As an alternative if you have suggestions for documentary sources please do share them.
Mine would be United States of Secrets by PBS Frontline.
LEMMiNO is also great! One of the best documentary makers ever!
All the Adam Curtis documentaries are worth seeing in my opinion. I would try to watch them chronologically, so you can see how his theories develop over time. The must see short list I recommend would be:
The Century of the Self - 2002
The Power of Nightmares - 2004
The Trap: What Happened to Our Dream of Freedom - 2007
All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace - 2011
Can’t Get You Out of My Head - 2021
Craig Baldwin directed a great documentary about intellectual property and music production titled Sonic Outlaws - 1995
An oldie, but well worth the watch, is titled The Atomic Cafe - 1982
Stare Into the Lights My Pretties - 2017 is about our new found pastime: screen time
And on that note I will stop for now.
Wow, thank you for the list sir! this list… is totally hidden gem for me who’s know nothing about many documentary movies.
The Ken Burns documentary series on the Vietnam War is excellent. Probably the best documentary I’ve seen.
That one was really outstanding. I’ve seen it twice completely.
Dick Proenneke - Alone in the Wilderness
This isn’t so much a documentary as it is a video blog, but it’s so worth it.
Recorded back in the late 1960s it is a self documented story of one man moving to remote Alaska and building a cabin/homestead in that untamed wilderness.
I cannot recommend this enough. It’s thoughtful, peaceful, and heartwarming.
Koyaanisqatsi, while not a traditional documentary, is a truly fascinating time capsule featuring a great soundtrack from Phillip Glass. It’s all images/video with no dialog or voiceover. It’s a unique experience (especially in an altered state of mind)
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Second this, it’s amazing. I also like: Food inc PBS circus History of the bbs Brick city
Mister Organ, by the same guy, was also a wild ride.
- Dominion
- Cowspiracy
- What the Health
- The Game Changers
- Forks Over Knives
- That Sugar Film
Plenty of others, but there’s a theme here.
- The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (maybe my all-time favorite)
- Dear Zachary (IT WILL RUIN YOUR DAY, YOU’VE BEEN WARNED)
- I Think We’re Alone Now
And reiterating all of the Adam Curtis recommendations. I especially like HyperNormalisation. I don’t know of anything else like his documentaries.
Searching for sugarman
Closer to the Edge - Available on youtube for free, and is a glimpse inside the madness of the Isle of Man TT. I am not a huge fan of motorsports, but this is a fantastic and epic watch that follows a bunch of rides in the run up and through the TT.
If you like sports, Ballon sur Bitume: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhW2CwKXsfE
Sick Around the World, a PBS Frontline documentary, is a good one for Americans. Comparing healthcare systems in multiple countries.
I’m surprised not to see this one anywhere on the list:
Planet Earth
And I saw one recommendation, and want to second:
Free Solo
Planet Earth is just an absolutely stunning visual spectacle showcasing nature at it’s most beautiful. And Free Solo had me glued to my seat like no other documentary that I’ve ever watched. Alex Honnold’s brain is just wired differently, so he has no fear rock climbing without a harness or a rope up an insanely difficult vertical climb of El Capitan.
Dark Side of the Moon It seems like it is about how the moon landing was faked … watch until the end because it is actually about something much more important
The Volcano: Rescue from Whakaari
New fear unlocked
I recently watched, “Russia 1985–1999: TraumaZone” and greatly enjoyed it.
It’s about what it was like to live in the Soviet Union at the end of communism and then the end of democracy. The story is entirely told with footage from the time.
I’d like to also recommend my two favorite documentaries about labor unions, Harlan County, USA and American Dream.