Favorite Documentaries

It’s that time of the year! Favorite documentaries Easter Egg edition. Three people found my Easter Egg and told me about their favorite documentaries. After their entries for favorite docs, I’ll list some of mine.

Jodorowsky’s Dune (2013) is a documentary based on the grandest film that has never existed and will never exist. This documentary explores what would have been a roughly thirteen-hour film rendition of Frank Herbert’s culture-shifting book, Dune. This work would have featured Mick Jagger and Salvador Dali as the evil Harkonnen antagonists, unique art direction by Jean Giraud and H.R. Giger, and soundtracks orchestrated by Pink Floyd. Each time I finish watching this documentary, I feel the need to pick up a pencil and begin writing a new story or design a new piece of art. I am imbued with the same sense of unlimited creative potential that Alejandro Jodorowsky sought to explore in the greatest film never made, and very rarely am I that moved by a piece of art. In an alternate timeline, if this film came to fruition, it is possible that Star Wars would have never existed, and Jodorowsky would be regarded with the same reverence as George Lucas is today. -Kris

My favorite documentary, which is technically a docuseries, is Don’t F*ck with Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer (2019). It’s a Netflix documentary about a set of viral videos of a man torturing and killing cats that lead to the formation of a Facebook group not only uncovering his identity, but also leading to more of his suspicious behavior. It’s my favorite documentary because it had so many twists and turns and was constantly taking me by surprise. It was something that I couldn’t stop watching and had to rewatch multiple times because I still couldn’t believe it was real and not some horror movie. Never did I think when I was watching a docuseries about what I thought was about cats and viral videos, that I would end up watching this crime series uncovering a murder. I personally love being taken by surprise like that. The actual shooting and editing of the documentary was equally amazing, and did a fantastic job at hiding and teasing the right amount of information to keep the suspense going with the story. -Sloan

My favorite documentary is titled “FYRE” after the Fyre music festival scandal set up by Billy McFarland in 2017. At surface level, the documentary reveals the collaboration between founders, venture capitalists, and celebrities to promote a music festival that never lived up to the promotional video that went viral on the internet, The festival’s demise is particularly interesting because the founder gradually admits that selling the idea and image of a festival is more important than making the actual festival. Through this mirage, he gathers $24 million in funding, which would eventually lead to his 6-year prison sentence for fraud. -Kamila

And here is a list of documentaries I love:

Documentaries about important social issues:

Crip Camp

I am not your negro (about James Baldwin) (2016) 

Queen of Versalles (2012) 

Black Power Mix Tape (2012)

Into the Abyss (2012) 

Born into Brothels (2005) 

Paris is Burning (1990) 

Harlan County, USA (1976) 

The Thin Blue LIne (1988) 

13th (2016) 

Capturing the Friedmans (2003)

(The whole) UP series (1964-2012)

How to Survive a Plague (2012)

Music documentaries:

Summer of Soul (2021)

The Velvet Underground (2021) 

20000 Days on Earth (Nick Cave) (2014) 

Searching for Sugar Man (2012)

Gimme Shelter (1970) 

Stop Making Sense (1984) 

Famous people docs:

Val (2021) 

Rita Moreno (2021) 

Becoming (2020) 

Mucho Mucho Amor *Walter Mercado (2020) 

Bombshell: The Hedy Lamar Story (2018)

I am not your negro (about James Baldwin) (2016) 

Amy (2015)

What happened Miss Simone (2015)

Tab Hunter Confidential (2015)

CitizenFour (2014)

I Am Divine (2014) 

Jiro Dreams of Sushi (2021) 

Won’t you be my neighbor (2018) 

Nature documentaries:
My Octopus Teacher (2020) 

Spaceship Earth (2020) 

Fantastic Fungi (2019) 

Honeyland (2019) 

Chasing Coral (2017) 

Kedi (2016) 

Blackfish (about Seaworld) (2013) 

Samsara (2012) 

Grizzly Man (2005)

The Cove (2009)  

Art documentaries:

Camera person (2016) (about Kubric’s camera person very good) 

Finding Vivian Maier (2014)

20 Feet from Stardom (2014)

Pina (2012) 

Exit Through the Gift Shop (2011) 

Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2011) 

The Rape of Europa (also a war documentary)

Bill Cunningham New York (2011) 

Beyond the Visible: Hilma Af Klint (2020) 

Art of the Steal (2009) 

The Salt of the Earth (2014)

Jodorowsky’s Dune (2014) 

War documentaries

They Shall Not Grow Old (2018) 

The Act of Killing (2012) 

The Fog of War (2003) ‘

Waltz with Bashir (2008) 

Night and Fog (1956) 

Sports Documentaries

Hoop Dreams (1994)

Sena (2011)

Free Solo 

Documentaries that defy categorization

Faces Places (Varda) (2018) 

I’m Still Here (2012) 

Man on Wire (2019) 

Grey Gardens (1975)

Dick Johnson is Dead (2020)