Browse documentary movie in New Zealand
Dive into the world of documentary movie in New Zealand. From timeless classics to trending hits, explore an exciting collection of titles that define the documentary genre.
Explore critically acclaimed blockbusters, hidden gems, and trending new releases that showcase the diversity and creativity of documentary storytelling. Use our filters to find top-rated titles, recent hits, or beloved classics tailored to your taste.
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Joe Bonamassa has single-handedly transformed Blues from a marginalized legacy genre to an arena-filling spectacle. Interviews and concert footage chronicle his extraordinary rise as a guitar wunderkind mentored by BB King and praised by John Lee Hooker, and his experiences in the cutthroat music business. Despite neglect from the entertainment industry, Joe's independent approach sees him sell-out concerts around the world, even hosting heroes like Eric Clapton at Royal Albert Hall. Joe has 22 #1 Blues albums; more than any other artist, including B.B. King, Eric Clapton, and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Although Bonamassa is still virtually unknown, his efforts and collaborations have brought the Blues to new heights and broader audiences.
Joe Bonamassa Guitar Man (2020 )
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Documentary about Don Letts who played a leading role in pop history. Letts injected Afro-Caribbean music into the early punk scene and shot over 300 music videos including for Public Image Ltd. and Bob Marley, but also for teen sensations Musical Youth's reggae smash 'Pass The Dutchie'. Besides his enduring relationship with The Clash, the constant factor in Letts' eventful career as a DJ, manager, film director, musician and radio maker is that, from the 1970s on, he continued to draw attention to cultural issues, as he does today with his radio programme for BBC 6, Culture Clash Radio.
Rebel Dread (2022 )
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A look at the Black revolution in 1970s cinema, from genre films to social realism, from the making of new superstars to the craft of rising auteurs.
Is That Black Enough for You?!? (2022 )
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Seeking to uncover the origins of the rabid homophobia of the conservative church, a gay seminary scholar and a straight activist make a shocking discovery: In 1946 an erroneous translation of the term homosexual in the Bible that has been weaponized against the LGBTQIA+ community ever since.
1946: The Mistranslation That Shifted Culture (2022 )
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In 1969, bankrupt pizzeria owner Richard Davis invented the modern-day bulletproof vest. To prove that it worked, he shot himself — point-blank — 192 times.
2nd Chance (2022 )
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The life of internationally renowned artist and activist Nan Goldin is told through her slideshows, intimate interviews, ground-breaking photography, and rare footage of her personal fight to hold the Sackler family accountable for the overdose crisis.
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed (2022 )
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History exists beyond what is written. The Africatown residents in Mobile, Alabama, have shared stories about their origins for generations. Their community was founded by enslaved ancestors who were transported in 1860 aboard the last known and illegal slave ship, Clotilda. Though the ship was intentionally destroyed upon arrival, its memory and legacy weren’t. Now, the long-awaited discovery of the Clotilda’s remains offers this community a tangible link to their ancestors and validation of a history so many tried to bury.
Descendant (2022 )
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Physicist Ted Hall is recruited to join the Manhattan Project as a teenager and goes to Los Alamos with no idea what he'll be working on. When he learns the true nature of the weapon being designed, he fears the post-war risk of a nuclear holocaust and begins to pass significant information to the Soviet Union.
A Compassionate Spy (2022 )
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The tape-recorded words “erase it” take on new weight in the context of history and war. When the state of Israel was established in 1948, war broke out and hundreds of Palestinian villages were depopulated in its aftermath. Israelis know this as the War of Independence. Palestinians call it “Nakba” (the Catastrophe). In the late 1990s, graduate student Teddy Katz conducted research into a large-scale massacre that had allegedly occurred in the village of Tantura in 1948. His work later came under attack and his reputation was ruined, but 140 hours of audio testimonies remain.
Tantura (2022 )
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This new documentary special is about the most intact slave shipwreck found to date and the only one for which we know the full story of the voyage, the passengers and their descendants.
Clotilda: Last American Slave Ship (2022 )
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Decades after her untimely death, Princess Diana continues to evoke mystery, glamour, and the quintessential modern fairy tale gone wrong. As a symbol of both the widening fissures weakening the British monarchy and the destructive machinery of the press, the Princess of Wales navigated an unparalleled rise to fame and the corrosive challenges that came alongside it. Crafted entirely from immersive archival footage and free from the distraction of retrospective voices, this hypnotic and audaciously revealing documentary takes a distinctive formal approach, allowing the story of the People’s Princess to unfold before us like never before.
The Princess (2022 )
- Free
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Through interviews and guerilla footage of graffiti writers in action on five continents, the documentary tells the story of graffiti from its origins in prehistoric cave paintings thru its notorious explosion in New York City during the 70’s and 80’s, then follows the flames as they paint the globe.
Bomb It (2007 )
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It's 1974. Muhammad Ali is 32 and thought by many to be past his prime. George Foreman is ten years younger and the heavyweight champion of the world. Promoter Don King wants to make a name for himself and offers both fighters five million dollars apiece to fight one another, and when they accept, King has only to come up with the money. He finds a willing backer in Mobutu Sese Suko, the dictator of Zaire, and the "Rumble in the Jungle" is set, including a musical festival featuring some of America's top black performers, like James Brown and B.B. King.
When We Were Kings (1996 )
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The one-night-only celebration honoring the life and legacy of the famed producer features intimate conversations, special performances and surprise reunions that pay homage to the man behind some of television’s greatest stories in celebration of his 100th birthday.
Norman Lear: 100 Years of Music and Laughter (2022 )
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On September 19, 2017, at 1:14 p.m., an earthquake devastated Mexico City and its environs. Immediately, citizens mobilized to help, including the actor and youtuber Juanpa Zurita who quickly organized a group of friends that included singers, actors, content creators and other celebrities from the world of entertainment who helped him raise funds for the reconstruction of the city.
13:14: The Challenge of Helping (2022 )
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Acclaimed actors draw from five of Douglass’ legendary speeches, to represent a different moment in the tumultuous history of 19th century America as well as a different stage of Douglass’ long and celebrated life, while famed scholars provide context for the speeches, and remind us that Frederick Douglass’ words about racial injustice still resonate deeply today.
Frederick Douglass: In Five Speeches (2022 )
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The story of the life, loves and work of US writer Patricia Highsmith (1921-95), told through her unpublished diaries, her own voice and that of those who knew her, both family and close friends.
Loving Highsmith (2022 )
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Poet Layli Long Soldier crafts a searing portrait of her Oyate’s connection to the Black Hills, through first contact and broken treaties to the promise of the Land Back movement, in this lyrical testament to resilience of a nation.
Lakota Nation vs. United States (2022 )
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It’s the 1980s and the world of professional surfing is a circus of fluorescent colors, peroxide hair and radical male egos. "Girls Can't Surf" follows the journey of a band of renegade surfers who took on the male-dominated professional surfing world to achieve equality and change the sport forever. Featuring surfing greats Jodie Cooper, Frieda Zamba, Pauline Menczer, Lisa Andersen, Pam Burridge, Wendy Botha, Layne Beachley and more, "Girls Can't Surf" is a wild ride of clashing personalities, sexism, adventure and heartbreak, with each woman fighting against the odds to make their dreams of competing a reality.
Girls Can't Surf (2021 )
- Free
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This documentary examines the Seattle scene as it became the focus of a merging of punk rock, heavy metal, and innovation. Building from the grass roots, self-promoted and self-recorded until break-out success of bands like Nirvana brought the record industry to the Pacific Northwest, a phenomenon was born.
Hype! (1996 )
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The story of trailblazing 19th-century photographer Eadweard Muybridge, who changed the world with his camera. Artful, resilient, selfish, naive, eccentric, deceitful--Muybridge is a complicated, imperfect man and his story drips with ambition and success, loss and betrayal, near death experiences and even murder. "The machine cannot lie," Stanford declared of Muybridge's pioneering motion images. But what about the photographer?
Exposing Muybridge (2021 )
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Eighth-generation Tasmanian and environmentalist Oliver Cassidy embarks on a life-changing solo rafting trip down the beautiful yet remote Franklin River. His goal is to retrace his late father’s 14-day expedition to attend the blockade that helped save the World-Heritage listed national park from being destroyed by a huge hydroelectric dam project in the early 1980s.
Franklin (2022 )
- Free
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To mark the centenary of the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922, this documentary offers, for the first time ever, an extraordinary opportunity to meet the Pharoah , and relive those unique moments on the big screen following exclusive coverage of how 150 items from among his treasures, were moved to become part of the biggest international exhibition ever dedicated to the Golden Boy. Tutankhamun is a name that has become part of the collective imagination worldwide. Few people, however, associate his celebrity status with a combination of unique events and the stubbornness of the British archaeologist who discovered the tomb. This documentary film retraces this incredible story and offers exclusive access to some of the places which continue to pulsate with its history. “Please watch them, before they return back to Egypt forever”, said Mostafa Waziry, secretary general of the Egyptian Ministry of State for Antiquities.
Tutankhamun: The Last Exhibition (2022 )
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A documentary that chronicles the life of South African leader Nelson Mandela. Mandela is probably best known for his 27 years of imprisonment, and for bringing an end to apartheid. But this film also sheds light on the little-known early period of Mandela's life.
Mandela (1996 )
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The God of the Bible is still doing miracles today. Darren Wilson interviews Christians from various parts of the world to show how God is still working.
Finger of God (2007 )
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A look at the first years of Pixar Animation Studios - from the success of "Toy Story" and Pixar's promotion of talented people, to the building of its East Bay campus, the company's relationship with Disney, and its remarkable initial string of eight hits. The contributions of John Lasseter, Ed Catmull and Steve Jobs are profiled. The decline of two-dimensional animation is chronicled as three-dimensional animation rises. Hard work and creativity seem to share the screen in equal proportions.
The Pixar Story (2007 )
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When Bram Stoker first published his novel "Dracula" at the end of the 19th Century, few could have predicted the impact his literary vision would generate, especially the critics, who were far from receptive to his work. However, the readers of the day took Dracula to their hearts and delighted in the horror of the novel. And of course as the Hollywood movie industry developed, "Dracula" proved a perfect candidate for the silver screen. "Dracula" has become a classic icon of the horror industry, complete with swirling black cape and dripping fangs - thrilling and terrifying readers and moviegoers for more than a century, and all indications are that Dracula will continue to do so for all eternity
Bram Stoker's Dracula - A Documentary (2007 )
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The intimate bond between two identical twins is challenged when one decides to transition from male to female; this is the story of their evolving relationship, and the resurrection of their family from a darker past.
Red Without Blue (2007 )
- Free
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The amazing life story of Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman told through examples of the impact of his ideas here in the United States and throughout the world. For this program, the producers have been given exclusive access to the Friedmans and to their personal archive.
The Power of Choice (2007 )
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Garbage Warrior is a feature-length documentary film telling the epic story of maverick US architect Michael Reynolds and his fight to introduce radically sustainable housing. An extraordinary tale of triumph over bureaucracy, Garbage Warrior is above all an intimate portrait of an extraordinary individual and his dream of changing the world. Written by The Works International
Garbage Warrior (2007 )
- Free
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Crump directed the feature-length documentary film Black White + Gray: A Portrait of Sam Wagstaff + Robert Mapplethorpe, which premiered in North America at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival and in Europe at Art Basel. It explores the influence curator Sam Wagstaff, photographer Robert Mapplethorpe and musician/poet Patti Smith had on the 1970s art scene in New York City.
Black White + Gray: A Portrait of Sam Wagstaff and Robert Mapplethorpe (2007 )
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An exploration of the intersection between religion and homosexuality in the U.S. and how the religious right has used its interpretation of the Bible to stigmatize the gay community.
For the Bible Tells Me So (2007 )