One of the most provocative and compelling documentaries out there. An expose about the American food system, looking at both crops and livestock. Explores the political, economic, environmental and social impacts. It's a pretty bleak picture, but it offers some hope. Leads to great thought and discussion. A must watch for everyone who eats food.
A look at the abuse of orcas kept in captivity, focusing on SeaWorld. This one is pretty depressing. I cried. It sparked quite the anti-SeaWorld movement and for good reason. The abuse of the orcas is terrible enough on its own, but the trainers and keepers have often been injured or killed as well. In a powerful point, the documentary mentions that no orca has ever harmed a person in the wild, despite close contact.
Another must-see. Breathtaking visuals of the receding glaciers, and a really clear, concrete picture of climate change and its impacts. Well worth the years it took to produce. I believe this could convince any climate-change-denier of out bleak reality. However, it's not overly fatalistic and does offer some hope for change.
A holistic and educating look at water issues in the U.S. and worldwide. It looks at the issues of both quantity and quality. Again, there are a lot of concerns about water, but the documentary is mostly hopeful and offers plenty of possibilities on how to deal with problems. One of the best optimistic points is that the concern about "water wars" isn't really a valid concern; more often than not, nations have come together peacefully to solve common problems with water use.
A moving look at food insecurity in the U.S. It focuses on personal stories, and also broadens the issue to national trends, and explores the root of the problem: not a lack of food, but poverty itself. In the U.S. there is usually not hunger from a complete lack of food. Often, it is lack of affordable, nutritious food. Because of this, the documentary focuses on the reasons why healthy food is so much more experience and inaccessible. It doesn't have to be this way; there are ways to improve our system.
This deeply-affecting documentary focuses on childhood obesity in America. It makes fantastic points about how we have a carefully constructed bias against overweight people which makes it very hard for them to get the help they need. It places the blame squarely on food producers for obscuring the facts, and on the government for allowing private interests to have such an impact and subsidizing them so heavily. After I watched this, I was even more aware of what I was putting in my body at every meal time.
This documentary is very well made, and looks at the personal journey of director Tom Shadyac. It asks what happiness is and how we can achieve it. I love the message of human connection. It is perhaps a little cheesy (okay, very cheesy) but it's worth the watch.
This documentary is actually quite terrifying. It looks at an evangelical camp for children, and the families involved. Their daily lives are so incomprehensible to me, a known liberal atheist. However, I don't think the documentary is unfair or tries to demonize them. It has little commentary: just turns on the camera and lets them speak. And it's impossible to look away.
This is one of my dad's favorites. It's a documentary about the life of Shane McConkey, who basically invented extreme trick skiing. It's amazing to watch his evolution. It has a sad ending though, since McConkey died in a skiing accident.
For any TV nerd like me, this is a must-see. It illustrates the evolution of American television, and focuses on today as a new "golden age" of television.
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