Top 10 Best History Documentaries
#10: "They Shall Not Grow Old" (2018)
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Peter Jackson has made some of the most epic movies of all time. His feature documentary debut might have been a similarly lavish account of World War I. Instead, the BAFTA-nominated "They Shall Not Grow Old" paints a more intimate and immersive portrait of life in the trenches. The project was still daunting, remastering 100-year-old footage in color and narrating with archived interviews of more than 100 British military veterans. Only a technical wizard like Jackson could revive this content so vividly. It's not about gimmick, but about fully conveying these men's camaraderie, adventure, and trauma. "They Shall Not Grow Old" epitomizes the value of modern remastering technology, by epitomizing the experience of the Great War.
#9: "Waltz with Bashir" (2008)
Israeli filmmaker Ari Folman could not simply explain his experiences serving in the 1982 Lebanon War. With "Waltz with Bashir," he shows them with expressive rotoscope animation. Folman's interviews with contemporaries and a psychiatrist bring perspective to his repressed memories of combat, including the Sabra and Shatila massacre. This highly experimental documentary is as cathartic as it is beautiful. The mix of candid conversations and high-tech artistry resonates the brutality of the war and the human wages of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This made the movie a dark horse at many international awards, in many different categories. "Waltz with Bashir" is itself hard to explain, except as one of the most poignant and personal anti-war works in Israeli cinema.
#8: "Woodstock" (1970)
Michael Wadleigh didn't know what he was in for when he documented the Woodstock Music and Art Fair in 1969. Some 120 hours of spectacular music, political dialogues, and unpredictable exploits were stylishly compiled by several editors. Among them was little-known filmmaker Martin Scorsese. Wadleigh's "Woodstock" was released less than a year after the festival to massive box office and critical success, cementing a chaotic counterculture phenomenon as one of the defining cultural events of the 1960s. The epic documentary was later admitted into the United States National Film Registry for its historical preservation. Just as Woodstock has become recognized as one of the greatest concerts ever seen, Wadleigh's history-making account is one of the most popular American documentaries ever produced.
#7: “I Am Not Your Negro” (2016)
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Celebrated intellectual James Baldwin never completed his memoir “Remember This House.” The manuscript was used as the foundation for Raoul Peck’s “I Am Not Your Negro,” an account of Baldwin’s life and uncompromising views on race relations. Samuel L. Jackson’s surprisingly hushed narration and archived recordings of Baldwin lead this evocatively stylized examination of the Black experience in American history. The essay captivated audiences as a uniquely vivid expression of this evergreen yet underappreciated subject. It became an unlikely cultural phenomenon for its accolades and word-of-mouth during a new period of racial enlightenment in the United States. More than a complete portrait of an important man, “I Am Not Your Negro” is an especially important history lesson of timeless relevance.
#6: "How to Survive a Plague" (2012)
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Most Americans didn't realize the horror of a public health catastrophe before 2020. But "How to Survive a Plague" gives viewers an understanding of a crisis that ravaged a community throughout the 1980s and '90s. Renowned investigative journalist David France delivers a dense report on the scope, political complacency, and activism surrounding the AIDS epidemic. At the center are the democratic demonstrations that inspired change. The documentary represents a movement that the general public only knew a hint about. Despite its accolades, including GLAAD and Peabody Awards, "How to Survive a Plague" didn't get much attention at the time. With stakes still high for LGBTQ+ rights and public health, France's historical documentary and accompanying book are as important as ever.
#5: "A Grin Without a Cat" (1977)
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For most of the world, the 1960s and '70s were a time of great political upheaval over socialist ideals. Chris Marker's cinematic essay on the rise and fall of this global movement went beyond interviews with France's leading leftist figures. "A Grin Without a Cat" is a three-to-four-hour montage of activism and atrocities across ten years, the world, and the political spectrum. Marker's search for a regime that lives up to its ideals came up empty. The odyssey is still considered one of the most comprehensive and immersive in contemporary Marxist cinema. "A Grin Without a Cat" may be a daunting undertaking, but it exemplifies as much as it addresses the importance of preserving history in all its truth.
#4: “Apollo 11” (2019)
For 50 years, NASA’s giant leap for mankind could only be witnessed from afar. Todd Douglas Miller’s “Apollo 11” took audiences through every small step of the moon landing in July of 1969. The documentary extensively utilizes remastered archival footage of NASA’s operations. With no modern material or interviews, Miller’s fly-on-the-wall approach immerses you into Saturn V’s legendary flight. The experience was widely hailed by critics and enhanced for audiences by IMAX. “Apollo 11” won more than 50 awards for editing, direction, and overall technical achievement. Sure, there are many documentaries and movies that put this monumental event into perspective. But Miller's vivid reproduction of it is nothing less than a new frontier in documentary filmmaking.
#3: “Hearts and Minds” (1974)
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Despite visible opposition to the Vietnam War, few contemporary American films criticized it after Emile de Antonio’s controversial “In the Year of the Pig.” Peter Davis’ approach with “Hearts and Minds” was to represent both sides of the debate against graphic footage of the conflict. This made the futility and atrocity of America’s efforts to contain the spread of communism undeniable. Shortly after the blacklisted documentary’s limited release, the Vietnam War ended with the fall of Saigon. “Hearts and Minds” went on to win the Oscar for Best Documentary and inspire iconoclastic filmmakers for generations to come. It is now preserved by the National Film Registry as a timely representation of history and a timeless testament to the horrors of war.
#2: “The Act of Killing” (2012)
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International filmmaker Joshua Oppenheimer interviewed Indonesian gangster Anwar Congo about the highest crime of his career. In the mid-1960s, he led a death squad for President Suharto's anti-communist purge. "The Act of Killing" follows Anwar and his associates slowly coming to terms with their genocide as they reenact sadistic tortures and murders. Audiences were overwhelmed by this study on how perpetrators of atrocities rationalize their deeds and are recognized in society. The study continued with "The Look of Silence", in which Oppenheimer documented a purge survivor's journey to confront the men who killed his brother. Many now rank both documentaries among the best of the 2010s. But “The Act of Killing” was an intimate confrontation with history unlike anything that had been seen. Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions. “Bisbee ‘17” (2018) A Centennial Reenactment of Labor Protests & Mass Deportation of Immigrant Laborers in Arizona “Harlan County, USA” (1976) Barbara Kopple Immortalizes Kentucky Coal Miners’ Dangerous Crusade to Unionize in 1973 “One Child Nation” (2019) Nanfu Wang Returns to Her Homeland to Study 36 Years of Sacrifice Under China’s One-Child Policy “One Day in September” (1999) Kevin Macdonald Explores the Political Massacre at the 1972 Munich Olympics “The Times of Harvey Milk” (1984) A Landmark Account of the Life, Culture, & Impact of California’s First Openly Gay Elected Official
#1: “Shoah” (1985)
Countless works have tried to make sense of the Holocaust. Documentaries like "Night and Fog" display the atrocities, while Arnold Schwartzman's "Genocide" addresses how history could repeat itself. But Claude Lanzmann said it all with "Shoah," named after the Hebrew word for catastrophe and the Holocaust itself. Lanzmann spent 11 years traveling the world to interview survivors, perpetrators, and other witnesses. Over nine hours, these people discuss their unimaginable experiences and how the so-called "Final Solution" came about. Lanzmann gave a voice to the only generation that can begin to understand a tragedy the world now worryingly takes for granted. "Shoah" has become recognized, not only as the definitive Holocaust picture, but as one of the most important films in the medium’s history.
