Staff Picks: Documentary Films

As long as there are action movies, animated fantasies, comedies and wish fulfillment onscreen, audiences will also yearn for the truth—or something close to it. In arriving at Time Out New York's favorite documentaries (from all eras and countries), we bumped up against some thorny questions: What makes a documentary essential? Is it the political or social import? Its popularity? Can we allow for staged scenes? Or must we insist on pure vérité? How "real" is reality? 
~David Fear, Joshua Rothkopf and Keith Uhlich, "The 50 best documentaries of all time"

No body of theory exists to legitimise docs and I'm grateful for this. They have come to subsist at a crossroads of contemporary culture, somewhere between journalism, film narrative and television entertainment. They appear to thrive on contradictions, between the stubborn reality they purport to capture and their necessarily limited means, between the impositions of storytelling and the desire to interpret or analyse. They aren't fictional, ever, but they can seem in their attractiveness more real than reality.
~Nick Fraser, "Why documentaries matter"

Looking for a good movie? People spend a lot of time browsing the fiction DVD section at the library, and new fiction DVDs tend to be very popular. But there is also a burgeoning section of non-fiction DVDs, many telling a tale as fascinating as any fictional movie, that you might not think to check out! We've compiled a list of documentaries recommended by staff which you might enjoy. Do you have any documentary recommendations? Let us know in the comments!

The Arts

Rivers and Tides: Andy Goldsworthy Working With Time

Art and Craft

Louvre City

First Position

The Art of the Steal

The Rape of Europa

Pina

Burroughs: The Movie

Marina Abramović: The Artist is Present

Mad Hot Ballroom 

The Hobart Shakespeareans

Rize 

Il Mio Viaggio in Italia

Simon Schama's Power of Art 

Bomb It 


History and Social Issues

The Look of Silence

The Hunting Ground

Dancing Boys of Afghanistan

Shoah

Blackfish


Fashion

Iris

Bill Cunningham New York

The September Issue


Music

Revenge of the Mekons

The Decline of Western Civilization Collection

The Wrecking Crew!

Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck

Amy

20 Feet from Stardom

Searching for Sugar Man

Touch the Sound: A Sound Journey with Evelyn Glennie

20,000 Days on Earth

The Punk Singer

Gypsy Caravan: When the Road Bends--

Soul Power

Wagner & Me


Pop Culture

Los Angeles Plays Itself

Terms and Conditions May Apply

Best of Enemies

Baraka

Samsara

The Qatsi Trilogy

Jiro Dreams of Sushi

Public Speaking

Flying: Confessions of a Free Woman

I'll Have What Phil's Having 

Afghan Star

Examined Life

Helvetica


Biography

A Man Named Pearl

The Wolfpack

Finding Vivian Maier

Man on Wire

Marwencol

The Up Series

Stories We Tell

Cutie and the Boxer

Grey Gardens

Seymour: An Introduction

The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl 

Sing Your Song

Eames: The Architect and the Painter


Don't forget to check out our New Non-Fiction and Documentary DVD page regularly! If you'd like a more scholarly approach to non-fiction, try the Great Courses series by the Teaching Company.


Links

Critics' 50 Greatest Documentaries of All Time [Sight & Sound/BFI]

Documentary Films [AMC Filmsite]

Why Documentary Films Are So Important [HuffPost]

Why Documentaries Matter [Reuters Institute]