Top 10 Documentaries That Everyone NEEDS To See At Least Once

[00:00] 10 years later this is what happened and

[00:03] here's the melting from 2005 welcome to

[00:06] watch Mojo and today we're counting down

[00:08] our picks for the top 10 documentaries

[00:10] that everyone should see at least once

[00:12] what does it cost to put one of these

[00:14] things together ACC for this list we'll

[00:17] be looking at the most important

[00:19] entertaining or well-made non-fiction

[00:21] films that are worth your time these

[00:24] movies should be viewed by anyone that

[00:25] loves true stories from Zeitgeist

[00:27] favorites to challenging investigations

[00:29] and everything in between did we forget

[00:32] your favorite documentaries let us know

[00:34] in the comments

[00:36] below number 10 man on wire James

[00:40] Marsh's documentary is the thrilling

[00:42] story of a performer with a dream with

[00:44] all my might I I go day and night I note

[00:47] things and I I fill the exercise books

[00:51] with all those notes and little doodling

[00:52] and and I look at what commercial

[00:55] vehicle go underneath for Freight

[00:58] delivery I go in I find a way that lunch

[01:01] time to disguise myself in 1974 Philipe

[01:04] PTI ascended the World Trade Center and

[01:07] tight rope walked between the Twin

[01:09] [Music]

[01:15] [Music]

[01:21] Towers his dramatic journey and

[01:23] preparation serve as a compelling tale

[01:25] of a death-defying stunt hearing from a

[01:28] variety of co-conspirators each

[01:30] interview provides further context as to

[01:32] the many close calls that almost

[01:33] prevented the maneuver what if the God

[01:35] is still around what if he's toying with

[01:38] us waiting for us to make the slightest

[01:41] movement before he pounces on us we must

[01:44] wait P's Charming demeanor and

[01:47] courageous spirit guide the nail-biting

[01:49] plot along with an infectious energy

[01:51] winning the Oscar for best documentary

[01:53] feature man on wire redefines the format

[01:56] with all the entertainment of a high

[01:58] stakes robbery to refuse to uh taper

[02:02] yourself to rules to refuse your own

[02:04] success to refuse to repeat yourself to

[02:07] see every day every year every every

[02:10] idea as a as a true Challenge and then

[02:13] you are going to live your life on the

[02:15] tight rope number nine Grizzly Man it is

[02:19] the old bear one who is struggling for

[02:22] survival and an aggressive one at that

[02:26] who is the one that you must be very

[02:28] careful of wner OG's documentary

[02:30] Chronicles the life of wildlife

[02:32] Enthusiast Timothy Treadwell using

[02:35] footage from Treadwell's own camera

[02:37] Herzog assembles the man's life through

[02:38] a collection of filmed memories

[02:40] Treadwell's obsession with wild animals

[02:43] especially Bears plays out through

[02:45] intimate moments between him and nature

[02:47] all right you lay there I'm going to go

[02:49] off with your girlfriend don't beat me

[02:50] up over it I'm I'm cool I'm cool I'm

[02:54] respectful the entire story takes a dire

[02:56] turn as details of the subject's death

[02:58] come to light in one of the more

[03:00] jaw-dropping points of the film herzog's

[03:03] delicate Direction allows his hero to

[03:04] speak for himself and makes viewers

[03:06] question the complex relationship

[03:08] between humans and the natural world and

[03:10] I promise you I promise the gly people I

[03:13] will be back I will be

[03:15] back and I thank the animals for keeping

[03:17] me safe and for inspiring me I thank

[03:20] them so very

[03:23] much

[03:25] goodbye Cave of Forgotten Dreams

[03:28] features the filmmaker exploring a

[03:29] another worthy subject but this

[03:31] particular project provokes even more

[03:33] thought and discussion number eight

[03:36] Woodstock you

[03:39] know this is the most outrageous

[03:41] spectacle I've ever witnessed ever

[03:43] Woodstock follows the famous 3-day Music

[03:46] Festival that changed popular culture in

[03:48] 1969 cameras capture the various

[03:50] performers that graced the concert stage

[03:52] from Jefferson Airplane to Jimmy

[03:54] Hendrick the film also observes the

[03:56] crowds and behind the scenes efforts

[03:58] that kept the show going filmmakers

[04:01] accumulated miles of footage from the

[04:03] multi-day event editing it into an

[04:05] essential Time Capsule for 1960s music

[04:08] this is the largest group of people ever

[04:11] assembled in one

[04:16] place we have had no

[04:18] idea that there would be this size group

[04:22] and because of that you've had quite a

[04:24] few inconveniences as far as water and

[04:27] food and so forth it both features some

[04:29] of the more iconic performances in music

[04:31] history and encompasses the Nexus point

[04:33] of an entire generation the Time Capsule

[04:36] set the tone for music documentaries for

[04:38] years to come as well as being a rich

[04:40] tapestry of the counterculture was this

[04:43] a financial success from the point of

[04:45] you the Fells will put it on sort of a

[04:48] financial disaster number seven hoop

[04:51] dreams hoop dreams fearlessly takes the

[04:54] time to stick with its subjects for an

[04:56] extended period over the course of

[04:58] several years director Steve James

[05:00] follows two prospective basketball

[05:02] players as they make their way through

[05:03] school I will bet you a steak dinner in

[05:06] 4 years you'll be hand from him I don't

[05:08] you know anything about along the way

[05:10] the project delves into the sacrifice

[05:12] and determination needed to become a

[05:14] great athlete James and his crew

[05:16] entrenched themselves in these players

[05:18] lives absorbing details about their

[05:20] family life and personalities that are

[05:22] as compelling as any fiction film so you

[05:25] just barely getting by

[05:28] again no you you got to say that but you

[05:31] are you've been barely getting by all

[05:33] along now you going to have to do better

[05:34] than that if you want to go to Alabama

[05:36] or any other school while they didn't

[05:40] become household names on the court

[05:42] William and Arthur became stars of a

[05:44] Beloved movie about perseverance dreams

[05:46] and Society at large that's why when

[05:49] somebody say man you know when you get

[05:51] to the NBA don't forget about me and all

[05:53] that stuff I should say them well if I

[05:55] don't make it what you don't forget

[05:56] about me number six the thin Blue Line

[06:01] director Errol Morris's groundbreaking

[06:03] statement The Thin Blue Line explores

[06:05] the cracks in the criminal justice

[06:06] system of course in the instance of a

[06:08] person who did not commit the crime

[06:11] naturally they're not going to show much

[06:12] remorse examining the wrongful

[06:14] imprisonment of Randall Adams the film

[06:17] utilizes reenactments to question the

[06:19] evidence of his case the filmmaker has a

[06:21] knack for putting you right into a

[06:23] situation as if you were really there

[06:25] all these years later it's easy to see

[06:27] Morris's contributions to the format

[06:29] great expanded to the confines of a

[06:31] documentary he got to thinking well hey

[06:34] I didn't do that and I've been saying

[06:36] that I did and I'm in over my head now

[06:40] so I better tell him what really

[06:41] happened employing painstaking research

[06:44] the movie helped Adams's case and

[06:46] eventually led to his freedom he draws

[06:48] the viewer in with exceptional

[06:49] storytelling that makes every scene feel

[06:52] like a fictional crime Thriller were you

[06:54] surprised that the police blamed

[06:56] him I didn't blame him

[07:01] number five Paris is burning Paris is

[07:04] burning like many of the best

[07:06] documentaries boldly explores and

[07:08] observes a subculture to inform the

[07:10] general public the society they foot

[07:12] going to a football game basketball

[07:14] that's their entertainment you know a

[07:16] ball is ours we prepare for a ball in

[07:18] the case of this movie the filmmaker

[07:19] takes a comprehensive look at the

[07:21] ballroom scene in New York City

[07:23] interviews reveal the lives of major

[07:25] players in the movement describing their

[07:27] lives as artists in the LGBT EQ plus

[07:30] Community this is White

[07:32] America and when it come to the

[07:34] minorities especially

[07:37] black we as a people for the past 400

[07:40] years is the greatest example of

[07:43] behavior modification in the history

[07:45] many of the balls showcase the

[07:47] tremendous talent and one-of-a-kind

[07:49] performance skills of the various

[07:50] members providing an important statement

[07:53] on the lives of marginalized communities

[07:55] paris's burning is also a joyful

[07:57] expression of life and art you don't

[08:00] have to bend the whole

[08:04] world I think it's better to just enjoy

[08:07] it number four

[08:09] 13th Ava duvar uses the 13th Amendment

[08:12] as the foundation for an engaging

[08:14] argument for civil rights and Criminal

[08:16] Justice Reform the 13th Amendment says

[08:19] that hey except for criminals everybody

[08:20] else is free well now if you're

[08:22] criminalized that doesn't apply to you

[08:24] encapsulating a vast array of historical

[08:26] information the director manages to

[08:28] convey a compelling thesis for the

[08:30] lingering effects of slavery in America

[08:33] an impressive slate of interviews guide

[08:35] the viewer through a richly told lesson

[08:37] about the ongoing racial divide in the

[08:39] country it's about

[08:41] rehumanizing us as a people and us right

[08:45] as a people du's talent for storytelling

[08:48] allows her to construct a film that

[08:50] never feels heavy-handed impenetrable or

[08:52] boring instead of pushing viewers away

[08:55] the director encourages them to engage

[08:57] with the material and Come Away with a

[08:59] better understanding of the prison

[09:01] system and mass incarceration in the US

[09:04] prison

[09:04] Industries have gotten so big that very

[09:08] difficult now to try and do away with

[09:10] them too much money out there too many U

[09:13] lawmakers that support it because

[09:14] they're being lobbied so the Public's

[09:17] got to stand up and take it back it'll

[09:18] never get done if they don't number

[09:20] three night and fog a decade after World

[09:24] War II French filmmaker Alan Renee

[09:26] created this documentary in memory of

[09:28] those lost in the

[09:36] [Music]

[09:47] Holocaust he put together archived

[09:49] materials from the' 40s and ju deposed

[09:51] it with new footage from the

[09:53] concentration camps in the ' 50s taking

[09:55] an unflinching look at the horrors of

[09:57] concentration camps rain reveals the

[10:00] extent of the violence perpetrated at

[10:02] aitz and

[10:10] miden this haunting film presents a

[10:13] vital lesson about the crimes the Nazis

[10:15] committed against their victims in only

[10:17] 32 minutes this short film presents a

[10:20] brutally honest look at one of History's

[10:22] darkest chapters

[10:30] number two man with a movie camera ziga

[10:33] vertov's man with a movie camera ranks

[10:36] highly among both documentary and

[10:38] experimental films its pioneering use of

[10:41] camera and editing techniques makes it

[10:43] one of the first great achievements in

[10:44] film making displaying the early

[10:46] advancements Russians made regarding

[10:48] Cinema vertov's vision of everyday life

[10:51] in his country comes together in

[10:53] worldwind montages and engrossing

[10:55] Landscapes there's no clear-cut story

[10:58] but the end sequence of images make a

[11:01] case for a narrative that transcends a

[11:03] beginning middle and end the non-fiction

[11:05] Adventure compels audiences to look

[11:07] deeper into the routines and work habits

[11:10] that make us all human before we unveil

[11:13] our top pick here are a few honorable

[11:15] mentions Harland County USA the

[11:18] compelling tale of coal miners striking

[11:20] against a corrupt company in Kentucky

[11:22] that we get a grievance procedure that

[11:24] has the right to strike in it so that we

[11:25] can fight the companies and win our

[11:27] grievances an inconvenience Truth Al

[11:30] Gore's detailed climate change

[11:32] presentation began a new wave of

[11:34] environmentalism this is what would

[11:36] happen to the sea level in

[11:42] Florida this is what would happen to San

[11:45] Francisco

[11:47] Bay a lot of people live in these areas

[11:50] free solo filmmakers Trace Alex hanon's

[11:54] dramatic and nail-biting Ascent of El

[11:56] Capitan that is way too gnarly my god

[12:00] did it Jiro Dreams of Sushi this

[12:03] profound documentary explores the

[12:05] lifelong dedication of a sushi chef to

[12:07] his

[12:08] [Music]

[12:20] craft bowling for Coline with humor and

[12:23] Humanity Michael Moore tackles gun

[12:25] culture in America after Coline Mr

[12:28] hasson one more thing this is who she is

[12:32] or

[12:33] was this is her Mr Please Don't Leave Mr

[12:37] hon please take a look at her this is

[12:40] the girl before we continue be sure to

[12:42] subscribe to our Channel and ring the

[12:44] bell to get notified about our latest

[12:45] videos you have the option to be

[12:47] notified for occasional videos or all of

[12:50] them if you're on your phone make sure

[12:51] you go into settings and switch on your

[12:55] notifications number one The Act of

[12:58] Killing

[13:02] [Music]

[13:11] for Joshua Oppenheimer directs this

[13:14] examination of the Indonesian genocide

[13:17] with a much different concept than a

[13:18] traditional documentary allowing The

[13:21] Killers to do the talking the filmmaker

[13:23] asks them to reenact their crimes in the

[13:25] style of their favorite movie genres

[13:37] what begins as an intriguing experiment

[13:39] ends up becoming one of the more

[13:41] profound statements on violence ever put

[13:43] to film Oppenheimer watches the

[13:45] perpetrators both gleefully recall their

[13:48] crimes and then start to question them

[14:00] among the more important projects of its

[14:02] kind The Act of Killing brings to light

[14:04] Indonesian history as well as a much

[14:06] larger statement on the corruption of

[14:10] humanity check out these other clips

[14:12] from watch Mojo and be sure to subscribe

[14:14] and ring the bell to be notified about

[14:16] our latest videos