I think the most recent documentary film I saw was Sicko. Saw it being shared after the insurance CEO issue.
Just shared a recent example I remember, films from all language or region are ok.
Rye Coalition: The Story of the Hard Luck 5
If you like rock docs this is a good one.
Earth: The Biography
How The Earth Changed History
The Cove
Craigslist Joe
Senna
Murderball
The Dust Bowl (2-part series)
Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism.
Dave not coming back
I have a bit of an ocean/diving fear and some mild claustrophobia, so this is the perfect doc to scare the crap out of me
The Battle of Chile is a three part documentary about the military coup against Salvador Allende in the 1970s. Patricio Guzman and his associates recognized that crazy things were about to happen and took to the streets to capture as much footage as they could, knowing that a record needed to be kept. One of the cameramen was disappeared, tortured, and presumably killed, while the others smuggled the footage out to Cuba.
It may feel too prescient for American audiences now. Gods, it was plenty powerful to me as an American watching in 2012. It is well worth your time.
Added to my watchlist, thanks!
God Loves Uganda - about the impact of American Christian missionaries from megachurches on the people and politics of Uganda. It’s from 2013 and is in desperate need of an update, but it’s still very good.
The Punk Singer - documentary about the life and music of Kathleen Hanna, pioneer of “riot grrrl” punk feminism. I love the music and vibes, and Kathleen Hanna is also just a really interesting [real-life] character.The Last Repair Shop.
I found The Ambassador by Mads Brügger to be particularly gripping, he goes too far and realizes that he’s gone too far and many uncomfortable truths are revealed:
I watched Lemmy(2010) yesterday.
Key points.
Lemmy Kilmister was a gamer.
Lemmy(social network) is named after Lemmy Kilmister.
A well produced documentary about a hugely influential man.
- The Farthest (about NASA’s Voyager missions)
- Hurt Locker Hero / The Deminer (about Fakhir Berwari, a bomb disposal expert who disarmed thousands of landmines in Iraq with just a pocket knife and a pair of wire clippers)
- The Devil We Know (tells the story of DuPont’s decades-long cover-up of the harm caused by chemicals used to make its popular non-stick Teflon products)
All three are very good, very moving documentaries.
Yay, I was going to say The Farthest too! Amazing doc, that I was lucky enough to see at the cinema, with the director present to talk about it afterwards.
Highly recommend.
Oh wow, that must have been amazing. I only saw it when the BBC broadcast it. But I don’t think I’ve ever been so moved by a science documentary.
Yeah, likewise, it’s a beautiful piece of work, genuinely inspiring.
And yeah, it was a fabulous experience to see it on the big screen. It was part of the Edinburgh International Film Festival, and I’m so glad I caught it 😁
Thanks for these. Will add them to my list.
I love documentaries. There are so many amazing ones and I regret that they don’t get as much attention as the biggest fiction films, even though I love those too.
Here are two documentaries that immediately spring to mind because they made a big impression on me:
If you can stomach it…The Act of Killing is an amazing documentary. Harrowing stuff.
Absolutely! If you haven’t watched it yet, Dark Days is also harrowing, if not as much as The Act of Killing.
Pig butchering scams
My co-worker was a victim of one of these scams for 5 years, and she wouldn’t listen when we tried to tell her because in her mind the guy was totally real
Darknet Diaries has a good episode on these… he ends up linking them to death cults in Africa and how around a trillion ( 10^12 ) USD in pandemic relief money was lost to scams. It’s wild.
Very moving documentary about assisted suicide.
Heres a list of documentaries i made (loosely) of a niche genre. They are all documentaries that started about one thing but ended up being about something else.
9/11 (2001)
American Movie
An Honest Liar
As the Palaces Burn
Calabasas 1/26/20
Capturing the Friedmans
Capturing the Light
Citizenfour
Collective
Dave Not Coming Back
Dear Zachary
Dig! It
Fairytale of Kathmandu
Gimme Shelter
Grizzly Man
Hearts of Darkness
Hoop Dreams
Hurricane on the Bayou
I am Trying to Break Your Heart
Icarus
In the Jinx
Into the Deep
Into the Inferno
Life With Murder
Lost in La Mancha
Marjoe
Minding the Gap
My Kid Could Paint That
Operation Odessa
Overnight
Rock and Roll Nerd
Sasquatch
Savile
Searching for Sugarman
Seaspiracy
Shemans March (1985)
Sherpa
Stevies
The Estonia
The Hamiltons
The Imposter
The Jinx
The Queen of Versailles
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
The Sweatbox
The Thin Blue Line
The Woman Who Wasn’t There
There Are No Fakes
Tickled
Vernon, Florida
Weiner
Wrestling With Shadows
What are some good documentaries?
Lists every documentary ever made
3 - 5 titles would be an appropriate number of documentaries to suggest here.
I disagree. 2 suggestions and maybe a back up, 4 suggestions is excessive and five, well you might as well list them all anyway at that point because you are halfway there…
