Documentary Films

Reviewed By Laura Boston

http://www.documentaryfilms.net/

This web site lists documentary films, with ordering information and reviews of each documentary movie.

The web site lists hundreds of documentary films. For librarians or teachers, looking for an introduction or wrap-up to a specific unit of study, there is probably a documentary that will cover the subject. In many metropolitan areas these films are shown at museums, but in rural and small town areas this venue in not available. This site offers rural teachers and librarians an opportunity to select films for specific subjects, example: children in war ravaged areas of the world. With the emphasis on current history, 1941 to present, in the TAKS test for Texas and the International Baccalaureate many of these films depict historic events and give a human face to the depicted conflict or situation.

There are 47 recent documentary films, with reviews, on the index page of the web site. There is an archive section that searches for previously reviewed movies. The link to Amazon lists documentary videos available for fewer than ten dollars. Ordering information is available on site.

Documentary Film Screening Venues The site lists 200 film fests that screen only documentary films or have a documentary component with in a larger film-viewing venue. The information for film fests lists web links for the festivals, dates for viewings, date for entering films. For up coming events, ticket prices and times were listed. For those who prefer non-fiction there is some choice here.

After checking 20 titles, 10 from the current list and 10 from the archived list, all had reviews covering the basic subject of the film. None had age group ratings or mentioned whether the language might be appropriate for all age groups. If the documentary were included as a portion of a course of study for high school students it would be advisable to contact the distributor to check language content.

Many of the documentaries available previously aired on public or cable television stations. Store Wars, Walking With Dinosaurs, American Roots Music, Mount Rushmore, Miss American and others were all shown on public television. Each of these would be appropriate for units of study in various high school courses.

<b>Contact Information and Copyright:</b> Site information includes names, e-mail addresses, mailing addresses and phone numbers of those responsible for the site. Reviews of the site by The New York Public Library and The Writers Guild of America are available through links.