documentaries

[Eastern Embargo]

Goodbye CP (1972)
https://vimeo.com/24199126

Kazuo Hara's essential DIY documentary portrait of adults with cerebral palsy in Japan. Hara later made The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On, which is arguably one of the best docs ever made (also available on youtube heh).

[Frataxin]

Goodbye CP (1972)

Will definitely check this out.

Orozco The Embalmer (2001)

In 1996, Tsurisaki Kiyotaka, one of Japan's most infamous death photographers, ventured into the center of Hell itself- the Rue Morgue neighborhood of Bogota, Colombia. With death and murder rampant, the corpses eventually find their way to embalmer Froilan Orozco, who has been tending the dead for over 50 years. It only makes sense the two would become acquaintances. Over the next few years Kiyotaka filmed Orozco at work, embalming everyone from murder victims to the elderly. Orozco the Embalmer (Orozco el Embalsamador) is the result, a gut wrenching look at corpses and the man who prepares them.

https://archive.org/details/Orozco.el.embalsamadorViaZoo

[EXU]

Orozco The Embalmer (2001)

Damn, thanks a lot for reminding me of this one and for the link, I've read about it ages ago and totally forgot.

[Eastern Embargo]

https://youtu.be/ga6ZwfsS1cA

Tokyo Noise

Rare doc featuring Tokyo creatives including noise musician Mayuko Hino, Araki, and others. Good watch!

[Frataxin]

Cripple Bastards 1988-1998 Documentary (from the 'Blackmails and Assoholism' DVD)

CB documentary, the other half is on the same channel. Interesting stories and whatnot from the early days of the band, lots of great VHS rips.

https://youtu.be/E_BQjKN0wZM

[Cementimental]

Just today realised that the Tunnel Canary documentary finally saw the light of day, it's online here: https://thesmalls.com/video/tunnel-canary-a-brief-history-1978-83

[holy ghost]

Cripple Bastards 1988-1998 Documentary (from the 'Blackmails and Assoholism' DVD)

CB documentary, the other half is on the same channel. Interesting stories and whatnot from the early days of the band, lots of great VHS rips.

https://youtu.be/E_BQjKN0wZM

I didn't know this was a thing! I'll definitely check this out when I have a free evening.

[impulse manslaughter]

Watched Cold Case Hammarskjöld last night. I didn't really like the presentation of the movie and the way the director tries to connect to the audience but it turned out to be an interesting movie with the mysterious death of Dag Hammarskjöld in 61 as a starting point, quickly turning into unexpected directions. Would recommend watching this.

[Potier]

This weekend I saw League of Exotique Dancers (2015) - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4870190/

Mostly a quick back and forth between old stars of the exotic dance, burlesque, porn etc. scenes. Some of these ladies in their 70s talking about their lives and careers - eventually participating in a Hall of Fame event. Great insights for the uninitiated, great to get to know these characters a bit more. Recommended.

[Theodore]

The Devil Next Door on Netflix. Mini series documentary about the story of John Demjanjuk and his trial in Israel accussed to be the gas chamber operator "Ivan the Terrible" of Treblinka camp. Finished it in 2 days, very good, well made, and no matter if you already know the story it keeps your interest till the end.

I wont comment more to not spoil it. Only this, to me the real star of this documentary seems to be his jew lawyer. A fascinating and disgusting person, from those you better have no deals with at all, cause no matter if they are your enemy or your friend, they are capable for great good or great bad for you in any case. Nothing in between, they will make impact !

[online prowler]

https://youtu.be/ga6ZwfsS1cA

Tokyo Noise

Rare doc featuring Tokyo creatives including noise musician Mayuko Hino, Araki, and others. Good watch!

In conjunction with this docu, I would also recommend folks to see the Nobuyoshi ARAKI photo documentary 'Arakimentari': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20FeFMaPk1I&t=1674s Insigthful production about all facets of his practice.

[Neons Fanzine]

Entertaining / good documentaries I recommend:

TURNED OUT : SEXUAL ASSAULT BEHIND BARS (2004)
https://vimeo.com/308469127
Good doc on rape culture in prison, if you want to see dirt poor people talking about being assaulted or how they toss the salad, this one's for you. Interesting and entertaining, also for a gritty look at the life and survival of the fittest in general in the prisons of america. I don't know if it's the same in every prisons as I'm not american and never done time, but here is a look at some of them.

HOOKERS, HUSTLERS, PIMPS & THEIR JOHNS (1993)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMFIbQSShYE
A dive into the 90s New York prostitution. A picture that looks almost amateurish, giving a very sleazy and gritty vibe to the whole thing. Man, some of them hookers, hustlers, pimps or johns have some fucking good lines sometimes, you could do more than 20 samples for a record based on this sole doc. The blonde mistress treating his sub like a piece of dirt or that fat piece of trash pimp in sweatpants, crackhead hooker talking about how she got threatened with a gun among other things, a lot of sad stories from a great gallery of characters... Must watch. Also HOOKERS AT THE POINT is a street life classic, produced by HBO https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-Ax6Fne9-M

THE MARK OF CAIN (2001)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_NS1ctv0_E (russian with eng subs)
Best doc on modern russian prisons, several of them including one for women. Alix Lambert did such an amazing job to show how rotting, decaying, cold and scary the prisons and inmates are. This is mostly based on the russian prison tattoos, their meaning, and how you can be beaten up or killed for wearing some you don't deserve. But you can see the life behind bars as well, it seems like they are sleeping at 62 in a 7m2 cell. Harsh and oppressive. Crushing. A. Lambert also released a book of photographs from the time she spent in those cells, and of the best / worst tattoos she's seen.

SEX FREAKS (1974)
https://fr.xhamster.com/videos/sex-freaks-1974-1180779
This one is a weird hippie mondo about sexual perversions of all kinds. From peeping tom to necrophilia, fetish for dolls, stealing and sniffing panties, 'homosexuality', piss, bondage etc etc

[ashraf]

Thanks for the links. HOOKERS, HUSTLERS, PIMPS & THEIR JOHNS was great insomnia-fuel at 3am. Miserable as it is, I found it weirdly sex-positive. All the 'man-on-the-street' bits were revealing about a cross-section of attitudes. I also appreciated how broadly it covered sex-work. The gay hustler with a day job and a  ledger was great and not the sort of person depicted really at all on screen. Same for the Dominatrix (that poor dog). Junior, too, is somehow a very sympathetic dude. There's a lot to unpack. I lived and worked in NYC 5 years after this was made and it's amazing how much changed in the interim.   

[Neons Fanzine]

Thanks for the links. HOOKERS, HUSTLERS, PIMPS & THEIR JOHNS was great insomnia-fuel at 3am. Miserable as it is, I found it weirdly sex-positive. All the 'man-on-the-street' bits were revealing about a cross-section of attitudes. I also appreciated how broadly it covered sex-work. The gay hustler with a day job and a  ledger was great and not the sort of person depicted really at all on screen. Same for the Dominatrix (that poor dog). Junior, too, is somehow a very sympathetic dude. There's a lot to unpack. I lived and worked in NYC 5 years after this was made and it's amazing how much changed in the interim.   

I agree! It is miserable because their lives are, but also very human as they care about the people they film and don't try anything sensationalistic.
If you care about documentaries on this topic, there is also Hookers on Davie, mostly interviews with prostitutes, from 1984. And Hookers at the Point, that I mentionned above. Both really good.

HOOKERS ON DAVIE : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWUm2AXEa-E
From Imdb: "Filmmakers Holly Dale and Janis Cole explore the culture of Davie Street, located in the underbelly of Vancouver, where dozens of prostitutes work and live every day. Surprisingly, they find that the sex trade there is stable and largely non-violent, and that the women who work on Davie Street meet daily to discuss safety and health issues and don't use pimps. The film also includes candid interviews with the prostitutes and footage of negotiations with potential clients."

[Neons Fanzine]

You should check this documentary "Chickenhawk" on the NAMBLA, from 1994.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ygrd29-_O3I

Members of the controversial group NAMBLA (North American Man/Boy Love Association) discuss why their organization supports "boys and men who have or desire engagements in sexual or emotional relationships."

Fun trivia, it was distributed by Stranger Than Fiction, Todd Philipps' company, who directed GG Allin : Hated In The Nation and would direct Hungover or more recently Joker