100 best documentaries of all time


100 easiest documentaries of all time
Colossal documentaries most frequently give entry and illumination to stories that could well in another case scoot untold. The topic of a documentary could even be anything else from a single particular person’s existence to a broader political tournament, and the cease of the motion footage differ from uplifting to devastating.
To enjoy a supreme time the style, Stacker created a ranking of the highest 100 documentaries of all time by leveraging info on all documentary motion footage to assemble a “Stacker gain” that serves as a weighted index destroy up evenly between IMDb and Metacritic rankings. To qualify, the movie wanted to be listed as a documentary on IMDb, enjoy a Metascore, and have not lower than 1,000 IMDb user votes. Ties had been damaged by Metascore and further ties had been damaged by votes. Documentary TV sequence had been not integrated. Details is of December 2021.
Among the highest-100 motion footage show stories which enjoy build their filmmakers at anguish. “The Act of Killing,” which important parts mass executions that took place in Indonesia in the 1960s, aspects stories which had been actively lined up by Indonesian government officials. One amongst the documentary’s filmmakers remained anonymous out of apprehension of reprisals from the federal government. In one other case, an Iranian filmmaker’s apprehension of the federal government turned into as soon as so intense that he smuggled his documentary to the Cannes Movie Festival on a flash force baked correct into a birthday cake.
The director of the legendary 9-hour documentary “Shoah,” which centered on the Holocaust, refused to make employ of any archival footage and easiest weak his have long-established interviews, which partly explains why the movie took 11 years to assemble. Other documentaries that seem on our list are uplifting and advise stories of a pair of of humanity’s most attention-grabbing achievements, esteem “Apollo 11,” which aspects footage from the renowned space mission that turned into as soon as the major to land americans on the moon.
Take hold of reading to quiz the 100 easiest documentary motion footage of all time.
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#100. When We Were Kings (1996)
– Director: Leon Gast
– Stacker gain: 87.6
– Metascore: 83
– IMDb user rating: 8.0
– Runtime: 88 minutes
The 1974 championship match “The Rumble in the Jungle” is the topic of this Oscar-winning documentary, which pitted underdog Muhammad Ali against champion George Foreman. Foreman and Ali joined the filmmakers on stage when the movie obtained the Academy Award for Handiest Documentary.
#99. Bob Dylan: Dont Spy Lend a hand (1967)
– Director: D.A. Pennebaker
– Stacker gain: 87.6
– Metascore: 84
– IMDb user rating: 7.9
– Runtime: 96 minutes
Director D. A. Pennebaker accompanies Bob Dylan on his 1965 tour of England taking pictures every concert footage and intimate scenes of Dylan’s existence off the phases and pages of tune. Pennebaker said he never intended for “Dont Spy Lend a hand” to be a correct documentary, which, by his definition, is a little bit of movie that dives deeply and educates. His ambition turned into as soon as to not paint a detailed portrait of the lifetime of a tune icon, but as an replace resolution to phrase the realm what it turned into as soon as esteem to be with him for a moment in time.
#98. American Movie (1999)
– Director: Chris Smith
– Stacker gain: 87.6
– Metascore: 84
– IMDb user rating: 7.9
– Runtime: 107 minutes
This movie paperwork the stir of filmmaker Model Borchardt as he attempts to finance and total a low-funds dismay movie. Filled with a solid of cute losers, the documentary aspects Borchardt’s 82-year-passe Uncle Bill, his financier and a man who lives in a trailer park despite the real fact that he has over $250,000 stashed away at the bank.
Underwood Archives // Getty Images
#97. The Persistence (2000)
– Director: George Butler
– Stacker gain: 87.6
– Metascore: 85
– IMDb user rating: 7.8
– Runtime: 97 minutes
This retelling of the Antarctic expedition led by Sir Ernest Shackleton in 1914 is narrated by Liam Neeson. It contains fresh footage of the locations concerned in the long-established expedition, as neatly as interviews with the surviving members of the family of the people of the expedition. Shackleton’s ship, the Persistence, turned into as soon as overwhelmed by ice, despite the real fact that miraculously the explorer and his expedition mates all lived by the harrowing ordeal.
#96. Amy (2015)
– Director: Asif Kapadia
– Stacker gain: 87.6
– Metascore: 85
– IMDb user rating: 7.8
– Runtime: 128 minutes
This documentary tells the epic of Amy Winehouse’s existence, leveraging unseen footage, home videos, and better than 100 interviews to paint the image of her abundant talent and her tragic, untimely loss of life. Winehouse’s father, Mitch Winehouse, turned into as soon as very serious of the documentary, claiming it portrayed him in a detrimental counterfeit gentle.
#95. Closing Affirm Dwelling (2009)
– Director: Lixin Fan
– Stacker gain: 87.6
– Metascore: 86
– IMDb user rating: 7.7
– Runtime: 85 minutes
“Closing Affirm Dwelling” shines a gentle-weight on the toll China’s economic boost has taken on families by exploring the lives of factory workers who sacrifice their home lives for their skilled ones. The movie specializes in Chen and Zhang and their struggles reconnecting with the teenagers they see infrequently attributable to their work.
#94. The Tillman Tale (2010)
– Director: Amir Bar-Lev
– Stacker gain: 87.6
– Metascore: 86
– IMDb user rating: 7.7
– Runtime: 94 minutes
“The Tillman Tale” explores the lifetime of soccer participant-turned into-soldier Pat Tillman and his loss of life in Afghanistan. Tillman turned into as soon as reportedly killed in a Taliban assault, but the movie exhibits that it turned into as soon as a hide-up by the navy. Tillman died as a outcomes of “edifying fire.” Critics lauded it namely for being a extremely effective piece of anti-propaganda.
Better Floor Productions
#93. Crip Camp (2020)
– Administrators: James Lebrecht, Nicole Newnham
– Stacker gain: 87.6
– Metascore: 86
– IMDb user rating: 7.7
– Runtime: 106 minutes
Camp Jened, a summer season camp for formative years with disabilities in the Catskills, helped kickstart a revolution in the 1970s. “Crip Camp” turned into as soon as released in the year that marked the 30th anniversary of the American citizens with Disabilities Act and turned into as soon as produced by Michelle and Barack Obama’s production firm, Better Floor.
#92. The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu (2010)
– Director: Andrei Ujica
– Stacker gain: 87.6
– Metascore: 87
– IMDb user rating: 7.6
– Runtime: 180 minutes
The employ of footage from the Romanian Nationwide Television and Nationwide Movie Archives, this movie profiles communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, who reigned from 1965 to 1989. After being overthrown, Ceausescu turned into as soon as finished alongside his spouse on Christmas Day 1989.
#91. The Overnighters (2014)
– Director: Jesse Moss
– Stacker gain: 87.6
– Metascore: 89
– IMDb user rating: 7.4
– Runtime: 102 minutes
“The Overnighters” centers on a pastor in North Dakota who turns into controversial in his city for opening his door to homeless of us making an strive to gain work. Critics enjoy when in contrast it to the obedient 20th-century migration original “The Grapes of Wrath.”
#90. Dick Johnson Is Tiresome (2020)
– Director: Kirsten Johnson
– Stacker gain: 87.6
– Metascore: 89
– IMDb user rating: 7.4
– Runtime: 89 minutes
In this documentary, director Kirsten Johnson faces the impending loss of life of her father attributable to dementia with extremely effective esteem packaged in dusky humor. She imagines and phases myriad ways in which her father could well additionally die, but it for stir is anything else but macabre. The final product is one last play session, one last time with father and daughter engaged in assemble-derive in an strive to manipulate the uncontrollable, to enjoy a snarl over how they’ll greet loss of life when it comes, as it does for us all.
#89. I Known as Him Morgan (2016)
– Director: Kasper Collin
– Stacker gain: 87.6
– Metascore: 90
– IMDb user rating: 7.3
– Runtime: 92 minutes
“I Known as Him Morgan” is ready the widow of jazz obedient Lee Morgan, Helen Morgan, who took care of him by his heroin addiction and turned into as soon as later held responsible for his cancel. The Guardian known as it “full of life, like a flash, hallucinatory, exuberant, tragic”—adjectives that could well per chance additionally fair as with out complications be weak to teach jazz at its easiest.
#88. Senna (2010)
– Director: Asif Kapadia
– Stacker gain: 88.2
– Metascore: 79
– IMDb user rating: 8.5
– Runtime: 106 minutes
Ayrton Senna obtained the Formulation One world championship as a Brazillian Formulation One driver a total of thrice sooner than his loss of life. The motive force, idea to be one in every of the finest, died at the age of 34 after crashing correct into a concrete barrier whereas main the 1994 San Marino Big Prix. The movie obtained the World Cinema Target market Award for Documentary at the Sundance Movie Festival in 2011.
#87. Guarantees (2001)
– Administrators: B.Z. Goldberg, Justine Shapiro, Carlos Bolado
– Stacker gain: 88.2
– Metascore: 80
– IMDb user rating: 8.4
– Runtime: 106 minutes
Chronicling the lives of seven teenagers from Israel and Palestine who lead very different lives, “Guarantees” follows them for three years from 1995 to 1998. Writing for The Fresh York Times, Julie Salamon known as the movie “intensely private and insightful…a humanist’s dream.”
Agência Brasil // Wikimedia Commons
#86. The Revolution Will No longer Be Televised (2003)
– Administrators: Kim Bartley, Donnacha O’Briain
– Stacker gain: 88.2
– Metascore: 81
– IMDb user rating: 8.3
– Runtime: 74 minutes
Correct as an Irish movie crew began making this documentary about Hugo Chavez, Venezuela’s president, dissidents attempted a coup d’état. The 2002 two-day coup did not utilize away Chavez from energy, but turned into the topic of this award-winning documentary.
#85. Paris Is Burning (1990)
– Director: Jennie Livingston
– Stacker gain: 88.2
– Metascore: 82
– IMDb user rating: 8.2
– Runtime: 71 minutes
“Paris Is Burning,” tells the epic of the breeze balls that took place in Fresh York circa the 1980s. The documentary obtained a 1992 GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Movie (Documentary).
#84. The Other Side of Every thing (2017)
– Director: Mila Turajlic
– Stacker gain: 88.2
– Metascore: 83
– IMDb user rating: 8.1
– Runtime: 100 minutes
Filmmaker Mila Turajlic exposes her family’s past, which has remained hidden in the support of a locked door in her mother’s residence in Belgrade for seven decades. The Fresh Yorker’s Richard Brody selected “The Other Side of Every thing” as one in every of the finest motion footage of 2018.
#83. Lake of Hearth (2006)
– Director: Tony Kaye
– Stacker gain: 88.2
– Metascore: 83
– IMDb user rating: 8.1
– Runtime: 152 minutes
This graphic documentary depicts every facets of the abortion debate in stark black and white. British filmmaker Tony Kaye filmed “Lake of Hearth” on and off for 17 years.
#82. The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007)
– Director: Seth Gordon
– Stacker gain: 88.2
– Metascore: 83
– IMDb user rating: 8.1
– Runtime: 79 minutes
The field of aggressive arcade gaming is the topic of this exciting documentary. Filmmaker Seth Gordon follows Steve Wiebe as he tries to snag the high gain epic for Donkey Kong, the 1981 arcade recreation, from Billy Mitchell.
#81. Blackfish (2013)
– Director: Gabriela Cowperthwaite
– Stacker gain: 88.2
– Metascore: 83
– IMDb user rating: 8.1
– Runtime: 83 minutes
“Blackfish” specializes in the complications that come up when killer whales are saved in captivity by telling the epic of Tilikum, an orca whale who turned into as soon as responsible for the deaths of several of us, including a SeaWorld trainer. SeaWorld known as the movie “shamefully dishonest, intentionally deceptive and scientifically incorrect.”
#80. In the Shadow of the Moon (2007)
– Director: David Sington
– Stacker gain: 88.2
– Metascore: 84
– IMDb user rating: 8.0
– Runtime: 100 minutes
NASA’s Apollo mission is remembered by the crew who lived by it in this documentary that additionally aspects archival footage of the memorable space mission. The movie contains interviews with the surviving astronauts.
#79. Sound and Fury (2000)
– Director: Josh Aronson
– Stacker gain: 88.2
– Metascore: 85
– IMDb user rating: 7.9
– Runtime: 80 minutes
Technological trends esteem cochlear implants to cure deafness are seen largely, almost exclusively, as an actual factor. Many—especially of us which could well additionally be not deaf or attain not enjoy deaf americans in their familial and social circles—could well per chance ask why anyone would want to not hear in the occasion that they are going to additionally. However for many families, esteem the Artinians featured in “Sound and Fury,” deafness has change correct into one scheme of existence and an identification. This documentary explores how a apparently evident need esteem getting cochlear implants is more refined than many know.
#78. Let’s Receive Lost (1988)
– Director: Bruce Weber
– Stacker gain: 88.2
– Metascore: 85
– IMDb user rating: 7.9
– Runtime: 120 minutes
Jazz trumpeter Chet Baker’s existence is examined in this documentary that contains interviews alongside with his teenagers, traffic, and enthusiasts. The movie additionally tackles his drug addiction. Four months sooner than its free up, Baker died under mysterious circumstances.
Spencer Platt // Getty Images
#77. Road Fight (2005)
– Director: Marshall Curry
– Stacker gain: 88.2
– Metascore: 85
– IMDb user rating: 7.9
– Runtime: 83 minutes
Holding the 2002 mayoral flee in Newark, Fresh Jersey, filmmaker Marshall Curry uncovered corruption in the camp of Mayor Sharpe James, who had been in place of work for 16 years. James ran against attorney Cory Booker, who turned into as soon as backed by filmmaker Spike Lee, performing in the movie on Booker’s behalf.
Ken Lipper/June Beallor production
#76. The Closing Days (1998)
– Director: James Moll
– Stacker gain: 88.2
– Metascore: 85
– IMDb user rating: 7.9
– Runtime: 87 minutes
In this movie, five Hungarian Holocaust survivors allotment their harrowing experiences of being imprisoned in Nazi focus camps in 1944. All five, who are in actuality U.S. residents, return to their areas of imprisonment. Against the backdrop of one in every of the darkest moments in human history, these survivors again as beacons of sunshine and the embodiment of hope and braveness.
#75. Let the Hearth Burn (2013)
– Director: Jason Osder
– Stacker gain: 88.2
– Metascore: 86
– IMDb user rating: 7.8
– Runtime: 88 minutes
Restful of archival footage and interviews, “Let the Hearth Burn” tells the epic of how on Could well also fair 13, 1985, the longtime feud between radical community MOVE and the city of Philadelphia came to a horrible and lethal head. The movie obtained Handiest Native Characteristic at the 2013 Philadelphia Movie Festival.
#74. Murderball (2005)
– Administrators: Henry Alex Rubin, Dana Adam Shapiro
– Stacker gain: 88.2
– Metascore: 87
– IMDb user rating: 7.7
– Runtime: 88 minutes
“Murderball” is a documentary about athletes with disabilities who play wheelchair rugby. The movie turned into as soon as deemed major adequate to be screened at the United Countries.
Jafar Panahi Movie Productions
#73. This Is No longer a Movie (2011)
– Administrators: Mojtaba Mirtahmasb, Jafar Panahi
– Stacker gain: 88.2
– Metascore: 90
– IMDb user rating: 7.4
– Runtime: 75 minutes
Filmmaker Jafar Panahi made this documentary alongside with his phone as a response to threats from the Iranian government. The movie turned into as soon as smuggled out of Iran to the Cannes Movie Festival in a flash force baked in a birthday cake.
#72. Derek DelGaudio’s In & Of Itself (2020)
– Director: Frank Oz
– Stacker gain: 88.7
– Metascore: 82
– IMDb user rating: 8.3
– Runtime: 90 minutes
Stephen Colbert and his spouse, Evelyn, served as govt producers on this movie that sees magician Derek DelGaudio examining the illusions of one’s particular person identification. Several celebrities could even be seen in the target market, including Bill Gates.
#71. Cuba and the Cameraman (2017)
– Director: Jon Alpert
– Stacker gain: 88.7
– Metascore: 82
– IMDb user rating: 8.3
– Runtime: 113 minutes
This documentary follows existence in Cuba over four decades as the Cuban of us ride milestone moments in the nation’s neatly off and various history, including the 2016 loss of life of Fidel Castro. This Netflix long-established debuted at the Venice World Movie Festival.
#70. 13th (2016)
– Director: Ava DuVernay
– Stacker gain: 88.7
– Metascore: 83
– IMDb user rating: 8.2
– Runtime: 100 minutes
“13th” specializes in the mass incarceration in the US, and its disproportionate affect on Sunless American citizens. Filmmaker Ava DuVernay argues that slavery has persisted since the cease of the Civil Battle, by Reconstruction generation chain gangs, the battle on remedy, and “absorbing on crime” policies. Critics praised the movie for concurrently being though-provoking and measured.
#69. Free Solo (2018)
– Administrators: Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi
– Stacker gain: 88.7
– Metascore: 83
– IMDb user rating: 8.2
– Runtime: 100 minutes
Alex Honnold, an American rock climber, free solo climbs Yosemite Nationwide Park’s El Capitan in this Nationwide Geographic movie. It is believed that Honnold has a reduced response to disquieted stimuli per the outcomes of a helpful MRI (fMRI), which turned into as soon as discussed in the movie.
#68. The Square (2013)
– Director: Jehane Noujaim
– Stacker gain: 88.7
– Metascore: 84
– IMDb user rating: 8.1
– Runtime: 95 minutes
“The Square” tells the epic of the Egyptian Revolution by the eyes of various protestors. It turned into the major Oscar-nominated Netflix movie in 2014 when it turned into a contender for Handiest Documentary Characteristic.
#67. Night Will Tumble (2014)
– Director: André Singer
– Stacker gain: 88.7
– Metascore: 85
– IMDb user rating: 8.0
– Runtime: 75 minutes
World Battle II footage realized by researchers revealed a surprise: a documentary about German focus camps made by Alfred Hitchcock and Sidney Bernstein in 1945. Director André Singer explores the making of this lost movie, with Helena Bonham Carter serving as the narrator. The documentary includes interviews with every survivors and liberators and rapid newsreel motion footage woven with uncooked footage from the long-established 1945 movie.
#66. Bridegroom (2013)
– Director: Linda Bloodworth-Thomason
– Stacker gain: 88.7
– Metascore: 85
– IMDb user rating: 8.0
– Runtime: 80 minutes
“Bridegroom” premiered at the Tribeca Movie Festival, the place it obtained the Target market Award. The movie is ready the relationship between two delighted males, Shane and Tom. Correct as they understanding to marry, Tom dies in a tragic accident and his family refuses to let Shane lend a hand his funeral.
#65. Exit Thru the Reward Store (2010)
– Director: Banksy
– Stacker gain: 88.7
– Metascore: 85
– IMDb user rating: 8.0
– Runtime: 87 minutes
Graffiti artist Banksy explores underground art work in this humorous and exciting documentary. Writing for the Arizona Republic, Richard Nilsen said of the movie, “The frightful truth is that, on some level, it doesn’t matter whether or not the movie is correct or not. Either technique, it’s charming. Either technique, we learn plenty. Either technique, it’s a obedient movie.”
Thom Andersen Productions
#64. Los Angeles Plays Itself (2003)
– Director: Thom Andersen
– Stacker gain: 88.7
– Metascore: 86
– IMDb user rating: 7.9
– Runtime: 169 minutes
This movie paperwork the ways the City of Angels has been weak and depicted in motion footage. Filmmaker Thom Andersen specializes in the misrepresentations of the city, as neatly as its cultural significance to the movie industry.
#63. Welcome to Chechnya (2020)
– Director: David France
– Stacker gain: 88.7
– Metascore: 86
– IMDb user rating: 7.9
– Runtime: 107 minutes
This movie follows activists as they fight for LGBTQ rights in Chechnya. Writing for Rolling Stone, David Panic known as the movie “a collective profile in braveness … on the of us who are the last factor standing between survival and a purge.”
#62. Tell Us from Unimaginative (2006)
– Director: Amy Berg
– Stacker gain: 88.7
– Metascore: 86
– IMDb user rating: 7.9
– Runtime: 101 minutes
“Tell Us from Unimaginative” blurs the highway between fiction and nonfiction, traveling between police precincts in the Bronx and navy battles in the Heart East. Critics had been divided, with some calling the style mashup of fiction and nonfiction “silly” and overwhelming.
Nationwide Geographic Studios
#61. Jane (2017)
– Director: Brett Morgen
– Stacker gain: 88.7
– Metascore: 87
– IMDb user rating: 7.8
– Runtime: 90 minutes
“Jane” is a biographical documentary about primatologist Jane Goodall. The movie attracts from over 100 hours of archival footage that had been in the Nationwide Geographic archives for over 50 years.
#60. To Be and to Beget (2002)
– Director: Nicolas Philibert
– Stacker gain: 88.7
– Metascore: 87
– IMDb user rating: 7.8
– Runtime: 104 minutes
“To Be and to Beget” is a French documentary about a minute rural faculty. Critics enjoy praised the movie for its conclude, quiet, tender see at the affect a teacher can enjoy on the lifetime of their college students.
#59. Lifestyles Itself (2014)
– Director: Steve James
– Stacker gain: 88.7
– Metascore: 87
– IMDb user rating: 7.8
– Runtime: 121 minutes
“Lifestyles Itself” is one other biographical documentary, this one specializing in the lifetime of movie critic Roger Ebert. The movie turned into as soon as per Ebert’s autobiography of the identical name and turned into as soon as finished and released after his loss of life, in piece thanks to an Indiegogo campaign that raised the final funds basic to assemble the movie.
Les Movies de l’Astrophore
#58. F for Wrong (1973)
– Administrators: Orson Welles, Gary Graver, Oja Kodar, François Reichenbach
– Stacker gain: 88.7
– Metascore: 87
– IMDb user rating: 7.8
– Runtime: 89 minutes
This documentary about fraud turned into as soon as narrated by directing legend Orson Welles, who, after his involvement in a notorious Martian invasion, turned into as soon as no stranger to fakery. “F is for Wrong” specializes in two phonies, art work forger Elmyr de Hory and Elmyr’s biographer, Clifford Irving. Irving additionally wrote a counterfeit Howard Hughes autobiography.
#57. Grizzly Man (2005)
– Director: Werner Herzog
– Stacker gain: 88.7
– Metascore: 87
– IMDb user rating: 7.8
– Runtime: 103 minutes
“Grizzly Man” is a retrospective of the lifetime of grizzly undergo lover Timothy Treadwell. Treadwell turned into as soon as killed by a grizzly undergo assault, and even though audio footage of his assault exists, it has never been released, not even for the documentary.
#56. Ex Libris: Fresh York Public Library (2017)
– Director: Frederick Wiseman
– Stacker gain: 88.7
– Metascore: 91
– IMDb user rating: 7.4
– Runtime: 197 minutes
“Ex Libris: Fresh York Public Library” takes a deep dive into the realm of the Fresh York Public Library and all its branches. The movie is weird because it has no central characters past that of the library itself, which the movie promotes as the final equalizer.
3ality Digital Entertainment
#55. U2 (2007)
– Administrators: Catherine Owens, Model Pellington
– Stacker gain: 89.2
– Metascore: 83
– IMDb user rating: 8.3
– Runtime: 85 minutes
This 3D concert movie presents viewers an immersive perspective on U2’s 2006 “Vertigo” tour. “U2 3D” turned into as soon as pitched and created essentially as a vehicle to experiment with fresh 3D technology. The production turned into as soon as complicated, requiring 18 3D cameras taking pictures footage at every phrase. The documentary turned into as soon as lauded for its technological innovation.
#54. 49 Up (2005)
– Administrators: Michael Apted, Paul Almond
– Stacker gain: 89.2
– Metascore: 84
– IMDb user rating: 8.2
– Runtime: 180 minutes
In 1964, filmmaker Michael Apted began visiting and following the lives of several 7-year-passe teenagers. He endured to search suggestion from them every seven years in the “Up” documentary sequence. When they turned into 49, Apted visited them all yet again and examined their lives whereas interspersing movie from outdated entries in the sequence.
#53. Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory (2011)
– Administrators: Joe Berlinger, Bruce Sinofsky
– Stacker gain: 89.2
– Metascore: 85
– IMDb user rating: 8.1
– Runtime: 121 minutes
This movie is a continuation of the examination of The West Memphis Three and how fresh DNA proof helped with their exoneration. The movie turned into as soon as nominated for Handiest Documentary Characteristic at the 84th Annual Academy Awards.
#52. The Seashores of Agnès (2008)
– Director: Agnès Varda
– Stacker gain: 89.2
– Metascore: 86
– IMDb user rating: 8.0
– Runtime: 112 minutes
“The Seashores of Agnès” is an autobiographical documentary of the lifetime of filmmaker Agnès Varda. Varda said that it may maybe maybe well likely be her last movie, but ended up releasing one other known as “Faces Locations” bigger than a decade later.
#51. Honeyland (2019)
– Administrators: Tamara Kotevska, Ljubomir Stefanov
– Stacker gain: 89.2
– Metascore: 86
– IMDb user rating: 8.0
– Runtime: 89 minutes
When threatened by a community of nomad beekeepers, the last female bee-hunter in Europe must utilize action to place the bees and restore natural concord. Filmed in Macedonia, “Honeyland” represented the nation’s first Oscar nomination since 1995.
#50. Microcosmos (1996)
– Administrators: Claude Nuridsany, Marie Pérennou
– Stacker gain: 89.2
– Metascore: 87
– IMDb user rating: 7.9
– Runtime: 80 minutes
At the same time as you’re a bug lover, “Microcosmos” is the documentary for you. This documentary movie shines a gentle-weight on quite-understood—and no doubt not often ever idea to be—world of invertebrates and how they verbalize. Unlike the nature documentaries we’ve grown accustomed to, with melodious narration by the likes of Sir David Attenborough or Sigourney Weaver, “Microcosmos” has almost no narration, and is as an replace a showcase of nature in its purest compose.
40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks
#49. 4 Miniature Ladies (1997)
– Director: Spike Lee
– Stacker gain: 89.2
– Metascore: 88
– IMDb user rating: 7.8
– Runtime: 102 minutes
“4 Miniature Ladies” is ready the 1963 bombing of the 16th Road Baptist Church in Alabama that killed four Sunless teenagers. The Library of Congress chosen the movie for preservation in its archive attributable to its historical and cultural significance.
#48. Man on Wire (2008)
– Director: James Marsh
– Stacker gain: 89.2
– Metascore: 89
– IMDb user rating: 7.7
– Runtime: 94 minutes
“Man on Wire” appears to be like to be at the renowned 1974 feat of tightrope artist Philippe Petit, who walked on a high wire between the Twin Towers. The documentary turned into as soon as later fictionalized correct into a feature movie, “The Stroll.”
#47. Pricey Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father (2008)
– Director: Kurt Kuenne
– Stacker gain: 89.8
– Metascore: 82
– IMDb user rating: 8.5
– Runtime: 95 minutes
Filmmaker Kurt Kuenne pays tribute to his murdered childhood friend, Dr. Andrew Bagby, and attempts to assemble a portrait for Bagby’s unborn son, Zachary. In the ruin, Zachary’s mother and Bagby’s ex, Shirley Turner, turned into as soon as accused of murdering the physician. In a tragic turn, Turner took her have existence and that of her toddler son.
#46. Chasing Coral (2017)
– Director: Jeff Orlowski
– Stacker gain: 89.8
– Metascore: 86
– IMDb user rating: 8.1
– Runtime: 93 minutes
“Chasing Coral” taps on the ride of divers and scientists internationally to explore why coral reefs are disappearing at such an phenomenal charge. One magnificent addition to the movie? A soundtrack with an long-established song by actress Kristen Bell.
#45. Rewind (2019)
– Director: Sasha Joseph Neulinger
– Stacker gain: 89.8
– Metascore: 87
– IMDb user rating: 8.0
– Runtime: 86 minutes
Generations of abuse are uncovered when filmmaker Sasha Joseph Neulinger discovers his father’s home video sequence and begins to build the objects of his childhood together. The movie obtained a Critics’ Different Documentary Award for Handiest First Documentary Characteristic in 2020.
#44. Jane Fonda in Five Acts (2018)
– Director: Susan Lacy
– Stacker gain: 89.8
– Metascore: 87
– IMDb user rating: 8.0
– Runtime: 133 minutes
“Jane Fonda in Five Acts” follows the a mode of lives that its titular arena has lived over decades in the final public explore, from her time as an anti-battle activist to her marriage to a billionaire. The movie turned into as soon as praised for diving deep into her political work, and her candid admissions of remorseful about over how she turned into as soon as weak by the North Vietnamese.
#43. Taking pictures the Friedmans (2003)
– Director: Andrew Jarecki
– Stacker gain: 89.8
– Metascore: 90
– IMDb user rating: 7.7
– Runtime: 107 minutes
“Taking pictures the Friedmans” follows the trial of two associated males for sexual abuse and child molestation. The movie turned into as soon as nominated for an Academy Award, but not all americans turned into as soon as contented; a pair of of the relatives wrote to the Academy, protesting the nomination.
#42. Nostalgia for the Gentle (2010)
– Director: Patricio Guzmán
– Stacker gain: 89.8
– Metascore: 91
– IMDb user rating: 7.6
– Runtime: 90 minutes
“Nostalgia for the Gentle” follows a workforce of archaeologists digging for feeble civilizations in Chile. The movie tells two stories—one about astronomers, and different about archeologists. Each stories are space in the Chilean Atacama Desolate tract.
#41. The Gatekeepers (2012)
– Director: Dror Moreh
– Stacker gain: 89.8
– Metascore: 91
– IMDb user rating: 7.6
– Runtime: 101 minutes
“The Gatekeepers” makes employ of the experiences of six people of Israel’s intelligence agency Shin Bet to focus on their group’s successes and failures in the Six Days Battle. Some in Israel critiqued the movie for painting an awfully rosy portrait of Shin Bet.
#40. Tales We Repeat (2012)
– Director: Sarah Polley
– Stacker gain: 89.8
– Metascore: 91
– IMDb user rating: 7.6
– Runtime: 108 minutes
Sarah Polley’s “Tales We Repeat” takes a conclude see at her family’s private history, including an incident that relates deeply to her have identification. Critics praised the movie for exhibiting that things are not consistently what they first appear to be—including the movie itself.
#39. Live performance for George (2003)
– Director: David Leland
– Stacker gain: 90.3
– Metascore: 82
– IMDb user rating: 8.6
– Runtime: 146 minutes
On the one-year anniversary of George Harrison’s loss of life, his traffic, family, and bandmates came together for a tribute concert. Filmed at Royal Albert Hall, the singer’s son Dhani and Harrison’s widow, Olivia, organized the tournament, whereas Eric Clapton equipped musical route.
#38. The Salt of the Earth (2014)
– Administrators: Juliano Ribeiro Salgado, Wim Wenders
– Stacker gain: 90.3
– Metascore: 83
– IMDb user rating: 8.5
– Runtime: 110 minutes
Photographer Sebastião Salgado spent 40 years taking pictures the fairly-if-most frequently devastating wonders of the realm; this documentary captures his existence and work. Filmmaker Juliano Ribeiro Salgado paperwork his father’s work alongside with Oscar-nominated filmmaker Wim Wenders in a touching and fair portrayal.
#37. The Cove (2009)
– Director: Louie Psihoyos
– Stacker gain: 90.3
– Metascore: 84
– IMDb user rating: 8.4
– Runtime: 92 minutes
Activists, including important dolphin trainer Ric O’Barry, show animal abuse at a cove attain Taiji, Japan in this magnificent documentary. “The Cove” obtained the Oscar for Handiest Documentary Characteristic in 2010.
#36. Youngsters Underground (2001)
– Director: Edet Belzberg
– Stacker gain: 90.3
– Metascore: 85
– IMDb user rating: 8.3
– Runtime: 104 minutes
The matters of this documentary are the teenagers who moved from reveal orphanages into the streets after communism fell in Romania. The filmmakers observe the lives of 5 of those teenagers. Writing for Fresh York Times, Stephen Holden known as the movie “a uncooked cinema verite portrait.”
British Broadcasting Company (BBC)
#35. 42 Up (1998)
– Director: Michael Apted
– Stacker gain: 90.3
– Metascore: 86
– IMDb user rating: 8.2
– Runtime: 139 minutes
“42 Up” is a documentary sequence that follows a community of British teenagers starting in 1964. There are 9 motion footage, one every seven years, that yarn how lives from a range of backgrounds and personalities utilize form. Critic Roger Ebert known as it a “splendid” project that elevates the final variety of movie.
Crossing the Line Productions
#34. The Farthest (2017)
– Director: Emer Reynolds
– Stacker gain: 90.3
– Metascore: 87
– IMDb user rating: 8.1
– Runtime: 121 minutes
“The Farthest” appears to be like to be at the renowned Voyager mission to outer space. The movie turned into as soon as praised for not relying too extraordinary on its intrinsically attention-grabbing arena materials and having a skillful soundtrack and cinematographer to bring its materials to ingenious existence.
#33. The Fog of Battle: Eleven Classes from the Lifetime of Robert S. McNamara (2003)
– Director: Errol Morris
– Stacker gain: 90.3
– Metascore: 87
– IMDb user rating: 8.1
– Runtime: 107 minutes
“The Fog of Battle” appears to be like to be at the lifetime of passe U.S. Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara and inspects his observations about as a lot as date battle. The movie aspects an long-established soundtrack by Robert Glass and takes its title from the navy understanding of “the fog of battle,” which refers to making refined choices in the theater of strive against.
#32. Citizenfour (2014)
– Director: Laura Poitras
– Stacker gain: 90.3
– Metascore: 88
– IMDb user rating: 8.0
– Runtime: 114 minutes
“Citizenfour” takes an up-conclude see at the whistleblower scandal surrounding Edward Snowden’s free up of labeled paperwork. Critics praised the movie for mixing a major see at civil liberties with the role and pacing of a thriller.
#31. Brother’s Keeper (1992)
– Administrators: Joe Berlinger, Bruce Sinofsky
– Stacker gain: 90.3
– Metascore: 93
– IMDb user rating: 7.5
– Runtime: 104 minutes
“Brother’s Keeper” follows the loss of life of one brother in an upstate Fresh York family that is later pinned on his older brother. The movie is broadly hailed as a compassionate, incisive, and non-judgemental see into the tradition of the agricultural space and how it’s going to additionally enjoy impacted the harrowing events.
#30. Won’t You Be My Neighbor? (2018)
– Director: Morgan Neville
– Stacker gain: 90.9
– Metascore: 85
– IMDb user rating: 8.4
– Runtime: 95 minutes
An exploration into the lifetime of teenagers’s television pioneer Fred Rogers, the movie obtained the 2019 Honest Spirit Award. The movie’s trailer debuted on what would had been Fred Rogers’ 90th birthday.
#29. Hear to Me Marlon (2015)
– Director: Stevan Riley
– Stacker gain: 90.9
– Metascore: 87
– IMDb user rating: 8.2
– Runtime: 103 minutes
“Hear to Me Marlon” is ready the lifetime of renowned actor Marlon Brando. Vulture critic David Edelstein known as the movie one in every of the finest and “most browsing” documentaries ever made about an actor, the utilization of heaps of of hours of audio recordings to enjoy Brando advise piece of his have epic.
#28. The Decline of Western Civilization (1981)
– Director: Penelope Spheeris
– Stacker gain: 90.9
– Metascore: 93
– IMDb user rating: 7.6
– Runtime: 100 minutes
“The Decline of Western Civilization” appears to be like to be at the punk rock scene in Los Angeles in the slack 1970s. While the movie obtained rave opinions, not all americans turned into as soon as a fan: The executive of police in Los Angeles wrote a letter after the movie’s free up anxious it not be shown all yet again in the city.
#27. Sherpa (2015)
– Director: Jennifer Peedom
– Stacker gain: 90.9
– Metascore: 93
– IMDb user rating: 7.6
– Runtime: 96 minutes
“Sherpa” tells the epic of a lethal avalanche on Mount Everest by the perspectives of sherpas who had been on the mountain that day. The 2014 Mount Everest avalanche turned into as soon as one in every of the deadliest Everest failures.
40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks
#26. Excellent Grace (2018)
– Administrators: Alan Elliott, Sydney Pollack
– Stacker gain: 90.9
– Metascore: 94
– IMDb user rating: 7.5
– Runtime: 89 minutes
“Excellent Grace” is a concert documentary of Aretha Franklin performing in Los Angeles in the early 1970s. The movie turned into as soon as at the origin conceived in the 1970s, but it for stir wasn’t released till decades later attributable to difficulties syncing the audio with the visuals.
#25. The Closing Waltz (1978)
– Director: Martin Scorsese
– Stacker gain: 91.4
– Metascore: 88
– IMDb user rating: 8.2
– Runtime: 117 minutes
“The Closing Waltz” appears to be like to be at the legendary rock community The Band and their farewell concert. The movie has been known as one in every of the finest concert motion footage ever made, but others enjoy critiqued it for largely giving the rapid shrift to band member Robbie Robertson.
#24. Apollo 11 (2019)
– Director: Todd Douglas Miller
– Stacker gain: 91.4
– Metascore: 88
– IMDb user rating: 8.2
– Runtime: 93 minutes
“Apollo 11” takes documentary footage—extraordinary of it beforehand unreleased—from the renowned space mission to deliver its epic. Nonetheless, not all critics had been impressed, with Richard Brody from The Fresh Yorker marveling at how the movie manages to be tiresome given its thrilling arena materials.
#23. Inner Job (2010)
– Director: Charles Ferguson
– Stacker gain: 91.4
– Metascore: 88
– IMDb user rating: 8.2
– Runtime: 109 minutes
“Inner Job” appears to be like to be at the elements that contributed to the financial meltdown of 2008 that catalyzed the Colossal Recession. The Fresh York Times’ A.O. Scott praised the movie for having “the scourging precise force of a pulpit-shaking sermon” delivered with “rigor, restraint and precise humor.”
Red Envelope Entertainment
#22. No End in Spy (2007)
– Director: Charles Ferguson
– Stacker gain: 91.9
– Metascore: 89
– IMDb user rating: 8.2
– Runtime: 102 minutes
“No End in Spy” appears to be like to be at the 2 years following the American invasion of Iraq in 2003. The Fresh York Times’ A.O. Scott praised the movie for being an “enraging” see at what it calls the incompetence of the Bush administration in running and perpetuating the battle.
#21. Minding the Gap (2018)
– Director: Bing Liu
– Stacker gain: 91.9
– Metascore: 90
– IMDb user rating: 8.1
– Runtime: 93 minutes
“Minding the Gap” specializes in three young males who flee the strong realities of their lives in a declining Rust Belt city by skateboarding. The movie obtained rave opinions for managing to blend commentary on flee, class, and politics with a yarn on skate tradition.
#20. Waltz with Bashir (2008)
– Director: Ari Folman
– Stacker gain: 91.9
– Metascore: 91
– IMDb user rating: 8.0
– Runtime: 90 minutes
This keen Israeli battle documentary aspects interviews with fellow veterans as filmmaker Ari Folman tries to determine on recollections of his time in provider during the 1982 invasion of Lebanon. “Waltz with Bashir” turned into as soon as the major keen movie nominated for an Oscar for Handiest International Language Movie.
#19. Tower (2016)
– Director: Keith Maitland
– Stacker gain: 91.9
– Metascore: 92
– IMDb user rating: 7.9
– Runtime: 82 minutes
“Tower” is ready a sniper that held the University of Texas hostage from a clock tower in 1966. The documentary could even be seen as a memorial of events that came about 50 years sooner than its free up and featured interviews with survivors.
#18. My Voyage to Italy (1999)
– Director: Martin Scorsese
– Stacker gain: 92.5
– Metascore: 90
– IMDb user rating: 8.2
– Runtime: 246 minutes
“My Voyage to Italy” is a closely autobiographical documentary about filmmaker Martin Scorsese’s childhood on the Lower East Side and his major cinematic influences. The motion footage of Roberto Rossellini loom namely obedient.
#17. The Act of Killing (2012)
– Administrators: Joshua Oppenheimer, Anonymous, Christine Cynn
– Stacker gain: 93
– Metascore: 91
– IMDb user rating: 8.2
– Runtime: 117 minutes
“The Act of Killing” sees director Joshua Oppenheimer asking the males who committed atrocities of mass executions in Indonesia to reenact their actions on digital camera, which they attain. Befitting its subversive nature, one in every of the co-directors is an anonymous Indonesian.
#16. Crumb (1994)
– Director: Terry Zwigoff
– Stacker gain: 93
– Metascore: 93
– IMDb user rating: 8.0
– Runtime: 119 minutes
“Crumb” is a portrayal of the renowned cartoonist Robert Crumb by one in every of his lengthy-time easiest traffic; director Terry Zwigoff reportedly spent 9 years creating the documentary. Critic Roger Ebert said the movie turned into as soon as “recurring in having entry to the important thing avid gamers and biographical artifacts of Crumb’s entire existence.”
#15. We Were Right here (2011)
– Administrators: David Weissman, Bill Weber
– Stacker gain: 93
– Metascore: 94
– IMDb user rating: 7.9
– Runtime: 90 minutes
“We Were Right here” memorializes the delighted males and females who lost their lives in the AIDS epidemic in San Francisco. The filmmaker has deep roots in the community, having first moved to the city in the 1970s when Harvey Milk turned into as soon as elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors (making him the major brazenly delighted elected neatly-behaved in California history).
#14. Faces Locations (2017)
– Administrators: JR, Agnès Varda
– Stacker gain: 93
– Metascore: 94
– IMDb user rating: 7.9
– Runtime: 94 minutes
“Faces Locations” is a collaboration by directors JR and Agnès Varda as they dash by rural France and explore their not likely friendship. The movie turned into as soon as loved by critics, including Amy Taubin, who known as it “an exploration of the arts in the face of mortality.” It turned into as soon as Varda’s last movie.
#13. For Sama (2019)
– Administrators: Waad Al-Kateab, Edward Watts
– Stacker gain: 93.5
– Metascore: 89
– IMDb user rating: 8.5
– Runtime: 100 minutes
“For Sama” is a see at the ride of battle by female eyes, with a focal level on the Syrian Civil Battle. The movie made history when it turned into as soon as nominated for four BAFTAs—a first for a documentary.
#12. They Shall No longer Grow Feeble (2018)
– Director: Peter Jackson
– Stacker gain: 93.5
– Metascore: 91
– IMDb user rating: 8.3
– Runtime: 99 minutes
The employ of cutting-edge work technology, “They Shall No longer Grow Feeble” tells the epic of World Battle I by the males who fought in it. The documentary makes employ of archival footage from the Imperial Battle Museum’s archives, which turned into as soon as over 100 years passe upon the movie’s free up.
#11. I Am No longer Your Negro (2016)
– Director: Raoul Peck
– Stacker gain: 93.5
– Metascore: 95
– IMDb user rating: 7.9
– Runtime: 93 minutes
“I Am No longer Your Negro” is an imagined model of a book James Stanley 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley never finished. It turned into as soon as lauded for its creativeness mixed with Stanley 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley’s inform recordings and notes on his unfinished work.
#10. Stop Making Sense (1984)
– Director: Jonathan Demme
– Stacker gain: 94.1
– Metascore: 89
– IMDb user rating: 8.6
– Runtime: 88 minutes
“Stop Making Sense” is a concert documentary about the Talking Heads. The movie obtained a extremely distinct serious reception, with particular praise coming from its focal level on frontman David Byrne, who presents extraordinary of the movie’s energy.
#9. One Extra Time with Feeling (2016)
– Director: Andrew Dominik
– Stacker gain: 94.1
– Metascore: 92
– IMDb user rating: 8.3
– Runtime: 113 minutes
“One Extra Time with Feeling” chronicles Cut Cave’s recording of an album following the loss of life of his 15-year-passe son. As befits the uncooked, pressing nature of the materials, the final movie turned into as soon as shot over seven days with a crew of easiest seven of us.
#8. The Spy of Silence (2014)
– Director: Joshua Oppenheimer
– Stacker gain: 94.1
– Metascore: 92
– IMDb user rating: 8.3
– Runtime: 103 minutes
“The Spy of Silence” specializes in the intersection of an optometrist’s existence and the Indonesian mass killings of the 1960s. It is a partner movie to the earlier documentary, “The Act of Killing,” which additionally specializes in the executions.
40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks
#7. David Byrne’s American Utopia (2020)
– Director: Spike Lee
– Stacker gain: 94.1
– Metascore: 93
– IMDb user rating: 8.2
– Runtime: 105 minutes
Based on Talking Heads frontman David Byrne’s 2019 Broadway phrase, “American Utopia” began out as a solo album by Byrne and grew.
Alexander Nanau Production
#6. Collective (2019)
– Director: Alexander Nanau
– Stacker gain: 95.2
– Metascore: 95
– IMDb user rating: 8.2
– Runtime: 109 minutes
The movie follows investigative journalists as they show the political corruption and scandal in the support of apparently unrelated events round a nightclub fire in Bucharest. It made the 2021 Oscar shortlist for Handiest Documentary Characteristic.
#5. Virunga (2014)
– Director: Orlando von Einsiedel
– Stacker gain: 95.2
– Metascore: 95
– IMDb user rating: 8.2
– Runtime: 100 minutes
“Virunga” is ready a workforce of of us working to offer protection to endangered gorillas in a Congolese nationwide park. Two days sooner than the movie’s free up, unidentified gunmen shot the executive ranger of that park. He survived and championed the movie and its free up.
#4. Woodstock (1970)
– Director: Michael Wadleigh
– Stacker gain: 95.2
– Metascore: 95
– IMDb user rating: 8.2
– Runtime: 184 minutes
This portrait of the hippie counterculture of the slack 1960s and early 1970s has reached cult classic space. It captured the legend three-day rock and roll concert that featured various performers including folks singing legend Joan Baez, British rock band The Who, and guitar god Jimi Hendrix.
#3. Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could well per chance No longer Be Televised) (2021)
– Director: Questlove
– Stacker gain: 95.7
– Metascore: 96
– IMDb user rating: 8.2
– Runtime: 118 minutes
This 2021 documentary takes a deeper see at the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival. It aspects cuts of over 40 hours of restored, long-established footage from the competition, shot by Hal Tulchin, which sat untouched, and unseen by many, for many years. The movie explores why the Harlem Cultural Festival, which took place in the identical year as Woodstock and featured major talents such Nina Simone and Stevie Surprise, is a cultural touchstone that has remained largely unknown.
#2. Hoop Desires (1994)
– Director: Steve James
– Stacker gain: 97.3
– Metascore: 98
– IMDb user rating: 8.3
– Runtime: 170 minutes
“Hoop Desires” turned into as soon as shot over five years and showcased two inner-city boys who bused correct into a predominantly white high faculty that excelled in basketball. This acclaimed documentary turned into as soon as at the origin easiest intended to be a 30-minute television sequence.
British Broadcasting Company (BBC)
#1. Shoah (1985)
– Director: Claude Lanzmann
– Stacker gain: 100
– Metascore: 99
– IMDb user rating: 8.7
– Runtime: 566 minutes
Director Claude Lanzmann spent 11 years making “Shoah,” the utilization of his have interviews and refusing to make employ of any archival materials. Lanzmann has said his filmmaking is motivated by an effort to display and epic the history of the Holocaust against any denials it came about.
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