With access to the outside world temporarily cut off, now is the perfect time to learn about something new or deepen your understanding of an interest area. With over 1000 titles to choose from, DocPlay has a huge selection of critically-acclaimed, uplifting, inspiring and educational documentaries that will not only entertain, but also pull on the heart strings. From true crime, to fashion, music, history, travel and everything in between, here are 10 of the very best documentaries to binge-watch during lockdown.
The Painter and the Thief
The unlikely bond between a criminal and his victim as the canvas for a compelling portrait of compassion and forgiveness. When two paintings are stolen from Oslo-based artist Barbora Kysilkova, the police catch the thieves within a few days. But the paintings are never found. Barbora attends the court case hoping to find clues for where they can be but finds herself compelled to walk over to one of the criminals to ask another question: “I wonder if I could paint you?” Thief Karl-Bertil answers without hesitation: “That would be possible.” Thus begins the relationship between an artist and her unlikely muse—which soon evolves into an even more unlikely friendship. Barbora eventually becomes Karl-Bertil’s closest ally when he is severely hurt in a car crash and needs full time care. Filmed over three years, the documentary follows a remarkable story of human connection that takes turns that one could never have imagined.
Cities by the Sea
Marine gateways to the world. Cities by the sea are intrinsically defined by their position by the sea, an openness to the world, and a spirit of discovery and adventure. With the curious eyes of a stranger, the series wanders through: Barcelona, Dakar, Copenhagen, Tel Aviv, Vancouver, Hong Kong, Melbourne, St.Petersburg, Hamburg and Marseille.
Laurel Canyon
The centre of the '60s musical revolution. Laurel Canyon is a two-part doc series that pulls back the curtain on a mythical world and provides an up-close look at the lives of the musicians who inhabited it. Through a wealth of rare and newly unearthed footage and audio recordings, the series features an intimate portrait of the artists who created a musical revolution that changed popular culture. Uniquely immersive and experiential, this event takes us back in time to a place where a rustic canyon in the heart of Los Angeles became a musical petri dish.
Featuring the music of Joni Mitchell, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, The Doors, Linda Ronstadt, Eagles, and many more.
Collective
When government fails, we all pay the price. In 2015, a fire at Bucharest’s Colectiv club leaves 27 dead and 180 injured. Soon, more burn victims begin dying in hospitals from wounds that were not life-threatening. Then a doctor blows the whistle to a team of investigative journalists. One revelation leads to another as the journalists start to uncover vast health care fraud. When a new health minister is appointed, he offers unprecedented access to his efforts to reform the corrupt system but also to the obstacles he faces. Winner of over 20 awards, and selected as Romania’s Academy Awards entry for Best International Film, COLLECTIVE follows journalists, whistle-blowers, burn victims, and government officials in its uncompromising look at the impact of investigative journalism at its best.
Academy Award Nominee for Best Documentary 2021.
Crimes That Made History
Revisit a page of our shocking, shared history. Some crimes have become sensational news stories and their memories are now part of our popular culture. From Jack the Ripper to Roswell and Lady Di, each episode revisits a page of our shared history. Sensational news stories of violent crimes, accidents and suicides act as intermittent reminders of how minor or major transgressions can wreck our lives. Each episode in this series revisits a fascinating page of our shared history, meticulously decoding and deconstructing a sensational news item that was unjustly disdained by historians and generally left to the sensationalist press.
The Family
An incendiary, heartbreaking investigation into one of Australia’s most notorious cults, and the scars its survivors still bear today. Anne Hamilton-Byrne was beautiful, charismatic and delusional. She was also incredibly dangerous. Convinced she was a living god, Hamilton-Byrne headed an apocalyptic sect called The Family, which was prominent in Melbourne from the 1960s to the 1990s. With her husband Bill, she acquired numerous children – some through adoption scams, some born to cult members – and raised them as her own. Isolated from the outside world, the children were dressed in matching outfits, had identically dyed blonde hair, and were allegedly beaten, starved and injected with LSD. Taught that Hamilton-Byrne was both their mother and the messiah, the children were eventually rescued during a police raid in 1987, but their trauma had only just begun.
Whitney
An in-depth look at the life and music of Whitney Houston. Directed by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Kevin Macdonald (MARLEY, TOUCHING THE VOID) and from two-time Academy Award-winning producer Simon Chinn (MAN ON WIRE, SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN), WHITNEY gives audiences an unprecedented and unique look into Whitney Houston’s life. This is an unflinching and honest portrait of a rare talent told by those closest to her. Made with full access to her family and collaborators, the film showcases exclusive audio and never-before-seen video archive from her time as a recording artist and performer. By casting her story and her work in a new and revealing light, WHITNEY reassesses the life and legacy of one of music’s biggest stars.
History Uncovered
What if the historical truth was slightly different?Myths die hard, and the history of the 20th century is no exception to the rule. Even now, there are dubious notions that we still take for gospel truth. What if the historical truth was slightly different? This archive-based documentary collection revisits key moments in the 20th century from a new perspective in order to provide a subtler and more thoughtful interpretation, shedding light on elements that have been forgotten or sometimes overshadowed.
Episodes:
1. OPERATION OVERLORD: A Massive Victory?
2. SWITZERLAND AND WWII: An Exemplary Neutrality?
3. THE DENAZIFICATION OF GERMANY: A Successful Process?
4. THE BRITISH EMPIRE: A Model of Decolonization?
5. JOHN-PAUL II: A Modern Pope?
6. RONALD REAGAN: An Unqualified President?
Halston
High Fashion. High Finance. High Life. Experience the glitz and glamour of Studio 54-era New York, the thrilling struggle between Halston’s artistic legacy and the pressures of big business, and witness the rise and fall of an empire. As America’s first superstar designer, Halston created an empire and personified the dramatic cultural and sexual revolution of the 20th century. Moving beyond Halston’s embodiment of 1970s glamour, Tcheng reveals an intimate story about Halston’s impact on fashion, culture, and business.
Girls Can't Surf
An empowering history of badass women. The untold story of how a band of renegade surfer girls in the 1980s fought to create their own professional sport, changing surf culture forever. It’s the 1980s and the world of professional surfing is a circus of fluoro colours, 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.
