My favourite documentaries.
by mel_nikki | created - 01 Jun 2014 | updated - 14 Dec 2019 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Jiro Dreams of Sushi (2011)
PG | 81 min | Documentary
A documentary on 85-year-old sushi master Jiro Ono, his renowned Tokyo restaurant, and his relationship with his son and eventual heir, Yoshikazu.
Director: David Gelb | Stars: Jiro Ono, Yoshikazu Ono, Masuhiro Yamamoto, Daisuke Nakazama
Votes: 38,037 | Gross: $2.55M
2. 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: 68,841 | Gross: $3.29M
3. Religulous (2008)
R | 101 min | Documentary, Comedy, War
Bill Maher's take on the current state of world religion.
Director: Larry Charles | Stars: Bill Maher, Tal Bachman, Jonathan Boulden, Steven Burg
Votes: 60,253 | Gross: $13.00M
4. Born Into Brothels: Calcutta's Red Light Kids (2004)
R | 85 min | Documentary, Biography, News
Two documentary filmmakers chronicle their time in Sonagchi, Calcutta and the relationships they developed with children of prostitutes who work the city's notorious red light district.
Directors: Zana Briski, Ross Kauffman | Stars: Kochi, Avijit Halder, Shanti Das, Manik
Votes: 18,006 | Gross: $3.41M
5. Baraka (1992)
Not Rated | 96 min | Documentary
A collection of expertly photographed scenes of human life and religion.
Director: Ron Fricke | Star: Patrick Disanto
Votes: 41,003 | Gross: $1.33M
6. Samsara (I) (2011)
PG-13 | 102 min | Documentary, Music
Filmed over nearly five years in twenty-five countries on five continents, and shot on seventy-millimetre film, Samsara transports us to the varied worlds of sacred grounds, disaster zones, industrial complexes, and natural wonders.
Director: Ron Fricke | Stars: Balinese Tari Legong Dancers, Ni Made Megahadi Pratiwi, Puti Sri Candra Dewi, Putu Dinda Pratika
Votes: 38,068 | Gross: $2.67M
7. Titicut Follies (1967)
Unrated | 84 min | Documentary
Documentary filmmaker Frederick Wiseman takes us inside the Massachusetts Correctional Institution Bridgewater where people stay trapped in their madness.
Director: Frederick Wiseman
Votes: 5,114
8. Life and Debt (2001)
Not Rated | 80 min | Documentary
Documentary look at the effects of globalization on Jamaican industry and agriculture.
Director: Stephanie Black | Stars: Belinda Becker, Buju Banton, Horst Köhler, Michael Manley
Votes: 1,034 | Gross: $0.24M
9. Marley (2012)
PG-13 | 144 min | Documentary, Biography, Music
A documentary on the life, music, and legacy of Bob Marley.
Director: Kevin Macdonald | Stars: Bob Marley, Ziggy Marley, Rita Marley, Jimmy Cliff
Votes: 14,504 | Gross: $1.41M
10. The Celluloid Closet (1995)
R | 102 min | Documentary, History
A documentary surveying the various Hollywood screen depictions of homosexuals and the attitudes behind them throughout the history of North American film.
Directors: Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman | Stars: Lily Tomlin, Tony Curtis, Susie Bright, Arthur Laurents
Votes: 7,518 | Gross: $1.51M
11. 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: 23,120 | Gross: $0.26M
12. The Fog of War (2003)
PG-13 | 107 min | Documentary, Biography, History
The story of America as seen through the eyes of the former Secretary of Defense under President John F. Kennedy and President Lyndon B. Johnson, Robert McNamara.
Director: Errol Morris | Stars: Robert McNamara, John F. Kennedy, Fidel Castro, Richard Nixon
Votes: 25,064 | Gross: $4.20M
13. American Promise (2013)
TV-PG | 135 min | Documentary
This intimate documentary follows the 12-year journey of two African-American families pursuing the promise of opportunity through the education of their sons.
Directors: Joe Brewster, Michèle Stephenson | Stars: Idris Brewster, Joe Brewster, Miles Brewster, Michèle Stephenson
Votes: 300 | Gross: $0.09M
14. 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: 51,461 | Gross: $0.87M
15. Senna (2010)
PG-13 | 106 min | Documentary, Biography, Sport
A documentary on Brazilian Formula One racing driver Ayrton Senna, who won the F1 world championship three times before his death at age 34.
Director: Asif Kapadia | Stars: Ayrton Senna, Reginaldo Leme, John Bisignano, Neyde Senna
Votes: 75,909 | Gross: $1.61M
17. The Dawn Wall (2017)
Not Rated | 100 min | Documentary, Biography, Sport
In an unbelievable story of perseverance, free climber Tommy Caldwell and climbing partner Kevin Jorgeson attempt to scale the impossible 3000ft Dawn Wall of El Capitan.
Directors: Josh Lowell, Peter Mortimer | Stars: John Branch, Tommy Caldwell, Kevin Jorgeson
Votes: 21,246 | Gross: $1.08M
18. Last Breath (2019)
TV-MA | 90 min | Documentary
A deep sea diver is stranded on the seabed with 5 minutes of oxygen and no hope of rescue. With access to amazing archive this is the story of one man's impossible fight for survival.
Directors: Richard da Costa, Alex Parkinson | Stars: Duncan Allcock, Kjetil Ove Alvestad, Stuart Anderson, Glenn Brunskill
Votes: 7,319
19. Meru (2015)
R | 90 min | Documentary, Sport
Three elite climbers struggle to find their way through obsession and loss as they attempt to climb Mount Meru, one of the most coveted prizes in the high stakes game of Himalayan big wall climbing.
Directors: Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi | Stars: Conrad Anker, Grace Chin, Jimmy Chin, Amee Hinkley
Votes: 19,067 | Gross: $2.33M
20. Losing Sight of Shore (2017)
TV-PG | 92 min | Documentary, Adventure, Sport
Four brave women set out to row across the Pacific Ocean from America to Australia.
Director: Sarah Moshman
Votes: 700
21. Kim Swims (2017)
TV-PG | 75 min | Documentary, Adventure, Biography
The inspiring true story of an accomplished open water swimmer's attempt to become the first woman to swim 30 miles through a stretch of cold, rough and shark-inhabited waters off of the San Francisco coast.
Director: Kate Webber
Votes: 122
22. Black Mother (2018)
TV-MA | 77 min | Documentary
From red light districts to lush rain-forests, 'Black Mother' is a loving and lyrical ode to Jamaica and its people, a visual poem that is at once deeply felt love letter and ecstatic street-corner prayer.
Director: Khalik Allah
Votes: 541 | Gross: $0.02M
23. Shirkers (2018)
TV-14 | 97 min | Documentary
A woman explores the events surrounding a film she and her friends began making with a mysterious stranger decades ago.
Director: Sandi Tan | Stars: Jasmine Kin Kia Ng, Philip Cheah, Sophia Siddique Harvey, Sharon Siddique
Votes: 5,674
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