Call me a hipster, call me a geek, call me what you will, but I love documentaries! Nine times out of ten, I feel like documentaries don’t get the credit they deserve. Even when they do, at the Oscars or some other awards event or film festival, their power is never fully realized unless a whole lot of people see the film, and absorb its message.
I think in general, documentaries should be shown more often, especially to preteens and teens in public schools during social studies class. It’s a great way to evoke dialogue with younger people, who might be less than enthused or willing to discuss certain subject matters. Likewise, documentaries are great for college students studying sociology, history, psychology, arts and humanities, etc. No matter your age, documentaries serve to teach everyone that learning can be interesting, and that facts and statistics, combined with emotion, equate to fuel for the mind!
I know there’s that old adage about truth being stranger than fiction, but in reality, these documentaries exist to show people a different side of life they never saw before. It reminds us all what it means to be truly human, why we do the things we do, and why we care about the things that matter to us. A truly great documentary is meant to do the following: Entertain you, and inform you, and the films on this list accomplish both!
1. "After Tiller" (2013)
This is definitely a controversial documentary, because it deals specifically with late-term abortions. There are only a handful of doctors left in the country who are able and know how to perform the procedure. Abortionist Dr. George Tiller was gunned down on May 31, 2009, while he was attending church that morning. A few doctors and fellow late-term abortion specialists, who were his friends and colleagues, had to remain strong in the face of ignorant hatred. They were the only ones besides Dr. Tiller who knew how to perform late-term abortions, and knew that without the ability to use this skill, countless women would die from complications during childbirth, and numerous children would be born suffering from deformities and/or diseases that would affect not only their brain, but their very quality of life.
This is not a decision any woman takes lightly, nor do the physicians who are entrusted to carry out the task. These are some of the kindest, most intelligent and compassionate doctors out there, and they know how difficult it was for these women to come to this conclusion. In almost all cases, the women going in for that procedure wanted to have their babies, but there were too many issues that would’ve endangered the life of the mother, the child, or both. Every woman should have the right to make her own choices and have bodily autonomy, and this documentary perfectly and tenderly illustrates why.
2. "The Dark Matter Of Love" (2012)
This documentary chronicles the life of an American Midwestern family from Wisconsin, who decide to adopt 3 children from Russia. It’s a great film about cultural differences, language barriers, and most of all, the very real challenges that come with adopting children, no matter what country they come from.
There have been more than a few cases of adopted children who struggle with RAD (Reactive Attachment Disorder), and that can make it especially difficult for the adoptive parents involved. The adopted kids in this film definitely exhibit behaviors and facets of RAD, and you can see the parents are trying to figure out how best to help them cope. Adoptive parents in general usually have to fight long and hard to add a new member to their family. After all the expenses, “red tape”, and waiting, they probably assume the fight is over once they bring their new child home. Like most aspiring parents, they envision a near-perfect, happy family in their heads. The reality though, like many things in life, is never that simple.
The family in this film already have a teenage biological daughter, and that adds yet another layer to their story. You can see that not only do the parents struggle with maintaining normalcy amidst expanding their family, but so does their daughter, in trying to bond with her new siblings. Can this family find a way to preserve their dynamic in how they relate to each other, while remaining strong and adaptive in the face of change?
3. "Deliver Us from Evil" (2006)
Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Feature Documentary, this harrowing film shows us the dark underbelly of the sexual molestation crisis within the Catholic Church. Father O’Grady was a young priest when he moved from Ireland to northern California. He was trusted and beloved by all who knew him. That trust was and love disintegrated after he molested and raped various families’ children. He didn’t discriminate, both boys and girls suffered at the hands of Oliver O’Grady.
This documentary, is a portrait of a pedophile, and the now adult survivors he wronged all those years ago. Father O’Grady by all accounts, appeared to be the nicest, mildest, sweetest man, and with a hefty title as a respected religious official, that just added to the level of trust among the families who knew him. It also had an impact, in how the church handled his indiscretions, and why they continued to move him from one parish to the next, never stopping to think about the harm he had caused, and would continue to cause to young children. Meanwhile, several of the children he harmed, now adults and decades after being assaulted by Father O’Grady, seek to gain insight and closure to what happened to them, and find the strength to move on, with or without their faith.
4. "First Position" (2011)
A lot of us love the art, majesty, grace, and strength associated with ballet. Some of us have taken lessons in our youth, but this is a documentary, about the kids and teens who live the ballet dream, all day every day. This documentary follows the lives of six different students, showing their dedication, drive, passion, and sheer will to succeed, all in the name of pursuing a career as professional ballet dancers. These young dancers have made innumerable sacrifices just to get as far as they’ve gotten, but can they take it a step further during the Youth America Grand Prix? Their potential careers are on the line, and their future hangs in the balance!
5. "Girlhood" (2003)
A sobering documentary about the stories and perspectives of two teenage girls, who are in a juvenile detention center for assault/murder. Spanning from 1999 to 2002, this is an inside look on the difficulties of growing up the in inner-city neighborhoods of Baltimore, Maryland. This film tackles dealing with dysfunctional families, violence on the streets, and the temporary, cursory nature of the foster care system. The direct influence such environmental elements inevitably have on the youth culture is staggering, and it shows in this honest look at two girls’ lives, and their struggle to grow into respectable young women.
6. "The Hunting Ground" (2015)
College campus rape has become far too common in our culture, and with more news and information than ever before, we’re becoming increasingly aware of it. This documentary shows us though that most colleges and Ivy League universities are ill-equipped to deal with such serious matters, because they’re so used to sweeping it under the rug. Now is the time for change, and it all starts with a few survivors, looking to uncover the truth and the statistics behind campus sexual assault. This is a documentary that everyone should see, millennials and beyond!
7. "The Invisible War" (2012)
This hard-hitting Oscar nominated documentary, sheds light on the epidemic of sexual assault in the military, and how rarely anything is done about it. With firsthand accounts from both male and female survivors, we see the lifelong struggles they’ve endured, both physically and mentally as a result of sexual trauma. Interviews with their spouses and relatives help to add an even more personal feel to the film, and impress upon us the reality that the pain and damage of sexual assault extends to the survivor’s family as well. It’s a matter that is seldom taken seriously, or handled properly. Many times, the person responsible for such a reprehensible crime gets away with their wrongdoing with little to no consequences. If there was ever a reason to speak out and fight back, this film is it!
8. "Jesus Camp" (2006)
Another Oscar nominated film, this one is definitely shocking, to say the least! I first saw it in 2014, eight years after it was made, and it was still haunting, eye-opening, and well worth the watch! I previously had very little knowledge of what the evangelical faith looks like, and if you’re an outsider like me, this movie will probably scare you. It was terrifying to me to see how indoctrinated these sweet, innocent kids were, and how they understood very little of the real messages that were being fed to them. The anger that was being transmitted to them through a couple of very jaded religious speakers was jaw-dropping. They’re young children, they don’t fully understand or have the capacity to comprehend the gravity of the kinds of issues that their church leaders were impressing upon them, but that’s what makes them so easy to sway and manipulate. Children are naïve, vulnerable, and malleable. Prime targets for spirituality, turned business. This faith wants to sell an idea in the hopes that the kids will promote it, and these kids eat the rhetoric right up! Definitely controversial, but that’s what makes this documentary so fascinating, and impossible to ignore!
9. "The Mask You Live In" (2015)
For centuries, the idea of male masculinity has been a topic of debate. In “The Mask You Live In”, we’re given a chance to observe the impact that phrases like “be a man” have had on the lives of boys and men across the country. We’re finally granted answers on what kind of message that’s spreading to our culture as a whole, and its effect on both men and women. It’s such a relevant issue for us, especially now! With interviews with male kids, pre-teens, teens, and adults, both younger and older, and how the idea of what it means to be manly has shaped them through the years, we’re challenged to rethink everything we’ve been conditioned to accept. What do those results mean for our future? The men in this film have a pretty good idea…
10. "Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy" (2010)
In this extensive, four hour documentary, we’re given an inside look at the intricacies that went into making 1984’s iconic “A Nightmare on Elm Street”, its sequels, and the unforeseen pop culture hype the franchise garnered. Interviews with the late, great director Wes Craven, and Robert Englund (aka Freddy Krueger), make this a treat for fans of the movie, of horror, and film students alike!
11. "She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry" (2014)
An in-depth look at the roots of feminism during the 1960s “women’s lib” movement. Showing the impact that books like “The Feminine Mystique” had, including interviews with its author Betty Friedan, is just one of the many highlights of this amazing, historical look at social structures and norms that were overhauled and reinvented by women with a vision—a vision of something more!
12. "Tricked" (2013)
An examination of the world of prostitution, and that the crime of human trafficking, needs to rest with the pimps, not the women who have been victimized. In my opinion, pimp = predator, and this film effectively depicts that, all through candid interviews with the pimps themselves. They have no shame, and no guilt for the way they treat the women they’ve brainwashed and essentially enslaved. Everything from shaming, verbal abuse, physical violence, it’s all here in this raw look at an industry that needs to be destroyed, before it destroys any more lives.
13. "The Year of the Rat" (2003)
An intimate depiction of the many facets and perspectives of what goes into the filmmaking process. “The Year of the Rat” was made by film student Julie Ng, on the set of the cult classic 2003 remake of “Willard”. “Willard” a thriller/horror about a man beaten down by life and his tyrant boss, befriends a white rat he finds in his family mansion, while caring for his ill mother. He soon realizes that there are many more common rats in his house, just waiting to be trained into an army to help him extract his revenge on the man who wronged him. The documentary about Willard shows all the many components that go into making a movie. Definitely a must-see for anyone aspiring to get into any aspect of filmmaking!
