25 Best Documentaries – American View
It is old news, but still interesting to look at, as it lists the 25 films that the 3000 members of the IDA (International Documentary Association) announced as the best documentaries ever in connection with the celebration of the association’s 25 years in 2007. Here it goes, they are all good films, you should definitely watch them if you have not done so already, but where are the European films – apart from a few – where is “Shoah”, where is a film by Sokurov, Herz Frank, Dvortsevoy, Kossakovsky, Patricio Guzman, Pierre Perrault, Jean Rouch and so on, so forth. The members of IDA chose the 25 from a list of 700.
1. “Hoop Dreams,” (photo) directed by Steve James, Peter Gilbert and Frederick Marx 2. “The Thin Blue Line,” directed by Errol Morris 3. “Bowling for Columbine,” directed by Michael Moore 4. “Spellbound,” directed by Jeffery Blitz 5. “Harlan County USA,” directed by Barbara Kopple 6. “An Inconvenient Truth,” directed by Davis Guggenheim 7. “Crumb,” directed by Terry Zwigoff’s Crumb 8. “Gimme Shelter,” directed by Albert and David Maysles and Charlotte Zwerin 9. “The Fog of War,” directed by Errol Morris 10. “Roger and Me,” directed by Michael Moore 11. “Super Size Me,” directed by Morgan Spurlock 12. “Don’t Look Back,” directed by DA Pennebaker 13. “Salesman,” directed by Albert and David Maysles 14. “Koyaanisqatsi: Life Out of Balance,” directed by Godfrey Reggio 15. “Sherman’s March,” directed by Ross McElwee 16. “Grey Gardens,” directed by Albert and David Maysles, Ellen Hovde and Muffie Meyer 17. “Capturing the Friedmans,” directed by Andrew Jarecki 18. “Born into Brothels,” directed by Ross Kauffman and Zana Briski 19. “Titticut Follies,” directed by Frederick Wiseman 20. “Buena Vista Social Club,” directed by Wim Wenders 21. “Fahrenheit 9/11,” directed by Michael Moore 22. “Winged Migration,” directed by Jacques Perrin 23. “Grizzly Man,” directed by Werner Herzog 24. “Night and Fog,” directed by Alain Resnais 25. “Woodstock,” directed by Michael Wadleigh.
