Top 10 Best Documentaries of All Time

Directed by Ava DuVernay, this Oscar-nominated documentary examines the intersection of race, justice, and mass incarceration in the United States. Named after the Thirteenth Amendment, it traces the history of racial inequality from slavery through the modern prison-industrial complex with powerful archival footage.

James Marsh's Academy Award-winning documentary recounts Philippe Petit's audacious 1974 high-wire walk between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. Blending interviews, recreations, and archival footage, it plays like a heist film building unbearable tension 1,350 feet above Manhattan.

Steve James groundbreaking documentary follows two inner-city Chicago teenagers, William Gates and Arthur Agee, over five years as they chase their dreams of playing professional basketball. At nearly three hours, it became one of the most critically acclaimed documentaries ever made.

Asif Kapadia Academy Award-winning portrait of Amy Winehouse chronicles her meteoric rise and tragic decline through intimate home video footage. The film won the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature and grossed over $23 million worldwide, becoming one of the highest-grossing music documentaries.

Morgan Neville's warm and emotional documentary explores the life and legacy of Fred Rogers, the beloved host of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. Through archival clips and interviews, it reveals how Rogers used children's television as a radical act of kindness addressing death, divorce, and racism.

This Academy Award-winning documentary captures Alex Honnold's death-defying free solo climb of El Capitan's 3,000-foot vertical rock face in Yosemite National Park. Directors Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi create a vertigo-inducing experience exploring the psychology of risk and human limits.

Malik Bendjelloul's Oscar-winning documentary investigates the mysterious story of Sixto Rodriguez, a forgotten 1970s Detroit musician who unknowingly became a cultural icon in apartheid-era South Africa. Part detective story, part fairy tale, it sparked a worldwide Rodriguez revival.

Joshua Oppenheimer deeply unsettling documentary invites former Indonesian death squad leaders to reenact their real-life mass killings in the style of Hollywood genre films. Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, it exposes the banality of evil with unflinching clarity.

Asif Kapadia's riveting documentary tells the story of Brazilian Formula One legend Ayrton Senna using exclusively archival footage with no talking-head interviews. It chronicles his rivalry with Alain Prost, three World Championships, and tragic death at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix.

Directed by Ava DuVernay, this Oscar-nominated documentary examines the intersection of race, justice, and mass incarceration in the United States. Named after the Thirteenth Amendment, it traces the history of racial inequality from slavery through the modern prison-industrial complex with powerful archival footage.

James Marsh's Academy Award-winning documentary recounts Philippe Petit's audacious 1974 high-wire walk between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. Blending interviews, recreations, and archival footage, it plays like a heist film building unbearable tension 1,350 feet above Manhattan.

Steve James groundbreaking documentary follows two inner-city Chicago teenagers, William Gates and Arthur Agee, over five years as they chase their dreams of playing professional basketball. At nearly three hours, it became one of the most critically acclaimed documentaries ever made.

Asif Kapadia Academy Award-winning portrait of Amy Winehouse chronicles her meteoric rise and tragic decline through intimate home video footage. The film won the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature and grossed over $23 million worldwide, becoming one of the highest-grossing music documentaries.

Morgan Neville's warm and emotional documentary explores the life and legacy of Fred Rogers, the beloved host of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. Through archival clips and interviews, it reveals how Rogers used children's television as a radical act of kindness addressing death, divorce, and racism.

This Academy Award-winning documentary captures Alex Honnold's death-defying free solo climb of El Capitan's 3,000-foot vertical rock face in Yosemite National Park. Directors Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi create a vertigo-inducing experience exploring the psychology of risk and human limits.

Malik Bendjelloul's Oscar-winning documentary investigates the mysterious story of Sixto Rodriguez, a forgotten 1970s Detroit musician who unknowingly became a cultural icon in apartheid-era South Africa. Part detective story, part fairy tale, it sparked a worldwide Rodriguez revival.

Joshua Oppenheimer deeply unsettling documentary invites former Indonesian death squad leaders to reenact their real-life mass killings in the style of Hollywood genre films. Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, it exposes the banality of evil with unflinching clarity.

Asif Kapadia's riveting documentary tells the story of Brazilian Formula One legend Ayrton Senna using exclusively archival footage with no talking-head interviews. It chronicles his rivalry with Alain Prost, three World Championships, and tragic death at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix.