Their list of the greatest films of all-time, updated every decade, is one of the most comprehensive, consummate of its kind and now Sight & Sound are focusing on a specific area of cinema with a new list. After naming Vertigo the best film of all-time two years ago, the publication has polled critics, programmers and filmmakers (340 of them, to be exact) to discover the greatest documentaries of all-time.
Resulting in a list of 50 films, Dziga Vertov‘s groundbreaking 1929 classic Man with a Movie Camera topped the rundown by a large margin, with the 550-minute Shoah coming in second. As for the most recent titles, last year’s The Act of Killing made its way into the top 20, along with 2010’s Nostalgia for the Light, while Leviathan was awarded a top 30 spot.
As for any inconsistencies, I might have placed Abbas Kiarostami‘s Close-up slightly higher, along with the Lumière’s formative Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory, which just snuck in the final spot. Regardless, it’s a fantastic list if you’re looking for titles to watch. Check it out below, including trailers (or full films, where available) for the first ten, and see more on BFI’s official site.
1. Man with a Movie Camera – Dziga Vertov, USSR 1929
2. Shoah – Claude Lanzmann, France 1985
3. Sans soleil – Chris Marker, France 1982
4. Night and Fog – Alain Resnais, France 1955
5. The Thin Blue Line – Errol Morris, USA 1989
6. Chronicle of a Summer – Jean Rouch & Edgar Morin, France 1961
7. Nanook of the North – Robert Flaherty, USA 1922
8. The Gleaners and I – Agnès Varda, France 2000
=9. Dont Look Back – D.A. Pennebaker, USA 1967
=9. Grey Gardens – Albert and David Maysles, Ellen Hovde and Muffie Meyer, USA 1975
11. The Sorrow and the Pity – Marcel Ophüls, Switzerland 1969
=12. Grizzly Man – Werner Herzog, USA 2005
=12. Land without Bread – Luis Buñuel, Spain 1933
=12. Nostalgia for the Light – Patricio Guzmán, Chile/Spain/France/Germany/USA 2010
=15. F for Fake – Orson Welles, France/Iran 1975
=15. The Up Series – Douglas Keay (Seven Up!) then Michael Apted, UK 1964-ongoing
=17. Hoop Dreams – Steve James, USA 1994
=17. West of the Tracks – Wang Bing, China 2002
=19. The Act of Killing – Joshua Oppenheimer, Christine Cynn and anonymous, Denmark/Finland/UK/Germany/Netherlands/Norway/Poland/Sweden 2012
=19. The Battle of Chile – Patricio Guzmán, Chile/Cuba 1975-78
=19. The House is Black – (Khaneh siah ast) Forough Farrokhzad, Iran 1963
=19. Listen to Britain – Humphrey Jennings and Stewart McAllister, UK 1942
23. The Emperor’s Naked Army Marches On – Hara Kazuo, Japan 1987
=24. Harlan County U.S.A. – Barbara Kopple, USA 1976
=24. Histoire(s) du Cinèma – Jean-Luc Godard, France 1998
=24. Salesman – Albert and David Maysles and Charlotte Zwerin, USA 1968
27. Titicut Follies – Frederick Wiseman, USA 1967
=28. Capturing the Friedmans – Andrew Jarecki, USA 2003
=28. Gimme Shelter – Albert and David Maysles and Charlotte Zwerin, USA 1970
30. Leviathan – Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Véréna Paravel, France/UK/USA 2012
=31. Lessons of Darkness – Werner Herzog, Germany 1992
=31. The Quince Tree Sun – Victor Erice, Spain 1992
=33. Night Mail – Harry Watt and Basil Wright, UK 1936
=33. Primary – Robert Drew, USA 1960
=35. Crumb – Terry Zwigoff, USA 1994
=35. A Diary for Timothy – Humphrey Jennings, UK 1946
=37. Close-up – Abbas Kiarostami, Iran 1989
=37. The Fog of War – Errol Morris, USA 2003
=37. Los Angeles Plays Itself – Thom Andersen, USA 2003
=37. Man on Wire – James Marsh, UK 2007
=37. Moi, un noir – Jean Rouch, France 1959
=37. Portrait of Jason – Shirley Clarke, USA 1967
=37. À Propos de Nice – Jean Vigo, France 1930
=37. Roger & Me – Michael Moore, USA 1989
=37. Le Sang des bêtes – Georges Franju, France 1948
=37. The War Game – Peter Watkins, UK 1965
=47. Culloden – Peter Watkins, UK 1964
=47. Diaries, Notes and Sketches: Walden – Jonas Mekas, USA 1969
=47. D’Est – Chantal Akerman, Belgium/France/Portugal 1993
=47. Handsworth Songs – John Akomfrah, UK 1986
=47. The Hour of the Furnaces – Octavio Getino and Fernando Solanas, Argentina 1968
=47. Seasons – Artavazd Pelechian, USSR/Armenia 1975
=47. Triumph of the Will – Leni Riefenstahl, Germany 1935
=47. Waltz with Bashir – Ari Folman, Israel/France/Germany/Japan/USA 2008
=47. Welfare – Frederick Wiseman, USA 1975
=47. Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory – Louis and Auguste Lumière, France 1895
What do you think of the list? What is your favorite documentary of all-time?