newportFILM, a local non-profit that brings year-round programming on the issues that matter to our local community, believes in the power of documentary film to inspire, motivate, and entertain - something we could undoubtedly all use a little more of in these strange times.
The below documentaries were previously featured in newportFILM's programming and can be found right now on Netflix.
CRIP CAMP: A REVOLUTIONARY DISABILITY
Genres: Social and Cultural Documentaries, Political Documentaries
Length: 102 Minutes
Directors: James Lebrecht, Nicole Newnham
Availability: Coming March 25
Down the road from Woodstock, a revolution blossomed in a ramshackle summer camp for teenagers with disabilities, transforming their lives and igniting a landmark movement. CRIP CAMP: A DISABILITY REVOLUTION is an untold story co-directed by Emmy® Award winner Nicole Newnham and film mixer and former camper Jim LeBrecht. Executive producers include President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama, Tonia Davis and Priya Swaminathan, and Oscar® nominee Howard Gertler (How to Survive a Plague).
THE GAME CHANGERS
Genres: Food and Travel TV, Sports Documentaries
Length: 87 minutes
Director: Louie Psihoyos
ECHO IN THE CANYON
Genres: Music and Concert Documentaries
Length: 82 minutes
Director: Andrew Slater
Echo In The Canyon celebrates the explosion of popular music that came out of LA’s Lauren Canyon in the mid-60’s as folk went electric and The Byrds, The Beach Boys, Buffalo Springfield, and The Mamas and the Papas gave birth to the California Sound. It was a moment (1965 to 1967) when bands came to LA to emulate The Beatles and Laurel Canyon emerged as a hotbed of creativity and collaboration for a new generation of musicians who would soon put an indelible stamp on the history of American popular music.
WOODSTOCK
Genres: Music and Concert Documentaries, Political Documentaries
Length: 96 minutes
Director: Barak Goodman
With never-before-seen footage, WOODSTOCK: THREE DAYS THAT DEFINED A GENERATION tells the story of the political and social upheaval leading up to those three historic days, as well as the extraordinary events of the concert itself, when near disaster put the ideals of the counterculture to the test.What took place in that teeming mass of humanity—the rain-soaked, starving, tripping, half-a-million strong throng of young people—was nothing less than a miracle of unity, a manifestation of the “peace and love” the festival had touted, and a validation of the counterculture’s promise to the world.
THE GREAT HACK
Genre: Documentary Films
Length: 113 minutes
Directors: Karim Amer, Jeanne Noujam
Data has surpassed oil as the world’s most valuable asset. It’s being weaponized to wage cultural and political warfare. People everywhere are in a battle for control of our most intimate personal details. From award-winning filmmakers Karim Amer and Jehane Noujaim, THE GREAT HACK uncovers the dark world of data exploitation with astounding access to personal journeys of key players on different sides of the explosive Cambridge Analytica/Facebook data scandal.
THE DEVIL WE KNOW
Genres: Science and Nature Docs, Social and Cultural Docs
Length: 88 minutes
Directors: Stephanie Soechtig, Jeremy Seifert
Unraveling one of the biggest environmental scandals of our time, a group of citizens in West Virginia take on a powerful corporation after they discover it has knowingly been dumping a toxic chemical – now found in the blood of 99.7% of Americans – into the drinking water supply.
LIFE IN THE DOGHOUSE
Genres: Animal Docs
Length: 83 minutes
Director: Ron Davis
Life in the Doghouse, directed by Ron Davis the award-winning filmmaker of the NY Times Critic’s pick and 2016 box-office hit, Harry and Snowman, tells the inspiring life stories of these two men and the selfless work they continue to do. With a no-kennel policy, there can be as many as 75 dogs living with them in their home at any given time; the dogs also join them on the horse show circuit on their journey of finding their “forever home”. Danny & Ron were honored with the 2008 ASPCA Humanitarian Award for their unwavering personal sacrifice and unique approach to dog rescue & adoption during hurricane Katrina.
STUDIO 54
Genres: Social and Cultural Docs
Length: 98 minutes
Director: Matt Tyrnauer
Studio 54 was the epicenter of 70s hedonism — a place that not only redefined the nightclub, but also came to symbolize an entire era. Its co-owners, Ian Schrager and Steve Rubell, two friends from Brooklyn, seemed to come out of nowhere to suddenly preside over a new kind of New York society. Now, 39 years after the velvet rope was first slung across the club’s hallowed threshold, a feature documentary tells the real story behind the greatest club of all time.
BILL NYE: SCIENCE GUY
Genres: Science and Nature Docs, Biographical Documentaries
Length: 97 minutes
Director: David Alvarado + Jason Sussberg
Bill Nye is a man on a mission: to stop the spread of anti-scientific thinking across the world. The former star of the popular kids show “Bill Nye The Science Guy” is now the CEO of The Planetary Society, an organization founded by Bill’s mentor Carl Sagan, where he’s launching a solar propelled spacecraft into the cosmos and advocating for the importance of science, research, and discovery in public life. With intimate and exclusive access–as well as plenty of wonder and whimsy–this behind-the-scenes portrait of Nye follows him as he takes off his Science Guy lab coat and takes on those who deny climate change, evolution, and a science-based world view. The film features Bill Nye, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Ann Druyan, and many others.
BIG TIME
Genre: Biographical Documentaries
Length: 93 minutes
Director: Kaspar Astrup Schroder
Bjarke Ingels’ company Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) has been given the task of designing and building one of the skyscrapers, which will replace the Twin Towers, which collapsed on the 11th of September 2001 in Manhattan. While Bjarke is creating a building, which will change the New York skyline, he is hit by health-related issues. The Film offers an intimate look into the innovative and ambitious Danish architect, whom the entire world is celebrating as a genius.
TROPHY
Genre: Science and Nature Docs, Nature and Ecology Documentaries
Length: 109 minutes
Directors: Shaul Schwarz and Christina Clusiau
Endangered African species like elephants, rhinos and lions march closer to extinction each year. Their devastating decline is fueled in part by a global desire to consume these majestic animals. Trophy investigates the powerhouse industries of big-game hunting, breeding and wildlife conservation. Through the eyes of impassioned individuals who drive these industries – from a Texas-based trophy hunter to the world’s largest private rhino breeder in South Africa – the film grapples with the consequences of imposing economic value on animals. What are the implications of treating animals as commodities? Do breeding, farming and hunting offer some of the few remaining options to conserve our endangered animals? Trophy will leave you debating what is right, what is wrong and what is necessary in order to save the great species of the world.
RESTLESS CREATURE
Genre: Biographical Documentaries
Length: 90 minutes
Directors: Linda Saffire, Adam Schlesinger
RESTLESS CREATURE: WENDY WHELAN offers an intimate portrait of prima ballerina Wendy Whelan as she prepares to leave New York City Ballet after a record-setting three decades with the company. One of the modern era’s most acclaimed dancers, Whelan was a principal ballerina for NYCB and, over the course of her celebrated career, danced numerous ballets by George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins, as well as new works by more modern standout choreographers like Christopher Wheeldon and Alexei Ratmansky; many roles were made specifically for Whelan.
CLIVE DAVIS: THE SOUNDTRACK OF OUR LIVES
Genre: Music and Concert Documentaries, Biographical Documentaries
Length: 123 minutes
Director: Chris Perkel
Chris Perkel’s riveting profile of legendary music man Clive Davis spans a remarkable five-decade career, providing an incredible tour of the most sensational music of the cultural revolution, from the ’60s to the rise of hip-hop. Bruce Springsteen, Whitney Houston, Santana, Aretha Franklin, Barry Manilow, Patti Smith, Alicia Keys, Sean “Puffy” Combs, and a great many more attest to Davis as, in Aretha Franklin’s words, “the greatest record man of all time.” This amazing film is definitive, fascinating and ceaselessly entertaining proof.
CHASING CORAL
Genre: Science and Nature Docs, Nature and Ecology Documentaries
Length: 93 minutes
Director: Jeff Orlowski
The team follows Richard Vevers, a former ad man, who left his advertising career to become an underwater photographer. Captivated by the magic of the reefs, he sets out to reveal the oceans to the world. He meets with the world’s most brilliant coral scientists and learns of a horrific event unfolding: an underwater heatwave is killing corals around the planet. With young scientist and self-proclaimed “coral nerd” Zackery Rago, the film team ventures to remote regions of the planet, racing the clock and battling the unpredictable nature of the ocean to document this beautiful yet haunting phenomenon.
BOMBSHELL
Genre: Historical Documentaries, Biographical Documentaries
Length: 90 minutes
Director: Alexandra Dean
An Austrian Jewish emigre who invented a covert communication system to try and help defeat the Nazis, Hedy gave her patent to the Navy, but was ignored and told to sell kisses for war bonds instead. It was only towards the very end of her life that tech pioneers discovered her concept which is now used as the basis for secure WiFi, GPS and Bluetooth. Hedy never publicly talked about her life as an inventor and so her family thought her story died when she did. But in 2016, debut director Alexandra Dean and producer Adam Haggiag unearthed four never-before-heard audio tapes of Hedy speaking on the record about her incredible life. Combining this newly discovered interview with intimate reflections from her children, closest friends, family and admirers, including Mel Brooks and Robert Osborne, BOMBSHELL finally gives Hedy Lamarr the chance to tell her own story.
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