100 Documentaries

The following is a list of documentaries to check out if you're interested in learning more about the different styles and approaches to documentary.

The goals with this list were as follows: One, not to include more than one film from the same director. Two, to cover a broad range of topics and styles, and not just what is currently popular. Related films, either through topic or style, will be included with each listing when appropriate.

  1. The Up Series
  2. An American Family
  3. An American Love Story
  4. American Movie
  5. The Aristocrats
  6. Atomic Cafe
  7. The Battle of San Pietro
  8. Berlin: Symphony of a City
  9. Blood of the Beasts
  10. Born into Brothels
  11. Burden of Dreams
  12. Capturing the Friedmans (Andrew Jarecki, 2003)
  13. Children Underground
  14. Chronicle of a Summer (Rouch and Morin 1961)
  15. City of Gold
  16. The Civil War
  17. Coalface (Nightmail)
  18. Complaints of a Dutiful Daughter (Hoffman, 1994)
  19. Control Room (Control Television)
  20. Cosmos
  21. Crumb
  22. Dark Days (Marc Singer 2000)
  23. Daughter from Danang
  24. Daughter Rite (Citron 1979)
  25. Dead Birds (Gardner 1963)
  26. Dont Look Back
  27. Drifters (Grierson)
  28. The Endless Summer (Step Into Liquid, Riding Giants)
  29. Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room
  30. The Fall of the Romanov Dynasty (Esfir Shub, 1927)
  31. The Farmer's Wife (David Sutherland, 1998)
  32. Finding Christa
  33. Grass (Cooper and Schoedsack, 1925)
  34. Harlan County, USA
  35. Harvest of Shame
  36. Hearts and Minds
  37. Hoop Dreams
  38. Housing Problems
  39. In the Year of the Pig
  40. Joyce at 34
  41. Koyaanisqatsi (Godfrey Reggio, 1983)
  42. Land of the Head Hunters (Edward S. Curtis, 1914)
  43. Land without Bread
  44. The Last Waltz
  45. Life and Debt (Stephanie Block, 1985)
  46. The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter (Fields, 1982)
  47. Life on Earth (David Attenborough, 1979)
  48. Looking for Richard
  49. Lumieres' early work
  50. Las Madres: The Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo (1986)
  51. The Man with the Movie Camera
  52. Manufacturing Consent
  53. Maya Lin: A Strong clear Vision (Frieda Lee Mock, 1995)
  54. Mempis Belle (William Wyler 1944)
  55. Mondo Hollywood (Robert Carl Cohen, 1967)
  56. Murderball (2005)
  57. Nanook of the North
  58. Navajos film Themselves series (Sol Worth and John Adair 1960s)
  59. Night and Fog
  60. Nitrate Kisses (Barbara Hammer 1992)
  61. No Lies
  62. La Operacion (Ana Maria Garcia, 1982)
  63. Outfoxed
  64. Paradise Lost
  65. Paris Is Burning
  66. The Plow that Broke the Plains (The River)
  67. Primary
  68. Pumping Iron II: The Women (George Butler 1985)
  69. A Question of Color (Kathe Sandler)
  70. The Quiet One
  71. Roger & Me
  72. Sad Song of Yellow Skin
  73. Salesman
  74. Scared Straight (Arnold Shapiro, 1978)
  75. Sherman's March
  76. Shoah
  77. Silverlake Life: The View from Here
  78. Soldier Girls
  79. The Song of Ceylon (Basil Wright, 1934-1935)
  80. The Sorrow and the Pity
  81. The Soul of a Man (Wenders, 2003; Buena Vista)
  82. South: Secret of the Land (Frank Hurley 1923)
  83. The Spanish Earth (Ivens)
  84. Streetwise
  85. Supersize Me (30 Days)
  86. Surname Viet Given Name Nam
  87. The Thin Blue Line
  88. This Is Cinerama (Merian C. Cooper, 1952)
  89. This Is Spinal Tap
  90. Tongues Untied
  91. Titicut Follies
  92. Trembling before G_d
  93. Triumph of the Will
  94. Union Maids
  95. Visions of Light: The Art of Cinematography (McCarthy, 1992)
  96. Waco: The Rules of Engagement (William Gazecki, 1997)
  97. Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price (Store Wars: When Wal-mart Comes to Town)
  98. When the Levees Broke
  99. When We Were Kings
  100. Woodstock

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