There's an amazing documentary about the band They Might Be Giants called Gigantic. It's enjoyable, even if you're not very familiar with their music. It's mostly kid-friendly, except for a few bits of adult language.
Red Hot Ballroom is excellent! And its full of kids - highly recommended, and Im really picky about documentaries.
Sherman's March. Discursive and really funny. Ross McElwee is the director and star.
Wordplay. About the big crossword puzzle tournament.
All the 7 Up documentaries. I've seen all but the last (49 Up). Michael Apted directed most.
Eyes on the Prize. The PBS series.
A documentary that I want to see but haven't is Hands on a Hard Body.
I really liked and recommend Blue Vinyl.
I am a huge fan of the documentary -- tho I'll pass on the one about sandwiches.
I just watched The Mormons, which was a PBS American Experience deal. It didn't cover a lot of new ground -- grain of salt: I'm fascinated by the Mormons and have a head full of useless knowledge about them -- but is a great primer on the form.
Oh -- and Jesus Camp scared the crap out of me.
It's not food-related or political, but I really love National Geographic's Amazon: Land of the Flooded Forest. It features fish that eat seeds and poop them out so that they can grow into trees when the flood waters recede from the forest. What's not to love?
I've given you a "You Make My Day" award (on my blog)--thanks for your fantastic writing!
David Attenborough's The Life of Birds is an all time favorite of mine. The segments on communication and mate selection are exquisite.
Oh, and the Rolling Stones doc Gimme Shelter is hands down the best music documentary ever-
Wow, did you all come through or what? I'm topping off my queue now with all your ideas. Thank you!
Mrs D, I'll bet the kids would love Gigantic -- 'Meet James Enso'r is a fave tune around here.
Susan, I wholeheartedly recommend Hands on a Hard Body. There's a bit in there about some guy with a potentially lethal a/c setup on his building that's stuck with me for years.
Danica, we are there. Sprouting Amazonian fish crap? The children will be rapt.
Karen, you are too kind. It's nice to know I've made someone's day -- especially on those days when my kids have given me the "I hate you Mommy" award!
Oh, and I've blogged about this in the past, but I'd be remiss if I didn't mention The Education of Shelby Knox since we're talking documentaries. Just see it.
Try some of Simon Schama's stuff. He has a multi-disc series on the history of England which is the best I've seen. He also has an incredible series on the power of art which looks at artists whose work changed art and the world. We are currently watching "The Power of Art". We will rewatch his "A History of Britain" again later this year. His stuff is great.
have you checked out http://www.storyofstuff.com/ yet? it's worth the 20 minutes.
Ooh, Edna, Simon Schama! I've had a geek-crush on him ever since his dry, one-off line about Thomas a Becket's "secret goat-hair underwear." I've never watched "The Power of Art" but I must do so.
Yvonne, I love the Story of Stuff! I could not believe how much waste is generated upstream from consumer products. It's made us think twice before we buy things.
Definitely "Winged Migration." If you get the director's cut DVD, it includes "the making of" specials which are almost as cool as the documentary itself. One kid likes the bit about the soundtrack, the other likes the bit about how they imprinted all the different species of birds on the ultralight. I haul it out about every 6-9 months and we get something new out of it every time.
I'll have to check that out, Lee. One of my kids is bird-crazy.
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