Well Documented The Essential Documentaries that Prove the Truth is More Fascinating than Fiction

This fascinating book explores 100 of the most compelling documentaries, each with the power to change our perceptions and raise awareness of the world around us.

Every so often a documentary comes along with the power to change the way you think, to share alternative perspectives, to make you furious about injustice or warm your heart.

Contained in this book are 100 documentaries that fulfil these criteria and astound viewers around the world; real-life stories to stop you in your tracks, bring tears to your eyes and put your heart in your mouth.

From Barbara Kopple's Oscar-winning gritty depiction of working class America in Harlan County, U.S.A. to James Marsh's breathtaking Man on Wire, from powerful sporting tales such as Senna and Touching the Void to stories of true crimes and their repurcussions such as Making a Murderer, this book delves deep into how these films were made, what makes them great, and also what other films you might like if you loved these ones.

Veteran film journalist Ian Haydn Smith writes with passion and knowledge about these masterpieces, and illustrations bring these films off the page.

From Oscar winners to unseen gems from the Netflix vaults, international filmmakers to true crime, sport and culture stories, every documentary featured will make you think,make you feel and make you tell people, “You NEED to see this film.”

People and Places:
Man with a Movie Camera
Araya
Chronicle of a Summer
The Up Series
Portrait of Jason
Titicut Follies
Salesman
An American Family
Grey Gardens
New From Home
Sherman's March
Paris is Burning
The Belovs (Belovy)
To Be and to Have
West of the Tracks
Dreams of a Life
Stories We Tell
Hale County This Morning, This Evening
Dick Johnson is Dead
A Secret Love
Feature spread: City Symphonies

Politics and Society:
Primary
Minamata: Their Victims and Their World
Harlan County U.S.A.
El Sopar
The Battle of Chile
Grin Without a Cat
Roger & Me
The Power of Nightmares: The Rise of the Politics of Fear
Nostalgia for the Light
How To Survive a Plague
Citizenfour
13th
Fire at Sea
I Am Not Your Negro
State Funeral
Crip Camp
Feature spread: Propaganda

Art and Culture:
Don't Look Back
F for Fake
Amazing Grace
A Bigger Splash
Burden of Dreams
The Quince Tree Sun
Geri
The Gleaners and I
Metallica: Some Kind of Monster
Rize
Man on Wire
Man on Wire
The Beaches of Agnès
The Sepember Issue
Exit Through the Gift Shop
Pina
Amy
Dawson City: Frozen Time
Further Beyond
The Beatles: Get Back
Feature spread: The Concert Film

Conflict and War:
The War Game
The Sorrow and the Pity
The World at War
Hearts and Minds
Shoah
The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On
Lessons of Darkness
Walz with Bashir
Five Broken Cameras
The Act of Killing
For Sama
Exterminate All the Brutes
Feature spread: A post 9/11 World

Sport and Leisure:
Tokyo Olympiad
Hoop Dreams
When We Were Kings
Touching the Void
Murderball
The Queen of Versailles
Maiden
Infinite Football
Feature spread: Life in extremis

Science and the Natural World:
Nanook of the North
Life on Earth
Cosmos
Koyaanisquatsi
For All Mankind
Grizzly Man
Manufactured Landscapes
Into Eternity
The Dust Bowl
Leviathan
Cow
Feature spread: The Environment

Crime and Injustice:
The Thin Blue Line
Close-Up
Aileen Wournos: The Selling of a Serial Killer
4 Little Girls
Bus 174
Capturing the Friedmans
Sisters in Law
Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God
Making a Murderer
OJ: Made in America
Louis Theroux: Dark States
Stephen: The Murder That Changed a Nation
Collective
A Cop Movie
Feature spread: Serial Crime

Documentary Shorts:
À Propos de Nice
Land Without Bread
Night Mail
Listen to Britain
Blood of the Beasts
Daybreak Express
Night and Fog
The Mad Masters
The House is Black
LBJ
Powers of Ten
Ten Minutes Older
Gallivant
The Train Stop
Lift
Svyato
The Solitary Life of Cranes
Atlantics
A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness
Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You're a Girl)