Documentary Award Contenders
by IMDb-Editors | created - 09 Oct 2017 | updated - 09 Oct 2017 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Abacus: Small Enough to Jail (2016)
Not Rated | 88 min | Documentary
A small financial institution called Abacus becomes the only company criminally indicted in the wake of the United States' 2008 mortgage crisis.
Director: Steve James | Stars: Thomas Sung, Hwei Lin Sung, Cyrus Vance Jr., Matt Taibbi
Votes: 2,940 | Gross: $0.10M
2. Beware the Slenderman (2016)
TV-14 | 114 min | Documentary, Biography, Crime
Tells the story of two 12-year old girls, who attempted to murder one of their friends in an attempt to appease Slenderman, a fictional monster from a horror website.
Director: Irene Taylor | Stars: Morgan Geyser, Anissa Weier, Angie Geyser, William Weier
Votes: 7,806
3. California Typewriter (2016)
TV-PG | 103 min | Documentary
California Typewriter is a story about people whose lives are connected by typewriters. The film is a meditation on creativity and technology featuring Tom Hanks, John Mayer, Sam Shepard, David McCullough and others.
Director: Doug Nichol | Stars: Silvi Alcivar, Ken Alexander, Tom Hanks, Martin Howard
Votes: 1,052 | Gross: $0.24M
4. Chasing Coral (2017)
93 min | Documentary
Coral reefs around the world are vanishing at an unprecedented rate. A team of divers, photographers and scientists set out on a thrilling ocean adventure to discover why and to reveal the underwater mystery to the world.
Director: Jeff Orlowski-Yang | Stars: Andrew Ackerman, Pim Bongaerts, Neal Cantin, Phil Dustan
Votes: 5,651
5. City of Ghosts (2017)
R | 92 min | Documentary, War
A documentary that follows the efforts of "Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently," a handful of anonymous activists who banded together after their homeland was taken over by ISIS in 2014. ... See full summary »
Director: Matthew Heineman | Stars: Abdelaziz Alhamza, Mohamad Almusari, Hamoud Almousa, Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi
Votes: 4,126 | Gross: $0.13M
6. Cries from Syria (2017)
TV-MA | 111 min | Documentary, Drama, War
CRIES FROM SYRIA is a searing, comprehensive account of a brutal five-year conflict from the inside out, drawing on hundreds of hours of war footage from Syrian activists and citizen ... See full summary »
Director: Evgeny Afineevsky | Stars: Hadi Al Abdullah, Raed Al Saleh, Riad Al-Asaad, Bashar al-Assad
Votes: 1,111
7. Dawson City: Frozen Time (2016)
120 min | Documentary, History
The history of Dawson City, the gold rush town that had a historical treasure of forgotten silent films buried in permafrost for decades until 1978.
Director: Bill Morrison | Stars: Michael Gates, Kathy Jones-Gates, Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle, Frank Barrett
Votes: 2,149 | Gross: $0.13M
8. Eagles of Death Metal: Nos Amis (Our Friends) (2017)
TV-MA | 84 min | Documentary, Music
A little over a year ago, nine terrorists drove into Paris with guns, grenades, and suicide belts. They were there to perpetrate a coordinated, calculated mass murder on behalf of ISIL and,... See full summary »
Director: Colin Hanks | Stars: Jesse Hughes, Josh Homme, Dave Catching, Matt McJunkins
Votes: 1,010
9. Ex Libris (2017)
197 min | Documentary
A look within the walls of the New York Public Library.
Director: Frederick Wiseman | Stars: Paul Holdengräber, Elvis Costello, Patti Smith, Edmund de Waal
Votes: 1,413 | Gross: $0.16M
10. Faces Places (2017)
PG | 94 min | Documentary, Adventure
Director Agnes Varda and photographer/muralist J.R. journey through rural France and form an unlikely friendship.
Directors: JR, Agnès Varda | Stars: Agnès Varda, JR, Jeannine Carpentier, Clemens Van Dungern
Votes: 13,597 | Gross: $0.95M
11. Jane (II) (2017)
PG | 90 min | Documentary, Biography
The life and work of the renowned primatology scientist, Jane Goodall, especially on her research about chimpanzees.
Director: Brett Morgen | Stars: Jane Goodall, Hugo Van Lawick, Hugo Eric Louis van Lawick
Votes: 5,660 | Gross: $1.72M
12. Kedi (2016)
Not Rated | 79 min | Documentary
A profile of an ancient city and its unique people, seen through the eyes of the most mysterious and beloved animal humans have ever known, the Cat.
Director: Ceyda Torun | Stars: Yaman Barlas, Sari, Arzu Göl, Kemal Suncu
Votes: 15,871 | Gross: $2.83M
13. Spettacolo (2017)
TV-PG | 91 min | Documentary
Once upon a time there was a tiny hill town in Tuscany that found a remarkable way to confront their issues - they turned their lives into a play. "Spettacolo" is a portrait of this 50-... See full summary »
Directors: Jeff Malmberg, Chris Shellen | Stars: Andrea Cresti, Chiara Del Ciondolo, Gianna Fiore, Gianpiero Giglioni
Votes: 187 | Gross: $0.03M
14. Strong Island (2017)
TV-MA | 107 min | Documentary, Crime
When filmmaker Yance Ford investigates the 1992 murder of a young Black man, it becomes an achingly personal journey, since the victim, 24-year-old William Ford Jr., was the filmmaker's brother.
Director: Yance Ford | Stars: Yance Ford, Harvey Walker, Kevin Myers, Lauren Ford
Votes: 4,124
15. Nowhere to Hide (2016)
86 min | Documentary, War
"Nowhere to Hide" follows a man - the medic and father Nori Sharif - through 5 years of dramatic change in the war-torn Diyala-province; one of the most dangerous provinces in the middle of... See full summary »
Director: Zaradasht Ahmed | Stars: Abu Fallah, Hans Husum, Mudhafar, Nori Sharif
Votes: 194
16. Step (2017)
PG | 84 min | Documentary
STEP documents the senior year of a girls' high-school step dance team against the background of inner-city Baltimore.
Director: Amanda Lipitz | Stars: Gari McIntyre, Amanda Leonard, Blessin Giraldo, Chevonne Hall
Votes: 1,233 | Gross: $1.15M
17. Whose Streets? (2017)
R | 102 min | Documentary
An unflinching look at how the police killing of 18-year-old Mike Brown inspired a community to fight back and sparked a global movement.
Directors: Sabaah Folayan, Damon Davis | Stars: Lezley McSpadden, Michael Brown Sr., David Whitt, Montague Simmons
Votes: 1,410 | Gross: $0.18M
18. An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power (2017)
PG | 98 min | Documentary
A decade after An Inconvenient Truth (2006) brought climate change to the heart of popular culture, the follow-up shows just how close we are to a real energy revolution.
Directors: Bonni Cohen, Jon Shenk | Stars: Al Gore, Cory Booker, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton
Votes: 8,353 | Gross: $3.50M
19. City of Ghosts (2017)
R | 92 min | Documentary, War
A documentary that follows the efforts of "Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently," a handful of anonymous activists who banded together after their homeland was taken over by ISIS in 2014. ... See full summary »
Director: Matthew Heineman | Stars: Abdelaziz Alhamza, Mohamad Almusari, Hamoud Almousa, Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi
Votes: 4,126 | Gross: $0.13M
20. Dolores (I) (2017)
Not Rated | 95 min | Documentary, Biography, History
In the 1950's, a working-class wife and mother of eleven children helps to establish a farmer's union, which later develops into a platform for feminism and gender equality.
Director: Peter Bratt | Stars: Dolores Huerta, Martin Luther King, Luis Valdez, Ricardo S. Chavez
Votes: 373 | Gross: $0.56M
21. 11/8/16 (2017)
Not Rated | 104 min | Documentary
On the morning of Election Day 2016, Americans of all stripes woke up and went about living their lives. These were the hours leading up to Donald Trump's unexpected, earth-shaking victory, but, of course, no one knew that yet.
Directors: Duane Andersen, Don Argott, Yung Chang, Garth Donovan, Petra Epperlein, Vikram Gandhi, Raul Gasteazoro, J. Gonçalves, Andrew Grace, Alma Har'el, Sheena M. Joyce, Daniel Junge, Alison Klayman, Ciara Lacy, Martha Shane, Elaine McMillion Sheldon, Bassam Tariq, Michael Tucker | Star: Abby Linne
Votes: 299
22. The Reagan Show (2017)
TV-PG | 74 min | Documentary
Made up entirely of archival news and White House footage, this documentary captures the pageantry, absurdity, and mastery of the made-for-TV politics of Ronald Reagan.
Directors: Sierra Pettengill, Pacho Velez | Stars: Ronald Reagan, Nancy Reagan, Mikhail Gorbachev, George Bush
Votes: 482
23. Clive Davis: The Soundtrack of Our Lives (2017)
Not Rated | 123 min | Documentary
A look at the life and work of music producer, Clive Davis.
Director: Chris Perkel | Stars: Clive Davis, Simon Cowell, Jimmy Iovine, Sean 'Diddy' Combs
Votes: 1,220
24. Trophy (I) (2017)
Not Rated | 108 min | Documentary
This in-depth look into the powerhouse industries of big-game hunting, breeding and wildlife conservation in the U.S. and Africa unravels the complex consequences of treating animals as commodities.
Directors: Christina Clusiau, Shaul Schwarz | Stars: Tim Black, Philip Glass, Christo Gomes, John Hume
Votes: 762 | Gross: $0.02M
25. Take Every Wave: The Life of Laird Hamilton (2017)
Not Rated | 118 min | Documentary, Sport
Filmmaker Rory Kennedy examines the career of American Laird Hamilton, a man who has spent his life conquering untameable walls of water and changed the sport of big wave surfing forever.
Director: Rory Kennedy | Stars: Nick Carroll, Darrick Doerner, Laird Hamilton, Gabrielle Reece
Votes: 709 | Gross: $0.18M
26. AlphaGo (2017)
90 min | Documentary, Sport
Google's DeepMind has developed a program for playing the 3000 year old game Go using AI. They test AlphaGo on the European champion, then March 9-15, 2016, on the top player, Lee Sedol, in a best of 5 tournament in Seoul.
Director: Greg Kohs | Stars: Ioannis Antonoglou, Lucas Baker, Nick Bostrom, Yoo Changhyuk
Votes: 6,918
27. Disgraced (2017)
TV-14 | 102 min | Documentary, Crime, Sport
The background of the 2003 murder of Baylor basketball player Patrick Dennehy and the attempted, related cover-up of NCAA violations rampant in the Baylor basketball program by Coach Dave Bliss.
Director: Pat Kondelis | Stars: Dave Bliss, Rob Faubion, Roshaun Valentine, Larry S. White II
Votes: 814
28. Icarus (2017)
TV-MA | 120 min | Documentary, Sport
When Bryan sets out to uncover the truth about doping in sports, a chance meeting with a Russian scientist transforms his story from a personal experiment into a geopolitical thriller.
Director: Bryan Fogel | Stars: Bryan Fogel, Dave Zabriskie, Don Catlin, Grigory Rodchenkov
Votes: 54,687
29. Speed Sisters (2015)
78 min | Documentary, Adventure, Drama
The Speed Sisters are the first all-women race car driving team in the Middle East. They're bold. They're fearless. And they're tearing up tracks all over Palestine.
Director: Amber Fares
Votes: 242
30. Contemporary Color (2016)
PG-13 | 97 min | Documentary, Music
In the summer of 2015, legendary musician David Byrne staged an event at Brooklyn's Barclays Center to celebrate the art of Color Guard: synchronized dance routines involving flags, rifles,... See full summary »
Directors: Bill Ross IV, Turner Ross | Stars: Simon Bennett, David Byrne, Christian Delmotte, Nelly Furtado
Votes: 203 | Gross: $0.02M
31. I Called Him Morgan (2016)
92 min | Documentary, Drama, History
An exploration of the relationship between jazz trumpeter Lee Morgan and his common-law wife Helen, who was implicated in his murder in 1972.
Director: Kasper Collin | Stars: Lee Morgan, Helen Morgan, Wayne Shorter, Larry Reni Thomas
Votes: 1,943 | Gross: $0.10M
32. Long Strange Trip (2017)
R | 238 min | Documentary, Biography, Music
A look at the 30-year career of The Grateful Dead.
Director: Amir Bar-Lev | Stars: John Perry Barlow, Tom Constanten, Sam Cutler, Jerry Garcia
Votes: 1,893
33. Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked The World (2017)
103 min | Documentary, Music
A documentary about the role of Native Americans in popular music history.
Directors: Catherine Bainbridge, Alfonso Maiorana | Stars: George Clinton, Robbie Robertson, Gary Giddins, Martin Scorsese
Votes: 1,080 | Gross: $0.23M
34. This Is Everything: Gigi Gorgeous (2017)
91 min | Documentary
Are there limits to your love for your family? One family's acceptance is tested when a champion diver, destined for the Olympics, announces they're transitioning from male to female and ... See full summary »
Director: Barbara Kopple | Stars: Cory Binney, Scott Fisher, August Getty, Frankie Grande
Votes: 327
35. 78/52 (2017)
Not Rated | 91 min | Documentary
An unprecedented look at the iconic shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960), the "man behind the curtain", and the screen murder that profoundly changed the course of world cinema.
Director: Alexandre O. Philippe | Stars: Marli Renfro, Alfred Hitchcock, Tere Carrubba, Alan Barnette
Votes: 3,871 | Gross: $0.04M
36. Casting JonBenet (2017)
TV-14 | 80 min | Documentary, Crime, Drama
In the months following the unsolved murder of 6-year-old beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey, responses were elicited from her Colorado hometown community, creating a work of art from the collective memories and mythologies the crime inspired.
Director: Kitty Green | Stars: Hannah Cagwin, Aeona Cruz, Liv Bagley, Shylee Sagle
Votes: 5,745
37. Karl Marx City (2016)
89 min | Documentary, History
A filmmaker journey through the former East Germany looking into her father's 1999 suicide.
Directors: Petra Epperlein, Michael Tucker | Stars: Christa Epperlein, Petra Epperlein, Uwe Epperlein, Volker Epperlein
Votes: 261
38. Last Men in Aleppo (2017)
Not Rated | 104 min | Documentary, War
Khaled, Mahmoud and Subhi volunteer with the White Helmets trying to save lives of hundreds of victims in the besieged city of Aleppo during the Syrian Civil War.
Directors: Feras Fayyad, Steen Johannessen | Stars: Khaled Umar Harah, Batul, Mahmoud, Abu Umar
Votes: 3,000 | Gross: $0.01M
39. Dina (2017)
Not Rated | 103 min | Documentary
An eccentric suburban woman and a Walmart door greeter navigate their evolving relationship in this unconventional love story.
Directors: Antonio Santini, Dan Sickles | Stars: Dina Buno, Scott Levin, Frank Costanzo, Jeannie Levin
Votes: 1,221 | Gross: $0.09M
40. Served Like a Girl (2017)
103 min | Documentary
Director Lysa Heslov's documentary, "Served Like a Girl, provides a candid look at several American women as they transition from active duty to civilian life after serving tours of duty in... See full summary »
Director: Lysa Heslov | Stars: Nichole Alred, Jas Boothe, Rachel Engler, Hope Garcia
Votes: 346 | Gross: $0.01M
41. The Defiant Ones (2017)
TV-MA | 60 min | Documentary, Biography, Crime
"The Defiant Ones" examines the partnership between Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre - one the son of a Brooklyn longshoreman, the other straight out of Compton - and their leading roles in a chain of transformative events in contemporary culture.
Stars: Stevie Nicks, Bono, Dr. Dre, Tom Petty
Votes: 15,674
42. Five Came Back (2017)
TV-14 | 60 min | Documentary, Biography, History
The wartime contributions of five prominent Hollywood film directors during World War II are profiled.
Stars: Francis Ford Coppola, Steven Spielberg, Meryl Streep, Guillermo del Toro
Votes: 5,277
43. The Keepers (II) (2017)
TV-MA | 62 min | Documentary, Crime, Mystery
A seven-part docuseries about the unsolved murder of a nun and the horrific secrets and pain that linger nearly five decades after her death.
Stars: Gemma Hoskins, Abbie Schaub, Virginia Anzengruber, Jean Hargadon Wehner
Votes: 25,043
44. The Nineties (2017– )
60 min | Documentary, History
A TV documentary miniseries chronicling the trends, pop culture, and important events that took place from 1990 to 1999.
Stars: Dan Rather, Gil Troy, Lesley Stahl, Jeffrey Toobin
Votes: 1,297
45. Planet Earth II (2016)
TV-G | 50 min | Documentary
David Attenborough returns with a new wildlife documentary that shows life in a variety of habitats.
Stars: David Attenborough, Chadden Hunter, Gordon Buchanan, Elizabeth White
Votes: 158,095
46. The Vietnam War (2017)
TV-MA | 99 min | Documentary, History, War
A comprehensive history of the United States' involvement in the bitterly divisive armed conflict in Southeast Asia.
Stars: Peter Coyote, Huy Duc, James Willbanks, Duong Van Mai Elliott
Votes: 27,967
47. 30 for 30 (2009– )
TV-G | 60 min | Documentary, Biography, History
A collection of documentary films focused on sports.
Stars: Brent Musburger, Chuck D, Larry Bird, William C. Rhoden
Votes: 5,547
48. American Masters (1985– )
TV-14 | 90 min | Documentary, Biography, History
Documentary series focusing on great American artists and personalities.
Stars: Martin Scorsese, Peter Bogdanovich, Tony Bennett, Dick Cavett
Votes: 1,170
49. Frontline (1983– )
TV-MA | 60 min | Documentary, News
FRONTLINE is investigative journalism that questions, explains and changes our world and American television's top long-form news and current affairs series since 1983
Stars: Will Lyman, Sarah Childress, Priyanka Boghani, Arun Rath
Votes: 2,295
50. Independent Lens (1999– )
TV-14 | Documentary
Independent Lens is an award-winning PBS documentary series that streams on the PBS App and airs on public television. Independent Lens documentaries focus on stories of underrepresented ... See full summary »
Stars: America Ferrera, Terrence Howard, Stanley Tucci, Mary-Louise Parker
Votes: 634
51. P.O.V. (1988– )
60 min | Documentary
POV, a cinema term for "point of view," is television's longest-running showcase for independent non-fiction films. Since 1988, POV has presented more than 300 of the best, boldest, and ... See full summary »
Stars: Stacey Abrams, Rashida Tlaib, Lucy McBath, Veronica Escobar
Votes: 244
52. Vice (2013–2021)
TV-MA | 30 min | Documentary, News
Documentary series featuring startling, groundbreaking stories from around the world.
Stars: Shane Smith, Gianna Toboni, Thomas Morton, Ben Anderson
Votes: 4,380
53. One of Us (IV) (2017)
95 min | Documentary
Penetrating the insular world of New York's Hasidic community, focusing on three individuals driven to break away despite threats of retaliation.
Directors: Heidi Ewing, Rachel Grady | Stars: Etty, Chani Getter, Ari Hershkowitz, Luzer Twersky
Votes: 7,125
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