Top 25 Best Documentaries
by Dennis_Alink | created - 16 Oct 2013 | updated - 25 Oct 2017 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. The Red Chapel (2009)
Not Rated | 88 min | Documentary, Comedy
Two Danish comedians join the director on a trip to North Korea, where they have been allowed access under the pretext of wanting to perform a vaudeville act.
Director: Mads Brügger | Stars: Mads Brügger, Simon Jul Jørgensen, Tommy Kenter, Jacob Nossell
Votes: 2,159 | Gross: $0.01M
2. Katka (2010)
90 min | Documentary, Biography, Drama
Helena Trestikova is the author of 10 episodes from the series Women on the Brink of the New Millennium, intimate portraits of both successful women and women on the social periphery. The ... See full summary »
Director: Helena Trestíková
Votes: 330
3. Silverlake Life: The View from Here (1993)
99 min | Documentary
A documentary about two gay men as they live through their last months of life with AIDS.
Directors: Peter Friedman, Tom Joslin | Stars: Liane Bonin, Tom Joslin, Mark Massi
Votes: 523
4. Berlin: Symphony of Metropolis (1927)
Not Rated | 65 min | Documentary
This movie shows us one day in Berlin, the rhythm of that time, starting at the earliest morning and ends in the deepest night.
Director: Walter Ruttmann | Star: Paul von Hindenburg
Votes: 4,798
5. Armadillo (2010)
Not Rated | 105 min | Documentary, War
Danish soldiers are sent to Afghanistan in 2009 for 6 months, to help stabilize the country against the Taliban. They're stationed on Armadillo military base in Helman province. Unlike other war movies, this is the real deal - no actors.
Director: Janus Metz
Votes: 10,332 | Gross: $0.01M
6. Gimme Shelter (1970)
GP | 91 min | Documentary, Music, Thriller
When three hundred thousand members of the Love Generation collided with a few dozen Hells Angels at San Francisco's Altamont Speedway, the bloody slash that transformed a decade's dreams into disillusionment was immortalized on this film.
Directors: Albert Maysles, David Maysles, Charlotte Zwerin | Stars: Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Mick Taylor, Charlie Watts
Votes: 12,896 | Gross: $0.25M
7. Encounters at the End of the World (2007)
G | 99 min | Documentary
Film-maker Werner Herzog travels to the McMurdo Station in Antarctica, looking to capture the continent's beauty and investigate the characters living there.
Director: Werner Herzog | Stars: Werner Herzog, Scott Rowland, Stefan Pashov, Doug MacAyeal
Votes: 19,260 | Gross: $0.94M
8. Shoah (1985)
Not Rated | 566 min | Documentary, History, War
Claude Lanzmann's epic documentary recounts the story of the Holocaust through interviews with witnesses - perpetrators as well as survivors.
Director: Claude Lanzmann | Stars: Simon Srebnik, Michael Podchlebnik, Motke Zaïdl, Hanna Zaïdl
Votes: 10,560 | Gross: $0.02M
9. Nanook of the North (1922)
Passed | 78 min | Documentary
In this silent predecessor to the modern documentary, film-maker Robert J. Flaherty spends one year following the lives of Nanook and his family, Inuits living in the Arctic Circle.
Director: Robert J. Flaherty | Stars: Allakariallak, Alice Nevalinga, Cunayou, Allegoo
Votes: 13,459
10. The Ambassador (2011)
Not Rated | 97 min | Documentary
Danish journalist Mads Brügger goes undercover as a Liberian Ambassador to embark on a dangerous yet hysterical journey to uncover the blood diamond trade in Africa.
Director: Mads Brügger | Stars: Mads Brügger, Heather Schmid
Votes: 4,248 | Gross: $0.03M
11. Bowling for Columbine (2002)
R | 120 min | Documentary, Crime, Drama
Filmmaker Michael Moore explores the roots of America's predilection for gun violence.
Director: Michael Moore | Stars: Michael Moore, Charlton Heston, Marilyn Manson, Salvador Allende
Votes: 148,769 | Gross: $21.58M
12. Man with a Movie Camera (1929)
Not Rated | 68 min | Documentary
A man travels around a city with a camera slung over his shoulder, documenting urban life with dazzling invention.
Director: Dziga Vertov | Stars: Mikhail Kaufman, Elizaveta Svilova
Votes: 28,006
13. 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: 58,687 | Gross: $2.96M
14. Triumph of the Will (1935)
Not Rated | 110 min | Documentary, History
The infamous propaganda film of the 1934 Nazi Party rally in Nuremberg, Germany.
Director: Leni Riefenstahl | Stars: Adolf Hitler, Hermann Göring, Max Amann, Martin Bormann
Votes: 18,332
15. Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country (2008)
Unrated | 84 min | Documentary, History, News
Using smuggled footage, this documentary tells the story of the 2007 protests in Burma by thousands of monks.
Director: Anders Østergaard | Stars: George W. Bush, Joshua Min Htut, Ko Muang, Aung San Suu Kyi
Votes: 2,520 | Gross: $0.05M
16. Culloden (1964 TV Movie)
69 min | Drama, History, War
The 1746 Battle of Culloden, the last land battle fought in the British Isles and the battle that ensured that Scotland was controlled by England.
Director: Peter Watkins | Stars: Tony Cosgrove, Olivier Espitalier-Noel, Don Fairservice, George McBean
Votes: 1,730
17. F for Fake (1973)
PG | 89 min | Documentary
A documentary about fraud and fakery.
Directors: Orson Welles, Gary Graver, Oja Kodar, François Reichenbach | Stars: Orson Welles, Oja Kodar, François Reichenbach, Elmyr de Hory
Votes: 18,307
18. Grizzly Man (2005)
R | 103 min | Documentary, Biography
A devastating and heart-rending take on grizzly bear activists Timothy Treadwell and Amie Huguenard, who were killed in October of 2003 while living among grizzly bears in Alaska.
Director: Werner Herzog | Stars: Timothy Treadwell, Amie Huguenard, Werner Herzog, Carol Dexter
Votes: 61,926 | Gross: $3.17M
19. Night and Fog (1956)
TV-14 | 32 min | Documentary, Short, History
The history of Nazi Germany's death camps of the Final Solution and the hellish world of dehumanization and death contained inside.
Director: Alain Resnais | Stars: Michel Bouquet, Reinhard Heydrich, Heinrich Himmler, Adolf Hitler
Votes: 21,476
20. Hafners Paradies (2007)
74 min | Documentary
A portrait of ex-S.S. officer Paul Hafner, who moved to Madrid under Franco in 1945 and has no moral qualms about his past.
Director: Günter Schwaiger | Stars: Cristina de Rueda, Paul Hafner, Hans Landauer, Joachim Neyroth
Votes: 136
21. Jesus Camp (2006)
PG-13 | 87 min | Documentary
A documentary on kids who attend a summer camp hoping to become the next Billy Graham.
Directors: Heidi Ewing, Rachel Grady | Stars: Mike Papantonio, Lou Engle, Becky Fischer, Ted Haggard
Votes: 28,780 | Gross: $0.90M
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22. Woodstock (1970)
R | 184 min | Documentary, History, Music
Oscar-winning musical chronicle that brilliantly captures the three-day rock concert and celebration of peace and love that became a capstone for the Sixties.
Director: Michael Wadleigh | Stars: Joan Baez, Richie Havens, Roger Daltrey, Joe Cocker
Votes: 18,471 | Gross: $50.00M
What did the '60s revolution of free love and piece look like? You could answer that with one simple word; 'Woodstock'. The registration of a free festival with legendary performances of people like Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Janis Joplin and many more contains a unique insight into a different mindset that ruled the world, which to some of us might now seem like a utopia.
23. Matthew's Laws (2012)
72 min | Documentary
Matthew's autism give him a special way to see the world, but at the same time it causes him to have legal problems with his landlords, who want to have him evicted due to the alterations he makes in his apartment.
Director: Marc Schmidt
Votes: 301
Wonderful dutch documentary which follows the life of a 45-year old man who suffers from autism. He drilled a hole in his wall and is now being forced outside of his apartment; the only place where he has a control over the chaos of life. Matthijs doesn't understand the world and the world doesn't seem to want to understand Matthijs either. The filmmaker follows Matthijs close and gives a unique insight into the mind and frustration of a man who due to his condition is simply not in the right place in our society.
24. 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
No-one heard of Sixto Rodriguez (or so we think...) until 'Searching for Sugar Man' got released. This film is a perfect example of great storytelling in the form of documentary. With a plot (and twist...) that seems like the documentary-equavalent of 'The Sixth Sense'. One wonderful ride into the life of the best musician you've never heard of.
25. Love Meetings (1964)
Not Rated | 92 min | Documentary
Director Pasolini traverses Italy in 1963 with camera and microphone interviewing people in public places about sex, marriage and gender roles.
Director: Pier Paolo Pasolini | Stars: Lello Bersani, Alberto Moravia, Cesare Musatti, Peppino Di Capri
Votes: 2,644
Pier Paolo Pasolini's facsination with the human sexuality apart from his famous 'trilogy of life' also made it into a documentary. The concept is simple; Pasolini travels across Italy from the modern city centers (and clubs) to the countryside and asks people about their sex life and the differences between men and women. The result is a very important piece of film which shows an entire generation and moment in time just before (or in the midst of?) the sexual revolution. It's remarkable how many women were fine with the idea that they where not equal to men. One even points out the benefits of not being equal!
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