Documentary

Free Solo

Live beyond fear.

• Sun 27 Jan
  • 1:30PM NFT, Special

Kusama - Infinity

Now one of the world’s most celebrated artists, Yayoi Kusama broke free of the rigid society in which she was raised, and overcame sexism, racism, and mental illness to bring her artistic vision to the world stage. At 88 she lives in a mental hospital and continues to create art.

• Today
  • 4:40PM

Matangi Maya M.I.A

'This is not a normal pop documentary, because M.I.A. is not a normal pop star' - The Atlantic

Pick of the Litter

A dogumentary

The Coming Back Out Ball Movie

In the middle of Australia’s divisive marriage equality vote, Melbourne hosted a gala event to honour and celebrate its LGBTIQ elders. These are their stories.

I Used to be Normal - A Boyband Fangirl Story

'I Used to be Normal - A Boyband Fangirl Story' is the surprising coming of age story of four diverse women who have had their lives dramatically changed by their love of a boyband - Backstreet Boys, One Direction, Take That and The Beatles.

Turn It Up

So what does the live music scene in Sydney look like today, where do artists go to perform, or is the Sydney scene dead? We take a look at Sydney’s sound then and now.

Backtrack Boys

Three Aussie boys are on a rocky path towards jail until they meet a rule-breaking jackaroo and join his legendary dog jumping team.

They Shall Not Grow Old

A documentary about World War I with never-before-seen footage to commemorate the centennial of the end of the war.

The Dawn Wall

In January 2015, American rock climbers Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson captivated the world with their effort to climb the Dawn Wall, a seemingly impossible 3,000 foot rock face in Yosemite National Park, California. The pair lived on the sheer vertical cliff for weeks, igniting a frenzy of global media attention.

Fahrenheit 11/9

Academy Award® winner Michael Moore (Bowling for Columbine) is back, as he turns his attention to examine Donald Trump’s election win on November 9, 2016.

Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda

'A portrait of an artist that's nearly as powerful and necessary as the artist himself.'

Westwood: Punk, Icon, Activist

The remarkable story of iconoclastic fashion designer Vivienne Westwood as she fights to maintain her brand’s integrity, her principles and her legacy.

McKellen: Playing the Part

The ever-charming actor appeals to young and old, national theatre lovers and franchise kids, the legendary; Sir Ian McKellen.

Ghosthunter

Sometimes the most terrifying ghosts are our own.

Won't You Be My Neighbor?

A little kindness makes a world of difference.

McQueen

The fearless, rebellious and extraordinary life of Alexander McQueen

Wayne

Guts is everything

Working Class Boy

To understand the man, you must meet the boy

RBG

HERO. ICON. DISSENTER. 

Whitney

The voice that defined a generation

Jill Bilcock: Dancing The Invisible

An unprecedented feature documentary about one of the world’s leading film artists – Australian film editor Jill Bilcock

The Gospel According to André

A Film About André Leon Talley

Vince Giordano: There's A Future In The Past

'One of the best music docs ever' - Film Journal

Gurrumul

GURRUMUL is a portrait of an artist on the brink of global reverence, and the struggles he and those closest to him faced in balancing that which mattered most to him and keeping the show on the road.

Have You Seen The Listers?

A candid and personal insight into the rise of world-renowned street artist Anthony Lister as he challenges conservative Australia, whilst battling his own demons.

Earth: One Amazing Day

An astonishing journey revealing the awesome power of the natural world. Over the course of one single day, we track the sun from the highest mountains to the remotest islands to exotic jungles.

Buena Vista Social Club Adios

In 1996, Cuban bandleader Juan de Marcos Gonzalez, British producer Nick Gold, and American guitarist Ry Cooder convened in Havana to produce a Cuban-Malian collaboration. wo decades since that fateful first session, we catch up to these master musicians.

Human Flow

Human Flow is director and artist, Ai Weiwei's detailed and heartbreaking exploration into the global refugee crisis.

Abramovic In Brazil - The Space In Between

arina Abramovic travels through Brazil, in search of personal healing and artistic inspiration, experiencing sacred rituals and revealing her creative process.

Meal Tickets

A band of best friends, a roadie that wanted to be a rockstar, a documentary ten years in the making.

Faces Places

Director Agnès Varda and photographer and muralist JR journey through rural France and form an unlikely friendship.

The Final Year

Greg Barker gives an unprecedented look at the shaping of US foreign policy by following key members of outgoing US President Barack Obama’s administration.

Blue

99% of all living space on Earth occurs in the Ocean. But the seas are under threat.

Mountain

An epic cinematic and musical collaboration between Sherpa filmmaker Jennifer Peedom and the Australian Chamber Orchestra, that explores humankind's fascination with high places. Narrated by Willem Dafoe.

I Am Not Your Negro

Working from the text of James Baldwin’s unfinished final novel, director Raoul Peck creates a meditation on what it means to be Black in the United States.

The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness

Behind-the-scenes work of Studio Ghibli.

An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth To Power

A decade after An Inconvenient Truth brought climate change into the heart of popular culture comes the riveting and rousing follow-up that shows just how close we are to a real energy revolution.

Chicken People

CHICKEN PEOPLE is a chirpy feature documentary that follows American breeders Brian C, Shari and Brian K as their chickens compete for the ultimate title of Grand Champion at the Ohio National Poultry Show. Enter their fascinating world as they share their passion for poultry, and how competing provides a place for their dreams to roost. CHICKEN PEOPLE is a heart-warming look at the ultimate best-in-show of chicken perfection.

Kedi

Hundreds of thousands of cats have roamed the metropolis of Istanbul freely for thousands of years, wandering in and out of people's lives, impacting them in ways only an animal who lives between the worlds of the wild and the tamed can. Cats and their kittens bring joy and purpose to those they choose, giving people an opportunity to reflect on life and their place in it. In Istanbul, cats are the mirrors to ourselves.

Risk

Director Laura Poitras turns her camera on another controversial figure: the editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange.

McLaren

The story of New Zealander, Bruce McLaren, who founded the McLaren Motor Racing team, showing the world that a man of humble beginnings could take on the elite of motor racing and win.

I Am Heath Ledger

The life and career of an actor, artist, and icon. His own journey through his own camera.

The Eagle Huntress

Follow Aisholpan, a 13-year-old girl, as she trains to become the first female in twelve generations of her Kazakh family to become an eagle hunter, and rise to the pinnacle of a tradition that has been typically been handed down from father to son for centuries.

David Stratton: A Cinematic Life

A compelling personal journey with David Stratton, as he relates the fascinating development of our cinema history.

The Coming War On China

The Coming War on China reveals what the news doesn't - that the United States and the world's second economic power, China (both nuclear armed) are on the road to war. Pilger's film is a warning and an inspiring story of resistance. Releases in Sydney Feb 16th and Canberra Feb 26th

The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble

A portrait of Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Ensemble, a group of master musicians from around the world.

Gimme Danger

No other band in rock roll history has rivaled The Stooges combination of heavy primal throb, spiked psychedelia and blues-a-billy grind. Gimme Danger presents the context of their emergence musically, culturally, politically, historically, and relates their adventures and misadventures as well as their long-lasting legacy.

Janis: Little Girl Blue

Musician Cat Power narrates this documentary on Janis Joplin's evolution into a star from letters that Joplin wrote over the years to her friends, family, and collaborators.

Concerto: A Beethoven Journey

Filmed over the course of four years, Grabsky and his Seventh Art team followed leading concert pianist Leif Ove Andsnes's attempt to understand and interpret one of the greatest sets of works for piano ever written: Beethoven's five piano concertos.The end result is a beautifully-crafted film with lavish cinematography, a signature of Grabsky and Seventh Art's style. Considered one of the top pianists of the age, Leif Ove Andsnes offers rare insights into the mind of a world-class pianist and access to his personal and professional life. Against the wonderful background of Leif Ove Andsnes playing these five pieces, we also peel back the many myths of Beethoven's life. Perhaps above all it is the fresh new biography of Beethoven that is most revealing.

Poi e: The Story of Our Song

Written and directed by Tearepa Kahi (Mt Zion) and starring Maaka Pohatu (The Modern Maori Quartet, Two Little Boys) the film tells the story of musician Dalvanius Prime and the origin of the song “Poi E”, a ground-breaking fusion of 1980s pop and traditional Maori music. “Poi E”, composed by Dalvanius and Ngoingoi Pewhairangi and performed by the Patea Maori Club, remains the only song in Te Reo Maori to reach No 1 in the charts, over 30 years since its 1984 release.

THE BEATLES: EIGHT DAYS A WEEK - THE TOURING YEARS

A compilation of found footage featuring music, interviews and stories of the Beatles 250 concerts from 1963 to 1966.

Chasing Great

Chasing Great is an insightful portrayal that weaves Richie McCaw's life story into his final season as an All Black, revealing the determination and mental toughness of an international sporting legend who still sees himself as an 'ordinary guy' from small town New Zealand.

Life Animated

At three years old, a chatty, energetic little boy named Owen Suskind ceased to speak, disappearing into autism with apparently no way out. Almost four years passed and the only stimuli that engaged Owen were Disney films. Then one day, his father donned a puppet—Iago, the wisecracking parrot from Aladdin—and asked “what’s it like to be you?” And poof! Owen replied, with dialogue from the movie. Life, Animated tells the remarkable story of how Owen found in Disney animation a pathway to language and a framework for making sense of the world.