Documentary films

[Primmulla]

So many people in the journals and elsewhere state that they watch documentary films as a new form of relaxation, but the titles of these particular films are never mentioned, which is a pity because other users of these forum could get some recommendations. Maybe it would be a good idea to share information about interesting documentary films here?

[kortheo]

https://www.reddit.com/r/Documentaries

Great stuff here, especially if you sort by Top posts.

[Falky]

When I'm in the mood I like watching documentaries like the following:

Korea's Game Addiction - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOm5aXXjzzM

Earth's Creation (Big Bang Theory) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ys5hmBkyvag

How It's Made - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXzm28sOFGc&list=PLXi9VBWJickdzkc2fMZY1rNe57QyN092g

The Bermuda Triangle Explained - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9J17eLFOug

I like knowing how things work and stuff so the above links are what I watch most

 

[Dannigan]

I like historical documentaries.  My all-time favourite documentaries are the following series:

Victorian Farm

Edwardian Farm

Tudor Farm

Victorian Christmas Farm

Tales from the Green Valley

Ruth Goodman (historian), Peter Ginn (archaeologist) and Alex Langlands (archaeologist) are the main hosts of the series. 

I've been fascinated by how people survived living off their land, and creating a life that was self-sustaining.  It was not without very hard work, for which I have become very grateful for the modern age and such things that we take for granted.  Like running hot water, centralized heating systems, computers and internet, fast communication, speedy transportation. 

I also enjoy learning how people crafted and built things out of raw material within their habitat.  Like using hazel branches to build a waffle fence, or creating a hedgerow.  I'm a crafts-person myself, and I have an appreciation for older crafts as seen on these documentaries. 

[Primmulla]

@Dannigan, if you enjoyed documentaries about food, maybe you would like to participate in the FutureLearn course about royal feasts? I starts on June 20 and it looks exciting, here is the advert of the course: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPHqx1JDUyo

I enrolled as soon as the course was announced, as it may be useful as a research for my novel. Most fantasy stories take many elements from history after all.

[everydayart]

I highly recommend The Complete PBS Off Book Playlist on youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC3D565688483CCB5

It's a documentary series made in 58 short episodes by PBS (about 5-9 minutes each), that describe lots of modern, huge or fringe cultural movements, arts, technologies and activities combined with more classic creative endeavors. Each episode is like a small portal into a complex world with it's own rules, informative, concise and professionally made (great if you want to research more afterwards or pick up a new interest).

Just a few of my favorites episodes so far (I am currently going through all of them, watching together with my girlfriend and discussing each episode and writing down ideas for projects):

• The New Rules of Robot/Human Society
• The Art of Portrait Photography
• Are YouTubers Revolutionizing Entertainment?
• Seeing Beyond the Human Eye
• How To Be Creative

I recommend to start watching from episode one and forth. Some of the episodes contain a bit similar content but from a different perspective.

 

Edited July 13, 2016 by everydayart

[Cam Adair]

New one I'm adding to the list: The Mask You Live In

Also I Am Not Your Guru (about Tony Robbins)