The story of Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata, who led a rebellion against the corrupt, oppressive dictatorship of president Porfirio Díaz in the early 20th century.
A young Catholic priest from Boston confronts bigotry, Nazism, and his own personal conflicts as he rises to the office of cardinal.
This fragmentary documentary was prepared at the request of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences by Yoshio Osawa of the J.O. Studios in Kyoto, Japan, to illustrate current progress in Japanese sound picture technique. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive.
The assassination of Pancho Villa, on the outskirts of Parral, Chihuahua, plunged the city into mourning, and a wake for the revolutionary hero was held by his closest collaborators. Conspicuous among the mourners were the four women with whom Villa was having intimate relationships at the time of his death. Now that Villa is no longer around to mediate and keep them apart, tensions between the women grow and intensify, with unexpected consequences. An intimate and human portrait of the Centaur of the North.
"Patton" tells the tale of General George S. Patton, famous tank commander of World War II. The film begins with Patton's career in North Africa and progresses through the invasion of Germany and the fall of the Third Reich. Side plots also speak of Patton's numerous faults such his temper and habit towards insubordination.
This fascinating making-of documentary investigates the controversy and political atmosphere surrounding the production of Salt of the Earth, movingly chronicling the filmmakers' defiance of the blacklist. (BAM) Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2015.
A documentary on the Wilmington 10, 9 afro-Americans and 1 white woman who were unjustly imprisoned. 4K digital restoration by the Academy Film Archive released in 2021.
As the west rapidly becomes civilized, a pair of outlaws in 1890s Wyoming find themselves pursued by a posse and decide to flee to South America in hopes of evading the law.
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 light equipment in order to follow their subjects in a more intimate filmmaking style. This unconventional way of filming created a new look for documentary films where the camera’s lens was right in the middle of what ever drama was occurring. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with The Film Foundation in 1998.
This film reveals through flashbacks how a 13-year-old boy and his family attempt to deal with the child's fatal affliction with leukemia. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2012.
Mixing narrative and documentary, the film retells a 16 year old girl's experience of a date rape.
The film portraits the stage previous to the outbreak of the Mexican Revolution, from the end of Porfirio Díaz´ government, the social volatility, the ephemeral government of Madero and the presence of the working class in the figures of Villa and Zapata, until the signing if the Constitution of 1917. All of this through moving images, filmed during those events mainly by the Alva brothers, filmmakers of that time. Those images let us perceive the contradictory and shuddered glance of the people of that period.
Albert and David Maysles (Gimme Shelter) directed this 53-minute documentary about movie tycoon Joseph E. Levine (1963). Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2012.
This short film takes a look at the off-screen personas of screen actors. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2012.
Thomas Becket, Henry II's longtime advisor, finds his friendship with the debauched king corroding when he is unwillingly appointed as Archbishop of Canterbury in an attempt to gain absolute loyalty from the Church.
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 microcosm by Madison, Indiana. It was created primarily for exhibition abroad, to provide international audiences a more well-rounded view of America, and was therefore produced in more than 20 translations. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2012.
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 from both China and India. Ray's documentary is about the sovereignty of Sikkim. The film was banned by the government of India when Sikkim merged with India in 1975. The ban was finally lifted by the Ministry of External Affairs in September 2010. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2007.
A thorough analysis of the socio-politics of Mexico, within the historical context of the Mexican Revolution reality. Includes footage from the 1910s, interviews with farmers, politicians, intellectuals, middle class, union, etc, as well as scenes from the life of an Indian family in Chiapas, their religious rituals, their crops, trials and bilingual schools. The film ends with the slaughter in the Plaza de Tlatelolco in 1968, during the infamous Olympics.
An early short film by Penelope Spheeris about a boy enjoying the age-old pleasures of making a wish on a dandelion. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2016.
Every school day, African-American teenagers William Gates and Arthur Agee travel 90 minutes each way from inner-city Chicago to St. Joseph High School in Westchester, Illinois, a predominately white suburban school well-known for the excellence of its basketball program. Gates and Agee dream of NBA stardom, and with the support of their close-knit families, they battle the social and physical obstacles that stand in their way. This acclaimed documentary was shot over the course of five years.