Some of my favorite documentaries:
These are ones that knocked me out, that are in some way, unforgettable. I think that docs, like fictional movies, can be broken down into genres. Thinking about them that way helps, because the genre defines what kind of movie it really is.

Sports
When We Were Kings – Leon Gast


Music

Jazz on a Summer’s Day – Bert Stern

Monterey Pop – D.A. Pennebaker

Stop Making Sense – Jonathan Demme

Theramin, An Electronic Odyssey – Steven M. Martin

A Great Day in Harlem – Jean Bach

Jazz Dance – Ricky Leacock


Ethnography

Nanook of the North – Robert Flaherty

Jaguar – Jean Rouche

Chronicle of a Summer – Jean Rouche


Biopics

Hearts of Darkness – Fax Bahr, George Hickenlooper, Eleanor Coppola

Crumb – Terry Zwigoff

4 Little Girls – Spike Lee, Sam Pollard

Fog of War – Errol Morris

The Boys of 2nd Street Park – Dan Klores


Agitprop

Fahrenheit 911 – Michael Moore

History

Shoah – Claude Lanzmann

Coming soon: My Favorite fictional movies  		Got a favorite movie? Tell us what it is.