Documentary

Arriving in Paris, I start learning two languages, French and drawing. I meet Linda Demorrir, a live model. Like me, she is transgender and an immigrant.

In the winter of 2011, after a controversial election, Vladimir Putin was reinstalled as president of Russia. In response, hundreds of thousands of citizens rose up all over the country to challenge the legitimacy of Putin’s rule. Among them were a group of young, radical-feminist punk rockers, better known as Pussy Riot. Wearing coloured balaclavas, tights, and summer dresses, they entered Moscow’s most venerated cathedral and dared to sing “Mother Mary, Banish Putin!” Now they have become victims of a “show” trial.

The hippie movement that captivated hundreds of thousands of young people in the West had a profound impact on the other side of the Iron Curtain. Within the Soviet system, a colourful crowd of artists, musicians, freaks, vagabonds and other long-haired drop-outs created their own system, which connected those who believed in peace, love, and freedom for their bodies and souls.

The Art of Self-Harm is an uncompromising and unflinching look at the art collective known as “White Gardenia”. A group of artists who explore their cathartic expressions through acts of blood drinking, self-mutilation, and other forms of paraphilia. This documentary takes an in-depth look at this group's body of work, as well as conducts detailed interviews with group members to understand the inspirations and motivations behind their art. A warning is in order about the explicit content, which might also be a recommendation to some.

Gena Marvin, an artist from a small town in Russia, dresses in otherworldly costumes and protests on the streets of Moscow. She stages radical performances in public, which becomes a new form of art and activism and puts her life in danger.

Part of our REBEL HELL program. Hell is a lonely place if you are an anti-government protester drag-queen in Russia.

Get ready to play a game of death … and another … and another ... with Enter the Clones of Bruce, a documentary exploring the Bruce Lee exploitation craze. After Lee’s death, look-alikes like Bruce Li, Bruce Le, and Dragon Lee filled the void. Director David Gregory masterfully pieces together this astonishing and humorous phenomenon.

Since 1987, and for almost three decades, New York cinephiles have had access to a vast treasure trove of rare films thanks to Kim’s Video, a small empire run by Yongman Kim, an enigmatic character who amassed more than fifty thousand VHS tapes.

The horror of human nature in the historical chronicle of years

A feature length documentary featuring interviews with collectors, film directors and VHS enthusiasts as they take a trip down memory lane and take us through their first experiences with the medium and what it meant to them.

Part of our VHS soiree speciale together with STRAIGHT TO VIDEO's presentation of TCM 2 and Video Shop Tales of Horror.

In this new documentary about Negativland, the footage is almost entirely made by the people who are in it. Plunderphonics is the name given to the genre by the band that named itself after the song by CAN. Media attention rose after the band made an unauthorized cover of a U2 song. Over The Edge live radio broadcasts, and news footage, and occasional interviews from the era. The format follows the footage: a continuous loop of time backward and forward, sometimes repeating.

A document about death in movies, based on the countless deaths of Udo Kier, sampled from his over 350 cast tiles.

Using some of Iron Maiden’s most famous tracks, Mauricio Leiva-Cock follows two young metalheads coasting aimlessly through Bogota’s alleys on the day of Iron Maiden’s first-ever concert in Colombia.

Probably the greatest story ever told, after FORGOTTEN SILVER by Peter Jackson. Suddenly, everything makes sense in history. But you will not be able to tell what you just saw. During World War II, the Allied Secret Service recruited a Mexican masked wrestler named the Golden Angel. Recently discovered secret files reveal that this agent thwarted several plans that could have changed the course of the conflict in favor of the Nazis. This documentary chronicles the perilous missions of the Golden Angel and how he came to face Hitler in person.

Between appearing in supporting roles in General Hospital and local TV commercials, Ryan Sexton spent the early 90s documenting the life and art of El Duce, lead singer of the notorious shock rock band The Mentors. Famous for taking the stage in black executioner hoods, the band spent a few moments in the national spotlight after some of their most offensive lyrics were denounced on the floor of the US Senate.

SISTERS WITH TRANSISTORS maps a new history of electronic music through the visionary women whose radical experimentations with machines redefined the boundaries of music: Clara Rockmore, Daphne Oram, Bebe Barron, Delia Derbyshire, Maryanne Amacher, Pauline Oliveros, Wendy Carlos, Eliane Radigue, Suzanne Ciani, and Laurie Spiegel. While electronic music is often perceived as a boy’s club, the truth is from the beginning women have been integral in inventing the devices, techniques and tropes that have defined the shape of modern sound.

Founded in 1966 in California by Anton Szandor LaVey, the Church of Satan has often been surrounded by mysteries, scandals and moral panics.
Some of today’s active members of the church and other free-styled Satanists will share their views, memories, ritual practices and personal stories about how they got involved with Satanic religion and what are the false myths that still surround the movement. An immersive journey into one the most fascinating phenomena of American religious pluralism.
Why the hell not join the club?

The whole truth behind Director Al Adamson’s strange life and gruesome death reveals perhaps the most bizarre career in Hollywood history.

A look at the quick rise and influence of the controversial religious group known as The Satanic Temple.

With unprecedented access, HAIL SATAN traces the rise of The Satanic Temple: only six years old and already one of the most controversial religious movements in American history. The Temple and its enigmatic leader Lucien Greaves are calling for a Satanic revolution to save the nation's soul. But are they for real?

1989. In an era of Nintendo-mania, toymaker giant Mattel unleashes a bold technological experiment to an eager public. The POWER GLOVE: the first video game controller that allows players to operate Nintendo games with intuitive hand gestures. Despite immense hype surrounding its release, the product is a critical failure, disappointing thousands of children with its subpar gameplay. More than two decades later, however, dedicated fans continue to repurpose the Power Glove for art pieces, hacking projects, electronic music, and more.

Fuck the Fascism intends to expose the true story behind monuments that glorify genocides, tyranny and slavery; to raise public awareness about the national heroes who we praise, those men who our streets are named after, and bequeathed great wealth forged with robbery, abuse and blood.

FUCK THE FASCISM INTENDS TO EXPOSE THE TRUE STORY BEHIND MONUMENTS WHICH GLORIFY GENOCIDES, TYRANNY AND SLAVERY; TO RAISE PUBLIC AWARENESS ABOUT THE NATIONAL HEROES WHO WE PRAISE, THOSE MEN WHO OUR STREETS ARE NAMED AFTER, AND BEQUEATHED GREAT WEALTH FORGED WITH ROBBERY, ABUSE AND BLOOD.

Haunted by the movie 'Jaws' since childhood, a filmmaker discovers why the movie affected him so deeply.

A documentary on Queercore, a cultural and social movement that started in the punk scene and was inspired by the anger felt in the LGBT-community regarding discrimination, transphobia and homophobia in society. In the talking heads we see this year's main guest Bruce LaBruce and previous main guest John Waters: "If you want to piss off people, be a punk. If you really want to piss off people, be queerpunk."

A documentary on Dutch cult classic De Johnsons; a collaboration between a serious arthouse director, a famous writer and the most popular Dutch actress of the time. A combination that shouldn't have worked, but turned into magic. 25 years later, Xangadix Lives! explores how that magic happened.

Best watch in combination with De Johnsons

A weird documentary about everybody’s favorite weird musician. Brilliant music, even better anecdotes. Part of the Zappa Sunday, so if you want to bask in some glorious Zappamusic afterwards, you’re welcome to.

Here is the link to the combiticket for this film + music night https://butff.stager.nl/web/tickets/149299

A documentary about Richard Stanley’s failed attempts to make a feature film of The Island of Dr. Moreau. At least we have some brilliant anecdotes left.

Directed by Richard Stanley, this documentary explores the role of Voudoun in Haitian society.

Hidden deep in the south of France, practically untouched by the modern age, is a place known by many as ‘the Zone’. In this space, the supernatural is an everyday reality of life. Magic is everywhere. It is reason. It is currency. It is unquestionable fact. Richard Stanley’s documentary about his current hometown Montsegur and its inhabitants, who all seem to share an interest in the occult and the supernatural.

Mansfield 66/67 is about the last two years of movie goddess Jayne Mansfield’s life, and the rumors swirling around her untimely death. As entertaining as a documentary can get. Examining reasons why Jayne Mansfield has become such a cult icon. Starring John Waters (BUT Film Festival Main Guest 2008)!

This years’ Metal Movie is a documentary about metal’s most extreme performer ever (who makes GG Alllin look like a kindergartener). While living in complete isolation in the desert of southern California, a long forgotten shockrock musician refl ects on his dark past of drug abuse, violence, and self destruction.

A mockumentary about the real band ‘The Experimental Tropic Blues Band’ and their surrealistic adventures on the road. How do you survive as a band constantly on the verge of making it (a bit) bigger? The band has composed the entire soundtrack of the film.

An in-depth documentary about the mysterious German director Marian Dora (BUT guest 2010, and winner of the GROUNDREAKER award) and his masterpiece MELANCHOLIE DER ENGEL, steadily in the top lists of ‘most disturbing fi lms’. Who is this director, and what drives him (or her?) to make these extreme and sickening yet beautiful films?

The feature-length documentary “Forgotten Scares” goes back to the birth of Flemish horror in the 70s and shines a bright light on the future of horror in Belgium. A lot of interviews with the people involved, and some choice anecdotes about the likes of Rabid Grannies and Daughters of Darkness.