Seriously, search for documentary movies or tv shows on netflix, hulu, etc. Most of it will be exploitative reality shit, a lot of it will be nonsensical liberal shit, and the rest will be semi-veiled fash shit. And maybe there will be a couple decent ones mixed in but the vast majority is worthless garbage.
I get that they're not gonna have based shit on streaming platforms but why does it have to be so bad? Even most of the nature documentaries are sensational "THESE VICIOUS ANIMALS WANT TO KILL YOU!!!!!! WATCH THEM KILL EACH OTHER FOR ENTERTAINMENT!!!!!!!!!" type trash.
First world problems, I know, but I'm stuck at home with covid so I don't have much else to do but watch shit. Can't even do anything productive because my breathing is really bad and I can't focus long enough to read. Feels bad.
Edit: thanks for all these awesome suggestions! I'm definitely going check all of these out! :rat-salute:
Cuba and the Cameraman. An American journalist who has been going to Cuba the last 40 years documents the changes to the country. He also considered Fidel a friend. I thought it’s portrayal of regular Cubans was touching.
American Factory. Chronicles the opening of a Chinese factory opening in the rust belt. Definitely a class based documentary. The director quoted Marx in her Oscar speech.
Isn't American Factory super sinophobic? And wasn't it funded by Obama?
It was funded by Obama. I didn't think it was sinophobic and if anything the Americans don't look great.
I didn’t find it sinophobic. I think some of the Americans didn’t work well at first with the Chinese workers because of clash of cultures. It didn’t paint the Chinese company in a good light because the company busted their attempts at unionizing.
It followed a few Chinese workers who migrated here and it showed how dedicated and hard working they are.
But yeah Obama’s studio produced it.
I mean if you're actually asking, it's because those are the ones that get funded, whether through ideological programs or just because they get eyes on screens.
He's a little liberal but check out Adam Curtis if you need to scratch that itch, he has a lot of content
If you have HBO Max or Amazon prime watch Mann V. Ford. It's about the Ford Motor company dumping waste on Native American land and the subsequent trial. Not liberal bullshit.
I've been promoting Cree Hunters of Misstassini.
https://youtu.be/hhSxzBPAYXA
It's mostly Cree in their own words (and language) talking about bush life in an area that's going to be flooded by a hydroelectric project. Not lib, and the politics are just looming in the background, so you don't feel like you're being hit in the head with a 2x4 to make a point.
Untold History of the United States on Netflix is pretty decent. It's kinda lib but it's an Oliver Stone project and is very good at getting people to question their internalized propaganda. It's definitely a 'gateway drug' to socialism, so to say. Besides that, there's not any I can think of off the top of my head.
If you have HBO Max or Amazon prime watch Mann V. Ford. It’s about the Ford Motor company dumping waste on Native American land and the subsequent trial. Not liberal bullshit.
It's not a documentary but I was kind of surprised at how aggressively The Trial of the Chicago Seven took the side of the protesters and how poorly it portrayed the cops and the legal institutions. So if you like a courtroom drama it was pretty good.
If you liked this, a better documentary that goes into Bobby Seale and Fred Hampton is the PBS “Black Panthers” doc. The main leftist criticism of TC7 was that it turned the 60s radicals into libs.
Check out Ovid.tv, it's a kinda new streaming service put together by several independent film distributors that has a bunch of radical/left-wing documentaries, esp. from Latin America and Africa.
That soil one with Woody Harrelson is good but even it has moments where I'm like uhh uhh don't overplay your hand guys
The Pathé collection is free online It's still western imperial propaganda, but at least they have good video.
Lots of it is just video too, without any commentary. Basically B-roll they shot for BBC or whoever I guess.
Like 40% of it is just videos of Stalin chilling or being praised during WW2 lol
“Who Killed Malcolm X” was pretty good. I also tend to enjoy “Hate thy neighbor,” and documentaries on Cults.
Hulu has one on Jonestown I think it’s part of the “truth and lies” series.
Have you looked at any Kanopy documentaries? Feel like they might have some good ones. I think what's available depends on where you are, cause it needs a library card (public or university) to access. That or grab a Criterion channel login from someone, they put documentaries up all the time. There was a black panther one for a while that was cool.
