Ad Protect Your Online Privacy with a VPN

Don't risk your personal information and online activities being exposed to hackers, government surveillance, and other online threats. A VPN encrypts your internet connection and hides your IP, giving you maximum security and privacy. Take control of your online safety, switch to a VPN now. Learn more:

Share:

1981 Documentary Movies

Public list by WPS with 29 movies or TV shows/series

Related lists: 1910 | 1912 | 1915 | 1916 | 1917 | 1918 | 1920 | 1922 | 1923 | 1925 | 1926 | 1927 | 1928 | 1929 | 1930 | 1931 | 1932 | 1933 | 1934 | 1935 | 1936 | 1937 | 1938 | 1939 | 1940 | 1941 | 1942 | 1943 | 1944 | 1945 | 1946 | 1947 | 1948 | 1949 | 1950 | 1951 | 1952 | 1953 | 1954 | 1955 | 1956 | 1957 | 1958 | 1959 | 1960 | 1961 | 1962 | 1963 | 1964 | 1965 | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022

Entries in this List


All Providers

Sort by:
29 movies found (page 1/1):

The Decline of Western Civilization(1981)

1h 40min | Documentary, Music
3.6/5 (with 51 votes)

The Los Angeles punk music scene circa 1980 is the focus of this film. With Alice Bag Band, Black Flag, Catholic Discipline, Circle Jerks, Fear, Germs, and X.

Directed by Penelope Spheeris - With Black Flag, Germs, The Bags, Circle Jerks, Fear, Alice Bag, ...

Vernon, Florida(1981)

55min | Documentary
3.4/5 (with 22 votes)

Early Errol Morris documentary intersplices random chatter he captured on film of the genuinely eccentric residents of Vernon, Florida. A few examples? The preacher giving a sermon on the definition of the word "Therefore," and the obsessive turkey hunter who speaks reverentially of the "gobblers" he likes to track down and kill.

Directed by Errol Morris

Genocide(1982)

3.8/5 (with 7 votes)

The mass murder of Jewish people by the Nazi regime is chronicled, with a warning that anti-Semitism is on the rise and the events of the Holocaust could happen again. The history of European Jewish culture and events before and during the Holocaust are seen in newsreels, photographs, and animated segments. The words of the victims of the era are read, and footage from the liberation os a concentration camp is shown.

Directed by Arnold Schwartzman - With Elizabeth Taylor, Orson Welles

This Is Elvis(1981)

PG
| 1h 50min | Drama, Music, Documentary
3.4/5 (with 12 votes)

Though several actors portray Elvis Presley at different stages of his life, this documentary is comprised mostly of actual performance footage and interviews with Elvis, his fans and those close to him. This biographical docu-drama features rare footage of Elvis and dramatically recreated scenes from Elvis' life.

Being Different(1981)

1h 40min | Documentary
3.0/5 (with 1 vote)

A tribute to the spirit and humanity of people who are physically different from the average: very tall and very large men and women, a bearded woman and her long-time husband, Siamese twins joined at the midsection, and several little people including actor Billy Barty. We meet some at Gibsonton, Florida, where carnival folk winter. They talk about their lives and accomplishments. The camera also goes on the road to visit a grandfather with a distinctive face, a legless mechanic from Kentucky on a second honeymoon in LA, a marathon runner and motivational speaker who has no feet, a karate student with partial limbs, and an armless, down-to-earth mom in Texas.

Directed by Harry Rasky

Let There Be Light(1946)

58min | Documentary, War
3.7/5 (with 20 votes)

The final entry in a trilogy of films produced for the U.S. government by John Huston. Some returning combat veterans suffer scars that are more psychological than physical. This film follows patients and staff during their treatment. It deals with what would now be called PTSD, but at the time was categorised as psychoneurosis or shell-shock. Government officials deemed this 1946 film counterproductive to postwar efforts; it was not shown publicly until 1981.

Directed by John Huston - With Walter Huston

Heartworn Highways(1976)

R
| 1h 32min | Documentary, Music
4.1/5 (with 5 votes)

The music speaks for itself in this performance documentary that highlights some of the biggest names within the country-folk scene in Texas and Tennessee during the last weeks of 1975 and the first weeks of 1976, eschewing narration and staged interviews.

Directed by James Szalapski - With Guy Clark

Document of the Dead(1981)

1h 31min | Documentary, Horror
3.4/5 (with 13 votes)

A documentary about George A. Romero's films, with a behind scenes look at Dawn of the Dead.

Directed by Roy Frumkes

Be Pretty and Shut Up!(1981)

1h 55min | Documentary
3.2/5 (with 6 votes)

The film is a series of interviews with various well-known film actresses, including Jenny Agutter, Maria Schneider, and Jane Fonda. The title, which is borrowed from a 1958 film with the same name by Marc Allegret, refers to the sense the actresses have of what is expected of them by the film industry.

Brooklyn Bridge(1981)

3.6/5 (with 7 votes)

Today it's a symbol of strength and vitality. 135 years ago, it was a source of controversy. This documentary examines the great problems and ingenious solutions that marked the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge. From conception to construction, it traces the bridge's transformation from a spectacular feat of heroic engineering to an honored symbol in American culture.

Directed by Ken Burns

Too Early / Too Late(1982)

1h 40min | Documentary
3.3/5 (with 11 votes)

Inspired by a letter by Friedrich Engels and a 1974 account of two militant Marxist writers who had been imprisoned by the Nasser regime, Straub-Huillet filmed this film in France and Egypt during 1980. They reflect on Egypt’s history of peasant struggle and liberation from Western colonization, and link it to class tensions in France shortly before the Revolution of 1789, quoting texts by Engels as well as the pioneering nonfiction film Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory (1895).

Not a Love Story: A Film About Pornography(1981)

1h 9min | Documentary
3.5/5 (with 4 votes)

Documentary about the pornography industry and the apparent violent anti-woman slant much of it takes.

Directed by Bonnie Sherr Klein
Ad Protect Your Online Privacy with a VPN

Don't risk your personal information and online activities being exposed to hackers, government surveillance, and other online threats. A VPN encrypts your internet connection and hides your IP, giving you maximum security and privacy. Take control of your online safety, switch to a VPN now. Learn more:

Dance Craze(1981)

1h 25min | Music, Documentary
4.0/5 (with 4 votes)

Rocksteady to both a visual and musical documentary of the big shots of the English 2-Tone movement of the late 1970s that has the exhaustive, high-energy performances exploding onto stage. Jump, shout, twist and crawl and dance to the tunes of Ska and its anthems of its rough riders and three-minute heroes captivated in the moment of a generation of England's concrete jungles and razor blade alleys. No longer on your radio but now on stage, together, with the likes of Madness, The Specials and The Beat et al, this concert footage of an era is a must-see, rare and fascinating look into a once vibrant youth culture of working-class England and its musical dance craze.

Directed by Joe Massot - With Buster Bloodvessel, Suggs, Jerry Dammers, Terry Hall

Soldier Girls(1981)

1h 27min | Documentary, Drama
3.1/5 (with 3 votes)

A documentary about women's basic training in Fort Georgia.

Directed by Nick Broomfield

The Devil At Your Heels(1981)

1h 43min | Documentary
2.9/5 (with 3 votes)

Devil at Your Heels, traces the trials of stuntman Ken Carter who attempts a death defying aerial jump in a car. Not content with a normal jump, Ken Carter attempts a jump from Canada to the USA.

Directed by Robert Fortier - With Ken Carter

Huie's Sermon(1983)

42min | Documentary
2.7/5 (with 5 votes)

Reverend Huie Rogers is a preacher at the Bible Way Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ in Brooklyn. He is the topic of this short film, during which launches into an epic call-and-response denunciation of human hubris, greed, corruption and failure. The use of lengthy shots present it less like a sermon and more a performance, and induce an almost trance-like state.

Directed by Werner Herzog

El Salvador: Another Vietnam(1981)

53min | Documentary
2.8/5 (with 1 vote)

This political documentary illustrates the turbulent history of El Salvador from the 1920s-1970s, and the role of the U.S. government in that history. The most comprehensive film introduction to that country, examines the civil war there in light of the Reagan administration's decision to "draw the line" against "communist interference" in Central America. Archival material offers an overview of U.S. military and economic policy in Central America since 1948, while footage drawn from sources in the U.S., Mexico, and Europe provides extensive background to the current political and military situation.

Directed by Glenn Silber, Teté Vasconcellos - With Mike Farrell

God's Angry Man(1981)

44min | Documentary
2.7/5 (with 9 votes)

The documentary follows Gene Scott, famous televangelist involved with constant fights against FCC, who tried to shut down his TV show during the 1970s and '80s, and even argues with his viewers, complaining about their lack of support by not sending enough money to keep going with the show.

Directed by Werner Herzog - With Gene Scott

Imagine the Sound(1981)

1h 31min | Documentary, Music
3.3/5 (with 3 votes)

An examination, shown through both interviews and performances, of the avant-garde free jazz movement which reigned during the 1960s.

Directed by Ron Mann - With Paul Bley, Bill Dixon, Archie Shepp, Cecil Taylor

Just Another Missing Kid(1981)

1h 30min | Documentary
3.9/5 (with 3 votes)

On July 10, 1978, Eric Wilson - a 19-year from Ottawa and student at Tufts University - left home to drive to a summer college course in Colorado. When he went missing four days afterward in Nebraska, his family tried to persuade local and U.S. police that he wasn't simply a runaway and hadn't simply forgotten to call home. The program examines the lengths to which they had to go to find out what happened to Eric, and the byzantine nature of the legal system which seemed less interested in pursuing justice than in avoiding the expenses involved in the investigation and potential trials.

Directed by John Zaritsky

The Animals Film(1981)

2h 16min | Documentary
4.5/5 (with 1 vote)

The film offers a comprehensive examination of the exploitation of animals in modern society.

Directed by Victor Schonfeld, Myriam Alaux - With Julie Christie, Sandy Dennis

Great White Death(1981)

NR
| 1h 28min | Documentary
2.4/5 (with 1 vote)

Glenn Ford appears in and narrates in this mondo style documentary about the search for the Great White Shark.

Directed by Jean-Patrick Lebel - With Glenn Ford

The Saimaa Gesture(1981)

2h 8min | Music, Documentary
3.4/5 (with 4 votes)

A documentary film about a tour of three Finnish rock bands around Saimaa lake system in a steam boat in 1981. The bands (Juice Leskinen Slam, Eppu Normaali and Hassisen Kone) are shown playing songs in their gigs and, in between, the members give intimate interviews or just act plain silly and have a good time.

Fangio: Una vita a 300 all'ora(1980)

1h 25min | Documentary

- No description / details available yet. -

Directed by Hugh Hudson - With Juan Manuel Fangio

Your Neighbour's Son(2023)

1h 5min | Documentary

The film documents the conversion of young Greek Military Police (ESA) recruits into torturers and touches on the subject of the power of the institution to compel otherwise moral human beings to torture. The documentary examines the processes and methods of the military junta that ruled Greece from 1967 to 1974.

Directed by Jørgen Flindt Pedersen, Erik Stephensen

Against Wind and Tide: A Cuban Odyssey(1981)

2.8/5 (with 1 vote)

- No description / details available yet. -

Directed by Jim Burroughs

Züri brännt(1981)

1h 40min | Documentary

Documentary about the youth riots in Zürich in 1980. Videoladen, Zürich 1980.

Eight Minutes to Midnight: A Portrait of Dr. Helen Caldicott(1981)

Award-winning documentary film tells the story of pediatrician author and activist Dr. Helen Caldicott.

Directed by Mary Benjamin - With Helen Caldicott

A Personal History of the Australian Surf(1983)

57min | Documentary

An autobiographical documentary written and directed by Michael Blakemore in 1981 in which he plays his own father. The film was made on 16mm and first screened in the UK at London's National Film Theatre.

WatchPlayStream ID: LISTS:11089