HBO Documentary Films
Description
Documents Barack Obama's history-making road to the White House as the nation's first African-American president. Follows the former Senator from his decision to throw his hat in the ring to his historic election, and inauguration. Includes interviews, candid moments with his wife Michelle, and his daughters, Malia and Sasha, plus his senior campaign staff, his supporters, aids, and the media.
2) 41: [his family, his triumphs, his legacy : inside the life of George H.W. Bush, an American leader]
Description
From his beloved summer home in Kennebunkport, ME, where he has come nearly every year since childhood, George Herbert Walker Bush, the 41st President of the United States, tells the story of his life. Capturing the president while driving around the property in a golf cart as he shares the history of the house and its surrounding structures and sitting for one-on-one interviews, 41 offers a rare glimpse at the life and times of a living former president....
Description
In 1994, Oregon became the first state to legalize physician-assisted suicide. Since then, more than 500 Oregonians have taken their mortality into their own hands. Filmmaker Peter Richardson gently enters the lives of the terminally ill as they consider whether--and when--to end their lives by lethal overdose. Richardson examines both sides of the complex, emotionally charged issue. What emerges is a life-affirming, staggeringly powerful portrait...
Description
Tells the story of the closing of the once-mighty General Motors Assembly Plant in Moraine, Ohio, as lived by the workers on the factory line. Follows the months and weeks leading to the last day of the plant, as workers come to terms with saying goodbye to jobs and a community they loved.
Description
"This film explores "the rise and fall of Theranos, the one-time multibillion-dollar healthcare company founded by Elizabeth Holmes. In 2004, Elizabeth Holmes dropped out of Stanford to start a company that was going to revolutionize healthcare, and in 2014, Theranos was valued at $9 billion--making Holmes, the youngest self-made female billionaire in the world. Two years later, her company was cited as a 'massive fraud' by the SEC, and its value...
Description
"In the early morning hours of May 1, 2005, Wendy Maldonado, a mother of four in Grant Pass, Oregon, called 911 in hysterics. 'I just killed my husband,' she confessed, adding, 'I just want my kids to be safe.' When the operator asked how long her husband had abused her, Maldonado replied, 'Every f---ing day of my life.' The film follows Maldonado and her family in the days before she begins serving a ten-year sentence for the crime ... Drawing on...
Description
As she demonstrates in this uproarious and often poignant performance, Carrie Fisher is not just an accomplished actress, screenwriter and best selling author. She's the offspring of showbiz royalty, daughter of celebrated actress Debbie Reynolds and crooner Eddie Fisher, whose very public affair with Elizabeth Taylor ended a storybook marriage. Revealed is the not-so-glittering side of being a celebrity, combining wry wit and raw facts to humanize...
8) Addiction
Description
Strives to break through the myths and explain what addiction really is, what causes it, and how to get the best available treatments.
9) A small act
Description
"When Hilde Back sponsored a young, rural Kenyan student, she thought nothing of it. She never imagined her quarterly donation of $15 would pave the way for Chris Mburu's journey to Harvard Law School. Years later, Chris has become a United Nations human rights lawyer working to combat genocide and discrimination. He decides to seek out the stranger who dramatically transformed his life and is astonished to learn his benefactor, Hilde, is a Holocaust...
Description
"In 2015, Sandra Bland, a politically active 28-year-old black woman from Chicago was arrested for a traffic violation in a small Texas town. Three days later, Sandra was found hanging from a noose in her jail cell. Though ruled a suicide, her death sparked allegations of racially-motivated police murder and Sandra became a poster child for activists nationwide, leaving millions to question, 'What really happened to Sandra Bland?' Ten days after...
11) Tina
Description
"With a wealth of never-before-seen footage, audio tapes, personal photos, and new interviews, including with the singer herself, TINA presents an unvarnished and dynamic account of the life and career of music icon Tina Turner. Everything changed when Tina began telling her story, a story of trauma and survival, that gave way to a rebirth as the record-breaking queen of rock ‘n’ roll. But behind closed doors, the singer struggled with the survivor...
13) Baltimore rising
Description
"In the wake of the 2015 death of Freddie Gray in police custody, Baltimore was a city on the edge. Peaceful protests and destructive riots erupted in the immediate aftermath of Gray’s death, while the city waited to hear the fate of the six police officers involved in the incident, reflecting the deep divisions between authorities and the community and underscoring the urgent need for reconciliation. Directed by Sonja Sohn (one of the stars of...
Description
In 1997, actor Morgan Freeman, a resident of the small town of Charleston, Mississippi, offered to pay for the senior prom at Charleston High School under one condition: the prom must be racially integrated. His offer was ignored. In 2008 he offered again, and the offer was accepted, changing the tradition of two separate proms for blacks and whites that had endured since the high school was integrated in 1970. Shows the problems and lessons learned...
Description
The two-part documentary Leaving Neverland explores the separate but parallel experiences of two young boys, James "Jimmy" Safechuck, at age ten, and Wade Robson, at age seven, both of whom were befriended by Michael Jackson. They and their families were invited into his wondrous world, entranced by the singer's fairy-tale existence as his career reached its peak.Through gut-wrenching interviews with Safechuck, now 37, and Robson, now 41, as well...
16) Spielberg
Description
"Steven Spielberg has built an unrivaled catalog of groundbreaking films over the course of nearly 50 years. In the exclusive HBO documentary, Spielberg steps out from behind the camera to open up about his directorial influences and motivations, while sharing little-known stories behind some of his most iconic films. Acclaimed producer/director Susan Lacy charts the evolution of this iconic filmmaker, having conducted nearly 30 hours of exclusive...
Description
"An official selection of the Sundance Film Festival, Life According to Sam follows one family's courageous fight to save their only son from a rare and fatal aging disease. Directed by Oscar winners Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine (Inocente), this highly personal and life-affirming journey is propelled by the captivating presence of Sam Berns. Funny, perceptive and fiercely intelligent, 16-year old Sam is the catalyst for his physician parents' relentless...
Description
"Brothers first. The band forever...An intimate look at the triumphs and hurdles of the brothers Barry, Maurice, and Robin Gibb, otherwise known as the Bee Gees. The iconic trio, who found early fame in the 1960s, went on to write more than 1,000 songs, including 20 number one hits, throughout their storied career. Directed by...Frank Marshall, the film follows their meteoric rise as they ride the highs of fame and fortune, negotiate the vagaries...
Description
From award-winning director/producer Peter Kunhardt, King in the Wilderness follows Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. during the volatile last three years of his life, from the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965 to his assassination in April 1968. Drawing on revelatory stories from his inner circle of friends, the film provides a clear window into the civil rights leader's character, showing him to be a man with an unshakeable commitment to peaceful...
Description
The world watched in horror as Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans on August 29, 2005. Many were shocked, not only by the scale of the disaster, but the slow, inept and disorganized response of the emergency and recovery efforts. Structured into four acts, each dealing with a different aspect of the events that preceded and followed Katrina's catastrophic passage through New Orleans. Tells the heartbreaking personal stories of those who endured this...