Awesome Documentaries

Dr. Fred Urquhart tracked Monarch Butterfly migration for 40 years to find their secret hideaway. Now we can all enjoy the magic of discovering a forest teeming with millions in IMAX.

A short film about the work of Tim Stamps, a surfboard shaper based in Huntington Beach. His soft voice and relaxed demeanor can’t mask his attention to detail and passion for his craft.

A documentary about wingsuit flyer Espen Fadnes, whose love for the outdoors led him to the sport. We’ll never get tired of listening to the sound he creates as he speeds to the ground.

Luis Soriano started the BiblioBurro (“Library Donkey”) in Colombia during the late 90s. Soriano and his donkeys Alfa and Beto travel for hours to share books to anyone who wants to borrow them.

A short documentary by Arnold Worldwide that shows how the Brown-Forman Cooperage makes the barrels that house the world-famous Tennessee whiskey of its sister company – Jack Daniels.

A short profile by Etsy on Carolina Fontoura Alzaga, a seller who manifests her passion for recycling and the environment by making chandeliers and light fixtures out of used bicycle parts.

John Neeman Tools is a small Latvian-based team that specializes in making woodworking tools and knives by hand. This video shows how they make an axe. The song is Holocene by Bon Iver.

This is the story of an old man trying to make a helicopter from scrap. And if you’ve ever tried to build something – an object, an idea, a relationship – then this is your story as well.

The latest episode of Made by Hand is about Martinez Cigars, a cigar shop in New York where customers are free to sit and watch employees make cigars, or just chill and talk with patrons.

A trailer for David France’s documentary How to Survive a Plague, an inside look at the struggle and campaign by ACT UP and TAG to force the US government to work on finding anti-AIDS medicine.

(NSFW: Language) Mitch Hedberg’s delivery was so natural that some people think that he just made them up as he went along. His wife Lynn Shawcroft shares his writing process in this video.

Very brief but touching footage of citizens of Warsaw, Poland. Every August 1st, the citizens pause for a minute to remember the fallen soldiers and victims of the tragic Warsaw Uprising.

(NSFW: Language) Snoop Dogg went to Jamaica to record a new album with Diplo, but he ended up doing much more, rebooting his style from the experience. Hear Snoop Lion’s first single here.

(NSFW: Language) A documentary about the wild and short-lived career of one of the pioneers of punk rock. Features unseen footage of the band and interviews with its members.

Keanu Reeves interviews directors, actors and others in the movie industry in Side by Side, a documentary about the impact of the digital revolution on the art and business of film making.

A documentary about the dire state of the US space program. Featuring interviews with experts such as Neil deGrasse Tyson, Bill Nye and astronaut Leroy Chiao among others.

Controversial filmmaker Mads Brügger posed as a corrupt diplomat cum businessman and lived for a time in Central Africa to get closer to the blood diamond industry. More here and here.

Features interviews from the cast and crew of Batman TV shows and movies, including Adam West, Tim Burton and Chris Nolan. To be included in The Dark Knight Rises Blu-ray set this Holiday.

The trailer for William Shatner’s Get A Life, a documentary about Trekkies – the devoted fans of the Star Trek franchise – and the effect that the series has had in their lives.

Tanishq Abraham is a real life Fred Tate. The 8-year old already studies astrophysics and has even discovered a supernova, but he still loves Buzz Lightyear and hanging out with kids his age.

The Barbican celebrates the 50th anniversary of James Bond by looking at the design aspect of the Bond movies. This video focuses on Bond’s suit, while another looks at the set and props.

Zach Galifianakis backed this Morgan Spurlock-esque documentary, in which Joseph Garner spent 31 days and nights getting everything in his life – and we mean everything – via Craigslist.

Robert B. Weide followed the inexhaustible Woody Allen for a year and a half to make this 3-hour documentary that shows Allen from his stand-up beginnings to his successful career as a filmmaker.