The Greatest Documentaries Of All Time

[Bhazor]

I can't find it anywhere but about 8 years ago there was a radio 4 documentary about three concert pianists picking out which pianos they were going to play. Going from piano to piano and talking about the personality of each piano and this one was more playful and this one was more somber. That kind of thing with the minutiae of an expert is always interesting to me. The real reason I liked it though was that it was the greatest ASMR audio ever made. Nothing but whispered voices, gentle piano scales, sounds of people walking across wooden floors, soft tinkly laughter.

[Milverton]

Milligan Chota Sahib was an episode of a Radio 4 series called Plain Tales of the Raj. Spike Milligan reminisces about his childhood in India.

His description of the Armistice Parade in Puna, with the different British and Indian regiments and their uniforms is one of the most thrilling pieces of radio I've ever heard.

[Colin Sanction]

Does anyone have any links to the Australian ABC documentary Facing the Demons?

Any help appreciated

[Morrison Lard]

Watched Winter On Fire last night, documentary about the 2014 Ukrainian revolution.

Equal parts horrifying, heart-warming, gut-wrenching and heartbreaking.

[banana]

Some excellent and hard to find shows from Channel 4 dating from around 2000 or so, representing perhaps the last gasp of high-quality, socially-conscious film-making from that broadcaster, before the rectangular-spectacle death watch beetles nested in at Horseferry Road, chewed away at quality factual programming from the inside, and began puking out pulpy fodder full of tinkers, disfigured people and fat fucks for the D and E grades. All of these films have stuck with me for one reason or another.

Brian's Story
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukpFcOCUNCs
After years of trying to track this down, someone has helpfully posted it on YouTube. The subject of this edition of Cutting Edge from 2001 is Brian Davis, a former journalist and (very) briefly editor of Campaign magazine, whose career and personal life became tragically compromised by drink and psychiatric troubles. The show finds him basically surfing in the gutter as a pinwheel alcoholic, and follows his attempts to put things back on track. Deeply affecting and frankly pretty depressing also, there is one lighter scene where he showcases his gastronomic talents and unique marinating technique.

Hardcore
http://hcdocu.blogspot.co.uk/
Stephen Walker's documentary about "Felicity", a British porn actress trying to start a "career" in the US. The notorious passage where world-famous misogynist piss-slinger and former US Army officer Paul Little, aka Max Hardcore, attempts to force-feed her a welt sandwich has probably cropped up here before, but the whole doc is worth watching as an insight into the suitcase pimps, whoremasters and hustlers that thrive in the San Fernando porn industry.

100% White
http://www.wretchfalafel.com/2009/06/100-white-dir-leo-regan-2000.html
The Wet House
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vltYki-OxJw
Another frequently depressing documentary, filmed in a shelter for alcoholics where tenants are permitted to drink while benefiting from hands-off supervision under the principal of harm-reduction - basically a well-run flophouse. Filmed in 2001 but looks like it was made in about 1984. This is actually pretty fucking funny in places as some of the jaked-up residents can't help but be amusing even when they're tripping arse over tit on Spesh or knocking each others teeth out. The obvious comradeship, however drink-soaked, between hardened boozehounds is quite touching too. Wait for the card that comes up just at the end though.

Cheers for this.
So good.

I was going to post The Wet Room in the thread I made about 90's documentaries.
Found it here by Googling for more info!

That 'Hardcore' one is on Youtube.
So, so heavy.

[Retinend]

That 'Hardcore' one is on Youtube.
So, so heavy.

Paul Little aka "Max Hardcore" is so obviously a pedophile: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDqP-vT4euA - merely the way he talks to grown women as if they were little girls is sickening to me alone. Definitely one for the "grimmest" documentaries of all time thread.

edit: full documentary here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeGYQt5AiYw