Ranked: top 100 documentaries of all time

The Gear I use for documentary filming:

CHAPTERS:
0:00 - Intro
0:28 - Why we chose these films?
2:52 - Two highlighted films from the list
4:00 - Honorable mentions (not in the list)
5:40 - Michael del Monte’s top picks
7:51 - Final thoughts and conclusions

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

[chrisjonesfilm]

Good list. For any filmmakers looking for excellent referrals that don't make the cut: "Wild Life, " "Dangerous Days: Making Blade Runner, " "Meru, " "The Dawn Wall, " Ken Burns' "Baseball, " and (I am shocked this is not on the list) "20 Days in Mariupol" are very worth it and should be near this list.

[EddieWoodsRemnantOutreach]

Hoop dreams is one of the first documentaries I remember watching. And growing up in chicago in the 90s and early 2000s and playing basketball in school, that movie was so powerful. I can't even think of all of the words I could use to describe it.

[RobbsHomemadeLife]

I deliberately watched this video to see if anybody would bother to mention my favorite documentary which was American Movie and was blown away when it was the third movie you mentioned. I'm so happy.

[marcosmarroquin]

Thank you guys for great list! I’m still getting thru all of them but one of my favorites was the Tokyo Olympiad doc about the 1964 Olympic Games. Beautifully shot and still holds up 60 years later.

[REELRANDOM]

Very informative. Thank you very much Mark!

[AlisMarsaili]

I really enjoyed watching this and “Hoop Dreams” was a great film. I like Ken Burns and what he did with “The Vietnam War” in HD. I learned so much and always take away something emotional when I watch most documentaries.

[dorstmediaworks]

In my ideal world, this should have a billion likes and million comments

[hotlineoperator]

In general I always have like all "Making of " documentaries of every major film.

[rosetofilms]

When style serves a purpose, it accurately reflects the time we are in. Like the am/pm times.

[StephenMcFadden]

The summer of '95, my parents sent me to Chicago to stay with my sister where they would send me to B.J. Armstrongs basketball camp. The week before camp, my brother-in-law and I saw Hoop Dreams in the movie theater. It quickly became my all time fav. That was my summer of basketball and that film will always hold a special place for me.

[Mintyseden]

my heart goes to "5 broken cameras", and on the same token mention one missing: "No Other Land" by Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor

[Maggie-rfuu]

Thanks so much for this. I'll never b a film maker but there's a group of us here in the alberta rockies that love good documentaries. I was thrilled to see thin blue line as #3 - that film affected me deeply and shaped some actions henceforward - which a good doc should.
Thanks again,

[urbanpackrafter]

Many new film to check out. Thanks for this great list (Glad that "Encounters of the end of the world" made it ). Unfortunatly film lists always become a bit culturel and geographical biased. And since I am from Scandinavia, there is a lot of good nordic documentaries which you guys might have missed out on 🙂. I can really recommend "Miracle of Gullspang" (2023) for its brilliant charecters and mindblowing story. Also the older "Into Eternity" 2010 (about communicate neuclear waste to the future) and "The Good Life" 2011 (about backroupt society ladies) are worth looking into.

[elgringoperdido.]

One of my favorite doc is "Capturing The Friedmans"

[Coloradox]

HANDS ON A HARD BODY!!! Watch it. You won’t regret it 😂

[n.grncharov]

Awesome, thank you!
Also, check following film: 1000 Years Witness of the Light
(recently awarded with Original Soundtrack at "HISTORY- International Film Festival Austria")

[abrinked]

No mention of the Metallica doc? Some kind of monster. I personally think that's one of the greatest musical documentaries there is.

[rosetofilms]

I’m always excited to see Mikey make his quarterly appearance!

[terrylovell_video_editor]

American Animals is fantastic! Seen it a few times and I’m recommending it to friends all the time.

[johannesdberg]

First of all I really admire your work!
I have a big problem and cant find a solution and wanted to ask you if you can help me.
I have watched 20+ Youtube videos on that topic bought some learning material on that subject and looked it up in several books but i still cant find a good answer. I would love to ask you if you have any idea.
My problem: I will shoot an short film where there are scenes indoor and outdoor. For the Outdoor scene there will be a shot from below into the actors face in bright daylight with the sky in the back. I learned a few ways how to expose but I dont know which way to use.
1. Using ETTR (Exposure to the right) for every scene and bring back the skin to the right IRE in post. I learned that this is wrong by someone who seems to know his stuff because the skintone will be different in every Shot.
2. Using a greycard/false color and expose the skin always the same way. The problem with this, the sky will probably clip and that will look really unprofessional.
3. Using something in between with flase color. I would use false color to have a lower limit for the skin tones. And if the background is very bright I will go down with the exposure until i hit that lower limit.
4. Using something in between using a grey card. I would expose for the grey card and if the Background is very bright i will underexpose 1 stopp and let parts of the background clip.
Which of these ways would you use or is there a even better way that i missed? I really need help with this thank you so much!