Biographies & Inspiring Stories
Explore inspiring biographies and true stories on Docsville. Watch powerful documentaries about remarkable people, lives, achievements, and journeys.
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We Could Be Heroes
Paralympic champion Azzedine is a hero abroad but an outcast at home in Morocco. Denied a salary, support, or even access to the city stadium, he and friend Yousef train for Rio's seated shot put. After winning gold, Azzedine returns hoping for change. Instead, he must fight for the most basic hu...
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The Eye Of Istanbul
Ara Güler, the legendary Armenian-Turkish photographer, dedicated sixty years to capturing Istanbul's soul. His insightful archive, thick with the city's sights and smells, reveals a rarely-glimpsed world. Güler’s craft offers a crisp, revelatory look into the mind of a true photographic master a...
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Silent Forests
Over half of Central Africa's forest elephants have been killed by poachers in a decade. This intimate portrait follows a female eco-guard, a grassroots enforcement group, a biologist, a reformed poacher, and an activist into the Congo Basin. They reveal the brutal reality of the global poaching ...
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Man On The Bus
Psychologist Eve spent a decade investigating her Polish mother’s Holocaust survivor roots. Her search revealed an astonishing, life-altering chance encounter from the past. This compelling story explores human endurance and frailty, serving as a powerful metaphor for the 20th century's most pain...
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The Museum On The Mountain
A Japanese mother and daughter dream of an art museum nestled in a mountain nature preserve. They hire I.M. Pei. Navigating strict codes—a 40-foot height limit, a sloped roof—they create a masterpiece. A stunning bridge leads to an entry tunnel. Post-construction, earth covers and reforests the s...
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Ganz - How I Lost My Beetle
The Volkswagen Beetle is a design classic. Celebrated by the Nazis, and championed by Hitler, the Beetle's true origins were obscured by a web of intrigue, espionage and slander. This extraordinary doc reveals the untold story of Josef Ganz, the Jewish visionary behind one of the world's most ado...
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Where To, Miss
In Delhi, a city scarred by the 2012 bus rape, Devki battles deeply rooted traditions to achieve her dream: becoming a taxi driver. This riveting documentary follows her fight against the odds—her sex, societal dangers, and ingrained prejudice—as she strives for a better life. Her journey is an i...
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Where The Light Shines
Afghanistan’s first ski team aims for a brighter future. From amateur beginnings on Bamyan’s peaks, Sajjad and Alishah could ski for Afghanistan at the Winter Olympics. As local children emulate them, the men confront the immense challenge of creating opportunity in a nation long defined by war. ...
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Out Of The Dark
The world watched the incredible international rescue of 12 boys and their coach from a remote Thai cave. This wonderful, yet tragic, tale is documented from their disappearance to the final, joyous moment the last person emerged.
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Deep In The Heart
“Deep In The Heart” tracks four patients—Lisa, Ted, Greg, and Pat—through the emotional turmoil of life-saving surgeries. While skilled surgeons can mend their bodies, the true challenge lies with the patients themselves. They must emerge from denial, pressured by their families to face reality. ...
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The Children Of The Noon
At Kenya’s Nchiru AIDS orphanage, daily routines mark time. Amidst the children's cheerful patter, death lurks in the shadows. They grapple with the loss of parents and an exhausting struggle against HIV. This beautifully composed film is a moving, quietly gripping exploration of coming-of-age in...
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Unknown Distance
After five tours, Marine Sniper Sgt. Douglas Brown & director Gordon Clark document veterans' emotional homecoming. These soldiers, trained with a lethal skill set now rendered obsolete, struggle to reintegrate into a society that supported their enlistment but grew ambivalent upon their return. ...
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I Am Mariam Bin Laden
Mariam Bin Laden will swim the English Channel. This athletic feat symbolizes an ardent dream: to restore her family's name, inspire Arab women to pursue their ambitions, and raise awareness for refugees who are forced to cross borders in a fight for survival.
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A Gentleman Thief
Vincenzo Pipino was a notorious gentleman thief. After being convicted, he served over 25 years in prisons across Italy and Europe, fully expiating his crimes. This documentary tells the captivating story of his life as the last of his kind.
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Banzai Switzerland
From Japan, a love for Swiss culture and the alphorn! The Tamagawa Alphorn Club is traveling to the International Alphorn Festival in Nendaz. Since the 1980s, the instrument's popularity has surged, especially among retirees. Founder Shigetoshi Nakagawa, a forest expert, was a pioneer, teaching m...
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The Good Education
Peipei, a young aspiring artist in Henan, is counting down to the final exams. As a scapegoat for peers and teachers, this abandoned “wild flower” never adapted to school’s rigid rules. Now, she struggles to find her place as the year ends.
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Shaman Road
Colette (France) and Sung-mi (Korea), identical lives. Tormented by divine voices since youth, they met in 2014. They realized their “curse” was a sacred gift: to heal others. Embracing their fate, they began their shared shamanic path.
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Our Territory
In Rignano, Ghetto residents implored me: “Do not display our lives in these precarious houses. This despair is not yours to show.” Yet, their profound misery was the first thing I saw and my initial, conflicting urge to document.
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Perseverance
Dimitri, captain of “La Persévérance,” leads deckhands Joris and Omar from Trouville-sur-Mer. From Monday to Friday, they brave the sea's whims, tracking fish far from their families. Welcome aboard their trawler, where perseverance meets the harshness of the open ocean.
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The Taxidermist
Step-by-step, we witness the gruesome art of taxidermy. Yet the reluctant artist’s mind drifts to his true passion: the saxophone. A short film about dissonant lives stitched together.
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Tracing Che
Che Guevara, the bereted icon, remains a potent 20th-century myth: part saint, part revolutionary adventurer. His saga—from youthful Latin American journeys, to alliance with Fidel Castro, to tragic death in Bolivia at 39—inspires and divides, ensuring his legend endures in controversy and passion.
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The Wonderful Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl 2
Leni Riefenstahl claimed her art transcended politics. Yet her iconic films, Triumph of the Will and Olympia, glorify Nazi power and Aryan ideals. In Mueller's documentary, her steely perfectionism and denials persist, but the evidence within her frames tells a different story.
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The Wonderful Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl 1
Leni Riefenstahl claimed her art transcended politics. Yet her iconic films, Triumph of the Will and Olympia, glorify Nazi power and Aryan ideals. In Mueller's documentary, her steely perfectionism and denials persist, but the evidence within her frames tells a different story.