Followers from around the world travel to Mount Carmel to hear the preaching of David Koresh, a local Texas working-class kid turned prophet of God and leader of the religious group The Branch Davidians.
Social & External
The people behind it
Miniseries looking at Barbados through the lives of the island's horse racing community.
Japan blossomed into its Renaissance at approximately the same time as Europe. Unlike the West, it flourished not through conquest and exploration, but by fierce and defiant isolation. And the man at the heart of this empire was Tokugawa Ieyasu, a warlord who ruled with absolute control. This period is explored through myriad voices-- the Shogun, the Samurai, the Geisha, the poet, the peasant and the Westerner who glimpsed into this secret world.
Two thousand years ago, at the dawn of the first century, the ancient world was ruled by Rome. Through the experiences, memories and writings of the people who lived it, this series tells the story of that time - the emperors and slaves, poets and plebeians, who wrested order from chaos, built the most cosmopolitan society the world had ever seen and shaped the Roman empire in the first century A.D.
From a small Italian community in 15th-century Florence, the Medici family would rise to rule Europe in many ways. Using charm, patronage, skill, duplicity and ruthlessness, they would amass unparalleled wealth and unprecedented power. They would also ignite the most important cultural and artistic revolution in Western history -- the European Renaissance. But the forces of change the Medici helped unleash would one day topple their ordered world.
Documentary chronicling the history of the Heaven's Gate cult, including actual home video footage and interviews with surviving members.
Punk rock, B-movies, and Jehovah’s Witnesses unite in this heartfelt documentary. As members of Jehovah’s Witness start to explore culture outside of their religion, they have to wrestle with the possibility of being excommunicated from friends and family. Featuring in-depth interviews and extensive home video footage, Witness Underground tells the story of punk rocker Witnesses pushing against the highly controlling Jehovah’s Witnesses religion as they build their own community through music and art. This prolific community of Witness musicians create their own record label, Nuclear Gopher, and become early adopters of promoting their music through the internet, including what may have been the first album to ever be livestreamed. This community’s history is well documented through archival footage of their home movies and self-produced music videos, all with a very charming energy.
David Attenborough takes us on a guided tour through the secret world of plants, to see things no unaided eye could witness. Each episode in this six-part series focuses on one of the critical stages through which every plant must pass if it is to survive:- travelling, growing, and flowering; struggling with one another; creating alliances with other organisms both plant and animal; and evolving complex ways of surviving in the earth's most ferociously hostile environments.
A 25-year-old former cult member seeks out his family in a closed world of neon crosses, deadly alcoholism, and abuse.
A cinematic journey through the world. Non-verbal.
In 2007, a teen girl from a posh L.A. suburb must deal with the grizzly murder of her family while trapped in the company of their killers.
The documentary depicts three women enjoying a weekend roleplaying as schoolgirls and participating in BDSM activities under the auspices of the cult Aristasia.
A chronicle of legendary Native American poet/activist John Trudell's travels, spoken word performances, and politics.
In one of the most tragic face-offs in the history of law enforcement, the deadly debacle at Waco pitted the Branch Davidian sect against the FBI in an all-out war. This documentary makes the most of footage and recordings to examine how the events that led to the tragedy of April 19, 1993, unfolded, and how the FBI's unrelenting approach made what was already a bad situation much worse.
BBC Africa Eye unravel a shocking journey into a maze of manipulation and terrifying atrocities, perpetrated by one of the most powerful religious figures of the 21st century. This investigation contains detailed first-person testimony and historical footage as it delves into the experiences of those who were wooed by the world-famous pastor into his religious cult, only to suffer devastating consequences. Twelve survivors go on record, speaking out together for the first time.
Alex Jones exposes the growing militarization of American law enforcement and the growing relationship between the military and police. Witness US training with foreign troops and learning how to control and contain civilian populations. You will see Special Forces helicopter attacks on South Texas towns, concentration camps, broad unconstitutional police actions, search and seizure and more.
It is one of the world’s most secretive and controversial cults… brought to light by one of Hollywood's biggest stars, Tom Cruise. Since its creation in 1953, Scientology has won millions of disciples, up to 40,000 in France alone, according to its leaders. Scientologists follow the teachings of a former bestselling Science Fiction author, L. Ron Hubbard. They believe in reincarnation and undergo extraordinary practices to gain enlightenment. Scientology is also an institution plagued by headline-grabbing scandals when former members go public about their experiences with the sect. While it is recognized as a religion in some countries, others consider it a dangerous cult.
A haunting story of the FBI's dark hand in American life. In 2015, Khalil Abu-Rayyan was just a young Muslim man in Detroit, Michigan: to get by, he delivered food for his family's pizzeria. Depressed and lonely, Khalil found solace in smoking weed and looking at extremist material online. Then two young women started messaging him, and he fell in love. But one of them suggested he start doing increasingly violent things. Nothing was as it seemed. And Khalil's life would never be the same. A documentary by Garret Harkawik for the Gravel Institute.
An inside look at the Lord Our Righteousness Church, an American cult based in New Mexico.
In 2023, Writer/director Aaron Irons went deep into the Appalachian wilderness area known as Jeffrey's Hell to expand on the legends and stories from his 2022 found footage film, CHEST. He was never seen again. This documentary explores what really happened to Aaron and what secrets are being kept below the surface.
A string of threatening emails escalates into a revenge plot involving a newly married US marshal and his ex-girlfriend.
Unravel the case of Utah therapist Jodi Hildebrandt, whose child abuse arrest with parenting YouTuber Ruby Franke exposed a twisted tale of manipulation.
A sexual wellness company gains fame and followers, then members come forward with shocking allegations.
In August 1969, Charles Manson's followers killed seven people on his orders. Why? Explore a conspiracy of mind control, CIA experiments, and murder.
Exclusive behind-the-scenes footage offers a glimpse into the comic minds behind a "Wet Hot" summer-camp cult hit featuring many future stars.
The film profiles eight former members of the Church of Scientology, shining a light on how they attract true believers and the things they do in the name of religion.
A look at the "Hell House" performed annually in October by the youth members of Trinity Church (Assemblies of God) in Cedar Hill, Texas (a Dallas suburb) — seen by over 10,000 visitors each year.
A visual montage portrait of our contemporary world dominated by globalized technology and violence.
Featuring never-before-seen footage, this documentary delivers a startling new look at the Peoples Temple, headed by preacher Jim Jones who, in 1978, led more than 900 members to Guyana, where he orchestrated a mass suicide via tainted punch.
A courageous pastor uses his underground network to rescue and aid North Korean families as they risk their lives to embrace freedom.
With a first-person look at the notorious Crips and Bloods, this film examines the conditions that have lead to decades of devastating gang violence among young African Americans growing up in South Los Angeles.
This investigation examines the mysterious shooting of soul icon Sam Cooke, whose death silenced one of the most vital voices in the civil rights movement.
Police pull over a woman who claims she just gave birth. But the baby — and the blood — aren't hers. Twisted lies unravel in this true-crime documentary.
An in-depth investigation into the private world of the American writer J. D. Salinger (1919-2010), who lived most of his life behind the impenetrable wall of a self-imposed seclusion: how his dramatic experiences during World War II influenced his life and work, his relationships with very young women, his obsessive writing methods, his many literary secrets.
Just two years away from turning 30, participants in Michael Apted's documentary series are facing serious questions of identity and purpose, wondering whether they've found their place in the world.
Legendary journalist Gay Talese unmasks a motel owner who spied on his guests for decades. But his bombshell story soon becomes a scandal of its own.
Film adaptation of French economist Thomas Piketty's ground-breaking global bestseller of the same name: an eye-opening journey through wealth and power.
On September 15, 1963, a bomb destroyed a black church in Birmingham, Alabama, killing four young girls who were there for Sunday school. It was a crime that shocked the nation--and a defining moment in the history of the civil-rights movement. Spike Lee re-examines the full story of the bombing, including a revealing interview with former Alabama Governor George Wallace.
A documentary on the life of John Lennon, with a focus on the time in his life when he transformed from a musician into an antiwar activist.