The International Documentary Association produced in 2007 a list of the top 25 documentary films as voted by members. [1] [2] [3]
Night and Fog is the oldest and shortest entry on the list [4] while An Inconvenient Truth is the most recent as of 2022.
Six Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature winners are featured on the list: Bowling for Columbine , [5] Harlan County, U.S.A. , An Inconvenient Truth , The Fog of War , [6] Born into Brothels and Woodstock .
Michael Moore, Errol Morris and The Maysles Brothers have multiple entries on the list. [7]
The Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film is an award for documentary films. In 1941, the first awards for feature-length documentaries were bestowed as Special Awards to Kukan and Target for Tonight. They have since been bestowed competitively each year, with the exception of 1946. Copies of every winning film are held by the Academy Film Archive.
Bowling for Columbine is a 2002 documentary film written, produced, directed, and narrated by Michael Moore. The film explores what Moore suggests are the primary causes for the Columbine High School massacre in 1999 and other acts of gun violence. He focuses on the background and environment in which the massacre took place and some common public opinions and assumptions about related issues. The film also looks into the nature of violence in the United States, and American violence abroad.
American Movie is a 1999 American documentary film directed by Chris Smith, produced by Smith and Sarah Price, and edited by Jun Diaz and Barry Poltermann. The film chronicles the making of Coven, an independent short horror film directed by Wisconsin-based filmmaker Mark Borchardt. Produced for the purpose of financing Northwestern, a feature film Borchardt wishes to make, Coven suffers from a troubled production, from a lack of planning to the ineptitude of the friends and family whom Borchardt enlists as his cast and crew.
Indiewood films are those made outside of the Hollywood studio system or traditional arthouse/ independent filmmaking yet managed to be produced, financed and distributed by the two with varying degrees of success and/or failure.
The Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Documentary Film is an annual film award given by the Online Film Critics Society to honor the best documentary of the year.
The Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Documentary Feature is a retired award given to people working in the motion picture industry by the Broadcast Film Critics Association from 1995 to 2015. In 2016, the association started a new set of awards for documentary features called the Critics' Choice Documentary Awards.
50 Documentaries to See Before You Die is a 2011 television special aired on Current TV. Presented by Morgan Spurlock, the series features a ranking of fifty documentary films.
Motto Pictures is a documentary production company based in Brooklyn, New York specializing in producing and executive producing documentary features. Motto secures financing, builds distribution strategies, and creatively develops films, and has produced over 25 feature documentaries and won numerous awards.
Roma is a 2018 drama film written and directed by Alfonso Cuarón, who also produced, shot, and co-edited it. Set in 1970 and 1971, Roma follows the life of a live-in indigenous (Mixteco) housekeeper of an upper-middle-class Mexican family, as a semi-autobiographical take on Cuarón's upbringing in the Colonia Roma neighborhood of Mexico City. The film stars Yalitza Aparicio and Marina de Tavira in the leading roles. It is an international co-production between Mexico and the United States.
One Night in Miami... is a 2020 American drama film directed by Regina King with a screenplay by Kemp Powers, based on his 2013 stage play of the same name. The film is a fictionalized account of a real February 1964 meeting of Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown, and Sam Cooke in a room at the Hampton House, celebrating Ali's surprise title win over Sonny Liston. It stars Kingsley Ben-Adir, Eli Goree, Aldis Hodge, and Leslie Odom Jr. in the lead roles, with Lance Reddick, Joaquina Kalukango, Nicolette Robinson, and Beau Bridges in supporting roles.
Beastie Boys Story is a 2020 American live documentary film, directed, produced, and written by Spike Jonze, alongside Michael Diamond and Adam Horovitz. It was filmed at Kings Theatre in Brooklyn, New York and adapted from Beastie Boys Book, a memoir of the Beastie Boys. Jonze reunited with Diamond and Horovitz for the project after directing several music videos including "Sabotage" in 1994.
Diane Hope Weyermann was an American film producer who was the chief content officer of Participant Media, a film and television production company.
Time is an Academy Award-nominated 2020 American documentary film produced and directed by Garrett Bradley. It follows Sibil Fox Richardson, fighting for the release of her husband, Rob, who was serving a 60-year prison sentence for engaging in an armed bank robbery.
Inconvenient Indian is a 2020 Canadian documentary film, directed by Michelle Latimer. It is an adaptation of Thomas King's non-fiction book The Inconvenient Indian, focusing on narratives of indigenous peoples of Canada. King stars as the documentary's narrator, with Gail Maurice and other indigenous artists appearing.
The Velvet Underground is a 2021 American documentary film directed and produced by Todd Haynes that chronicles the life and times of the rock band the Velvet Underground.
Flee is a 2021 adult animated documentary film directed by Jonas Poher Rasmussen. An international co-production with Denmark, France, Norway, and Sweden, it follows the story of a man under the alias Amin Nawabi, who shares his hidden past of fleeing his home country of Afghanistan to Denmark for the first time. Riz Ahmed and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau serve as executive producers and narrators for the English-language dub version.
Philly D.A. is a 2021 American documentary series revolving around progressive Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, district attorney Larry Krasner. It consists of 8-episodes and premiered on PBS through Independent Lens on April 20, 2021.
Ascension is a 2021 American documentary film directed and produced by Jessica Kingdon. It follows the pursuit of the Chinese dream through the social classes, prioritizing productivity and innovation.
Bonni Cohen is an American documentary film producer and director. She is the co-founder of Actual Films, the production company of the documentaries Athlete A, An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power, Audrie & Daisy, 3.5 Minutes, The Island President, Lost Boys of Sudan and The Rape of Europa. Cohen is the co-founder of the Catapult Film Fund.
Jon Shenk is an American documentary film producer and director. He is the co-founder of Actual Films, the production company of the documentaries Athlete A, An Inconvenient Sequel, Audrie & Daisy, 3.5 Minutes, The Island President, Lost Boys of Sudan and The Rape of Europa.