Top 250 Documentaries
Roughly ranked. Feature-length and mini series titles. Short documentaries are included in my short film list.
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214 titles
- DirectorWerner HerzogStarsWerner HerzogThis film surveys the disaster of the Kuwaiti oil fields in flames, with little narration and scarcely any interviews. Hell on Earth is presented in such transcendent visions and music that one can only be fascinated by it.
- DirectorWerner HerzogStarsTimothy TreadwellAmie HuguenardWerner HerzogA 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.
- DirectorWeijun ChenStarsCheng ChengLuo LeiXu XiaofeiDemocracy in China exists, that is, in a primary school in Wuhan where a grade 3 class can vote who they want as class monitor.
- DirectorChris MarkerStarsAmilcar CabralFlorence DelayArielle DombasleA woman narrates the contemplative writings of a seasoned world traveler, focusing on contemporary Japan.
- StarsAdam CurtisRobert ReichAnn BernaysA documentary about the rise of psychoanalysis as a powerful means of persuasion for both governments and corporations.
- DirectorDziga VertovStarsMikhail KaufmanElizaveta SvilovaA man travels around a city with a camera slung over his shoulder, documenting urban life with dazzling invention.
- DirectorJames TobackStarsMike TysonMills LaneTrevor BerbickA mixture of original interviews, archival footage, and photographs sheds light on the life experiences of Mike Tyson.
- StarsJacob BronowskiJoss AcklandRoy DotriceAn account of man's development through his scientific and technological achievements.
- DirectorAlain ResnaisStarsMichel BouquetReinhard HeydrichHeinrich HimmlerThe history of Nazi Germany's death camps of the Final Solution and the hellish world of dehumanization and death contained inside.
- DirectorChris MarkerStarsSimone SignoretJorge SemprúnDavos HanichFrench essay film focusing on global political turmoil in the 1960s and '70s, particularly the rise of the New Left in France and the development of socialist movements in Latin America.
- DirectorSophie FiennesStarsSlavoj ZizekSlavoj Zizek examines famous films in a philosophical and a psychoanalytic context.
- DirectorSophie FiennesStarsSlavoj ZizekPhilosopher Slavoj Zizek examines the hidden themes and existential questions asked by world renowned films.
- DirectorJoe BerlingerBruce SinofskyStarsTony BrooksDiana DavisTerry WoodA horrific triple child murder leads to an indictment and trial of three nonconformist boys based on questionable evidence.
- A three-part series that explains why and how humans abandoned the nomadic hunting and gathering and take up a completely new way of life - the decisive move to farming.
- DirectorZhuangzhuang TianStarsKuirong WangDelamu ¨C Tibetan for "Peace Angel". Since ancient times, China's two primary land routes connecting it to the outside world have been the Silk Road in the north, and Tea Horse-Road in the south. The mountain village of Bingzhongluo-Tibetan for "Village of Tibetans" is located on the high plateau of western Yunnan Province, at the foot of Gaoligong Mountain. Traveling along the Nujiang River, one can reach the southern Tibetan border town of Chawalong-Tibetan for "Valley of Dry Heat." But with no roads connecting the two places, since ancient times the transport of all goods and supplies has relied entirely on horse caravans. The journey of more than 90 kilometers zigzags through high mountain slopes, dense forests, gorges and wastelands. Year-round caravans have plied the Tea-Horse Road, traversing the Hengduan Mountains, packing tea, salt, grains and other provisions. Traveling upstream along the Three Rivers, the route reaches Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, India and Western Asia, ultimately linking to Europe. Traveling downstream along the Three Rivers, the route reaches Southeast Asia and the South Pacific. Created more than two thousand years ago, the Tea-Horse Road is the highest and most perilous of the world's ancient routes, and to this day still show vibrant signs of life. This film is a record of the Tea-Horse Road, the caravans of the Nujiang River Valley, and the aboriginal peoples who live there -- Mm. Ding who has a family with 15 members speaking 6 languages, a pastor who was jailed for 15 years for his believing, a 104 years old lady who walks through 3 centuries, a village head whose wife run away, a caravan who shares one wife with his elder brother, a young lama in the Buddhist temple who feels lonely sometimes, a 82 years old caravan leader whose story is a legend of the Tibetan caravans¡
- DirectorDavid BlairStarsFather BessarionDavid BlairWilliam S. BurroughsA man recalls the story of how his bees implanted in him a bee television, causing him to lose all perception of space, time, and self in the deserts of the American West.
- DirectorE. Michael JonesStarsE. Michael Jones
- DirectorTerrence MalickStarsCate BlanchettJamal CavilMaisha DiattaAn exploration into our planetary past and a search for humanity's place in the future. With narration by Cate Blanchett.
- StarsLaurence OlivierAverell HarrimanAnthony EdenA groundbreaking 26-part documentary series narrated by the actor Laurence Olivier about the deadliest conflict in history, World War II.
- DirectorAdam CurtisStarsAdam CurtisDonald TrumpVladimir PutinAdam Curtis explains how, at a time of confusing and inexplicable world events, politicians and the people they represent have retreated in to a damaging over-simplified version of what is happening.
- StarsMark CousinsJuan Diego BottoAleksandr SokurovA comprehensive history of the medium and art of motion pictures.
- DirectorJohn McGonagleStarsJames BaldwinWilliam F. BuckleyJeremy BurfordThe Cambridge Union Society debates the motion "Has the American Dream Been Achieved at the Expense of the American Negro?" on its 150th anniversary. David Heycock and James Baldwin argue the Affirmative. Jeremy Burford and William F. Buckley argue the Negative.
- StarsJohn BergerAnya BostockEva FigesJohn Berger presents his insights on how people see. Through examples of Art History Berger shows how our very sense of sight has been transformed. By discovering why this is so, according to Berger, "we shall discover something about ourselves."
- DirectorJoshua OppenheimerAnonymousChristine CynnStarsAnwar CongoHerman KotoSyamsul ArifinA documentary which challenges former Indonesian death-squad leaders to reenact their mass-killings in whichever cinematic genres they wish, including classic Hollywood crime scenarios and lavish musical numbers.
- StarsYuri BezmenovG. Edward GriffinA conversation with Yuri Bezmenov, former propagandist for the KGB.
- DirectorJoshua OppenheimerStarsAdi RukunM.Y. BasrunVolker HanischA family that survived the genocide in Indonesia confronts the men who killed one of their brothers.
- DirectorPeter B. HuttonThis is a soundless story of the building of 'Toledo Spirit', the container ship, its sailing and eventual beaching. Insignificant men crawl on cranes and gantries to build it and other men, sans the equipment, scrape it after beaching.
- DirectorWerner HerzogDmitry VasyukovStarsWerner HerzogGennady SolovievAnatoly BlumeiA documentary depicting the life and work of the trappers of Bakhtia, a village in the heart of the Siberian Taiga, where daily life has changed little in over a century.
- DirectorStuart CabbStarsLouis TherouxFor two weeks, Theroux visits the San Quentin State Prison.
- DirectorRick RayStarsRichard KileyThis fascinating program presents the story of Jerusalem and the Holy Land against the backdrop of history and prophecy. Jerusalem is the city where history began, and where many believe history will end.
- DirectorErrol MorrisStarsFred A. Leuchter Jr.Robert Jan Van PeltDavid IrvingA cinematic portrait of the life and career of the infamous American execution device designer and holocaust denier.
- DirectorTim TateStarsJohn BancroftSean BarrettJonathan Gathorne-HardyAlfred Kinsey's book 'Sexual Behaviour in the Human Male' (1948) was credited with kickstarting the sexual revolution. What many people don't know about Kinsey is that Chapter 5 of his book, which dealt with child sexuality, was compiled from the diaries of a paedophile.
- DirectorChantal AkermanHotel Monterey is a cheap hotel in New York reserved for the outcasts of American society. Chantal Akerman invites viewers to visit this unusual place as well as the people who live there, from the reception up to the last story.
- StarsGilles KepelWilliam KristolMelvin GoodmanA series of three documentaries about the use of fear for political gain.
- DirectorGianfranco RosiBoatman is Gianfranco Rosi's account of a boattrip along the Ganges river, together with his helmsman Gopal. They pass tourists and Indians who are bathing, working or meditating. In a series of small portraits Rosi depicts life on and at the banks of India's sacred river. Central theme of this film is the imagination of the endless circle of life and death, which is rooted in the lives of the Indian people, and which is convincingly manifested in the way they bid the dead farewell.
- DirectorJanelle BalnickeDavid KennardStarsPeter DonatJoseph CampbellRichard AdamsJoseph Campbell discusses the nature of the hero in mythology.
- DirectorEmile de AntonioStarsMark LaneL.E. Bowers Jr.Charles BrehmMark Lane interviews witnesses to the Kennedy assassination and exposes serious flaws in the conclusions made by the Warren Commission.
- DirectorPat O'NeillStarsJoel LorimenBeth BlockGeorge LockwoodA moving meditation on industrialization, focusing on the eerily desolate Owens Valley in California, made arid by the diversion of water from there to the city of Los Angeles.
- DirectorLeslee UdwinStarsAsha DeviBadri SinghSatendraThe life and death of Jyoti Singh, an Indian medical student whose violation and murder by gang rapists exposed the violent misogyny of Indian society.
- DirectorJC ChaixStarsDerek ChauvinScott CreightonTom HaneyA multi-part documentary featuring: body worn camera video of George Floyd's arrest; interviews with officers who served during the riots; key evidence from the autopsy and Derek Chauvin's trial; and the aftermath that followed.
- DirectorMohsen MakhmalbafStarsShaghayeh DjodatBehzad DoraniFeizola GashghaiMakhmalbaf puts an advertisement in the papers calling for an open casting for his next movie. However when hundreds of people show up, he decides to make a movie about the casting and the screen tests of the would-be actors.
- The inside story of a family dynasty at the heart of one of the world's biggest problems.
- DirectorAbbas KiarostamiStarsAbbas KiarostamiMania AkbariDocumentary where Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami reflects on his own film-making techniques, drawing from his own films - and Ten (2002) in particular.
- StarsKenneth ClarkIan RichardsonRonald LaceySir Kenneth Clarke walks through the ages exploring the glorious rise of civilization in Western man.
- DirectorPeter WatkinsStarsMichael AspelPeter GrahamDave BaldwinA docudrama depicting a hypothetical nuclear attack on Britain.
- DirectorSlavko NowytskiStarsAlexander BykovetsLubov DrashevskaMotria DutkaA documentary about the man made famine in Ukraine where on Stalin's order millions of people were starved to death in 1932-33.
- DirectorJosé PadilhaFelipe LacerdaStarsSandro do NascimentoRodrigo PimentelLuiz Eduardo SoaresOn June 12, 2000, a young man with a gun took the passengers aboard Bus 174 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil hostage. This documentary examines the event itself, the resulting media frenzy, the police response, and the perpetrator's background.
- DirectorMark SoldingerStarsTony BlairRichard BransonSimon Heffer
- DirectorAbbas KiarostamiStarsBabak AhmadpoorFarhang AkhavanMohammad Reza NematzadehIn this documentary, Kiarostami asks a number of students about their school homework. The answers of some children shows the darker side of this method of education.
- StarsSimon SchamaMichael KitchenSamuel WestA comprehensive historical survey of the British Isles.
- StarsDavid StarkeyTony CottrellGerard HaylingA history of the English Crown from AD 400 to today.
- DirectorWerner HerzogStarsWerner HerzogAnna HitchVissarionWhat is faith and religion to Russians after the fall of communism? We get the insight into the Russian Orthodox church as well as different folk and shamanic beliefs.
- DirectorWerner HerzogStarsWalter SteinerWerner HerzogA study of the psychology of a champion ski-jumper, whose full-time occupation is carpentry.
- StarsAndy SerkisWith unique personal archive from civilians and soldiers from both sides of the conflict, this series takes viewers closer to the realities of war and life under ISIS than they have ever been before.
- DirectorGodfrey ReggioStarsEdward AsnerPat BenatarJerry BrownA collection of expertly photographed phenomena with no conventional plot. The footage focuses on the relationship between nature, humanity, and technology.
- DirectorMat WhitecrossMichael WinterbottomStarsJanine HuardEwen CameronNaomi KleinAn investigation of "disaster capitalism", based on Naomi Klein's proposition that neo-liberal capitalism feeds on natural disasters, war and terror to establish its dominance.
- DirectorAl ReinertStarsJim LovellKen MattinglyRussell SchweickartAn in-depth look at various NASA moon landing missions, starting with Apollo 8.
- DirectorJenny MorganStarsChristopher HitchensMother TeresaJean-Bertrand AristideChristopher Hitchens investigates whether Mother Teresa of Calcutta deserves her saintly image. He probes her campaigns against contraception and foeticide and her questionable relationships with wealthy religious and political leaders.
- DirectorMichael MooreStarsMichael MooreGeorge W. BushBen AffleckMichael Moore's view on what happened to the United States after September 11 and how the Bush Administration allegedly used the tragic event to push forward its agenda for unjust wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
- DirectorMark AchbarPeter WintonickStarsNoam ChomskyMark AchbarKarin Aguilar-San JuanA film about the noted American linguist/political dissident and his warning about corporate media's role in modern propaganda.
- DirectorMikhail KalatozovStory of distant mountainous region in Georgia that depicts folklore, lifestyle and daily routines of Svani people, focuses on the scarcity of salt in Svaneti region. Rich with documentary value, the movie also served for Soviet propaganda.
- DirectorVincent MonnikendamIn a span of ninety minutes the film aims to show how the Netherlands administered its colony as a colonial enterprise and what the relations were like at the time. The usual commentary has been omitted and in its place poems and songs in Bahasa Indonesia have been included in a digital sound composition. In Mother Dao the Turtlelike, the viewer sees how the colonial machinery in the 1920s was implanted in a world so different from Western Europe.
- DirectorWerner HerzogStarsReinhold MessnerHans KammerlanderWerner HerzogFilm-maker Werner Herzog follows mountaineers Reinhold Messner and Hans Kammerlander as they attempt to climb the high altitude peaks of Gasherbrum II and Gasherbrum I all in one expedition, seeking to reveal their inner motivation.
- DirectorWerner HerzogStarsElon MuskLawrence KraussLucianne WalkowiczWerner Herzog's exploration of the Internet and the connected world.
- DirectorWerner HerzogAndré HellerStarsDeb Das BaulMarup GroupAndré HellerIn this surreal documentary legendary Werner Herzog shows us how on the suggestion of a saint, the king of Udaipur invites various artists, tribes from numerous cultures across india to celebrate life and ward off evil.
- DirectorWerner HerzogStarsWerner HerzogScott RowlandStefan PashovFilm-maker Werner Herzog travels to the McMurdo Station in Antarctica, looking to capture the continent's beauty and investigate the characters living there.
- DirectorMichael MooreStarsMichael MooreCharlton HestonMarilyn MansonFilmmaker Michael Moore explores the roots of America's predilection for gun violence.
- DirectorWerner HerzogStarsDieter DenglerWerner HerzogEugene DeatrickGerman-American Dieter Dengler discusses his service as a U.S. naval pilot in the Vietnam War. Dengler also revisits the sites of his capture and eventual escape from the hands of the Viet Cong, recreating many events for the camera.
- DirectorErrol MorrisStarsRobert McNamaraJohn F. KennedyFidel CastroThe 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.
- DirectorDaniel McCabeAn unfiltered look in to the lives of 3 characters surviving amongst the most recent cycle of conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo, otherwise known as the M23 rebellion.
- DirectorMerian C. CooperErnest B. SchoedsackStarsMerian C. CooperErnest B. SchoedsackMarguerite HarrisonThe struggles of a hardscrabble Iranian nomadic tribe as they journey through bleak country to reach the grasslands that will save their livestock.
- DirectorOrson WellesGary GraverOja KodarStarsOrson WellesOja KodarFrançois ReichenbachA documentary about fraud and fakery.
- DirectorAsif KapadiaStarsAyrton SennaReginaldo LemeJohn BisignanoA documentary on Brazilian Formula One racing driver Ayrton Senna, who won the F1 world championship three times before his death at age 34.
- DirectorChris CottamStarsRich HallKaren JonesEdward BuscombeRich Hall looks at how the most quintessentially American film genre, the Western, came to be killed off.
- DirectorAvi MograbiStarsShredi JabarinA documentary on the treatment of Palestianians by members of the Israeli army.
- DirectorTony GatlifStarsLa CaitaThe journey of the Romany people told through musicians and dancers of India, Egypt, Turkey, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, France, and Spain.
- DirectorWerner HerzogStarsWerner HerzogJuliane KoepckeJuan Zaplana RamirezWerner Herzog returns to the South American jungle with Juliane Koepcke, the German woman who was the sole survivor of a plane crash there in 1971. They find the remains of the plane and recreate her journey out of the jungle.
- DirectorAlan LoweryJohn PilgerStarsJohn PilgerJon AltmanPat AndersonExploring offenses practiced by popular media, big business, police forces and Governments helping the Australian 225 year campaign of genocide continue against Aboriginal Australians.
- DirectorMark CousinsStarsMark CousinsBenLauraA Story of Children and Film is the world's first movie about kids in global cinema. It's passionate, poetic, portrait of the adventure of childhood: its surrealism, loneliness, fun, destructiveness and stroppiness: as seen through 53 great films from 25 countries. A story of children and film is an eye opener, a landmark film and a celebration of both childhood and the movies.
- DirectorTerence DaviesStarsTerence DaviesGeorge HarrisonJack HawkinsA filmmaker looks at the history and transformation of his birthplace, Liverpool, England.
- DirectorMohammed Ali NaqviStarsBenazir BhuttoPervez MusharrafMohammed Ali NaqviVoting in Pakistan's first election, a filmmaker has to choose between a religious hardliner or a secular liberal leader who happens to be a former military dictator.
- DirectorAri FolmanStarsAri FolmanRon Ben-YishaiRonny DayagAn Israeli film director interviews fellow veterans of the 1982 invasion of Lebanon to reconstruct his own memories of his term of service in that conflict.
- DirectorDusan HanákPictures of the Old World is an unquestioned masterpiece of European documentary cinema, with existential radicalism that offers a contrast to the shallowness of hundreds of other documentary films showing images from the outskirts of civilization. The outskirts here are a Slovakian town in the Tatra Mountains. Though censored for 17 years, Dusan Hanáks poetic visual essay is not a political or even social film. It goes to far deeper and more fundamental levels of human experience. Inspired by the photographs of Martin Martinek, the films power lies in its unusual portraits of people whose raw visual beauty radiates from their very souls. Some, like the village cosmos aficionado or the disabled old man who climbs stairs on his knees, are hard to forget.
- DirectorMichael MooreStarsMichael MooreWilliam BlackJimmy CarterAn examination of the social costs of corporate interests pursuing profits at the expense of the public good.
- DirectorGabriela CowperthwaiteStarsTilikumDave DuffusSamantha BergA documentary following the controversial captivity of killer whales, and its dangers for both humans and whales.
- DirectorErrol MorrisStarsRandall AdamsDavid HarrisGus RoseA film that successfully argued that a man was wrongly convicted for murder by a corrupt justice system in Dallas County, Texas.
- DirectorPeter CohenStarsRolf ArseniusBruno GanzSam GrayAn absorbing and chilling documentary about the National Socialist aesthetic, and how attempts to create the Aryan Ideal caused the extermination of millions. Aspects covered include: Hitler's epiphany while viewing Wagner's opera 'Rienzi', the rise of the homo-erotic Grecian/Nordic ideal, the parallels drawn between the 'degenerate' art of the cubists and dadaists and the mentally ill/physically deformed, the Nazi obsession with purity and cleanliness, and, finally, the descent of the Jewish people to the level of a virus/vermin.
- DirectorJean-Xavier de LestradeStarsAnn FinnellPatrick McGuinnessJames WilliamsOscar-winning documentary that documents a murder trial in which a 15-year-old African-American is wrongfully accused of a 2000 murder in Jacksonville, Florida.
- DirectorRon HowardStarsThe BeatlesJohn LennonGeorge HarrisonA compilation of found footage featuring music, interviews, and stories of The Beatles' 250 concerts from 1963 to 1966.
- DirectorWerner HerzogStarsWerner HerzogKlaus KinskiClaudia CardinaleThe love-hate relationship between Werner Herzog and Klaus Kinski, the deep trust between the director and the actor, and their independently and simultaneously hatched plans to murder one another.
- DirectorNicolas PhilibertStarsGeorges LopezAlizéAxel ThouveninA documentary portrait of a one-room school in rural France, where the students (ranging in age from 4 to 11) are educated by a single dedicated teacher.
- DirectorAdam CurtisStarsGeorge BushGeorge W. BushJoanne HerringAn experimental documentary that explores Saudi Arabia's relationship with the U.S. and the role this has played in the war in Afghanistan.
- DirectorPeter JonesStarsAngela LansburyEsther WilliamsArlene DahlThe history of color photography in motion pictures, in particular the Technicolor company's work.
- DirectorPhillip Austin GreenStarsKatherine AlbrechtChuck BaldwinCatherine BleishThis new and exciting documentary will build on the successes of 'State of Mind: The Psychology of Control' - Free Mind Films' follow up to the multiple award winning documentary exposé 'A Noble Lie: Oklahoma City 1995' .
- DirectorWerner HerzogStarsWerner HerzogKatia KrafftMaurice KrafftAn exploration of active volcanoes around the world.
- DirectorWalter RuttmannStarsPaul von HindenburgThis movie shows us one day in Berlin, the rhythm of that time, starting at the earliest morning and ends in the deepest night.
- DirectorBenjamin ChristensenStarsBenjamin ChristensenElisabeth ChristensenMaren PedersenFictionalized documentary showing the evolution of witchcraft, from its pagan roots to its confusion with hysteria in Eastern Europe.