Best Documentaries
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33 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.
- DirectorDavid GelbStarsJiro OnoYoshikazu OnoMasuhiro YamamotoA documentary on 85-year-old sushi master Jiro Ono, his renowned Tokyo restaurant, and his relationship with his son and eventual heir, Yoshikazu.
- 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.
- 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.
- DirectorWerner HerzogStarsWerner HerzogKatia KrafftMaurice KrafftAn exploration of active volcanoes around the world.
- DirectorJehane NoujaimStarsAhmed HassanKhalid AbdallaMagdy AshourA group of Egyptian revolutionaries battle leaders and regimes, risking their lives to build a new society of conscience.
- DirectorOrlando von EinsiedelStarsAndré BaumaEmmanuel de MerodeMélanie GoubyA team of brave individuals risk their lives to protect the last mountain gorillas.
- 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.
- DirectorRaoul PeckStarsSamuel L. JacksonJames BaldwinMartin Luther KingWriter James Baldwin tells the story of race in modern America with his unfinished novel, Remember This House.
- DirectorWerner HerzogStarsLotte EisnerWolfgang BüttnerManfred EigendorfFootage shot in and around the Sahara Desert, accompanied only by a spoken creation myth and the songs of Leonard Cohen.
- DirectorGianfranco RosiGianfranco Rosi's new documentary is an immersive portrait of those trying to survive in the war-torn Middle East.
- DirectorJennie LivingstonStarsBrooke XtravaganzaAndré ChristianDorian CoreyA chronicle of New York's drag scene in the 1980s, focusing on balls, voguing and the ambitions and dreams of those who gave the era its warmth and vitality.
- DirectorJimmy ChinElizabeth Chai VasarhelyiStarsConrad AnkerGrace ChinJimmy ChinThree 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.
- 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.
- DirectorJoshua OppenheimerStarsAdi RukunM.Y. BasrunVolker HanischA family that survived the genocide in Indonesia confronts the men who killed one of their brothers.
- DirectorWerner HerzogStarsWerner HerzogJörg Schmidt-ReitweinEdward LachmanHerzog takes a film crew to the island of Guadeloupe when he hears that the volcano on the island is going to erupt. Everyone has left, except for one old man who refuses to leave. Herzog catches the eeriness of an abandoned city, with stop lights cycling over an empty intersection.
- 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 HerzogStarsWalter SteinerWerner HerzogA study of the psychology of a champion ski-jumper, whose full-time occupation is carpentry.
- DirectorWerner HerzogStarsWerner HerzogBruce ChatwinKarin EberhardA journey where the viewer can see Werner Herzog's creative and personal vision which was shared with iconic travel writer Bruce Chatwin, the prolific author of 'In Patagonia' and a champion of the nomadic life.
- DirectorWerner HerzogDenis ReichleStarsWerner HerzogDenis ReichleThe film focuses on a group of Miskito in Nicaragua who used child soldiers in their resistance against the Sandinistas.
- DirectorAlex PritzStarsNeidinha BandeiraBitaté Uru Eu Wau WauWhen a network of Brazilian farmers seizes a protected area of the Amazon rainforest, a young Indigenous leader and his mentor must fight back in defense of the land and an uncontacted group living deep within the forest.
- DirectorRon FrickeStarsBalinese Tari Legong DancersNi Made Megahadi PratiwiPuti Sri Candra DewiFilmed 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.
- DirectorGuy MaddinStarsDarcy FehrAnn SavageLouis NeginFact, fantasy and memory are woven seamlessly together in this portrait of film-maker Guy Maddin's home town of Winnipeg, Manitoba.
- DirectorBanksyStarsBanksyMr. BrainwashSpace InvaderFollowing the style of some of the world's most prolific street artists, an amateur filmmaker makes a foray into the art world.
- DirectorSteve JamesStarsWilliam GatesArthur AgeeEmma GatesA film following the lives of two inner-city Chicago boys who struggle to become college basketball players on the road to going professional.
- DirectorWerner HerzogStarsHarry GlickenWerner HerzogKatia KrafftMaurice and Katia Krafft dedicated their lives to exploring the world's volcanoes. Their legacy consists of groundbreaking footage of eruptions and their aftermath, composed in this visual stunning collage.
- DirectorTodd Douglas MillerStarsNeil ArmstrongMike CollinsBuzz AldrinA look at the Apollo 11 mission to land on the moon led by commander Neil Armstrong and pilots Buzz Aldrin and Mike Collins.
- DirectorTerence DaviesStarsTerence DaviesGeorge HarrisonJack HawkinsA filmmaker looks at the history and transformation of his birthplace, Liverpool, England.
- DirectorChris MarkerPierre LhommeStarsChris MarkerYves MontandSimone SignoretChris Marker and Pierre Lhomme's LE JOLI MAI (The Lovely Month of May) is a portrait of Paris and Parisians during May 1962, the first springtime of peace after the ceasefire with Algeria and the first time in 23 years that France was not involved in any war.
- DirectorWerner HerzogStarsMichael GoldsmithWerner HerzogAugustine AssematDocumentary examining Bokassa's rule in the Central African Republic using the testimony of witnesses and visits to key sites.
- DirectorWerner HerzogStarsWerner HerzogHerzog's documentary of the Wodaabe people of the Sahara/Sahel region. Particular attention is given to the tribe's spectacular courtship rituals and 'beauty pageants', where eligible young men strive to outshine each other and attract mates by means of lavish makeup, posturing and facial movements.
- DirectorWerner HerzogStarsThe Dalai LamaLama Lhundup WoeserTakna Jigme SangpoWheel of Time is Werner Herzog's photographed look at the largest Buddhist ritual in Bodh Gaya, India.
- DirectorWerner HerzogStarsFini StraubingerM. BaaskeElsa FehrerThrough examining Fini Straubinger, an old woman who has been deaf and blind since adolescence, and her work on behalf of other deaf and blind people, this film shows how the deaf and blind struggle to understand and accept a world from which they are almost wholly isolated.