Aro Favourite: Documentary
48 Documentary Films have attained the hallowed status of Aro Favourite
- In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon (2024)
- The definitive musical biography about one of the most gifted singer–songwriters of his generation. Now in his early eighties, Paul Simon is…
- DVD $29.95 | Blu-Ray $34.95
- Squaring the Circle: The Story of Hipgnosis (2023)
- The story of Aubrey “Po” Powell and Storm Thorgerson, a couple of unlikely London lads who stumbled into forming the coolest art design group of…
- DVD $29.95
- Merkel (2022)
- A fittingly admirable portrait of the one of the great diplomats of modern times, Angela Merkel, chancellor of Germany for sixteen years, and most…
- DVD $29.95
- Pick of the Litter (2018)
- A compelling (even suspenseful) documentary about the surprisingly intensive process of training guide dogs for the blind.
The film follows…
- DVD $29.95
- Mountain (2017)
- A reflective but adrenaline–fueled documentary exploring our timeless enchantment with mountains, in the unique form of a collaboration between…
- DVD
$19.95 $14.95
- My Year With Helen (2017)
- With unique access to high–ranking candidate Helen Clark, filmmaker Gaylene Preston casts a wry eye on proceedings as the United Nations turns…
- DVD
$19.95 $14.95
- Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda (2017)
- Beautiful portrait of revered Japanese composer and musician Ryuichi Sakamoto, that captures the unique compositional process of a new work he…
- DVD $29.95
- Yellow is Forbidden (2017)
- Simply stunning fashion documentary from New Zealand director Pietra Brettkelly that swirls around the beguiling personality of Guo Pei, a dynamic…
- DVD
$24.95 $18.70
- I Am Not Your Negro (2016)
- A hit at the 2017 NZ Film Festival, this astonishing documentary examines the life and work of literary iconoclast James Baldwin. Based on his…
- DVD $24.95
- Poi E: The Story of Our Song (2016)
- An aptly feel–good documentary account of the unlikely pop hit that boldly mashed up "Kapa Haka" song tradition and Te Reo Maori lyrics with…
- DVD $19.95
- Why Am I?: The Science of Us (2016)
- An internationally lauded four part series that details the findings of a 40–year study by the Otago School of Medicine that follows every baby…
- DVD
$24.95 $18.70
- Ground We Won, The (2015)
- A revealing portrait of contemporary manhood as observed through the rites and rituals of a rural New Zealand rugby club made up of…
- DVD $24.95
- How to Change the World (2015)
- Another absorbing maritime documentary from the director of DEEP WATER that tells the tale of a group of friends who in 1971, in defiance of the U.S.…
- DVD $24.95
- Wolfpack, The (2015)
- A poignant, stranger–than–fiction documentary about the six Angulo brothers, raised entirely within the confines of their Lower East Side…
- DVD
$20 $15
- 20,000 Days on Earth (2014)
- A 24–hour portrait of writer and musician Nick Cave, blending fiction and reality, as it examines the artistic process and the power of the…
- DVD $29.95 | Blu-Ray
$34.95 $17.50
- Advanced Style (2014)
- An irresistible and inspirational portrait of the lives of seven unique New York women whose dynamic, eclectic personal style and vital spirit have…
- DVD
$19.95 $14.95
- Dinosaur 13 (2014)
- Riveting documentary chronicling the discovery of the largest complete T–Rex ever found, and the ongoing Goliath struggles faced by the…
- DVD $24.95
- Mistaken for Strangers (2013)
- Distinctive among rock–docs, this was made by the underachieving, metal–head brother of indie–rockers 'The National''s…
- DVD $29.95
- Muscle Shoals (2013)
- A marvellous and comprehensive celebration of Muscle Shoals, Alabama, the unlikely birthplace and subsequent epicentre of some of America's most…
- DVD $29.95
- Rewind This! (2013)
- An Aro Favourite carried by our shameless bias, this essential documentary pays timely and passionate tribute to the humble video cassette and its…
- Spirit of '45, The (2013)
- In this illuminating documentary, Ken Loach movingly celebrates the radical changes during postwar Britain under the new Labour government, which…
- DVD
$25 $18.75
- Shihad: Beautiful Machine (2012)
- A dignified and highly satisfying chronicle of the iconic Kiwi rockers, brimming with revealing anecdotes about the band's fight with fame, the…
- DVD
$29.95 $20
- Senna (2010)
- A thrilling motor–racing documentary on the fast life and times of Formula One legend and Brazilian hero, Ayrton Senna.
An exemplar of the…
- DVD
$30 $22.50
- Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls (2009)
- An adorable, "Kiwi–as" portrait of NZ's beloved folk–singing comedy duo, Jools and Lynda Topp, which also resonates as a ripely…
- DVD
$24.95 $18.70
- Rubbings From A Live Man (2008)
- Film–maker Florian Habicht finds the perfect portrait subject in Warwick Broadhead, a fiercely independent, 40–year veteran of performing…
- DVD
$25 $18.75
- Forbidden Lie$ (Forbidden Lies) (2007)
- Thoroughly engrossing docudrama investigates the truth behind disgraced bestselling author Norma Khouri, who claimed to be a Jordanian campaigner…
- DVD
$19.95 $14.95
- Manufactured Landscapes (2007)
- Astounding 'environmental' documentary centering on the landscape photography of Edward Burtynsky, whose large–scale images of…
- DVD
$20 $15
- Young @ Heart (Young at Heart) (2007)
- A stirring, crowd–pleasing music doco for ages 9 to 99 that introduces a spritely senior citizen choir known as 'Young @ Heart' who are…
- DVD
$20 $15
- An Inconvenient Truth (2006)
- Stark and compelling warning about the imminent effects of climate change – largely being stoked by carbon emissions from human activities…
- DVD
$15 $11.25
- Ans Westra - Private Journeys/Public Signposts (2006)
- Photographer laureate Ans Westra takes to the other side of the camera in this insightful, contemplative retrospective of her photography, and…
- DVD
$39.95 $29.95
- Planet Earth (TV Series) (2006)
- One of the most expensive and ambitious nature documentary series ever attempted, the reliable grave tones of Sir David Attenborough guide this…
- DVD
$29.95 $22.45 | Blu-Ray $39.95 $29.95
- Banana in a Nutshell (2005)
- Having fallen in love with a white New Zealand boy, 27–year–old Liang turns the camera on herself in this thoroughly intimate…
- DVD $29.95
- No Direction Home: Bob Dylan (2005)
- Scorsese's comprehensive biography focuses on Bob Dylan's life and music from 1961–66, includes never–seen performance footage and…
- DVD
$24.95 $18.70
- Workingman's Death (2005)
- Astonishing depiction of six of the most gruelling jobs known to man that soberingly conveys the extremes that certain members of the global…
- DVD $34.95
- Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)
- In his gravest comedy yet, the fearless Michael Moore dissects the credibility of the Bush administration since the election controversy of 2000 and…
- Poster (VG) $12.95
- John Safran vs God (TV Series) (2004)
- Ozzie media–satirist John Safran explores religion in the modern world with high irreverance, low humour and agnostic scepticism.
Among the…
- DVD $29.95
- State of Mind, A (2004)
- An astonishing effort from British dir. Gordon, who documents life in the closed society of North Korea from the perspective of two young girls…
- Poster (VG) $9.95
- Work of Director Spike Jonze, The (2003)
- Before his successful foray into feature films, director Spike Jonze made his name as the pre–eminent music video director of the 1990s. He…
- DVD $24.95
- Bowling For Columbine (2002)
- Essential viewing from the dir. of ROGER AND ME, constructing another entertaining and devastating critique of the contradictions of the US of A,…
- DVD
$20 $15
- Stone Reader (2002)
- A treat for devotees of reading, this unique literary quest concerns the dir.'s obsession with an obscure American novel and quest to find its…
- Poster (VG) $9.95
- Filth and the Fury, The (2000)
- Film–maker Julien Temple gives an angry and commanding voice to 'The Sex Pistols' (incl. the late Sid Vicious), who tell their story 'like it…
- DVD
$24.95 $18.70
- Mr Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter, Jr (1999)
- Another wholly idiosyncratic and remarkable work from documentarian Errol Morris, this time with the human oddity factor turned up to a…
- Poster (F) $10
- Walking with Dinosaurs (TV Series) (1999)
- In tracing the 160 million year history of the big lizards, this comprehensive BBC doco slavishly recreates the flora, fauna and geography of the age…
- DVD
$45 $33.75
- Aileen Wournos: Selling of a Serial Killer (1993)
- Brit doco–man Nick Broomfield takes his mike and cameraman to Florida to reveal the strange truth beneath the myth of the 'world's first female…
- DVD $29.95
- Latcho Drom (1993)
- A moving testament to the plight of inter–continental gypsy culture and to the redemptive and communicative power of music, Tony Gatlif's…
- DVD $20
- Endless Summer (1966)
- Widely popular cult documentary follows two American surfers who trot the globe looking for the perfect wave, even stopping off at Raglan, NZ.…
- DVD $19.95
- War Game, The (1965)
- A bleak, heartbreaking depiction of the events that would follow a nuclear war, that was so powerful the BBC banned it from broadcast for 20 years,…
- DVD
$20 $15
- Up Series Boxset (7-49UP) (1964-2005)
- All 49 years of Michael Apted's extraordinary documentary series chronicling the evolving lives of ordinary Brits.
- DVD
$50 $37.50