Skip to main content

Documentary

Filter by

Select Air Date

to

Select Segment Types

Segment Types

242 Segments

Sort:

Newest

33:03

A Film About The Return of Heroin.

Filmmaker Steven Okazaki talks about his movie "Black Tar Heroin: The Dark End of The Street." It will show on HBO tomorrow night 4/14. The film tracks five teenage addicts in San Francisco over a two-year period. As a filmmaker, Okazaki won an Academy Award in 1991 for his film "Survivors" which retold the stories of several Hiroshima survivors. He also directed "Living on Tokyo Time" a comedy about a Japanese dishwasher . He lives in Berkeley, California.

Interview
45:55

German Filmmaker Werner Herzog

Herzog's latest movie is a documentary, "Little Dieter Needs to Fly: Escape from Laos" the true story of Dieter Dengler, the only U.S. pilot to have sucessfully escaped from a North Vietnamese-controlled prison. Herzog's other works include the feature films "Aguirre: The Wrath of God," "Heart of Glass," "Fitzcarraldo," and "Nosferatu."

Interview
12:57

In Light of the Matthew Shepard Murder, a Filmmaker Re-examines Anti-Gay Violence

In light of the recent beating death of gay student Matthew Shepard, a discussion of anti-gay violence with documentary film maker Arthur Dong. In his 1997 film "Licensed to Kill," Dong interviews convicted murderers of gay men and asks them "Why did you do it?" Twenty years ago, Dong himself was the victim of a gay bashing. Dong is a Peabody Award winner and Oscar and Emmy nominated independent filmmaker. His other films include "Coming Out Under Fire," and "Forbidden City, U.S.A."

Interview
19:40

Film Director and Former PA Sarah Kelly

Kelly made her directorial debut with the documentary "Full Tilt Boogie," a comedy about the making of the Quentin Tarantino action vampire film, "From Dusk Till Dawn." Kelly previously worked on Tarantino's production team for the films "Killing Zoe" and "Pulp Fiction."

Interview
45:19

David Breashears Discusses the Difficulty and Danger of Climbing Mount Everest.

Cinematographer David Breashears. The first American to climb Mount Everest twice, he attempted last year to film from Mount Everest's summit on an IMAX camera. But Breashears had to put down his camera to help with the rescue mission of a group of climbers who were part of another expedition at the time, and who were caught on the mountain in a May blizzard. (Chronicled by John Krakauer in his book, "Into Thin Air.") Breashears' film of his own expedition is titled "Everest," and will be released in February. He has won four Emmy awards for his filmmaking.

Interview
06:29

A New Film About Two of Ballet's Greatest Figures

Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews "Elusive Muse," the Academy Award-nominated documentary on ballet dancer Suzanne Farrell, who married choreographer George Balanchine. The documentary will be shown in an edited-for-TV version as a part of the PBS series "Dance in America" on June 25.

Review
16:11

Filmmaker Alan Berliner Turns the Camera on His Father

Berliner has focused much of his work on the dynamics of families. His newest film "Nobody's Business" is a documentary about his father, Oscar Berliner. This critically acclaimed film reveals the ongoing conflict between Alan Berliner, who obstinately works to complete the film, and his father, who is scornful of the project. It will premiere on PBS on June 3, as a part of the Tenth anniversary season of "Point Of View."

Interview
15:20

Independent Filmmaker Louis Massiah on the Legacy of DuBois

Massiah is founder and Executive Director of the Scribe Video Center in Philadelphia. He has won numerous awards for the films he has produced for public television. Messiah's latest project is a documentary featuring the late civil rights activist and NAACP co-founder W.E.B. DuBois, called "W.E.B. DuBois: A Biography in Four Voices." It premiers on PBS this month.

Interview
21:43

A Midwestern Family Tries to Save Their Farm from the Banks

Producer/writer/director Jeanne Jordan. She and her husband Steve Ascher's documentary "Troublesome Creek" is the story of her family's struggle to save their Iowa farm, which had been in the family for 125 years. The film won the Best Documentary and Audience Awards at Sundance in 1996. The film opens nationally in January

Interview
06:36

Conditions in Chinese Orphanages: "The Dying Rooms."

British filmmaker Kate Blewett. Using a concealed camera, Blewett and crew visited eleven state-funded orphanages in China and filmed in nine of them. They documented such things as toddlers whose hands and legs were tied to potty chairs all day, and the rooms where children are left to die. They also say that many of the children were girls, victims of China's One Child Policy, and the Chinese tradition that favors sons over daughters. "The Dying Rooms: China's Darkest Secret" debuts on CINEMAX (Jan 24 at 8 PM). (Interview by Marty Moss-Coane)

Interview
21:06

Designer, Sculptor, and Architect Maya Lin.

Designer, sculptor, architect Maya Lin. She was a 21 year-old undergraduate student when her design was selected for the Vietnam War Memorial. Her works are known for their ability to elicit powerful emotions. Lin also designed the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, Alabama, and the "Women's Table" at Yale ( which dealt with the history of female students at Yale, which was mostly all-male for 300 years.) Most recently Lin designed "The Wave Field" in memory of Francois-Xavier Bagnoud, pilot, aeronautical engineer and humanitarian.

Interview
40:35

An Homage to a Pop Music Genius.

Record producer and musician Don Was. He co-founded the funk rock group, "Was (Not) Was." This year he won a Grammy for Producer of the Year. In addition, he's produced a number of albums for Bonnie Raitt (Was produced Raitt's "Nick of Time" album which revived her career), Rolling Stones, Lyle Lovett, Al Green, Iggy Pop, and the B-52's. He's ventured into documentary film production with "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times," about ex-Beachboy Brian Wilson. Was directed the film.

Interview

Did you know you can create a shareable playlist?

Advertisement

There are more than 22,000 Fresh Air segments.

Let us help you find exactly what you want to hear.
Just play me something
Your Queue

Would you like to make a playlist based on your queue?

Generate & Share View/Edit Your Queue