Best Documentaries
by lbmersault | created - 07 Jan 2019 | updated - 07 Jan 2019 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father (2008)
Not Rated | 95 min | Documentary, Biography, Crime
A filmmaker decides to memorialize a murdered friend when his friend's ex-girlfriend announces she is expecting his son.
Director: Kurt Kuenne | Stars: Kurt Kuenne, Andrew Bagby, David Bagby, Kathleen Bagby
Votes: 40,749 | Gross: $0.02M
2. Devil's Freedom (2017)
TV-MA | 74 min | Documentary
A documentary about the violence in Mexico told from the word of those who have suffered the pain and those who make the pain.
Director: Everardo González
Votes: 958
3. LA 92 (2017)
R | 114 min | Documentary, Crime, History
Twenty-five years after the verdict in the Rodney King trial sparked several days of protests, violence and looting in Los Angeles, filmmakers examine that tumultuous period through rarely seen archival footage.
Directors: Daniel Lindsay, T.J. Martin | Stars: Henry Alfaro, Danny Bakewell, John D. Barnett, Bart Bartholomew
Votes: 6,907
4. Jogo de Cena (2007)
100 min | Documentary, Drama
Following a newspaper ad, ordinary women tell part of their life stories to director Eduardo Coutinho, which are then re-enacted by actresses, blurring the barriers between truth, fiction and interpretation.
Director: Eduardo Coutinho | Stars: Marília Pêra, Andrea Beltrão, Fernanda Torres, Aleta Gomes Vieira
Votes: 1,313
5. Capturing the Friedmans (2003)
Not Rated | 107 min | Documentary, Biography, Crime
Documentary on the Friedmans, a seemingly typical, upper-middle-class Jewish family whose world is instantly transformed when the father and his youngest son are arrested and charged with shocking and horrible crimes.
Director: Andrew Jarecki | Stars: Arnold Friedman, Jesse Friedman, David Friedman, Elaine Friedman
Votes: 27,145 | Gross: $3.12M
6. I Am Not Your Negro (2016)
PG-13 | 93 min | Documentary, History
Writer James Baldwin tells the story of race in modern America with his unfinished novel, Remember This House.
Director: Raoul Peck | Stars: Samuel L. Jackson, James Baldwin, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X
Votes: 23,519 | Gross: $7.12M
7. Finding Vivian Maier (2013)
Not Rated | 83 min | Documentary, Biography, Mystery
A documentary on the late Vivian Maier, a nanny whose previously unknown cache of 100,000 photographs earned her a posthumous reputation as one of the most accomplished street photographers.
Directors: John Maloof, Charlie Siskel | Stars: Vivian Maier, John Maloof, Daniel Arnaud, Simon Amédé
Votes: 15,087 | Gross: $1.51M
8. Tempestad (2016)
105 min | Documentary
The emotional journeys of two women victimized by corruption and injustice in Mexico and of the love, dignity and resistance that allowed them to survive.
Director: Tatiana Huezo
Votes: 888
9. Citizenfour (2014)
R | 114 min | Documentary, Biography
A documentarian and a reporter travel to Hong Kong for the first of many meetings with Edward Snowden.
Director: Laura Poitras | Stars: Edward Snowden, Glenn Greenwald, William Binney, Jacob Appelbaum
Votes: 57,996 | Gross: $2.80M
10. 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
11. The Salt of the Earth (2014)
PG-13 | 110 min | Documentary, Biography, History
The life and work of photographer Sebastião Salgado, who has spent forty years documenting societies in hidden corners of the world.
Directors: Juliano Ribeiro Salgado, Wim Wenders | Stars: Sebastião Salgado, Wim Wenders, Lélia Wanick Salgado, Juliano Ribeiro Salgado
Votes: 23,482 | Gross: $1.34M
12. Peace (I) (2010)
Not Rated | 75 min | Documentary, Drama, History
The daily lives of people and stray cats who live in the yard in front of their home in Okayama City, Japan, offers glimpses of the meaning of peace.
Director: Kazuhiro Sôda | Stars: Shiro Hashimoto, Hiroko Kashiwagi, Toshio Kashiwagi
Votes: 289
13. 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: 13,616 | Gross: $0.95M
14. Why We Fight (2005)
PG-13 | 98 min | Documentary, History, War
Is American foreign policy dominated by the idea of military supremacy? Has the military become too important in American life? Jarecki's shrewd and intelligent polemic would seem to give an affirmative answer to each of these questions.
Director: Eugene Jarecki | Stars: Gore Vidal, John McCain, Ken Adelman, John Ashcroft
Votes: 10,233 | Gross: $1.44M
15. Blackfish (2013)
PG-13 | 83 min | Documentary
A documentary following the controversial captivity of killer whales, and its dangers for both humans and whales.
Director: Gabriela Cowperthwaite | Stars: Tilikum, Dave Duffus, Samantha Berg, Dean Gomersall
Votes: 72,488 | Gross: $2.07M
16. Bus 174 (2002)
R | 122 min | Documentary, Crime
On 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.
Directors: José Padilha, Felipe Lacerda | Stars: Sandro do Nascimento, Rodrigo Pimentel, Luiz Eduardo Soares, Anonymous
Votes: 8,624 | Gross: $0.22M
17. O.J.: Made in America (2016)
TV-MA | 467 min | Documentary, Biography, Crime
A chronicle of the rise and fall of O.J. Simpson, whose high-profile murder trial exposed the extent of American racial tensions, revealing a fractured and divided nation.
Director: Ezra Edelman | Stars: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Mike Albanese, Muhammad Ali, Marcus Allen
Votes: 21,958
18. Pina (2011)
PG | 103 min | Documentary, Music
A tribute to the late German choreographer Pina Bausch, as her dancers perform her most famous creations.
Director: Wim Wenders | Stars: Pina Bausch, Regina Advento, Malou Airaudo, Ruth Amarante
Votes: 15,957 | Gross: $3.52M
19. We Steal Secrets (2013)
R | 130 min | Documentary
A documentary that details the creation of Julian Assange's controversial website, which facilitated the largest security breach in U.S. history.
Director: Alex Gibney | Stars: Julian Assange, Adrian Lamo, John 'FuzzFace' McMahon, Alex Gibney
Votes: 8,179 | Gross: $0.16M
20. The Iron Ministry (2014)
Not Rated | 82 min | Documentary
Filmed over three years on what will soon be the world's largest railway network, 'The Iron Ministry' traces the vast interiors of a country on the move: flesh and metal, clangs and squeals, light and dark, language and gesture.
Director: J.P. Sniadecki | Star: Woseser Tsering
Votes: 286
21. Abortion: Stories Women Tell (2016)
TV-14 | 92 min | Documentary
This documentary gives women a voice in the choices they've had to make regarding their pregnancies.
Director: Tracy Droz Tragos
Votes: 295
22. Red Army (2014)
PG | 84 min | Documentary, Biography, History
The story of the Soviet Union's famed Red Army hockey team through the eyes of its players.
Director: Gabe Polsky | Stars: Viacheslav Fetisov, Vladislav Tretiak, Scotty Bowman, Vladimir Pozner
Votes: 7,212 | Gross: $0.69M
23. Rush Hour (2018)
80 min | Documentary
A documentary of three people in three different cities, Istanbul, Los Angeles, and Mexico City, sharing their experiences on commuting - a sacrifice of half their lives for the sake of supporting themselves and their families.
Director: Luciana Kaplan | Star: Nicole Monosky
Votes: 110
24. The Missing Picture (2013)
Not Rated | 92 min | Documentary
Rithy Panh uses clay figures, archival footage, and his narration to recreate the atrocities Cambodia's Khmer Rouge committed between 1975 and 1979.
Director: Rithy Panh | Stars: Randal Douc, Jean-Baptiste Phou
Votes: 3,528 | Gross: $0.05M
25. Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired (2008)
Unrated | 99 min | Documentary, Crime
Examines the public scandal and private tragedy which led to legendary filmmaker Roman Polanski's sudden flight from the United States.
Director: Marina Zenovich | Stars: Andrew Braunsberg, Richard Brenneman, Douglas Dalton, Marilyn Beck
Votes: 5,207 | Gross: $0.06M
26. Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer (2003)
R | 93 min | Documentary, Crime
Nick Broomfield's second documentary about serial killer Aileen Wuornos, focusing on her mental state on death row.
Directors: Nick Broomfield, Joan Churchill | Stars: Aileen Wuornos, Nick Broomfield, Terry Humphreys-Slay, Leitha Prather
Votes: 6,955 | Gross: $0.10M
27. 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: 25,058 | Gross: $4.20M
28. The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz (2014)
Not Rated | 105 min | Documentary, Biography, Crime
The story of programming prodigy and information activist Aaron Swartz, who took his own life at the age of 26.
Director: Brian Knappenberger | Stars: Aaron Swartz, Tim Berners-Lee, Cindy Cohn, Gabriella Coleman
Votes: 18,042 | Gross: $0.05M
29. Thought Crimes: The Case of the Cannibal Cop (2015)
TV-MA | 81 min | Documentary, Crime
A probing look into the potential future of "thought policing" through the headline-making case of the NYPD "Cannibal Cop," who was charged with conspiring to kidnap and eat women.
Director: Erin Lee Carr | Stars: Gary Allen, Violet Blue, James A. Cohen, Joseph DeMarco
Votes: 1,835
30. Winter on Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedom (2015)
Not Rated | 102 min | Documentary, History, War
A documentary on the unrest in Ukraine during 2013 and 2014, as student demonstrations supporting European integration grew into a violent revolution calling for the resignation of President Viktor F. Yanukovich.
Director: Evgeny Afineevsky | Stars: His Beatitude Sviatoslav, Said Ismagilov, Bishop Agapit, Archbishop Petro Malchuk
Votes: 20,641
31. The Weather Underground (2002)
Unrated | 92 min | Documentary, History, War
The remarkable story of The Weather Underground, radical activists of the 1970s, and of radical politics at its best and most disastrous.
Directors: Sam Green, Bill Siegel | Stars: Lili Taylor, Pamela Z, Jim Lange, Evan White
Votes: 3,769 | Gross: $0.56M
32. RBG (2018)
PG | 98 min | Documentary, Biography
The exceptional life and career of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who has developed a breathtaking legal legacy while becoming an unexpected pop culture icon.
Directors: Julie Cohen, Betsy West | Stars: Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Ann Kittner, Harryette Helsel, Nina Totenberg
Votes: 15,069 | Gross: $14.02M
33. Zero Days (2016)
PG-13 | 116 min | Documentary
A documentary focused on Stuxnet, a piece of self-replicating computer malware that the U.S. and Israel unleashed to destroy a key part of an Iranian nuclear facility, and which ultimately spread beyond its intended target.
Director: Alex Gibney | Stars: David Sanger, Emad Kiyaei, Eric Chien, Liam O'Murchu
Votes: 10,425 | Gross: $0.10M
34. 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: 2,154 | Gross: $0.13M
35. Made in Bangkok (2015)
75 min | Documentary, Comedy, Drama
Morgana is a Mexican transgender opera singer with a dream: a sex reassignment surgery. We follow her odyssey all the way to Bangkok as she fights for the identity she has been struggling all her life to construct.
Director: Flavio Florencio | Stars: Morganna Love, Noa Herrera
Votes: 164
36. Going Clear: Scientology & the Prison of Belief (2015)
Not Rated | 119 min | Documentary
A documentary looking at the inner-workings of the Church of Scientology.
Director: Alex Gibney | Stars: Paul Haggis, Jason Beghe, Spanky Taylor, David Miscavige
Votes: 40,922
37. The Battle of Chile: Part I (1975)
Not Rated | 97 min | Documentary, History
The chronicle of the political tension in Chile in 1973 and of the violent counter revolution against the democratically elected government of Salvador Allende.
Director: Patricio Guzmán | Stars: Abilio Fernández, Salvador Allende
Votes: 1,614
38. Chavela (2017)
Unrated | 93 min | Documentary, Biography, History
The life of pioneering singer Chavela Vargas, from her birth in Costa Rica in 1919 to her death in Mexico in 2012.
Directors: Catherine Gund, Daresha Kyi | Stars: Eugenia León, Jesusa Rodríguez, Tania Libertad, Marcela Rodríguez
Votes: 1,165 | Gross: $0.15M
39. 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: 2,943 | Gross: $0.10M
40. Amanda Knox (2016)
TV-MA | 92 min | Documentary, Crime
American exchange student Amanda Knox is charged with the 2007 death of another student in Italy.
Directors: Rod Blackhurst, Brian McGinn | Stars: Amanda Knox, Meredith Kercher, Raffaele Sollecito, Giuliano Mignini
Votes: 26,138
41. Kiki (2016)
Unrated | 94 min | Documentary
A group of LGBTQ youths of color unite to form a safe gathering space.
Director: Sara Jordenö | Stars: Loretta Coombs, Takima Coombs, Afrika Juicy Couture, Bootz Juicy Couture
Votes: 622
42. The Act of Killing (2012)
Not Rated | 117 min | Documentary, Biography, Crime
A 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.
Directors: Joshua Oppenheimer, Anonymous, Christine Cynn | Stars: Anwar Congo, Herman Koto, Syamsul Arifin, Ibrahim Sinik
Votes: 40,830 | Gross: $0.49M
43. 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: 72,930 | Gross: $3.97M
44. The Imposter (2012)
R | 99 min | Documentary, Biography, Crime
A documentary centered on a young man in Spain who claims to a grieving Texas family that he is their 16-year-old son who has been missing for 3 years.
Director: Bart Layton | Stars: Adam O'Brian, Nicholas Barclay, Carey Gibson, Bryan Gibson
Votes: 50,479 | Gross: $0.89M
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