Like I said before, the reason I separate documentaries into their own best of the year list is not because I think they should be judged differently from feature films, but because I want to putting as many great docs in the limelight as I possibly can, and trying to do that while limiting my main roster to 40 or 50 movies is impossible. I get such a load of a great documentary, whether it’s about a topic I’m familiar with or if it covers ground I had never even considered in terms of perspective, information, or fuel for it. indignation.
Image courtesy of Magnolia Pictures
That being said, I fully admit a gap in my selections this year: I haven’t watched any documentaries this year that dealt with the COVID-19 pandemic. Admittedly, there weren’t that many (Totally under control and 76 days being the most notable), but I feel like we’re going to be bombarded with movies on the subject of the current pandemic – in particular, America’s severe mismanagement of it – over the next couple of years. , and I just wanted to get away from the threat of the coronavirus a bit before delving into documentaries on the subject. I might feel different in 2021, but I couldn’t bring myself to look directly into the subject’s eyes in a 2020 movie.
Part of the fun of being a living, thinking and evolving human being is integrating new things and experiences and allowing that newness to inspire us with new ideas. That’s the standard I hold documentaries to: don’t just move me or teach me, but change me in a fundamental way. Here are 20 tracks that I think do just that …
20. Vinyl country (Director: Christopher Boone & Kevin Smokler) – Read my full review
19. Creem: the only American Rock ‘N’ Roll magazine (Director: Scott Crawford)
18. I am Greta (Director: Nathan Grossman)
17. Assassins (Director: Ryan White)
16. The truffle hunters (Director: Michael Dweck & Gregory Kershaw)
15. MLK / FBI (Director: Sam Pollard)
14. Beastie Boys Story (Director: Spike Jonze)
13. The way i see it (Director: Dawn Porter) – Read my full review
12. The painter and the thief (Director: Benjamin Ree)
11. Zappa (Director: Alex Winter)
ten. Bloody nose, empty pockets (Director: Bill Ross IV and Turner Ross)
9. Crip Camp (Director: James Lebrecht & Nicole Newnham)
8. Time (Director: Garrett Bradley)
seven. Dick Johnson is dead (Director: Kirsten Johnson)
6. The dissident (Director: Bryan Fogel)
5. On the file (Director: Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering)
4. State of the boys (Director: Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss)
3. Town hall (Director: Frederick Wiseman) – Read my full review
2. David Byrne’s American Utopia (Director: Spike Lee)
1. Collective (Director: Alexandre Nanau)
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