Documentary films are low budget films displaying a particular aspect of social, economic or ecological importance to be brought into urgent notice of the people. In today’s world people have lost interest in watching documentaries. This is the main reason why I decided to take up this topic and present to you the information about documentaries that have touched millions of hearts and those that I found to be extremely good in particular.
Top 5 Must See Documentaries are :
1. An Inconvenient Truth
A 2006 documentary film credited with raising the public awareness about climate change is based on a former US vice president Al Gore’s attempt to educate the people about global warming through a slide show consisting a detailed study about facts and figures. Directed by the famous documentary film maker David Guggenheim this film has won 2 awards for the Best Documentary Feature and the best original song. It was a huge box office success and in just mere 94 minutes it creates a huge impact on the minds of the people regarding environment conservation.
Watch the exclusive trailer on youtube: -
2. The Cove
Awarded the best Documentary Feature in 2010 this 91 min documentary illustrates about the harsh and cruel dolphin killing practices that are going on in Japan. It shows how 23000 migrating dolphins every year are herded into a hidden cove where they are netted and killed by using spears and knives over the side of the boats. This film directed by the former National Geographic photographer Louie Psihoyos is a call to stop these mass killing practices and educate the people about the risks and the increasing hazard of mercury poisoning from eating dolphin meat. This film displays harsh photos and videos taken using hidden cameras in rocks where these practices are being propagated. Told from an ocean conservationist’s point of view it has also won the U.S. Audience Award at the 25th Sundance Film Festival in January 2009.
To experience human cruelty at its maximum watch the trailer: -
3. Super Size Me
A unique documentary film with the same person (Morgan Spurlock) as the director, producer, writer and actor is all about the epidemic spread of the obesity in the American society due to the non-nutritious food of the Mc Donald’s food chain. In this documentary the actor actually underwent an experiment of eating the food at Mc Donalds for 3 times a day due to which he gained a weight of 11.1 kg at a cholesterol level of whooping 230. He also experienced mood swings, sexual dysfunction and fat accumulation in the liver which took about 14 months for Spurlock to overcome by having a strict detox diet. This 98 min film was nominated for an Academy Award for the Best Documentary Feature.
See Morgan Spurlock’s new avatar over here: -
4. Inside Job
Addressing the issue of global financial crisis of 2008 it is a documentary film divided into 5 parts featuring interviews with financiers, politicians, journalists and academics. It is nearly a 108 min film which covers the systemic corruption of the US Economy and its causes. It also shows how drastic changes in the policy environment and banking practices in the US triggered this massive financial crisis that extended over a period of 2007-2010. Directed by Charles Ferguson this documentary was featured in the 2010 Cannes Film Festival which earned a gross revenue of a whopping 7.3 million dollars.
Suggested Reading : Top 10 hacking Movies
Watch the trailer and you are sure to be bedazzled: -
5. Bowling for Columbine
Receiving a decent 8.2 rating from the site imdb.com this documentary explores the root causes of the Columbine High School massacre and the spreading violence on the US streets. Directed by Michael Moore its name is derived from the story of two students who attended a bowling class at 6:00 am in the morning before committing the brutal massacre at the Columbine High School. Focussing on gun violence involving youths and availability of firearms in the US for juveniles this film gave its director international recognition as a rising film maker. Covering the aspect in 119 minutes this 2002 film won many awards like Academy Award for the Best Documentary Feature, Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary Feature apart from the special 55th anniversary prize at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival and the Cesar Award for Best Foreign Film.
To get more info on this movie watch the exclusive trailer of bowling for columbine: -
I have seen all those documentaries and they are great. I’m a big fan of this kind of movies and I can also recommend “Man on wire” and “Best worst movie”. Great documetaries too.
There are a lot of good documentaries on the net making you believe one thing or another, but should we trust everything they say? Are they really honest and genuine? Isn’t this another form of mass manipulation?
I like to watch this move genre, some show some shocking stories, but i like to keep my personal opinions too.
love the doc. “the cove”
I would also recommend “Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room”
Hope a lot of people can watch these documentaries, these videos had made me aware of what is happening. There are topics and stories shown in these documentaries that people should be concerned of. These documentaries can make us perceive what we usually ignore and do not know.
I love watching good documentaries but sometimes it is scary to see how many problems there are in this world and with every day that passes the problems increase exponentially … it is sad indeed!
Thanks for the list! I would also add the movie Food Inc. to the list. Gives a perspective to our current Food system.
I’ve seen the documentary “the cove”.. It hurts me seeing those dolphins that been killed in Japan.. I can call Dolphin as a “dog in the sea”.. They are so cute that I cannot imagine why Japanese fisherman would kill them.