The best documentary you’ve seen?

[hmmwjst]

I want to learn something..!

C4- The dying rooms. Think that’s the name, the most harrowing but informative film about the effects of Chinas 1 child policy and the millions of girl babies discarded or put in orphanages.

Thank you so much for this thread! Just bookmarking it.

HyperNormalisation by Adam Curtis (iPlayer)

Making a murder is fantastic if you like true crime and are interested in the flaws of the (American) justice system. It's not unbias but also doesn't pretend to be.

I really liked Virunga (2014). It's about these amazing rangers who risk their lives trying to save silver back gorillas who live in the national park Virunga in Congo.

Once upon a time in northern Ireland is very good. I do think knowing something about the troubles first is helpful as I think it's main purpose is to show the humanity in every ordinary person on both sides. Very healing documentary making.

Three strangers I watched after a similar thread on MN and really liked it.

I'm currently watching 88MPH: The Story of the DeLorean Time Machine it's a bit of light relief after some of the others recommended here.

Blackfish

By Canoe - was shown over Xmas about 10 years ago about a group of men who canoed down the Dudh Kosi river high up in the Himalaya.

It was filmed in the mid 1970's and was fascinating. I'm not interested in canoeing at all but it was captivating.

It was also good because it reminded me of a time when documentaries were well done and informative. There was no emphasis on a sad back story, no repeating the same things again and again - if you missed the narration, you missed it. It was all quality story, no filler, no lingering shots of someone weeping, reading letters from home etc

I've just looked it up - it's on BBC iplayer, but it's not available. It won 25 international awards so it wasn't just me and DH who loved it :)

Paris is Burning

Brilliant and funny and heart breaking about drag queens living in New York City.

When we Were Kings

Muhammed Ali v. George Foreman, mesmerising .

A Bbc 4 documentary about King Leopold III genocide in Congo, it will haunt me forever.

Last Stop Larimar, just brilliant.

*Larrimah.

I’m a big documentary fan. Obviously it depends on your interests but I highly recommend:

netflix -the tinder swindler, don’t f*ck with cats, my octopus teacher, Fyre, the Dark Tourist series, 14 peaks, the Pamela Anderson series, The Volcano: rescue from Whakaari, Our Planet

almost anything on national geographic but especially The Rescue (about the Thai boys stranded in the cave) the Chris hemsworth limitless series, Rebuilding Paradise, Hostile Planet, 9/11 Rescue Cops

BBC- once upon a time in Northern Ireland, crash detectives, surgeons the edge of life, bad influencer, Dynasties

i could definitely go on, but that’s enough to keep you going for a few months!

Touching the void,
Blackfish,
Pain, pus and poison was a brilliant 3 parter done by the BBC on the history of medicine,
Diary of a heroin addict. Probably the best I've ever seen, it was filmed by a young guy (Ben) in what turned out to be the last few year of his life and is about his struggle with addiction. It is haunting.

The Crash Reel - about a snowboarder on track for the Winter Olympics who suffers a traumatic brain injury. Beautiful to look at and a really interesting story about family and love and talking risks.

The Act of Killing - follows people who took part in the Indonesian mass killings of 1965/6 with the participants staging re-enactments - its unlike anything else.

Small Town Gay Bar. A few years old now, and not something I'd usually watch but it really touched me, despite neither being gay or from a small American town.
Wild Wild Country. About a cult. Amazing.
I loved the Tiger King
DS wanted to watch Drive to Survive about the F1 and I bloody love it, despite never having had the faintest interest in F1 before.
And more recently, I really enjoyed the Yorkshire Ripper doc on Netflix.

Blackfish as mentioned above, absolutely heartbreaking.

Also ' waiting for Superman' about the Public School system in the USA. Shocking. Won loads of awards when it came out in 2010, but i have never come across anyone in the UK that has seen it

Etre et Avoir- a documentary about a one class primary school in rural France.

Louis Theroux Scientology episode was fascinating and frightening at the same time.

If you like medical documentaries I recommend Lennox Hill which is a hospital in NY. It's really good.

Abducted in Plain Sight
Rain in my Heart
14 Days in May
The Deepest Breath
Libby: Are You Home Yet?

I watched one called The Last Mountain which was about the son of a British female mountaineer. She died in the early 90's and he died the late 2010's and his sister tries to trace his last steps. It's absolutely not something I would normally watch but I've seen it twice as I was so moved by it. The way it weaves the stories of the mother and son together is just so beautifully done- definitely recommend!

Ken Burns’ recent-ish doc Country Music is really good as well.

This is excellent. I’ve never met anyone in RL who has watched it.

Outside the City - documentary about monks and their lifestyle. One of the most moving films I’ve ever watched.

Oh I remember watching this! It was shown on BBC2 in the mornings over the Christmas period. I wonder if it’s available still.

The Fyre documentary is just incredible, a real tale for our time I feel.
Also, the BBC Storyville one about OJ Simpson is excellent and probably my favourite ever documentary. If, like me, you couldn't ever imagine how he wasn't found guilty, this goes right back to the beginning and explains it all.
The one about the deadliest ever day on K2 (I think also BBC) is fascinating. I loved it as a study in the sort of people who take on K2 and their stories.

Dear Zachary