Below are some of the submitted best-of lists that contributed to the 2022 end-of-year Nonfics poll (* = still unreleased in the US; ** = released in the US last year).
Christopher Campbell
@thefilmcynic
Founding Editor, Nonfics
Co-President, Critics Choice Association – Documentary Branch
Executive Producer, Critics Choice Documentary Awards
1. Descendant
2. All That Breathes
3. Navalny
4. George Carlin’s American Dream
5. Riotsville, U.S.A.
6. Good Night Oppy
7. Fire of Love
8. The Rehearsal
9. Three Minutes: A Lengthening
10. Aftershock
11. Bad Axe
12. Sidney
13. We Need to Talk About Cosby
14. Last Flight Home
15. McEnroe
16. Moonage Daydream
17. Nuisance Bear
18. The Territory
19. Prehistoric Planet
20. Cow
Comment: “Considering how many documentaries I see a year, this is always a difficult task to not just select the 20 best but rank them. But Descendant and All That Breathes are the two I’ve thought about most since Sundance back in January. Also, A House Made of Splinters, which I didn’t have on my list because I didn’t realize it had an official release. But that film would be in my top 10 for sure.”
Will DiGravio
@willdigravio
Critic
Senior Writer, Film School Rejects
1. Three Minutes: A Lengthening
2. Beba
3. Lynch/Oz*
4. I Didn’t See You There
5. Nazarbazi*
6. All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
7. The Afterlight*
8. Moonage Daydream
9. Bitterbrush
10. All That Breathes
Valerie Ettenhofer
@aandeandval
Critic
Senior Writer, Film School Rejects
1. The Rehearsal
2. Jackass Forever
3. Navalny
4. All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
5. The Janes
6. Three Minutes: A Lengthening
7. Lucy and Desi
8. Sidney
9. Good Night Oppy
10. Descendant
Luke Hicks
Critic, Film School Rejects, Paste
1. Fire of Love
2. Riotsville, U.S.A.
3. All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
4. Descendant
5. Navalny
6. A Night of Knowing Nothing*
7. Sr.
8. Beba
9. Moonage Daydream
10. All That Breathes
11. Mau
12. Is That Black Enough For You?!?
13. Cow
14. Aftershock
15. The Princess
16. The Territory
17. Three Minutes: A Lengthening
18. Downfall: The Case Against Boeing
19. Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes
20. Retrograde
Comment: “As always, it feels impossible to narrow down an entire year of the world in docs to a shortlist, but, alas, here it is. First five out: The Automat, Girl in the Picture, Tantura, Stutz, and Good Night Oppy.”
All That Breathes
Robert Abele
Critic, Los Angeles Times, The Wrap
1. All That Breathes
2. All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
3. Descendant
4. Fire of Love
5. My Old School
6. Aftershock
7. Bad Axe
8. 2nd Chance
9. Three Minutes: A Lengthening
10. I Didn’t See You There
11. Mija
12. Retrograde
13. Beba
14. Tantura
15. The Territory
16. The Return of Tanya Tucker: Featuring Brandi Carlile
17. Turn Every Page
18. Moonage Daydream
19. The Janes
20. Navalny
Comment: “The best TV limited series docs: The Last Movie Stars, We Need to Talk About Cosby, Mind Over Murder; the best narrative hybrid features: Saint Omer and Dos Estaciones.”
Edwin Arnaudin
@EdwinArnaudin
Critic
Writer/Editor, Asheville Movies
1. Moonage Daydream
2. Descendant
3. Meet Me in the Bathroom
4. Light & Magic
5. This Much I Know to Be True
6. Good Night Oppy
7. Facing Nolan
8. jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy
9. Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song
10. Fire of Love
Comment: “Brett Morgen solidified his status as my favorite documentarian with his magnificent Bowie experience, Moonage Daydream. And it was a joy to see my second favorite, Margaret Brown, earn widespread acclaim with Descendant, her best-made film to date — though I still prefer The Order of Myths overall.
Austin Belzer
Critic
Founder and Editor-in-Chief, Austin B. Media
1. Descendant
2. The Fastest Woman on Earth
3. Tony Hawk: Until the Wheels Fall Off
4. Fire of Love
5. On the Divide
6. Claydream
7. Retrograde
8. Hold Your Fire
9. My Old School
10. Stutz
11. Sr.
12. Halftime
13. Navalny
Comment: “Whether it was as seemingly mundane as the inside of a classroom or as exciting as the relationship between two volcanologists, 2022 absolutely delivered some outstanding documentaries. Here’s hoping the streak of great documentaries continues in 2023!.”
Colin Biggs
Critic, ThatShelf.com
1. Moonage Daydream
2. Jackass Forever
3. Fire of Love
4. Descendant
5. Bad Axe
6. My Old School
7. Is That Black Enough For You?!?
8. The Last Movie Stars
9. Riotsville, U.S.A.
10. 2nd Chance
11. We Need to Talk About Cosby
12. All That Breathes
13. Meet Me in the Bathroom
14. Sr.
15. Aftershock
Helmut Boeijen
Critic
Editor, De DocUpdate
1. Fire of Love
2. We Need to Talk About Cosby
3. A House Made of Splinters
4. Sexual Healing*
5. All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
6. Into the Deep: The Submarine Murder Case
7. Navalny
8. All That Breathes
9. Mind Over Murder
10. The Lincoln Project
11. Paradise*
12. Much Ado About Dying*
13. Torn**
Framing Agnes
Douglas Davidson
Critic
Founder and Head Writer, Elements of Madness
1. Framing Agnes
2. 32 Sounds
3. The Kids in the Hall: Comedy Punks
4. Tony Hawk: Until the Wheels Fall Off
5. Mama Bears*
6. The Cave of Adullam
7. Descendant
8. Still Working 9 to 5
9. We Are the Thousand
10. The Story of Film: A New Generation
11. Moonage Daydream
12. Bad Axe
13. Aftershock
14. Retrograde
15. Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down
16. If These Walls Could Sing
17. Beba
18. Turn Every Page: The Adventures of Robert Caro and Robert Gottlieb
19. Fire of Love
20. Mickey: The Story of a Mouse
Comment: “Each of these screened in the U.S. at some point in 2022, each one offering a unique experience with their subject matter, capturing the spirit and energy of their topic and transferring it to the audience. Seek them out where you can.”
Edward Douglas
@EDouglasWW
Critic
Editor, Below the Line
1. All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
2. Bad Axe
3. Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song
4. Lucy and Desi
5. If These Walls Could Sing
6. Gabby Gifford Won’t Back Down
7. Navalny
8. All That Breathes
9. Bleeding Audio
10. Jazz Fest: A New Orleans Story
11. Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché
12. ¡Viva Maestro!
13. Nothing Compares
14. Moonage Daydream
15. Take Me to the River: New Orleans
16. Sr.
17. Fiddler’s Journey to the Screen
18. Ronnie’s
19. Return to Space
20. Brainwashed: Sex-Camera-Power
Comment: “These are the best docs ’cause I say so, and I’m always right.”
Sigrid Dyekjaer
Film Producer
1. The Territory
2. Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song
3. Hello, Bookstore
4. In Her Hands
5. Nuisance Bear
Kate Erbland
@katerbland
Critic
Executive Editor, IndieWire
1. All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
2. All That Breathes
3. The Territory
4. Beba
5. Fire of Love
6. Descendant
7. Moonage Daydream
8. The Janes
9. Sr.
10. Brainwashed: Sex-Camera-Power
Cynthia Fuchs
Director, Film and Video Studies at George Mason University
Member, Alliance of Women Film Journalists
1. All That Breathes
2. All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
3. Beba
4. Descendant
5. Cow
6. What We Leave Behind
7. I Didn’t See You There
8. Mind Over Murder
9. Riotsville, U.S.A.
10. Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues
11. We Need to Talk About Cosby
12. A House Made of Splinters
Fire of Love
Marya E. Gates
Critic
1. Fire of Love
2. All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
3. All That Breathes
4. Lowndes County and the Road to Black Power
5. Riotsville, U.S.A.
6. Cow
7. Master of Light
8. The Princess
9. Beba
10. Three Minutes: A Lengthening
11. The Territory
12. Descendant
13. Last Flight Home
14. Is That Black Enough For You?!?
15. Bad Axe
16. This Is Joan Collins
17. Midwives
18. 2nd Chance
19. The Janes
20. Aftershock
Arlin Golden
@cerealburrito
Critic and Filmmaker
Co-Host, Wiseman Podcast
Co-Director, Video Project
Director & Programmer, Drunken Film Fest Oakland
1. Children of the Mist
2. Riotsville, U.S.A.
3. My Duduś
4. Video Visit
5. All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
6. Haulout
7. Free Chol Soo Lee
8. Users
9. Cane Fire
10. Is That Black Enough for You?!?
Comment: “Currently undistributed fest favs to look out for: Jack Has a Plan (dir. Bradley Berman), The Feeling of Being Close to You (dir. Ash Goh Hua).”
Jason Gorber
Critic
Editor in Chief/Chief Critic, THATSHELF.com
1. Moonage Daydream
2. Fire of Love
3. Navalny
4. Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song
5. Hold Your Fire
6. Riotsville, U.S.A.
7. Three Minutes: A Lengthening
8. Sidney
9. Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues
10. Black Ice
Tim Grierson
Critic, Screen International
1. Descendant
2. All That Breathes
3. Riotsville, U.S.A.
4. All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
5. 2nd Chance
6. Beba
7. Three Minutes: A Lengthening
8. Nothing Compares
9. Sheroes
10. I Didn’t See You There
Benjamin Hedda
Critic
Senior Documentary and True Crime Writer, Screen Rant
1. The Girl from Plainville
2. Mike
3. 11 Minutes
4. The Dropout
5. Crime Scene: The Texas Killing Fields
6. Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story
7. A Tree of Life: The Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting
8. Web of Make Believe: Death, Lies and the Internet
9. Downfall: The Case Against Boeing
10. Under the Banner of Heaven
Susan Kamyab Stephens
@thischixflix
Critic, Irving Television
1. Deep in the Heart: A Texas Wildlife Story
2. Selena Gomez: My Mind and Me
3. Good Night Oppy
4. Fire of Love
5. Sidney
6. Sr.
7. Bad Axe
8. The Janes
9. Descendant
10. Navalny
James Kicklighter
Filmmaker
Director, The Sound of Identity
1. Retrograde
2. Fire of Love
3. The Tinder Swindler
4. Navalny
5. Good Night Oppy
Comment: “This year, we are seeing the fruits of so many new storytelling tools innovate within the documentary genre. Using traditional and unconventional storytelling methods, filmmakers are innovating in the space, in ways that we are not seeing from narrative filmmaking. In fact, many of these urgent stories are better served by the documentary medium. As more streamers demand content, it is my hope that they will continue to elevate documentaries for reviewers around the world.”
We Met in Virtual Reality
Robert Kojder
Chief Critic, Flickering Myth
1. We Met in Virtual Reality
2. Moonage Daydream
3. Fire of Love
4. The Territory
5. All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
6. Navalny
7. Sr.
8. All That Breathes
9. Bad Axe
10. Descendant
11. Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America
12. Salt in My Soul
13. Hold Your Fire
14. Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song
15. Let the Little Light Shine
16. Riotsville, U.S.A.
17. Nothing Compares
18. Three Minutes: A Lengthening
19. Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues
20. Tony Hawk: Until the Wheels Fall Off
John Lynn-Fernandez
@juandlago
Critic
Writer, International Cinephile Society
1. Mr. Bachmann and His Class
2. Taming the Garden
3. Babi Yar. Context
4. The Fire Within: A Requiem for Katia and Maurice Krafft
5. Futura
6. Fire of Love
7. All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
8. Marx Can Wait
9. All That Breathes
10. Navalny
Joey Magidson
Critic
Editor in Chief, Awards Radar
1. Sr.
2. George Carlin’s American Dream
3. The Automat
4. Good Night Oppy
5. Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down
6. Moonage Daydream
7. Love & Constitution
8. Retrograde
9. Kaepernick & America
10. The Beatles: Get Back**
11. Fire of Love
12. Cow
13. Is That Black Enough for You?!?
14. The Last Movie Stars
15. Navalny
16. Free Puppies!
17. Dear Mr. Brody
18. McEnroe
19. Still Working 9 to 5
20. The Redeem Team
Noel Manning II
@noeltmanning
Critic
Host, Meet Me at the Movies
1. Good Night Oppy
2. Navalny
3. Fire of Love
4. The Beatles: Get Back**
5. Moonage Daydream
6. Sidney
7. Descendant
8. Bad Axe
9. All That Breathes
10. Young Plato
11. The Pawnshop (Lombard)*
12. All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
13. A House Made of Splinters
14. Light & Magic
15. Girl in the Picture
16. The Janes
17. The Andy Warhol Diaries
18. Say Hey, Willie Mays!
19. Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues
20. If These Walls Could Sing
Mike McGranaghan
Critic, The Aisle Seat
1. Good Night Oppy
2. Fire of Love
3. George Carlin’s American Dream
4. Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down
5. Navalny
6. 2nd Chance
7. Moonage Daydream
8. The Return of Tanya Tucker: Featuring Brandi Carlile
9. All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
10. My Old School
Milan Paurich
@milanpaurich
Critic, WMXY-FM (Mix 98.9)
1. The Beatles: Get Back**
2. George Carlin’s American Dream
3. The Last Movie Star
4. Bad Axe
5. Cow
6. Sr.
7. Good Night Oppy
8. The Janes
9. Sidney
10. The Automat
11. Citizen Ashe**
12. My Old School
13. Hold Your Fire
14. Riotsville, U.S.A.
15. Travelin’ Band: Creedence Clearwater Revival at the Royal Albert Hall
16. The Youth Governor
17. The Territory
18. All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
19. Moonage Daydream
20. Mama’s Boy
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
Daniel Schindel
@DanSchindel
Critic
1. All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
2. The People You’re Paying to Be in Shorts
3. Jackass Forever
4. Riotsville, U.S.A.
5. It’s What Each Person Needs*
6. The Super 8 Years
7. Kicking the Clouds
8. Cane Fire
9. Taming the Garden
10. We Met in Virtual Reality
11. My Imaginary Country
12. All That Breathes
13. Fire of Love
Marshall Shaffer
@media_marshall
Critic, The Playlist, Slashfilm, Slant, and Decider
1. All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
2. Fire of Love
3. Cow
4. Descendant
5. Is That Black Enough for You?!?
6. Moonage Daydream
7. Sr.
8. Riotsville, U.S.A.
9. Three Minutes: A Lengthening
10. All That Breathes
Comment: “At a time in which we’re swimming in more formulaic nonfiction content than ever, this year’s best documentary features proved that there are still great aesthetic boundaries to break within the form.”
Stephen Silver
@StephenSilver
Critic, Splice Today
1. Good Night Oppy
2. Three Minutes: A Lengthening
3. Bad Axe
4. Turn Every Page
5. Lynch/Oz*
6. Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues
7. Sidney
8. Navalny
9. Sr.
10. Tony Hawk: Until the Wheels Fall Off
11. The Wild One*
12. Riotsville, U.S.A.
13. Retrograde
14. This is GWAR
15. Dusty & Stones*
Robert Sims
Critic
Host/producer, Lights Camera Austin, KOOP Radio 91.7 FM
1. Moonage Daydream
2. Bad Axe
3. Good Night Oppy
4. All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
5. The Territory
Dom Sinacola
Critic, Paste
1. All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
2. Captain Ahab: The Story of Dave Stieb
3. The Fire Within: Requiem for Katia and Maurice Krafft
4. Children of the Mist
5. Outta the Muck*
6. Rewind & Play*
7. Relative*
8. After Sherman*
9. jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy
10. Bad Axe
11. Riotsville, U.S.A.
12. Blue Island
13. Navalny
14. I Didn’t See You There
15. Descendant
16. Eami*
17. My Imaginary Country
18. Section 1
19. The Territory
20. We Met in Virtual Reality
Comment: “Two of my favorite picks from this past year’s True/False (Ruslan Fedotov’s Where Are We Headed? and Sergei Loznitsa’s Mr. Landsbergis) are technically 2021, I suppose.”
Shane Slater
Critic
Staff Writer, Awards Radar
1. Nelly & Nadine
2. All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
3. The Territory
4. Fire of Love
5. Bad Axe
6. Descendant
7. Navalny
8. The Princess
9. Three Minutes: A Lengthening
10. A House Made of Splinters
Good Night Oppy
Danielle Solzman
Critic, Solzy at the Movies
1. Good Night Oppy
2. The U.S. and the Holocaust
3. Groucho & Cavett
4. If These Walls Could Sing
5. Sr.
6. George Carlin’s American Dream
7. A Tree of Life: The Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting
8. Fiddler’s Journey to the Big Screen
9. Descendant
10. Sidney
11. Fire of Love
12. The Redeem Team
13. Lucy and Desi
14. Aftershock
Anne Thompson
Critic
Editor at Large, IndieWire
1. All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
2. Navalny
3. Fire of Love
4. All That Breathes
5. Descendant
6. The Janes
7. Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues
8. Retrograde
9. Good Night Oppy
10. Mija
Sammi Turano
Critic
Owner and Editor in Chief, TVGrapevine
1. The Automat
2. Who Killed Biggie and Tupac?
3. We Need to Talk About Cosby
4. 11 Minutes
5. Victoria’s Secret: Angels and Demons
Aaron White
@FeelinFilm
Critic
Podcast Host, Feelin’ Film
1. Fire of Love
2. Good Night Oppy
3. Wildcat
4. Escape from Kabul
5. Navalny
6. The Territory
7. Sr.
8. Retrograde
9. Facing Monsters
10. Untold: The Girlfriend Who Didn’t Exist
Alex Winter
Filmmaker
Director, The YouTube Effect
1. Moonage Daydream
2. Riotsville, U.S.A.
3. Descendant
4. The Wild One*
5. All That Breathes
6. Fire of Love
7. All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
8. Is That Black Enough for You?!?
9. Navalny
10. The Cave of Adullam
Comment: “It was a strong year for docs of all genres and forms. Especially impressive as most were made in the thick of the pandemic. The best of this list were transporting, extremely well-told stories that have stayed with me all year.”
