Not a Pretty Picture
1976
7
A reflection between nature and man in Los Angeles about the city's surroundings' desertification due to enormous water consumption.
Mixing narrative and documentary, the film retells a 16 year old girl's experience of a date rape.
Not a Pretty Picture
1976
7
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.
Primary
1960
6
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.
Sikkim
1971
6
East L.A. Interchange follows the evolution of working-class, immigrant Boyle Heights, the oldest neighborhood in East Los Angeles from multiethnic to predominately Latino and a cradle of Mexican-American culture in the U.S. The documentary tells the story of how one neighborhood managed to survive the construction of the largest and busiest freeway interchange in the nation and explores the shifting face of community in the United States today arguing why it should matter to us all.
East LA Interchange
2015
2
Tongue-in-cheek look at 20-something singles clubbing and partying in L.A. Voice-over narration, charts and graphs, and visits to a research laboratory punctuate the story of a single night when groups of friends go out, drink alcohol, take drugs, dance and talk, and look for someone to go home with.
The Boys & Girls Guide to Getting Down
2007
6
This short film takes a look at the off-screen personas of screen actors. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2012.
Screen Actors
1950
6
A documentary film about the Afro-American Woodstock concert held in Los Angeles seven years after the Watts riots. Director Mel Stuart mixes footage from the concert with footage of the living conditions in the current-day Watts neighborhood.
Wattstax
1973
6
A documentary film that highlights two street derived dance styles, Clowning and Krumping, that came out of the low income neighborhoods of L.A.. Director David LaChapelle interviews each dance crew about how their unique dances evolved. A new and positive activity away from the drugs, guns, and gangs that ruled their neighborhood. A raw film about a growing sub-culture movements in America.
Rize
2005
6
Short film about the Manzanar Japanese American internment camp. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2011.
Manzanar
1972
0
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.
Hoop Dreams
1994
7
A description and enactment of the discovery of gold by James Marshall, and the role played by John Sutter. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive.
California's Golden Beginning
1948
0
This short focuses on the job of the costume designer in the production of motion pictures. The costume designer must design clothing that is correct for the film historically and geographically, and must be appropriate for the mood of the individual scene. We see famed costume designer Edith Head at work on a production. The Costume Designer was part of The Industry Film Project, a twelve-part series produced by the film studios and the Academy. Each series episode was produced to inform the public on a specific facet of the motion picture industry. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2012.
The Costume Designer
1950
0
The history and enduring legacy of one of the world's biggest and most influential radio stations.
Untitled KROQ Documentary
0
56-year-old artist Mindy Alper has suffered severe depression and anxiety for most of her life. For a time she even lost the power of speech, and it was during this period that her drawings became extraordinarily articulate.
Heaven is a Traffic Jam on the 405
2016
7
Ridley Scott's cult film Blade Runner, based on a novel by Philip K. Dick and released in 1982, is one of the most influential science fiction films ever made. Its depiction of Los Angeles in the year 2019 is oppressively prophetic: climate catastrophe, increasing public surveillance, powerful monopolistic corporations, highly evolved artificial intelligence; a fantastic vision of the future world that has become a frightening reality.
Das Phänomen Blade Runner
2021
6
An exhilarating documentary film that celebrates the unsung hero of aviation - the local airport - by tracing the life, history, and struggles of an airport icon: Southern California's Van Nuys Airport. Featuring thrilling aerial photography and a sweeping original score, the film dispels common misconceptions and opposes criticism of General Aviation airports.
One Six Right
2005
8
The Los Angeles punk music scene circa 1980 is the focus of this film. With Alice Bag Band, Black Flag, Catholic Discipline, Circle Jerks, Fear, Germs, and X.
The Decline of Western Civilization
1981
7
An in-depth look at the culture of Los Angeles in the ten years leading up to the 1992 uprising that erupted after the verdict of police officers cleared of beating Rodney King.
Let It Fall: Los Angeles 1982-1992
2017
7
HISTORY brings you an all-encompassing documentary event cantered around the 25th anniversary of the LA Riots, the most destructive riot in American history that left 53 people dead and caused over a billion dollars in damage.
The L.A. Riots: 25 Years Later
2017
0
Twenty-five years after the verdict in the Rodney King trial sparked several days of protests, violence and looting in Los Angeles, LA 92 immerses viewers in that tumultuous period through stunning and rarely seen archival footage.
LA 92
2017
7