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1920s – today

Documentary and Essay Film

Non-fiction directors who treat the camera as an instrument of observation and thought, from the city symphony and the film essay to long immersive portraits of places and people.

Documentary has always been more than recording the facts. Dziga Vertov's Man with a Movie Camera (1929) treated the camera as a new kind of eye, and Chris Marker's Sans Soleil (1983) pioneered the essay film, in which a narrator thinks aloud over images. Agnès Varda mixed autobiography and observation in The Gleaners and I (2000), Werner Herzog turned documentary into a search for ecstatic truth, and Michael Moore, Laura Poitras and Gianfranco Rosi extended its public reach. Jacques Cousteau's underwater films reached a mass audience, and today documentary is a major form of festival and streaming cinema.

Where
Worldwide, with strong traditions in the USSR, France, Britain, the United States and Germany
When
1920s to the present
Key figures
Dziga Vertov, Chris Marker, Agnès Varda, Werner Herzog, Michael Moore, Laura Poitras, Gianfranco Rosi
Landmark films
Man with a Movie Camera (1929), The World of Silence (1956), Sans Soleil (1983), Fire at Sea (2016)
Legacy
Showed that non-fiction can be personal, poetic and politically powerful

What to look for

  • Real people and places rather than actors and sets
  • Voice-over, commentary or the director's own presence
  • Mixing of observation, essay, memoir and argument

Famous Directors

Dziga VertovUSSRChris MarkerFranceAgnès VardaFranceWerner HerzogGermanyGianfranco RosiItaly (born in Eritrea)Michael MooreUSAMati DiopFrance / SenegalLaura PoitrasUSAAlexander NanauRomaniaNicolas PhilibertFranceMikhail KalatozovUSSRJacques CousteauFranceJames AlgarUSAŽelimir ŽilnikSerbia (Yugoslavia)Claude LanzmannFranceFrederick WisemanUSAWalter RuttmannGermanyWang BingChinaPatricio GuzmánChileFernando BirriArgentinaAmos GitaiIsrael

Top 100 rated films

  1. Shoah 1985 · Claude Lanzmann · IMDb 8.7
  2. Man with a Movie Camera 1929 · Dziga Vertov · IMDb 8.3
  3. The Cranes Are Flying 1957 · Mikhail Kalatozov · IMDb 8.3
  4. The Battle of Chile 1979 · Patricio Guzmán · IMDb 8.3
  5. I Am Cuba 1964 · Mikhail Kalatozov · IMDb 8.2
  6. La Jetée 1962 · Chris Marker · IMDb 8.2
  7. Welfare 1975 · Frederick Wiseman · IMDb 8.2
  8. Collective 2019 · Alexander Nanau · IMDb 8.1
  9. The Beaches of Agnès 2008 · Agnès Varda · IMDb 8.0
  10. Little Dieter Needs to Fly 1997 · Werner Herzog · IMDb 8.0
  11. Sicko 2007 · Michael Moore · IMDb 8.0
  12. Citizenfour 2014 · Laura Poitras · IMDb 8.0
  13. Toto and His Sisters 2014 · Alexander Nanau · IMDb 8.0
  14. Dead Souls 2018 · Wang Bing · IMDb 8.0
  15. Land of Silence and Darkness 1971 · Werner Herzog · IMDb 7.9
  16. Fitzcarraldo 1982 · Werner Herzog · IMDb 7.9
  17. Lessons of Darkness 1992 · Werner Herzog · IMDb 7.9
  18. Hospital 1970 · Frederick Wiseman · IMDb 7.9
  19. Bowling for Columbine 2002 · Michael Moore · IMDb 7.9
  20. Til Madness Do Us Part 2013 · Wang Bing · IMDb 7.9
  21. Cléo from 5 to 7 1962 · Agnès Varda · IMDb 7.8
  22. Faces Places 2017 · Agnès Varda · IMDb 7.8
  23. Aguirre, the Wrath of God 1972 · Werner Herzog · IMDb 7.8
  24. My Best Fiend 1999 · Werner Herzog · IMDb 7.8
  25. Le joli mai 1963 · Chris Marker · IMDb 7.8
  26. A Grin Without a Cat 1977 · Chris Marker · IMDb 7.8
  27. The Last Bolshevik 1993 · Chris Marker · IMDb 7.8
  28. To Be and to Have 2002 · Nicolas Philibert · IMDb 7.8
  29. The Gleaners and I 2000 · Agnès Varda · IMDb 7.7
  30. Stroszek 1977 · Werner Herzog · IMDb 7.7
  31. Grizzly Man 2005 · Werner Herzog · IMDb 7.7
  32. Encounters at the End of the World 2007 · Werner Herzog · IMDb 7.7
  33. Sans soleil 1983 · Chris Marker · IMDb 7.7
  34. Titicut Follies 1967 · Frederick Wiseman · IMDb 7.7
  35. Fengming: A Chinese Memoir 2007 · Wang Bing · IMDb 7.7
  36. Le Bonheur 1965 · Agnès Varda · IMDb 7.6
  37. Daguerréotypes 1976 · Agnès Varda · IMDb 7.6
  38. Vagabond 1985 · Agnès Varda · IMDb 7.6
  39. Jacquot de Nantes 1991 · Agnès Varda · IMDb 7.6
  40. The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser 1974 · Werner Herzog · IMDb 7.6
  41. Nostalgia for the Light 2010 · Patricio Guzmán · IMDb 7.6
  42. The Pearl Button 2015 · Patricio Guzmán · IMDb 7.6
  43. Every Little Thing 1997 · Nicolas Philibert · IMDb 7.6
  44. Salt for Svanetia 1930 · Mikhail Kalatozov · IMDb 7.5
  45. Statues Also Die 1953 · Chris Marker · IMDb 7.5
  46. Kenedi Goes Back Home 2003 · Želimir Žilnik · IMDb 7.5
  47. High School 1968 · Frederick Wiseman · IMDb 7.5
  48. Fahrenheit 9/11 2004 · Michael Moore · IMDb 7.5
  49. Roger & Me 1989 · Michael Moore · IMDb 7.5
  50. All the Beauty and the Bloodshed 2022 · Laura Poitras · IMDb 7.5
  51. World Without Sun 1964 · Jacques Cousteau · IMDb 7.4
  52. One Sings, the Other Doesn't 1977 · Agnès Varda · IMDb 7.4
  53. Mur Murs 1981 · Agnès Varda · IMDb 7.4
  54. Cave of Forgotten Dreams 2010 · Werner Herzog · IMDb 7.4
  55. Letter from Siberia 1957 · Chris Marker · IMDb 7.4
  56. City Hall 2020 · Frederick Wiseman · IMDb 7.4
  57. Below Sea Level 2008 · Gianfranco Rosi · IMDb 7.4
  58. The Living Desert 1953 · James Algar · IMDb 7.3
  59. Nosferatu the Vampyre 1979 · Werner Herzog · IMDb 7.3
  60. Into the Abyss 2011 · Werner Herzog · IMDb 7.3
  61. The Last of the Unjust 2013 · Claude Lanzmann · IMDb 7.3
  62. National Gallery 2014 · Frederick Wiseman · IMDb 7.3
  63. Los inundados 1961 · Fernando Birri · IMDb 7.3
  64. Crude Oil 2008 · Wang Bing · IMDb 7.3
  65. Three Sisters 2012 · Wang Bing · IMDb 7.3
  66. Rescue Dawn 2006 · Werner Herzog · IMDb 7.2
  67. La Danse 2009 · Frederick Wiseman · IMDb 7.2
  68. The Cordillera of Dreams 2019 · Patricio Guzmán · IMDb 7.2
  69. The Oath 2010 · Laura Poitras · IMDb 7.2
  70. A Sixth Part of the World 1926 · Dziga Vertov · IMDb 7.1
  71. Berlin: Symphony of a Great City 1927 · Walter Ruttmann · IMDb 7.1
  72. The Vanishing Prairie 1954 · James Algar · IMDb 7.1
  73. The Ditch 2010 · Wang Bing · IMDb 7.1
  74. Youth (Spring) 2023 · Wang Bing · IMDb 7.1
  75. Field Diary 1982 · Amos Gitai · IMDb 7.1
  76. La Pointe Courte 1955 · Agnès Varda · IMDb 7.0
  77. Signs of Life 1968 · Werner Herzog · IMDb 7.0
  78. Level Five 1997 · Chris Marker · IMDb 7.0
  79. My Country, My Country 2006 · Laura Poitras · IMDb 7.0
  80. Bitter Money 2016 · Wang Bing · IMDb 7.0
  81. Kino-Eye 1924 · Dziga Vertov · IMDb 6.9
  82. The Eleventh Year 1928 · Dziga Vertov · IMDb 6.9
  83. Melody of the World 1929 · Walter Ruttmann · IMDb 6.9
  84. The Silent World 1956 · Jacques Cousteau · IMDb 6.9
  85. Documenteur 1981 · Agnès Varda · IMDb 6.9
  86. Woyzeck 1979 · Werner Herzog · IMDb 6.9
  87. Cobra Verde 1987 · Werner Herzog · IMDb 6.9
  88. Enthusiasm 1931 · Dziga Vertov · IMDb 6.8
  89. The Red Tent 1969 · Mikhail Kalatozov · IMDb 6.8
  90. Heart of Glass 1976 · Werner Herzog · IMDb 6.8
  91. Early Works 1969 · Želimir Žilnik · IMDb 6.8
  92. On the Adamant 2023 · Nicolas Philibert · IMDb 6.8
  93. Kadosh 1999 · Amos Gitai · IMDb 6.8
  94. Even Dwarfs Started Small 1970 · Werner Herzog · IMDb 6.7
  95. Family Romance, LLC 2019 · Werner Herzog · IMDb 6.7
  96. Fire at Sea 2016 · Gianfranco Rosi · IMDb 6.7
  97. Atlantics 2019 · Mati Diop · IMDb 6.7
  98. Dahomey 2024 · Mati Diop · IMDb 6.7
  99. Fata Morgana 1971 · Werner Herzog · IMDb 6.6
  100. Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans 2009 · Werner Herzog · IMDb 6.6