Movies like Suite Tortilla #60: The New Man and the Schoolteacher (2024)

Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound (2019)

The history of cinematic sound, told by legendary sound designers and visionary filmmakers.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & history

Visions of Light (1992)

Cameramen and women discuss the craft and art of cinematography and of the "DP" (the director of photography), illustrating their points with clips from 100 films, from Birth of a Nation to Do the Right Thing. Themes: the DP tells people where to look; changes in movies (the arrival of sound, color, and wide screens) required creative responses from DPs; and, these artisans constantly invent new equipment and try new things, with wonderful results. The narration takes us through the identifiable studio styles of the 30s, the emergence of noir, the New York look, and the impact of Europeans. Citizen Kane, The Conformist, and Gordon Willis get special attention.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & history

The Apocalypse of St John (2024)

Embark on an epic journey through time and faith with 'The Apocalypse of Saint John.' Join the Apostle John in a stunning visual narrative that unravels the visions of the End Times. Experience each vision like never before, with striking visual effects and epic scenes that immerse you in the apocalyptic narrative.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & history

The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing (2004)

Documentary about the art of film editing. Clips are shown from many groundbreaking films with innovative editing styles.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & history

The War Room (1993)

A behind-the-scenes documentary about the Clinton for President campaign, focusing on the adventures of spin doctors James Carville and George Stephanopoulos.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & history

The Princess (2022)

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.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & history

Cuba and the Cameraman (2017)

This revealing portrait of Cuba follows the lives of Fidel Castro and three Cuban families affected by his policies over the last four decades.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

The Director and the Jedi (2018)

An intimate documentary delving into Rian Johnson's process as he comes in as a director new to the Star Wars universe.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

Fuck (2006)

A documentary on the expletive's origin, why it offends some people so deeply, and what can be gained from its use.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

Comandante (2003)

Oliver Stone spends three days filming with Fidel Castro in Cuba, discussing an array of subjects with the president such as his rise to power, fellow revolutionary Che Guevara, the Cuban Missile crisis, and the present state of the country.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

A Decade Under the Influence (2003)

A documentary examining the decade of the 1970s as a turning point in American cinema. Some of today's best filmmakers interview the influential directors of that time.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

Buena Vista Social Club (1999)

In this fascinating Oscar-nominated documentary, American guitarist Ry Cooder brings together a group of legendary Cuban folk musicians (some in their 90s) to record a Grammy-winning CD in their native city of Havana. The result is a spectacular compilation of concert footage from the group's gigs in Amsterdam and New York City's famed Carnegie Hall, with director Wim Wenders capturing not only the music -- but also the musicians' life stories.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

Side by Side (2012)

Since the invention of cinema, the standard format for recording moving images has been film. Over the past two decades, a new form of digital filmmaking has emerged, creating a groundbreaking evolution in the medium. Keanu Reeves explores the development of cinema and the impact of digital filmmaking via in-depth interviews with Hollywood masters, such as James Cameron, David Fincher, David Lynch, Christopher Nolan, Martin Scorsese, George Lucas, Steven Soderbergh, and many more.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

Room 237 (2012)

A subjective documentary that explores various theories about hidden meanings in Stanley Kubrick's classic film The Shining. Five very different points of view are illuminated through voice over, film clips, animation and dramatic reenactments.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

Cameraperson (2016)

As a visually radical memoir, CAMERAPERSON draws on the remarkable footage that filmmaker Kirsten Johnson has shot and reframes it in ways that illuminate moments and situations that have personally affected her. What emerges is an elegant meditation on the relationship between truth and the camera frame, as Johnson transforms scenes that have been presented on Festival screens as one kind of truth into another kind of story—one about personal journey, craft, and direct human connection.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

Feminists: What Were They Thinking? (2018)

In 1977, a book of photographs captured an awakening - women shedding the cultural restrictions of their childhoods and embracing their full humanity. This documentary revisits those photos, those women and those times and takes aim at our culture today that alarmingly shows the need for continued change.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty (2000)

A compilation of over 30 years of private home movie footage shot by Lithuanian-American avant-garde director Jonas Mekas, assembled by Mekas "purely by chance", without concern for chronological order.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

Interstellar: Nolan's Odyssey (2014)

A look behind the lens of Christopher Nolan's space epic.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

The Skywalker Legacy (2020)

The story lives forever in this feature-length documentary that charts the making of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

Aquaman: Heroines of Atlantis (2019)

Amber Heard and Nicole Kidman discuss their characters Mera and Atlanna.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

Suite Tortilla #59: The Celluloid Women (2024)

An American lesbian in Cuba explores gender through dance and film, blending personal experiences and cultural symbols with music and Revolutionary cinema and questions how lesbians fit into Cuban cinema.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary & history

Operation Peter Pan: Flying Back to Cuba (2011)

Between 1960 and 1962 more than 14,000 cuban children were sent alone by their parents to the USA. This clandestine operation -with the participation of the CIA and the Catholic Church- became known as "Operation Peter Pan". Many of the parents had expected to follow their children, who had been granted visa waivers by the US government, but the Missile Crisis terminated the flights between the two countries and the children found themselves stranded in the USA. In 2009, for the first time a group of the Peter Pan children, now adults visited Cuba to give "closure and make peace with the land where they were born".

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary & history

Che Guevara, naissance d'un mythe (2017)

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary & history

American Comandante (2015)

When he was executed outside a Havana prison on March 11, 1961, the strange story of William Morgan seemed to vanish from the popular imagination as quickly as it had appeared. William Alexander Morgan was one of only a couple dozen US citizens who joined Cuban rebel forces, fighting for Fidel Castro in 1957. With government documents recently declassified, new information has come to light and Morgan’s story has come back into the public eye. American Comandante has the makings of a Cold War thriller— with adventure, spies and historical figures such as J. Edgar Hoover and Chè Guevera. Eyewitness accounts from Morgan’s widow and several Cubans who fought alongside him, as well as commentary from journalists and biographers, tell the story of a man who transformed from a failure to a hero and celebrity. American Comandante is a quintessential American story of a man who reinvented himself.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary & history

Final Days of Che Guevara (TBA)

A documentary featuring the testimonies of encounters with Che Guevara during his final days spent fighting in Bolivia.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary & history

Che Guevara: The making of an icon (2014)

How does a politician – assassinated more than 50 years ago – gradually become a public figure? An extremely vibrant image which shows up where you least expect it. It served as figurehead for the Arab Spring revolutions, from Rabat to Sanaa, whereas we had thought it had been relegated to t-shirts and cigarette lighters. Why has this image become so universal that we are no longer surprised to find it in drawings, graffiti, tattoos and prints on all types of media in all sorts of contexts the world over? How can this image be used to advertise luxury automobiles and also be brandished angrily by indignant agitators? What is the formula that made this figure go viral? This documentary is a journey to investigate and decode a piece of iconography.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary & history

Fidel: The Untold Story (2001)

Documentary about Fidel Castro, covering 40 years of Cuban Revolution. Rare Fidel Castro footage: he appears swimming with a bodyguard, visiting his childhood home and school, playing with his friend Nelson Mandela, meeting kid Elián Gonzalez, and celebrating his birthday with the Buena Vista Social Club group.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary & history

Fidel Castro: America's Nemesis (2016)

Fidel Castro, the former President of Cuba and one of the most controversial figures of the 20th century, passed away in November. He famously claimed that "history will absolve me", but will it? This special film considers Castro and his legacy.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both history & documentary

The Crazy Che (2015)

The incredible story of Bill Gaede, an Argentinian engineer, programmer… and Cold War spy.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary & history

Che: Part One (2008)

Ernesto Guevara, known as 'Che', leads a group of Cuban exiles under Fidel Castro in a revolution to overthrow Fulgencio Batista, the dictator of Cuba.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both history