The website http://www.freedocumentaries.org/ has a large number of political documentaries available for free download. Although they seem to be mostly from the perspective of the left (and some seem to come from quite far to the left), there are a number of interesting titles dealing with human rights and the media. A few titles pop out (that I’ve heard are good but have not yet seen myself):
- Control Room: A look at the Iraq War from the perspective of Al Jazeera that stirred a lot of controversy and won a number of film awards.
- The Story of God (three parts): Three part series on the history of religious ideas by the BBC.
- Auschwitz: A detailed six part documentary on Auschwitz.
- The Fog of War: Features a recent interview with Robert McNamara, one of the architects (Sec. Defence) of the Vietnam War.
You can also find more free documentaries at:
- http://www.snagfilms.com/films
- http://www.nfb.ca/
- http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/
- http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/
- http://www.avgeeks.com/ – for some somewhat dated classics