Watch On the Pole: Eddie Sachs (1961) Online Free
A direct-cinema portrait of Indianapolis 500 driver Eddie Sachs, filmed before, during, and after the 1960 race as he competes from pole position. Using pioneering mobile camera and sound techniques, the film captures the psychological intensity of racing and the personal cost of high-speed competition.
Cast
Eddie Sachs
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A documentary about four African-American comediennes set in 1984. Restored in 2021 by the Academy Film Archive.
1983
Soft Fiction
Chick Strand's SOFT FICTION is a personal documentary that brilliantly portrays the survival power of female sensuality. It combines the documentary approach with a sensuous lyrical expressionism. Strand focuses her camera on people talking about their own experience, capturing subtle nuances in facial expressions and gestures that are rarely seen in cinema. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with The Film Foundation in 2015.
1979
Harlan County U.S.A.
This film documents the coal miners' strike against the Brookside Mine of the Eastover Mining Company in Harlan County, Kentucky in June, 1973. Eastover's refusal to sign a contract (when the miners joined with the United Mine Workers of America) led to the strike, which lasted more than a year and included violent battles between gun-toting company thugs/scabs and the picketing miners and their supportive women-folk. Director Barbara Kopple puts the strike into perspective by giving us some background on the historical plight of the miners and some history of the UMWA. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with New York Women in Film & Television in 2004.
1977
The Man Who Skied Down Everest
This Oscar-winning documentary tells the story behind Japanese daredevil Yuichiro Miura's 1970 effort to ski down the world's tallest mountain.
1975
Hearts and Minds
Many times during his presidency, Lyndon B. Johnson said that ultimate victory in the Vietnam War depended upon the U.S. military winning the "hearts and minds" of the Vietnamese people. Filmmaker Peter Davis uses Johnson's phrase in an ironic context in this anti-war documentary, filmed and released while the Vietnam War was still under way, juxtaposing interviews with military figures like U.S. Army Chief of Staff William C. Westmoreland with shocking scenes of violence and brutality.
1974
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Part documentary, part expose, this film follows one-time child evangelist Marjoe Gortner on the "church tent" Revivalist circuit, commenting on the showmanship of Evangelism and "the religion business", prior to the start of "televangelism". Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2005.
1972
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Short film about the Manzanar Japanese American internment camp. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2011.
1972
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1971
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1971
God Respects Us When We Work, But Loves Us When We Dance
Les Blank's poetic documentation of 1967's Los Angeles Easter Sunday Love-In. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2002.
1968
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1968
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1956
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1950
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1948
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1944
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Short documentary extolling the virtues and necessity for women to participate in America's preparation for war, showing women working in scientific, industrial, and voluntary-services activities. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2008.
1941