Must-See Documentaries
by schellekens-1 | created - 12 Aug 2013 | updated - 14 Feb 2016 | PublicList of good documentaries
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1. Side by Side (2012)
Not Rated | 99 min | Documentary
The documentary investigates the history, process and workflow of both digital and photochemical film creation.
Director: Christopher Kenneally | Stars: Derek Ambrosi, Michael Ballhaus, Andrzej Bartkowiak, Dion Beebe
Votes: 13,719 | Gross: $0.03M
2. The Imposter (2012)
R | 99 min | Documentary, Biography, Crime
A documentary centered on a young man in Spain who claims to a grieving Texas family that he is their 16-year-old son who has been missing for 3 years.
Director: Bart Layton | Stars: Adam O'Brian, Nicholas Barclay, Carey Gibson, Bryan Gibson
Votes: 50,474 | Gross: $0.89M
3. Searching for Sugar Man (2012)
PG-13 | 86 min | Documentary, Biography, Music
Two South Africans set out to discover what happened to their unlikely musical hero, the mysterious 1970s rock n roller, Rodriguez.
Director: Malik Bendjelloul | Stars: Rodriguez, Stephen 'Sugar' Segerman, Dennis Coffey, Mike Theodore
Votes: 72,926 | Gross: $3.97M
4. The Cove (2009)
PG-13 | 92 min | Documentary, Biography, Crime
Using state-of-the-art equipment, a group of activists, led by renowned dolphin trainer Ric O'Barry, infiltrate a cove near Taijii, Japan to expose both a shocking instance of animal abuse and a serious threat to human health.
Director: Louie Psihoyos | Stars: Richard O'Barry, Louie Psihoyos, Hardy Jones, Michael Illiff
Votes: 51,459 | Gross: $0.87M
5. Food, Inc. (2008)
PG | 94 min | Documentary, News
An unflattering look inside America's corporate controlled food industry.
Director: Robert Kenner | Stars: Michael Pollan, Eric Schlosser, Richard Lobb, Vince Edwards
Votes: 52,229 | Gross: $4.42M
6. Our Daily Bread (2005)
Not Rated | 92 min | Documentary
OUR DAILY BREAD is a wide-screen tableau of a feast which isn't always easy to digest - and in which we all take part. A pure, meticulous and high-end film experience that enables the audience to form their own ideas.
Director: Nikolaus Geyrhalter | Stars: Claus Hansen Petz, Arkadiusz Rydellek, Barbara Hinz, Renata Wypchlo
Votes: 2,690
7. Room 237 (I) (2012)
Not Rated | 102 min | Documentary
An exploration of various interpretations of Stanley Kubrick's horror film, The Shining (1980).
Director: Rodney Ascher | Stars: Bill Blakemore, Geoffrey Cocks, Juli Kearns, John Fell Ryan
Votes: 23,119 | Gross: $0.26M
8. Do It Again (2010)
85 min | Documentary, Music
Chronicles Boston Globe reporter Geoff Edgers on his irrational quest to reunite The Kinks.
Director: Robert Patton-Spruill | Stars: Sting, Zooey Deschanel, Robyn Hitchcock, Peter Buck
Votes: 111
9. The Crimson Wing: Mystery of the Flamingos (2008)
G | 78 min | Documentary
The mysterious lives of flamingos are captured on film with a birds-eye view of the animals living in Africa.
Directors: Matthew Aeberhard, Leander Ward | Stars: Mariella Frostrup, Zabou Breitman, Karoline Herfurth
Votes: 1,422
10. Dangerous Days: Making Blade Runner (2007 Video)
214 min | Documentary
The definitive three-and-a-half hour documentary about the troubled creation and enduring legacy of the science fiction classic Blade Runner (1982), culled from 80 interviews and hours of never-before-seen outtakes and lost footage.
Director: Charles de Lauzirika | Stars: Harrison Ford, Daryl Hannah, Michael Deeley, Joanna Cassidy
Votes: 2,113
11. On the Edge of 'Blade Runner' (2000 TV Movie)
52 min | Documentary
About the epic film "Blade Runner," giving insights into its history with interviews of Ridley Scott, the writers, and nearly all of the cast. There are also interviews with production ... See full summary »
Director: Andrew Abbott | Stars: Mark Kermode, Brian Aldiss, Michael Arick, Joanna Cassidy
Votes: 325
12. Stories We Tell (2012)
PG-13 | 108 min | Documentary
A film that excavates layers of myth and memory to find the elusive truth at the core of a family of storytellers.
Director: Sarah Polley | Stars: Michael Polley, John Buchan, Mark Polley, Joanna Polley
Votes: 14,121 | Gross: $1.60M
13. Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon (1998)
Unrated | 87 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
Biography of British painter Francis Bacon focuses on his relationship with his lover, George Dyer, a former small time crook.
Director: John Maybury | Stars: Derek Jacobi, Daniel Craig, Tilda Swinton, Anne Lambton
Votes: 3,997 | Gross: $0.34M
14. Earthflight (2011–2012)
59 min | Documentary
A nature documentary about a bird's-eye view of the natural world, joining the journeys of snow geese, cranes, albatrosses, eagles and other birds across six continents. Beginning in North ... See full summary »
Star: David Tennant
Votes: 618
15. North America (2013– )
TV-PG | 60 min | Documentary, Family
Sweeping across some of the most diverse landscapes on the planet, North America takes viewers from the silent grandeur of lofty snowcapped peaks to fertile forests and dramatic windswept ... See full summary »
Stars: Tom Selleck, Rutger Hauer, Steve Backshall, Dave Canterbury
Votes: 617
16. Helvetica (2007)
Not Rated | 80 min | Documentary
A documentary about typography, graphic design, and global visual culture.
Director: Gary Hustwit | Stars: Manfred Schulz, Massimo Vignelli, Rick Poynor, Wim Crouwel
Votes: 8,172 | Gross: $0.20M
17. Best Worst Movie (2009)
Not Rated | 93 min | Documentary, Comedy
A look at the making of the film Troll 2 (1990) and its journey from being crowned the "worst film of all time" to a cherished cult classic.
Director: Michael Paul Stephenson | Stars: George Hardy, Pita Ray, Micki Knox, Tommy Bice
Votes: 8,525 | Gross: $0.10M
18. Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010)
R | 87 min | Documentary, Comedy, Crime
Following the style of some of the world's most prolific street artists, an amateur filmmaker makes a foray into the art world.
Director: Banksy | Stars: Banksy, Mr. Brainwash, Space Invader, Debora Guetta
Votes: 68,836 | Gross: $3.29M
19. Connected: An Autoblogography About Love, Death & Technology (2011)
PG | 82 min | Documentary
Filmmaker and Founder of the Webby Awards, Tiffany Shlain, investigates the interconnections between the major issues of the 21st century and her own experience of these issues during a family crisis.
Director: Tiffany Shlain | Stars: Ken Goldberg, Peter Coyote, Leonard Shlain, Tiffany Shlain
Votes: 354 | Gross: $0.01M
20. The National Parks: America's Best Idea (2009)
690 min | Documentary, History
The history of the U.S. National Parks system, including the initial ideas which led to the world's first national parks and the expansion of the system over 150 years.
Stars: Peter Coyote, William Cronon, Dayton Duncan, Shelton Johnson
Votes: 1,950
21. Man on Wire (2008)
PG-13 | 94 min | Documentary, Biography, Crime
A look at tightrope walker Philippe Petit's daring, but illegal, high-wire routine performed between New York City's World Trade Center's twin towers in 1974, what some consider, "the artistic crime of the century".
Director: James Marsh | Stars: Philippe Petit, Jean François Heckel, Jean-Louis Blondeau, Annie Allix
Votes: 58,688 | Gross: $2.96M
22. Lost in La Mancha (2002)
R | 89 min | Documentary
Terry Gilliam's doomed attempt to get his film, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (2018), off the ground.
Directors: Keith Fulton, Louis Pepe | Stars: Terry Gilliam, Johnny Depp, Jeff Bridges, Tony Grisoni
Votes: 11,999 | Gross: $0.73M
23. Narco Cultura (2013)
R | 103 min | Documentary, Crime
Narco Cultura (Spanish, English subtitles) takes viewers behind the scenes of narcocorridos, the most explosive and violent music subculture in America.
Director: Shaul Schwarz
Votes: 2,500 | Gross: $0.14M
24. Pandora's Promise (2013)
Not Rated | 87 min | Documentary
The atomic bomb and meltdowns like Fukushima have made nuclear power synonymous with global disaster. But what if we've got nuclear power wrong?
Director: Robert Stone | Stars: Stewart Brand, Richard Rhodes, Gwyneth Cravens, Mark Lynas
Votes: 1,946 | Gross: $0.07M
25. Forks Over Knives (2011)
PG | 90 min | Documentary
Examines the profound claim that most, if not all, of the degenerative diseases that afflict us can be controlled, or even reversed, by rejecting our present menu of animal-based and processed foods.
Director: Lee Fulkerson | Stars: Lee Fulkerson, Matthew Lederman, Alona Pulde, T. Colin Campbell
Votes: 12,699
26. 808 (2015)
107 min | Documentary, Music
808 is a documentary film about the inspiring story of the Roland TR-808 drum machine. It's the tale of the birth of electronic music, and how one small machine changed the musical ... See full summary »
Director: Alexander Dunn | Stars: Damon Albarn, Arthur Baker, Afrika Bambaataa, Chris Barbosa
Votes: 720
27. Burning Man: Metropolis (2012)
PG-13 | 77 min | Documentary
The Visual Adventure into the Minds and Hearts of 50,000 Burners coming together and living in Harmony for one week in the Black Rock City desert. Captured by first-time filmmaker and ... See full summary »
Director: Joseph G. Quinn | Stars: Joseph G. Quinn, Tosca Rivola, Justin McEwen, Dan Gordon-Levitt
Votes: 88
28. Coast Modern (2012)
Not Rated | 56 min | Documentary, History
A core group of architects embraced the West Coast from Vancouver to LA with its particular geography and values and left behind a legacy of inspired dwellings. Today, architects celebrate the influence established by their predecessors.
Directors: Mike Bernard, Gavin Froome
Votes: 86
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