Political Docos
Due to the great influx of socio-political documentaries over the last couple of years, Alice thought it was time they had a section of their own. Included here are political bios ('Comandante', 'Mahatma Gandhi: Pilgrim of Peace'); films dealing with the mechanics of politics ('Rats in the Ranks', 'The War Room'); and those dedicated to political issues as diverse as homelessness ('It Was A Wonderful Life'), the death penalty ('Mr Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A Leuchter Jr'), corporate depletion of natural resources ('End of Suburbia'); civil rights ('4 Little Girls') and corruption ('Fahrenheit 911). Undoubtedly two stars of the genre are two very different men, extroverted funnyman, Michael Moore ('Roger and Me') and soft-spoken professor, Noam Chomsky ('Manufacturing Consent'), pictured.
Our Brand is Crisis (2005)
7.2/10
Director: Rachel Boynton
Fearful the electorate is about to toss him out of office in the upcoming 2002 election, Bolivian president Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada recruits politic... Read more
Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life (1997)
6.7/10
Director: Michael Paxton
Starring: Ayn Rand
The incredible (often controversial) life of the writer and champion of objectivism is surveyed in this Award Winning documentary, from her early days... Read more
Zero Days (2016)
7.8/10
Director: Alex Gibney
Investigative journalism meets conspiracy thriller as Alex Gibney (Going Clear, NZIFF15) goes on the trail of Stuxnet, the extraordinary computer viru... Read more
An Unreasonable Man (2006)
7.9/10
Director: Henriette Mantel
Starring: Ralph Nader
Loved, hated, respected and feared, Ralph Nader is more likely to be remembered for his 2000 presidential campaign than for the decades of advocacy th... Read more
The Union: The Business Behind Getting High (2007)
8.3/10
Director: Brett Harvey
The unassuming Canadian province of British Columbia is a business giant in the illegal marijauna trade, generating upwards of $7 billion Canadian eac... Read more
Occupation 101 (2007)
8.4/10
Award-winning documentary film on the root causes of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Unlike any other film ever produced on the conflict - 'Occupati... Read more
War is Sell (2004)
4.7/10
Director: Brian Standing
How do you sell a war? Armed with words, pictures and advertising techniques, war propagandists fight for the hearts and minds of the public. This d... Read more
This is Not a Film (2011)
7.5/10
Director: Jafar Panahi, Mojtaba Mirtahmasb
Starring: Jafar Panahi
This clandestine documentary, shot partially on an iPhone and smuggled into France in a cake for a last-minute submission to Cannes, depicts the day-t... Read more
Scorched Earth: Propaganda (2000)
5/10
This episode provides an intriguing look at the part played by propaganda as governments struggled to gain the upper hand in the war away from the bat... Read more
Guerrilla: The Taking Of Patty Hearst (2004)
7.3/10
Director: Robert Stone
Starring: Patricia Hearst, Russ Little, Michael Bortin, Timothy Findley, Dan Grove, Randol...
In February 1974, the granddaughter of newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst was kidnapped at gunpoint from her apartment by militant political rad... Read more