10 Great Documentaries By Famous Narrative Feature Directors

10 Great Documentaries By Famous Narrative Feature Directors

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Documentaries aren’t always seen as a great avenue for creative storytelling, but these 10 iconic directors managed to defy that narrative.

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10 Great Documentaries By Famous Narrative Feature Directors

Documentary films have always held a special place in the hearts of every avid cinephile. Historically, they’ve been difficult to come by, as they rarely secure wide theatrical releases. Now, however, with the advent of streaming, documentaries are more accessible than ever before.

Even though their subject matter is non-fiction and they often consist of genuine interviews and stock footage, the fundamentals of great cinematic storytelling apply equally to documentaries and narrative features alike. This is why many filmmakers work in both realms, some of them switching back and forth throughout their careers. Here are 10 noteworthy examples of accomplished narrative directors transitioning to documentaries with great success.

10 4 Little Girls – Spike Lee

10 Great Documentaries By Famous Narrative Feature Directors

4 Little Girls tells the horrific true story of the Birmingham Church Bombing by white supremacists in 1963 which took the lives of four young Black girls. Director Spike Lee tackles this subject matter with both aggression and tenderness in one of the best documentaries ever made about any subject.

It boasts a perfect 100% fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes and is considered one of Spike’s best films in any genre. Lee has since directed numerous other documentaries, many of which are also fantastic.

9 Stories We Tell – Sarah Polley

10 Great Documentaries By Famous Narrative Feature Directors

Sarah Polley is an actress first and foremost, but she has achieved great success as a director, as well, with films like Away From Her and Take This Waltz. 2012’s Stories We Tell is a fantastic genre-bending documentary in which she probes the lives of her family members which reveal secrets about her own identity that come to light through the semi-reliable accounts of the various interviewees. The film was a hit with critics and was named by the Toronto International Film Festival as one of the 10 best Canadian films of all time.

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8 Voyage Of Time: Life’s Journey – Terrence Malick

10 Great Documentaries By Famous Narrative Feature Directors

In 2011, Terrence Malick released his long-anticipated drama The Tree of Life, a high-minded and confusing story about a Texas family’s struggles that relate, somehow, to the origin of the universe and life itself. 2016’s Voyage of Time: Life’s Journey is a documentary that serves as somewhat of a companion piece to The Tree of Life. Over the course of 90 minutes, it chronicles the beginning of time through the present day.

What does it all mean? That’s often a difficult question for all of Malick’s films. But, like, all of Malick’s work, it’s a visual feast, beautifully photographed and edited. Released in IMAX and narrated by Cate Blanchett, Voyage of Time should be viewed on the biggest screen possible.

7 Marley – Kevin Macdonald

10 Great Documentaries By Famous Narrative Feature Directors

Kevin Macdonald goes back and forth between narrative films and documentaries. His most famous narrative efforts are 2006’s Oscar-winning The Last King of Scotland and 2009’s State of Play.

Marley is the 2012 documentary about the life and legacy of one of the greatest songwriters who ever lived. It’s chock full of musical performances and intimate interviews with Marley’s family, as well as stock footage of the man himself. Fans of Bob Marley will adore this lengthy doc which gives the legendary musician the cinematic tribute he deserves.

6 South Of The Border – Oliver Stone

10 Great Documentaries By Famous Narrative Feature Directors

Director Oliver Stone is no stranger to controversy, no matter which genre he’s working in. South of the Border is his first-person account of his travels to various South American countries that have been branded as dictatorships by the United States.

Stone interviews controversial leaders like Hugo Chavez and Evo Morales, telling a side of the story that American audiences are rarely, if ever, exposed to. No matter one’s politics, South of the Border is a bold and daring film that’s worth the watch.

5 I Am – Tom Shadyac

10 Great Documentaries By Famous Narrative Feature Directors

I Am is a 2010 documentary that explores deep questions of human nature, spirituality, and interpersonal connection through interviews with leading scientists, religious scholars, philosophers, and environmentalists.

The film’s director is Tom Shadyac, who helmed numerous goofball comedies like Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, The Nutty Professor, and Bruce Almighty. He was inspired to make I Am after a 2007 bicycle accident that had lingering physical and psychological effects on him.

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4 And Everything Is Going Fine – Steven Soderbergh

10 Great Documentaries By Famous Narrative Feature Directors

Director Steven Soderbergh is among the most prolific and acclaimed narrative filmmakers of the past 30 years. He won an Oscar for his 2000 drama Traffic and has since found success in both mainstream franchises like the Oceans Eleven series and arthouse indies like The Girlfriend Experience.

And Everything is Going Fine is Soderbergh’s documentary about the enduring legacy of actor and writer Spalding Gray’s series of autobiographical monologues which he performed theatrically in the 1980s and 1990s.

3 Grizzly Man – Werner Herzog

10 Great Documentaries By Famous Narrative Feature Directors

Werner Herzog has been making both narrative features and documentaries for over 50 years. He’s a fiercely independent filmmaker who tackles all kinds of subjects in both fiction and non-fiction genres.

2005’s award-winning documentary Grizzly Man is the harrowing documentation of animal rights activists Timothy Treadwell and Amie Huguenard, who were killed by Grizzly bears after living amongst them in the Alaskan wilderness. Herzog appears on camera, listening to the audio recording of Treadwell’s death. He doesn’t play the sound for the audience, but his reaction is terrifying in its own right.

2 The Cruise – Bennett Miller

10 Great Documentaries By Famous Narrative Feature Directors

Director Bennett Miller is best known for his three narrative features, Capote, Moneyball, and Foxcatcher. His debut film, however, the 1998 documentary The Cruise, is an affectionate look at a New York City tour guide who ekes out a meager living by showing tourists around the city he loves.

Subject Tim Levitch’s passion for Manhattan, the film’s timeless black and white cinematography, and Miller’s personal touch as a director, make The Cruise a thoroughly entertaining watch, for New Yorkers and non-New Yorkers alike.

1 The Last Waltz – Martin Scorsese

Legendary Canadian roots rockers The Band played their “farewell” show in San Francisco in 1976. The great Martin Scorsese documented the concert and combined the musical performances with interviews about the group’s history and experiences touring the world.

The result is The Last Waltz, arguably the best rock n’ roll film ever made. Scorsese has since gone on to direct numerous other music docs, with subjects including Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, and George Harrison, in addition to his iconic narrative filmography.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/famous-narrative-feature-directors-best-documentaries/

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