As he did with the occupation of Iraq in 'No End in Sight' Charles Ferguson shines a light on the global financial crisis. Accompanied by narration from Matt Damon and beginning and ending in Iceland, a flourishing country that thought they’d give American-style banking a try, Ferguson looks at the spectacular rise and cataclysmic fall of deregulation in the United States. A superb, riveting, depressing and enraging peak under the covers of global finance that leaves you with the un-equivocal re find out more...

Jesus Camp is both about the tactics of the Evangelical Christian right and how impressionable young minds can be. We follow Levi, Rachel, Tory and other children in a first-ever look at a Christian fundmentalist summer camp, in North Dakota, an intense training ground that recruits underage kids to become an active part of America's political future. There's no dialectics here, no promotion of free thought, and tots as young as six are brainwashed to become dedicated soldiers in God's army and find out more...

The story of Tracy Edwards, a 24-year-old cook on charter boats, who became the skipper of the first ever all-female crew to enter the Whitbread Round the World Race in 1989. This is a film that doesn't leave you: the images of gigantic waves and ice bergs and superhuman levels of courage and endurance are hard to process. If it were a work of fiction you would dismiss it as Hollywood hype: but it's not, find out more...

This is a very good deconstruction of the political polemicist Michael Moore, a man who's made a lot of money out of feeding liberals entertainment and whose cupboard rattles with skeletons. The film goes into a number of details of gross inaccuracies, and betrayals of the people he pertains to support, in order to further his career. In particular we learn about lies told in 'Roger and Me', eg about the supposed apathy of the locals and about being unable to talk to Roger. We hear about the len find out more...

An engaging and thought provoking documentary following the vascillating fortunes of Marla Olmstead, a toddler from Binghamton, New York State, who took the modern art world by storm in 2004. With her abstract canvases fetching thousands of dollars little Marla became a media darling and her parents became wealthy, but, when a profile on '60 Minutes' questions whether her father, himself a keen amateur artist, had more than a guiding hand in the paintings, the Olmstead family find themselves ens find out more...

Great doco about the early days of NY hip hop and life on the projects. One of the best features of this film is that it examines the political trajectory of Nas' career through his lyrics as well as the environment and familial situation that gave rise to his stardom. Must see for fans of his music. And anyone interested in the political side of rap music.

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Revered Brit film director Terence Davies paints a picture of Liverpool life from his childhood days to the modern in this poetic docu-essay memoir. Heavy on poetry and classical music, heavily against the Church and the monarchy, full of newsreel and documentary footage, this is an awesome tribute to a city that he loves. find out more...

In 1998 Marco Pantani, the most flamboyant and popular cyclist of his era, won both the Tour de France and Giro d'Italia, a titanic feat of physical and mental endurance that no rider has repeated since. He was a hero to millions, the saviour of professional cycling following the doping scandals which threatened to destroy the sport. However, less than six years later, aged just 34, he died alone, in a cheap Italian hotel room.

This film is not just about cycling but an emotional expl find out more...

US comedian Bill Maher travels the world, with a metaphoric blunderbuss, to mock religious zealots by allowing them to spout quixotically outlandish pieces of madness/religion and to point out some of the logical absurdities in their beliefs. Some of the victims are purely nuts, but most represent the views of mainstream sects, only a Vatican priest really saves the day for God with a humourous scepticism about the whole nature of fundamentalism. The destinations include Jerusalem, the Vatican, find out more...

A highly personalised documentary account of one filmmaker's frustrated attempts to interview the Chairman of General Motors when he closed down 35,000 jobs in his hometown. Instead he focuses on the drastic and wry effects on the town. The result is incisive, witty, and (surprisingly) very, very funny. A Must! find out more...