Well, that’s all she wrote. Another year gone by and yet another list of great documentary films. I’d say overall 2012 was a pretty great year for film with a number of stand out docs that have continued to push the boundaries of non-fiction storytelling in an exciting, cinematic way. While I did miss a few films that I’d intended to catch (How to Survive a Plague being one of them), I’d say I’m pretty confident with this list overall. Lots of stand out films that I’ll be revisiting over and over and a few that deserved a nod simply due to big ambitions and unique visions. Congratulations to all of the great films and filmmakers of 2012 and here’s looking forward to 2013!
20. Women With Cows (Dir. Tell Aulin & Peter Gerdehag)
19. Jason Becker: Not Dead Yet (Dir. Jesse Vile)
18. The Ambassador (Dir. Mads Brügger)
17. Beauty Is Embarrassing (Dir. Neil Berkeley)
16. Low and Clear (Dir. Kahlil Hudson & Tyler Hughen)
15. China Heavyweight (Dir. Yung Chang)
14. Samsara (Dir. Ron Fricke)
13. Jiro Dreams of Sushi (Dir. David Gelb)
12. Ai Wei Wei Never Sorry (Dir. Alison Klayman)
11. The Waiting Room (Dir. Peter Nicks)
10. West of Memphis (Dir. Amy Berg)
9. Indie Game: The Movie (Dir. Lisanne Pajot & James Swirsky)
8. Shut Up and Play the Hits (Dir. Will Lovelace & Dylan Southern)
7. Detropia (Dir. Heidi Ewing & Rachel Grady)
6. This Is Not a Film (Dir. Mojtaba Mirtahmasb & Jafar Panahi)
5. Stories We Tell (Dir. Sarah Polley)
4. Leviathan (Dir. Lucien Castaing-Taylor & Verena Paravel)
3. Tchoupitoulas (Dir. Bill Ross & Turner Ross)
2. The Act of Killing (Dir. Joshua Oppenheimer)
1. The Imposter (Dir. Bart Layton)
Honourable Mentions: Only the Young, Platform Moon, Searching for Sugar Man, Despite the Gods
I always look forward to these year end lists, usually gives me a bunch of films to track down. Tchoupitoulas was by far my favorite film of the year (something I wouldn’t have seen were it not for this blog) so I’m keen to check out the others I have yet to see, with a particular interest in The Act of Killing, Low and Clear and Leviathan.
I also really enjoyed The Imposter, especially seeing it with a packed festival crowd, but nothing gave me the sense of wonder, joy and exploration that Tchoupitoulas did.
In all honesty, my top 5 are pretty interchangeable as I think they’re all amazing. It was definitely a great year for docs!
I love these year end list as well. There’s always lots great stuff I haven’t heard about.
Jay, are there any particular docs that you’re looking forward to seeing in 2013?
Thanks for the list. So much to explore.
Was wondering if there was going to be a podcast episode for Sundance this year? I’d love to hear it. Also, maybe some jetlag and knoife murdah could be involved!
Controversial omission of Searching for Sugarman…
Thoughts on Queen of Versailles Jay? Sits right at the top of my list.
Nice list. A lot of these made my list of 10 this year and I had The Imposter in the same place. I’d really like to see Leviathan. I completely forgot China Heavyweight when I made my list or it may have made it. Detropia so high is a bit of a surprise to me, though I love the filmmakers. Enjoyed the lists on ep 400 of Film Junk as well. I picked up High and Low, Army of Shadows and Anatomy of a Murder from your list. Thanks.
Nice list…but Sugar Man is only an honorable mention?
Say it ain’t so!