Channel 4's "50 Greatest Documentaries"
The 50 Greatest Documentaries was a Channel 4 television programme which was broadcast on 9 October 2005 and was narrated by British actress, Zoë Wanamaker. The list was compiled based on the nominations submitted to Channel 4 by a series of factual filmmakers.
Some entries are imperfect as explained within their description and numbers 34 - "Signs of the Times" (1992) and 35 - "An Impossible Job: Graham Taylor" (1993) are unfortunately totally absent as there is no entry in IMDb for them.
Some entries are imperfect as explained within their description and numbers 34 - "Signs of the Times" (1992) and 35 - "An Impossible Job: Graham Taylor" (1993) are unfortunately totally absent as there is no entry in IMDb for them.
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- DirectorPaul AlmondStarsDouglas KeayBruce BaldenJacqueline BassettIn this the first installment, we get a chance to meet some of the individuals who took on the responsibility of the 7 Up project, 21-years-ago - Tony, Bruce, Suzi, Nick and Peter.This is for the entire "Up" series; Seven Up! (1964), Seven Plus 7 (1970), 21 Up (1977), 28 Up (1984), 35 Up (1991), 42 Up (1998) & 49 Up (2005). Another instalment is due in 2012.
- DirectorKevin MacdonaldStarsSimon YatesJoe SimpsonBrendan MackeyThe true story of two climbers and their perilous journey up the west face of Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes in 1985.
- DirectorMichael MooreStarsMichael MooreCharlton HestonMarilyn MansonFilmmaker Michael Moore explores the roots of America's predilection for gun violence.
- StarsLaurence OlivierAverell HarrimanAnthony EdenA groundbreaking 26-part documentary series narrated by the actor Laurence Olivier about the deadliest conflict in history, World War II.
- DirectorAndrew JareckiStarsArnold FriedmanJesse FriedmanDavid FriedmanDocumentary on the Friedmans, a seemingly typical, upper-middle-class Jewish family whose world is instantly transformed when the father and his youngest son are arrested and charged with shocking and horrible crimes.
- DirectorPatrick CollertonStarsEdna KennedyJonny KennedyNell McAndrewA year ago, 36-year-old Jonny Kennedy died. He had a terrible genetic condition called Dystrophic Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB) - which meant that his skin literally fell off at the slightest touch, leaving his body covered in agonizing sores and leading to a final fight against skin cancer. In his last months Jonny decided to work with filmmaker Patrick Collerton to document his life and death, and the result was a film, first broadcast in March, that was an uplifting, confounding and provocatively humorous story of a singular man. Not shying away from the grim reality of EB, the film was also a celebration of a life lived to the full.
- StarsDavid AttenboroughDavid Attenborough's groundbreaking study of the evolution of life on our planet.
- DirectorMichael MooreStarsMichael MooreGeorge W. BushBen AffleckMichael Moore's view on what happened to the United States after 9/11 and how the Bush Administration allegedly used the tragic event to push forward its agenda for unjust wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
- DirectorLeon GastStarsMuhammad AliGeorge ForemanDon KingBoxing documentary on the 1974 world heavyweight championship bout between defending champion, George Foreman, and the underdog challenger, Muhammad Ali.
- StarsMichael KitchenTamara Czartoryski-BorbonDonna BerlinEntertaining transformational battles against the odds. Intrepid volunteers are plucked from their natural habitat and given just four weeks to master a skill well enough to fool a panel of expert judges.
- DirectorSteve JamesStarsWilliam GatesArthur AgeeEmma GatesA film following the lives of two inner-city Chicago boys who struggle to become college basketball players on the road to going professional.
- StarsGeorge CarmanJulian ManyonSAS execute 3 unarmed IRA Volunteers in Gibraltar. Witnesses discuss the British Military cover up.
- DirectorNick BroomfieldStarsNick BroomfieldEugene Terre'BlancheJ.P. MeyerFrom the award-winning Director Nick Broomfield, The Leader, His Driver, and the Driver's Wife portrays the sinister and comic sides of Eugene Terre'Blanche, leader of the neo-Nazi AWB Afrikaner Party in South Africa.
- DirectorKevin MacdonaldStarsMichael DouglasAnkie SpitzerJamal Al GasheyThe Palestinian terrorist group Black September holds Israeli athletes hostage at the 1972 Summer Olympic Games in Munich.
- DirectorPaul HamannStarsBobby ButlerDonald CabanaMelanie ChristopherFourteen Days in May is a documentary film directed by Paul Hamann and originally shown on television by the British Broadcasting Corporation in 1987. The programme recounts the final days before the execution of Edward Earl Johnson, an American prisoner convicted of rape and murder and imprisoned in the Mississippi State Penitentiary. Johnson protested his innocence and claimed that his confession had been made under duress. He was executed in Mississippi's gas chamber on 20 May 1987.
- StarsTerry WilkinsKaren WilkinsTom Bernes"The Family" (1974) is one of the first "reality" shows in the history of television. Modelled after the US TV series "An American Family (1972), this 12-part series documents the daily life of a working-class family from Reading, UK.
- DirectorHarry WattBasil WrightStarsArthur ClarkJohn GriersonStuart LeggShows the special train on which mail is sorted, dropped and collected on the run, and delivered in Scotland overnight.
- StarsSamuel WestAdolf BuchnerJutta RüdigerAn examination of how a cultured people could have allowed Adolf Hitler's rise to power.
- DirectorMorgan SpurlockStarsMorgan SpurlockDaryl IsaacsChemeeka WalkerWhile examining the influence of the fast food industry, Morgan Spurlock personally explores the consequences on his health of a diet of solely McDonald's food for one month.
- StarsRobin EllisSlobodan MilosevicFranjo TudjmanThis documentary series covers the struggles of the Yugoslavian people during the collapse of their country, and the subsequent wars to finally find hope with the signing of the Final Peace Accords.
- StarsNikolay DrozdovKenneth BranaghAvery BrooksDocumentary-style series about the era of the dinosaurs, mixing real locations and CGI.
- DirectorNick BroomfieldJoan ChurchillStarsAileen WuornosNick BroomfieldTerry Humphreys-SlayNick Broomfield's second documentary about serial killer Aileen Wuornos, focusing on her mental state on death row.
- DirectorPhil AglandStarsLisa LuFollowing the lives of ordinary Chinese residents of the old quarter of a city. A kindly doctor, a disabled child 'little sparrow' gossiping elderly ladies and middle makers. A fascinating and gentle series from film maker Phil Angland.
- DirectorAlan YentobStarsDavid BowieBBC documentary showing David Bowie looking back on his Ziggy Stardust character during his Diamond Dogs tour.
- StarsJeremy VineMark DalyThis entry is for the 2003 documentary "The Secret Policeman" for which this is a sequel, however there is no IMDb page for the original.