Documentary and Essay Film in 8 films
Documentary is not just facts on screen. These eight films show how real life can be turned into poetry, argument, adventure and travel diary.
- 1Man with a Movie Camera 1929Dziga Vertov · IMDb 8.3A day in a Soviet city, shot and cut with every trick of the camera. Vertov wanted film to show life as the eye never could.
Next: Sans soleil
Over fifty years later, the city film becomes a traveller's letters, with images from Japan and Africa shaped by memory. - 2Sans soleil 1983Chris Marker · IMDb 7.7Letters from a traveller read over images from Japan, Africa and elsewhere. Chris Marker's film about memory is a model for the essay film.
Next: Little Dieter Needs to Fly
From a reflective essay to a story with real suspense, as Herzog follows a pilot back into the Vietnamese jungle. - 3Little Dieter Needs to Fly 1997Werner Herzog · IMDb 8.0A German-American pilot shot down in Vietnam returns to the jungle with Herzog. A true story that is almost a thriller.
Next: The Gleaners and I
Varda shifts the adventure to French fields and markets, where people gather what others discard and the questions are gentle. - 4The Gleaners and I 2000Agnès Varda · IMDb 7.7Agnès Varda follows people who pick up what others leave behind in French fields and markets. A film about waste, age and curiosity.
Next: Bowling for Columbine
Gentle curiosity gives way to anger and jokes, as Michael Moore asks why guns kill so many Americans. - 5Bowling for Columbine 2002Michael Moore · IMDb 7.9Michael Moore asks why Americans kill so many people with guns. A loud, funny and angry film that won the Oscar.
Next: Grizzly Man
Back to Herzog, who turns to one man's own recordings in Alaska to ask what he was looking for among wild bears. - 6Grizzly Man 2005Werner Herzog · IMDb 7.7Timothy Treadwell lived with wild bears in Alaska and was killed by one. Herzog uses Treadwell's own tapes to ask what he was looking for.
Next: Fire at Sea
From one man's obsession to a whole island, where a boy's everyday life runs alongside migrants arriving by boat. - 7Fire at Sea 2016Gianfranco Rosi · IMDb 6.7Life on the island of Lampedusa, where a boy plays and migrants arrive by boat. Gianfranco Rosi's film won the Golden Bear.
Next: Faces Places
After a heavy subject, the guide ends in warmth, as Varda, nearly ninety, travels French villages with an artist. - 8Faces Places 2017Agnès Varda · IMDb 7.8Agnès Varda, nearly ninety, travels French villages with the artist JR and pastes giant photos on walls. A warm, moving road film.
