The Best Documentaries of The Last 50 Years

By: Kilgore Trout

Self-explanatory, the single best doc from each of the last 50 years.

11: The Interrupters (Steve James)
10: Restrepo (Sebastian Junger & Tim Hetherington)
09: The Garden (Scott Hamilton Kennedy)
08: Dear Zachary: A Letter To A Son About His Father (Kurt Kuenne)
07: No End in Sight (Charles Ferguson)
06: When The Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts (Spike Lee)
05: No Direction Home: Bob Dylan (Martin Scorsese)
04: Fahrenheit 9/11 (Michael Moore)
03: Capturing The Friedmans (Andrew Jarecki)
02: Bus 174 (Jose Padilha)
01: Domestic Violence (Frederick Wiseman)
00: Dark Days (Marc Singer)
99: My Voyage to Italy (Martin Scorsese)
98: Historie(s) du Cinema (Jean-Luc Godard)
97: Fast, Cheap, & Out of Control (Errol Morris)
96: Paradise Lost (Joe Berlinger & Bruce Sinfosky)
95: Crumb (Terry Zwigoff)
94: Hoop Dreams (Steve James)
93: Baraka (Ron Fricke)
92: Brother’s Keeper (Joe Berlinger & Bruce Sinfosky)
91: 35 Up (Michael Apted)
90: American Dream (Barbara Kopple)
89: Near Death (Frederick Wiseman)
88: The Thin Blue Line (Errol Morris)
87: The Emperor’s Naked Army Marches On (Kazuo Hara)
86: Sherman’s March (Ross McElwee)
85: Shoah (Claude Lanzmann)
84: Streetwise (Martin Bell)
83: Koyaanisqatsi (Godfrey Reggio)
82: Burden of Dreams (Les Blank)
81: 80 Blocks from Tiffany’s (Gary Weis) * not listed in auteurs database
80: Gates of Heaven (Errol Morris)
79: Best Boy (Ira Wohl)
78: The Last Waltz (Martin Scorsese)
77: F For Fake (Orson Welles)
76: Harlan County, USA (Barbara Kopple)
75: Welfare (Frederick Wiseman)
74: Hearts and Minds (Peter Davis)
73: Juvenile Court (Frederick Wiseman)
72: Winter Soldier (no director named) * not in Auteurs database
71: The Sorrow and The Pity (Marcel Ophuls)
70: Hospital (Frederick Wiseman)
69: Salesman (Albert & David Maysles)
68: Hour of The Furnaces (Fernando E. Solanas)
67: Holy Ghost People (Peter Adair) * Not in Auteurs database
66: Castro Street (Bruce Baillie)
65: The War Game (Peter Watkins)
64: 7 Up (Michael Apted)
63: The House is Black (Forugh Farrokhzad)
62: Window Water Baby Moving (Stan Brakhage)
61: Golden Gloves (Gilles Groulx) * Not in Auteurs database
60: Primary (Robert Drew)