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by Good_Will_Harding | created - 3 months ago | updated - 3 months ago | PublicFavorite documentaries.
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1. Grizzly Man (2005)
R | 103 min | Documentary, Biography
A 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.
Director: Werner Herzog | Stars: Timothy Treadwell, Amie Huguenard, Werner Herzog, Carol Dexter
Votes: 61,894 | Gross: $3.17M
2. News from Home (1976)
85 min | Documentary
Impersonal and beautiful images of Akerman's life in New York are combined with letters from her loving but manipulative mother, read by Akerman herself.
Director: Chantal Akerman | Star: Chantal Akerman
Votes: 2,810
3. Shoah (1985)
Not Rated | 566 min | Documentary, History, War
Claude Lanzmann's epic documentary recounts the story of the Holocaust through interviews with witnesses - perpetrators as well as survivors.
Director: Claude Lanzmann | Stars: Simon Srebnik, Michael Podchlebnik, Motke Zaïdl, Hanna Zaïdl
Votes: 10,554 | Gross: $0.02M
4. Planet Earth (2006)
TV-PG | 49 min | Documentary, Family
A documentary series on the wildlife found on Earth. Each episode covers a different habitat: deserts, mountains, deep oceans, shallow seas, forests, caves, polar regions, fresh water, plains and jungles. Narrated by David Attenborough.
Stars: Sigourney Weaver, David Attenborough, Nikolay Drozdov, Thomas Anguti Johnston
Votes: 220,280
5. 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: 40,810 | Gross: $0.49M
6. Cameraperson (2016)
Not Rated | 102 min | Documentary, Biography, History
Exposing her role behind the camera, Kirsten Johnson reaches into the vast trove of footage she has shot over decades around the world. What emerges is a visually bold memoir and a revelatory interrogation of the power of the camera.
Director: Kirsten Johnson | Stars: Kirsten Johnson, Aisha Bukar, Eric W. Davis, Jacques Derrida
Votes: 3,239 | Gross: $0.10M
7. Won't You Be My Neighbor? (2018)
PG-13 | 95 min | Documentary, Biography, History
An exploration of the life, lessons, and legacy of iconic children's television host Fred Rogers.
Director: Morgan Neville | Stars: Fred Rogers, Margaret Whitmer, Tom Junod, Joanne Rogers
Votes: 27,121 | Gross: $22.84M
8. Bo Burnham: Inside (2021 TV Special)
TV-MA | 87 min | Documentary, Comedy, Drama
A musical comedy special shot and performed by Bo Burnham, alone, over the course of a very unusual year.
Director: Bo Burnham | Star: Bo Burnham
Votes: 54,448
9. King Coal (2023)
80 min | Documentary
The cultural roots of coal continue to permeate the rituals of daily life in Appalachia even as its economic power wanes. The journey of a coal miner's daughter exploring the region's dreams and myths, untangling the pain and beauty.
Director: Elaine McMillion Sheldon
Votes: 116
10. Häxan (1922)
Not Rated | 91 min | Documentary, Fantasy, Horror
Fictionalized documentary showing the evolution of witchcraft, from its pagan roots to its confusion with hysteria in Eastern Europe.
Director: Benjamin Christensen | Stars: Benjamin Christensen, Elisabeth Christensen, Maren Pedersen, Clara Pontoppidan
Votes: 16,724
11. Nanook of the North (1922)
Passed | 78 min | Documentary
In this silent predecessor to the modern documentary, film-maker Robert J. Flaherty spends one year following the lives of Nanook and his family, Inuits living in the Arctic Circle.
Director: Robert J. Flaherty | Stars: Allakariallak, Alice Nevalinga, Cunayou, Allegoo
Votes: 13,454
12. Berlin: Symphony of Metropolis (1927)
Not Rated | 65 min | Documentary
This movie shows us one day in Berlin, the rhythm of that time, starting at the earliest morning and ends in the deepest night.
Director: Walter Ruttmann | Star: Paul von Hindenburg
Votes: 4,795
13. Kon-Tiki (1950)
Approved | 77 min | Documentary
A documentary about the Kon-Tiki expedition of the Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl.
Director: Thor Heyerdahl | Stars: Thor Heyerdahl, Herman Watzinger, Erik Hesselberg, Knut Haugland
Votes: 2,809
14. Night and Fog (1956)
TV-14 | 32 min | Documentary, Short, History
The history of Nazi Germany's death camps of the Final Solution and the hellish world of dehumanization and death contained inside.
Director: Alain Resnais | Stars: Michel Bouquet, Reinhard Heydrich, Heinrich Himmler, Adolf Hitler
Votes: 21,464
15. Chronicle of a Summer (1961)
Not Rated | 85 min | Documentary, History
A documentary about the everyday lives of ordinary Parisians, done in the style of cinéma vérité.
Directors: Edgar Morin, Jean Rouch | Stars: Angelo, Nadine Ballot, Catherine, Céline
Votes: 3,584
16. Tokyo Olympiad (1965)
Not Rated | 170 min | Documentary, Sport
Kon Ichikawa examines the beauty and rich drama on display at the 1964 Summer Games in Tokyo, creating a record of observations that range from the expansive to the intimate.
Director: Kon Ichikawa | Stars: Antonio Ambu, Gary Anderson, Gerry Ashworth, Polina Astakhova
Votes: 2,202
17. Warrendale (1967)
100 min | Documentary
Chronicles 7-weeks in the lives of 12 emotionally disturbed children and their therapist's experimental method of treatment at the Toronto-area Warrendale facility.
Director: Allan King | Star: Martin Fischer
Votes: 598
18. The Love Life of the Octopus (1967)
13 min | Documentary, Short
An octopus slithers into a narrow crack near the shore; we see its eye up close; blowing water propels it through water. It feeds on a crab. In spring it's time to mate. A male grabs a ... See full summary »
Directors: Geneviève Hamon, Jean Painlevé
Votes: 566
19. Black Panthers (1968)
Not Rated | 31 min | Documentary, Short
A short film of interviews and protests at a rally to free Huey P. Newton.
Director: Agnès Varda | Stars: Bill Brent, Huey P. Newton, Stokely Carmichael, Eldridge Cleaver
Votes: 2,689
20. Salesman (1969)
G | 91 min | Documentary, Drama
Four dogged door-to-door Bible salesmen travel from Boston to Florida on a seemingly futile quest to sell luxury editions of the Good Book to working-class Catholics.
Directors: Albert Maysles, David Maysles, Charlotte Zwerin | Stars: Paul Brennan, Charles McDevitt, James Baker, Raymond Martos
Votes: 5,708
21. Gimme Shelter (1970)
GP | 91 min | Documentary, Music, Thriller
When three hundred thousand members of the Love Generation collided with a few dozen Hells Angels at San Francisco's Altamont Speedway, the bloody slash that transformed a decade's dreams into disillusionment was immortalized on this film.
Directors: Albert Maysles, David Maysles, Charlotte Zwerin | Stars: Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Mick Taylor, Charlie Watts
Votes: 12,890 | Gross: $0.25M
22. Woodstock (1970)
R | 184 min | Documentary, History, Music
Oscar-winning musical chronicle that brilliantly captures the three-day rock concert and celebration of peace and love that became a capstone for the Sixties.
Director: Michael Wadleigh | Stars: Joan Baez, Richie Havens, Roger Daltrey, Joe Cocker
Votes: 18,468 | Gross: $50.00M
23. Directed by John Ford (1971)
Unrated | 99 min | Documentary, Biography
A documentary on the life and films of director John Ford.
Director: Peter Bogdanovich | Stars: John Ford, Peter Bogdanovich, Orson Welles, Clint Eastwood
Votes: 1,329
24. F for Fake (1973)
PG | 89 min | Documentary
A documentary about fraud and fakery.
Directors: Orson Welles, Gary Graver, Oja Kodar, François Reichenbach | Stars: Orson Welles, Oja Kodar, François Reichenbach, Elmyr de Hory
Votes: 18,302
25. Hotel Monterey (1973)
65 min | Documentary
Hotel 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.
Director: Chantal Akerman
Votes: 913
26. Grey Gardens (1975)
PG | 95 min | Documentary, Comedy, Drama
Meet a mother and daughter, high-society dropouts, reclusive cousins of Jackie O., managing to thrive together amid the decay and disorder of their East Hampton, NY, mansion, making for an eerily ramshackle echo of the American Camelot.
Directors: Ellen Hovde, Albert Maysles, David Maysles, Muffie Meyer | Stars: Edith Bouvier Beale, Edith 'Little Edie' Bouvier Beale, Brooks Hyers
Votes: 15,287 | Gross: $0.03M
27. Harlan County U.S.A. (1976)
PG | 103 min | Documentary
A heartbreaking record of the thirteen-month struggle between a community fighting to survive and a corporation dedicated to the bottom line.
Director: Barbara Kopple | Stars: John L. Lewis, Carl Horn, Norman Yarborough, Logan Patterson
Votes: 6,632
28. The Times of Harvey Milk (1984)
Not Rated | 90 min | Documentary, Biography, History
A documentary of the successful career and assassination of San Francisco's first elected gay city supervisor.
Director: Rob Epstein | Stars: Harvey Fierstein, Harvey Milk, Anne Kronenberg, Tory Hartmann
Votes: 6,578 | Gross: $0.01M
29. Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse (1991)
R | 96 min | Documentary
Documentary that chronicles how Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now (1979) was plagued by extraordinary script, shooting, budget, and casting problems--nearly destroying the life and career of the celebrated director.
Directors: Fax Bahr, George Hickenlooper, Eleanor Coppola | Stars: Dennis Hopper, Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando, George Lucas
Votes: 23,230 | Gross: $1.32M
30. 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: 40,991 | Gross: $1.33M
31. Hoop Dreams (1994)
PG-13 | 170 min | Documentary, Drama, Sport
A film following the lives of two inner-city Chicago boys who struggle to become college basketball players on the road to going professional.
Director: Steve James | Stars: William Gates, Arthur Agee, Emma Gates, Curtis Gates
Votes: 28,018 | Gross: $7.83M
32. 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: 7,515 | Gross: $1.51M
33. Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills (1996)
Not Rated | 150 min | Documentary, Crime
A horrific triple child murder leads to an indictment and trial of three nonconformist boys based on questionable evidence.
Directors: Joe Berlinger, Bruce Sinofsky | Stars: Tony Brooks, Diana Davis, Terry Wood, Dick Clay
Votes: 18,146
34. Bowling for Columbine (2002)
R | 120 min | Documentary, Crime, Drama
Filmmaker Michael Moore explores the roots of America's predilection for gun violence.
Director: Michael Moore | Stars: Michael Moore, Charlton Heston, Marilyn Manson, Salvador Allende
Votes: 148,748 | Gross: $21.58M
35. This Film Is Not Yet Rated (2006)
Unrated | 98 min | Documentary
Kirby Dick's exposé about the American movie ratings board.
Director: Kirby Dick | Stars: Kirby Dick, Kimberly Peirce, Darren Aronofsky, Atom Egoyan
Votes: 28,623 | Gross: $0.30M
36. Jesus Camp (2006)
PG-13 | 87 min | Documentary
A documentary on kids who attend a summer camp hoping to become the next Billy Graham.
Directors: Heidi Ewing, Rachel Grady | Stars: Mike Papantonio, Lou Engle, Becky Fischer, Ted Haggard
Votes: 28,777 | Gross: $0.90M
37. When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts (2006–2007)
TV-MA | 51 min | Documentary
An examination of the U.S. government's response to Hurricane Katrina.
Stars: Darleen Asevedo, Jay Asevedo, Shelton Shakespear Alexander, Lee Arnold
Votes: 4,825
38. Encounters at the End of the World (2007)
G | 99 min | Documentary
Film-maker Werner Herzog travels to the McMurdo Station in Antarctica, looking to capture the continent's beauty and investigate the characters living there.
Director: Werner Herzog | Stars: Werner Herzog, Scott Rowland, Stefan Pashov, Doug MacAyeal
Votes: 19,253 | Gross: $0.94M
39. My Winnipeg (2007)
Not Rated | 80 min | Documentary, Comedy, Drama
Fact, fantasy and memory are woven seamlessly together in this portrait of film-maker Guy Maddin's home town of Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Director: Guy Maddin | Stars: Darcy Fehr, Ann Savage, Louis Negin, Amy Stewart
Votes: 5,632 | Gross: $0.16M
40. 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: 40,711 | Gross: $0.02M
41. 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: 68,826 | Gross: $3.29M
42. Nostalgia for the Light (2010)
Not Rated | 90 min | Documentary
A documentary about two different searches conducted in the Chilean Atacama Desert: one by astronomers looking for answers about the history of the cosmos, and one by women looking for the remains of loved ones killed by Pinochet's regime.
Director: Patricio Guzmán | Stars: Gaspar Galaz, Lautaro Núñez, Luís Henríquez, Miguel Lawner
Votes: 6,112
43. Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2010)
G | 90 min | Documentary, History
Werner Herzog gains exclusive access to film inside the Chauvet caves of Southern France and captures the oldest known pictorial creations of humanity.
Director: Werner Herzog | Stars: Werner Herzog, Jean Clottes, Julien Monney, Jean-Michel Geneste
Votes: 17,792 | Gross: $5.23M
44. This Is Not a Film (2011)
Not Rated | 75 min | Documentary
It's been months since Jafar Panahi, stuck in jail, has been awaiting a verdict by the appeals court. By depicting a day in his life, Panahi and Mojtaba Mirtahmasb try to portray the deprivations looming in contemporary Iranian cinema.
Directors: Mojtaba Mirtahmasb, Jafar Panahi | Stars: Jafar Panahi, Igi, Mrs. Gheirat, Mojtaba Mirtahmasb
Votes: 5,644 | Gross: $0.08M
45. Taxi (III) (2015)
Not Rated | 82 min | Comedy, Drama
Banned from making movies by the Iranian government, Jafar Panahi poses as a taxi driver and makes a movie about social challenges in Iran.
Director: Jafar Panahi | Stars: Jafar Panahi, Nasrin Sotoudeh
Votes: 16,542 | Gross: $0.32M
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