of his next documentary. He said "I was looking for a story where a man or woman had been accused of killing someone they loved very much, a kind of passionate story." The Peterson case came to his attention as it was a high profile case at the time due to Peterson being a published author, his wife being a wealthy executive and their living in a large mansion.

Peterson's defence lawyer David Rudolf had been approached by many news organisations and TV shows who were interested in doing a documentary on the case but he was strongly opposed to this. However Michael Peterson himself was concerned that he would not receive a fair trial in his community of Durham, as he was unpopular with the local power structure due to his criticism of local politics in his newspaper column. So he decided that it would be a good idea to let an outside documentary team follow them so that the local authorities would be aware that someone independent would be watching what they do and that it might help to keep them in check.

The film maker initially was unsure about whether to commit to following the trial, until he met the Prosecution lawyers and heard how "narrow minded" their view on the case was, at that point he committed to the film. At the outset he was not aware of the many interesting twists and turns the case would end up taking. He followed Peterson and his defence team for two years and accumulated over 600 hours of footage.

When you have finished watching all eight episodes I would recommend watching the follow up documentary made in 2013 and then read the 'Wikipedia' page.

There is another website called behind the staircase which criticises the documentary. It highlights some of the critical aspects of the case, which were barely addressed in the documentary. Is probably linked to some of mrs petersons family but does have some valid criticisms

enfant terrible

R P McMurphy wrote: »

There is another website called behind the staircase which criticises the documentary. It highlights some of the critical aspects of the case, which were barely addressed in the documentary. Is probably linked to some of mrs petersons family but does have some valid criticisms

"Jean-Xavier's drama contains hours of pathetic family interviews".

Definitely written by family members I'd say.

To those who think he's guilty what do you think was the murder weapon and how did he dispose of it.

If the documentary is reliable the "experts" say her injuries are not consistent with a beating, no injuries you'd expect with a fatal beating just those lacerations.

Think the Owl attack fits the injuries and no murder weapon better.

R P McMurphy

enfant terrible wrote: »

"Jean-Xavier's drama contains hours of pathetic family interviews".

Definitely written by family members I'd say.

To those who think he's guilty what do you think was the murder weapon and how did he dispose of it.

If the documentary is reliable the "experts" say her injuries are not consistent with a beating, no injuries you'd expect with a fatal beating just those lacerations.

Think the Owl attack fits the injuries and no murder weapon better.

The issye I was thinking of was the amount of time it took her to bleed out. Must have been considerable. That and his 911 call raise plenty of issues.

I dont know if he is guilty or not. I think his story does not add up though, maybe would be clearer if he had told it in the witness box but he didnt. Anyone know why the prosecution did not call him?

MonstaMash

Year Zero:The Silent Death of Cambodia by John Pilger & David Munro

enfant terrible

R P McMurphy wrote: »

The issye I was thinking of was the amount of time it took her to bleed out. Must have been considerable. That and his 911 call raise plenty of issues.

I dont know if he is guilty or not. I think his story does not add up though, maybe would be clearer if he had told it in the witness box but he didnt. Anyone know why the prosecution did not call him?

I'm not sure of his guilt either but Owl attacks can be viscous if that's what happened.

Peterson's defence seem to be going with this theory now.

http://blogs.crikey.com.au/northern/2010/12/13/bird-of-the-week-the-killer-owls-of-durham-county/

Would it not be unusual to take the stand in your own defence in a murder trial?

Yamanoto

R P McMurphy wrote: »

Anyone know why the prosecution did not call him?

The prosecution can't compel a defendant to testify, so defence make the call on whether they take the stand or not.

You may recall OJ Simpson also took a pass on the chance to render his own version of the truth to the LA court. It's been a while since I've seen the Staircase, but at one meeting, David Rudolph specifically advises Peterson not to subject himself to cross-examination. That decision may have been partly-informed by their focus group / witness coach sessions & probably to a far greater degree by the defences own view of how Peterson would come across in person to the jury.

Leaving him open to questioning about the events on the night of Kathleen's death, Elizabeth Ratliff's own death in Germany & the can of worms that was his private life obviously didn't constitute enough of a risk / reward to go through with it. Defence believed their forensics debunked much of the State's evidence at the crime scene & this allied to the absence of a motive or murder weapon, created enough of a reasonable doubt for the jury to get their teeth into.

MonkstownHoop

Any chance you could stop talking about it in depth or start its own thread, some people haven't seen it yet

Mike Guide 69

MonkstownHoop wrote: »

Any chance you could stop talking about it in depth or start its own thread, some people haven't seen it yet

I agree, throw in spolier alerts, or open a new thread to chat about the case, for those unfortunate individuals who havent seen this brilliant documentary , gets 10/10 from me

3mm

30 for 30 documentaries by espn are great if you're into sport

tightropetom

The Beckoning Silence

Touching The Void

John Cherry

Pumping Iron
Aileen:Life and Death of a Serial Killer
Bowling for Columbine
The Four Year Plan
The Short Game
Biggie and Tupac
The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters
Louis Theroux:The Most Hated Family in America

Wompa1

Saw a pretty heart breaking one recently. Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father....I wasn't expecting what was coming since it started so slow

WinnyThePoo

Wompa1 wrote: »

Saw a pretty heart breaking one recently. Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father....I wasn't expecting what was coming since it started so slow

Just watched that. So sad. How the hell was that allowed to happen.

Paully D

enfant terrible wrote: »

"
To those who think he's guilty what do you think was the murder weapon and how did he dispose of it.

Post below is in response to the above re: the documentary The Staircase. I've spoilered it as I discuss the verdict and I know that some people haven't watched it yet:

I've just finished watching the documentary and I really don't know if

he is guilty or not, but from what was shown in the documentary I think there is no question that there was reasonable doubt. I expected him to be acquitted based on that to be honest and was surprised at the guilty verdict.

I did a search just to see how things had progressed

since the trial, and I see that Peterson has been out and on house arrest since 2011 awaiting a re-trail as the SBI agent who gave evidence against him was proven to have exaggerated his expertise and given false and deliberately misleading testimonies.

Here's the follow on documentary which shows the events leading up to and including the above if anyone's interested (as suggested by DMcL1971 on the previous page, thanks for the suggestion mate):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qzY_hsXuj8

Tasden

Paully D is spot on about the staircase. Really didn't expect that ending.

Great documentary though.

Fentdog84

SpaceCowb0y

Samsara - non-verbal documentary!

Stunning footage from around the world! Unbelievable scenes!

SEPT 23 1989

Shooting Bigfoot: America's Monster Hunters

This was shown the other night on BBC4

absolutely crazy stuff:D

Calculon1982

Haven’t read the full thread so maybe mentioned already but 'Last Train Home' is the best documentary on life in China that I have seen. I lived there 10 years ago and it was the first time I've seen it properly represented.

Dublinpato

I downloaded what i thought was a documentary called (The Secret Life Of A Sex Offender). Was just a porno haha. I don't have a best but i liked Stephen Fry in America.

Gyalist

Just finished watching Twenty Feet From Stardom, winner of the Oscar for Best Documentary, Features at the 2014 Academy Awards.

It's a must-see for anyone interested in music.

Yamanoto

The 'Summit' series of BBC documentaries by the historian David Reynolds are a great watch, full of fascinating insight and curious asides on the personalities involved.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFlsYffrTF0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfxSN1LQqB0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jA4XxUEb_EE

czechlin

What a great thread!

From top of my head - I quite enjoyed 'The Man on Wire' and 'Dreams of a Life'.