1982

A Crime to Fit the Punishment

8/1

This fascinating making-of documentary investigates the controversy and political atmosphere surrounding the production of Salt of the Earth, movingly...

Watch Now

A Crime to Fit the Punishment

1971

Sikkim

6.667/3

Satyajit Ray's poetic documentary was commissioned by the Chogyal (King) of Sikkim at a time when he felt the sovereignty of Sikkim was under threat f...

Watch Now

Sikkim

1969

The Sun's Gonna Shine

6.875/8

A lyrical recreation of Lightnin’ Hopkins’ decision at age eight to stop chopping cotton and start singing for a living. Preserved by the Academy Fil...

Watch Now

The Sun's Gonna Shine

1983

I Be Done Been Was Is

0/0

A documentary about four African-American comediennes set in 1984. Restored in 2021 by the Academy Film Archive. 

Watch Now

I Be Done Been Was Is

1944

The Town

6/3

The Town was a short propaganda film produced by the Office of War Information in 1945. It presents an idealized vision of American life, shown in mic...

Watch Now

The Town

1968

God Respects Us When We Work, But Loves Us When We Dance

5.615/13

Les Blank's poetic documentation of 1967's Los Angeles Easter Sunday Love-In. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2002.

Watch Now

God Respects Us When We Work, But Loves Us When We Dance

1960

Primary

6.475/40

Primary is a documentary film about the primary elections between John F. Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey in 1960. Primary is the first documentary to use...

Watch Now

Primary

1976

Not a Pretty Picture

7.75/6

Mixing narrative and documentary, the film retells a 16 year old girl's experience of a date rape.

Watch Now

Not a Pretty Picture

1950

Screen Actors

6.333/3

This short film takes a look at the off-screen personas of screen actors. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2012.

Watch Now

Screen Actors

1941

Women in Defense

5.6/5

Short documentary extolling the virtues and necessity for women to participate in America's preparation for war, showing women working in scientific,...

Watch Now

Women in Defense

1994

Hoop Dreams

7.576/330

Every school day, African-American teenagers William Gates and Arthur Agee travel 90 minutes each way from inner-city Chicago to St. Joseph High Schoo...

Watch Now

Hoop Dreams

1945

Appointment in Tokyo

6.4/5

Produced by the Army Pictorial Service, Signal Corps, with the cooperation of the Army Air Forces and the United States Navy, and released by Warner B...

Watch Now

Appointment in Tokyo

1982

Burden of Dreams

7.556/149

The Amazon rain forest, 1979. The crew of Fitzcarraldo (1982), a film directed by German director Werner Herzog, soon finds itself with problems relat...

Watch Now

Burden of Dreams

1977

Harlan County U.S.A.

7.487/114

This film documents the coal miners' strike against the Brookside Mine of the Eastover Mining Company in Harlan County, Kentucky in June, 1973. Eastov...

Watch Now

Harlan County U.S.A.

1942

The Battle of Midway

5.894/80

The Japanese attack on Midway in June 1942, filmed as it happened. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive, in partnership with Twentieth Century Fox F...

Watch Now

The Battle of Midway

1975

The Man Who Skied Down Everest

6.762/21

This Oscar-winning documentary tells the story behind Japanese daredevil Yuichiro Miura's 1970 effort to ski down the world's tallest mountain.

Watch Now

The Man Who Skied Down Everest

1950

The Costume Designer

10/1

This short focuses on the job of the costume designer in the production of motion pictures. The costume designer must design clothing that is correct...

Watch Now

The Costume Designer

1951

The Extraordinary Adventures of a Quart of Milk

10/1

Documentary short subject preserved by the Academy Film Archive, from the Marshall Plan Collection, in 2003.

Watch Now

The Extraordinary Adventures of a Quart of Milk

1949

The Art Director

7/2

A film's art director is in charge of the set, from conception to construction to furnishing. This short film walks the viewer through art directors'...

Watch Now

The Art Director

1963

The Chair

7.5/2

Follows a crusading lawyer as he embarks on a campaign to save an African-American man, Paul Crump, from the electric chair. Preserved by the Academy...

Watch Now

The Chair