The 16 Best Documentaries of 2016
Nonfics editors share their favorite nonfiction films of the year.“It’s been a great year for docs” has become a cliché, and that’s a good thing. The merits of individual list-toppers are always up fo…
Daniel Walber
‘Notes on Blindness’ Is a Precise Portrait of Altered Perception
John Hull, an Australian theologian working at the UK’s University of Birmingham, went blind in 1983. He was 48 years old. Over the next two decades, he skillfully adjusted his professional, intellect…
The 5 Must-See Films of DOC NYC 2016
DOC NYC can be an overwhelming affair. The largest festival of its kind in the United States, it showcases well over 100 feature documentaries, including many of them world and international premieres…
‘Portrait of a Garden’ Is a Colorful Sojourn in a Place of Beauty
A rose is a rose is a rose. That may be true, and who am I to argue with Gertrude Stein? But a pear is not a pear is not a pear, as is quickly apparent in Rosie Stapel’s debut feature, Portrait of a G…
‘Thank You for Playing’ Is a Heartfelt Meditation on Parenting, Cancer and Nonfiction Art
At first glance, video games and documentaries have very little in common. One is an interactive medium, usually built from computer generated 3D animation and often featuring entirely fantastical pla…
‘13th’ is an All-Too-Brief Document of America’s Essential Crime
What do we mean when we call a film, particularly a documentary, “important”?Ava DuVernay is certainly an important filmmaker, both as an artist and as an advocate for positive change in a white- and …
‘Cameraperson’ is a Powerful and Inquisitive Memoir
The tremendously beautiful opening images of Kirsten Johnson’s Cameraperson were shot in the small Bosnian town of Foča. The scene is rural, picturesque, and evocative of an ancient way of life, like …
‘The Seasons in Quincy: Four Portraits of John Berger’ Is a Family Album Anchored by Tilda Swinton
The Seasons in Quincy: Four Portraits of John Berger is, unavoidably, an anthology film. It is made up of four shorts, each of which was directed by a different person and shot in a different season. …
‘Weiner’ and ‘The Other Side’: When Documentaries Have Cringe Appeal
The crowning moment of Josh Kriegman and Elyse Steinberg’s Weiner comes courtesy of MSNBC. Anthony Weiner, flailing in the second wave of sexting revelations that utterly ruined his campaign for the m…
‘Our Last Tango’ Is a Thrilling Portrait of a Tumultuous Career
Maria Nieves and Juan Carlos Copes redefined an art form. Likely the most important tango couple of the 20th century (and the 21st, as Nieves would tell you herself), they took the dance out of the ni…