Best 17 Documentary Movies Releases from 1985

Claude Lanzmann's epic documentary recounts the story of the Holocaust through interviews with witnesses - perpetrators as well as survivors. Read about Shoah / IMDB / YouTube

A documentary of the successful career and assassination of San Francisco's first elected gay city supervisor. Explore The Times of Harvey Milk / IMDB / YouTube

Carefully picked scenes of nature and civilization are viewed at high speed using time-lapse cinematography in an effort to demonstrate the history of various regions. Get info on Chronos / IMDB / YouTube

Moved by the work of director Yasujirô Ozu, Wim Wenders travels to Japan in search of the Tokyo seen in Ozu's films. Learn about Tokyo-Ga / IMDB / YouTube

The broadcast of the biggest benefit concert in history, organized by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise funds for Ethiopian famine relief. Read about Live Aid / IMDB / YouTube

During the '35th Cannes International Film Festival' (14th-26th May 1982), German director Wim Wenders asked a sample of 15 other international film directors to get, each one at a time, into the same hotel room to answer in solitude the same question about the future of cinema, while they were filmed with a 16mm camera and recorded with a Nagra sound recorder. In soc. Look into Chambre 666 / IMDB / YouTube

Third installment in the infamous Faces of Death series. Features real footage mixed in with re-enactments and faked footage. Read about Faces of Death III / IMDB / YouTube

Part of their World Slavery Tour, this, their Long Beach Arena shows, have finally come to the format of DVD. Bringing you the early tracks of their career and with the themes and backdrops to their Powerslave album (1984), this, the definitive Iron Maiden concert will have you in thunderous applause to this British heavy metal troupe. They're all here: Aces High, 2. Find out about Iron Maiden: Live After Death / IMDB / YouTube

The history of the Gay and Lesbian community before the Stonewall riots began the major gay rights movement. Get info on Before Stonewall / IMDB / YouTube

The film focuses on a group of Miskito in Nicaragua who used child soldiers in their resistance against the Sandinistas. Info on Ballad of the Little Soldier / IMDB / YouTube

A documentary about George A. Romero's films, with a behind scenes look at Dawn of the Dead. Look into Document of the Dead / IMDB / YouTube

Original footage of the prosperous farming community of Glencoe Minnesota, 60 miles west of Minneapolis, was filmed in 1979 for a PBS documentary. But for the next six years Malle was too busy with other projects to finish this work. He returned in 1985 for a follow-up and found the community reacting to the mid-eighties crisis of overproduction in farm country. With . Explore God's Country / IMDB / YouTube

About the obscure country-blues musician and idiosyncratic visual artist Howard Louie Bluie Armstrong, member of the last known black string band in America. Check out Louie Bluie / IMDB / YouTube

Documentary showing the history of the world-famous Statue of Liberty in New York harbor, the impact it still has on people and the state of liberty as a personal and political concept in America in 1985. Get info on The Statue of Liberty / IMDB / YouTube

Documents the preparation and rehearsals for Sting's first solo concert, as well as his supporting band's opinions on their leader and his controversial efforts. Find out about Bring on the Night / IMDB / YouTube

By the late 1800s the free-ranging buffalo of the western plains of North America were almost extinct. This documentary is the story of the buffalo's revival. Live action, eye-witness accounts and archival photos document our fascination with this ancient and legendary animal. Look into The Great Buffalo Saga / IMDB / YouTube

Ken Burns' portrait of Louisiana governor/U.S. senator Huey Long. Info on Huey Long / IMDB / YouTube