The Best Documentaries of 2021
'Summer of Soul' was voted the top documentary of the year in the 9th annual Nonfics year-end poll.
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31 Must-See Documentaries Streaming on GuideDoc
We recommend a month's worth of favorites from the documentary streaming service.
‘The Biggest Little Farm’ Leads 2019 Critics’ Choice Documentary Award Nominations
Honoring the best documentaries of 2019, the Critics Choice Association will name their winners on November 10th.
Frederick Wiseman to Be Honored at 2019 Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards
This year's CCDAs will be held on November 10th in Brooklyn.
The Best Documentaries on Amazon Prime in September 2019
This month's additions include a masterpiece about a chimpanzee and a doom and gloom doc from producer Martin Scorsese.
The Best Documentaries on Netflix in September 2019
This month's new additions include 'For the Birds' and Petra Costa's 'Elena.'
The Best Documentaries on Amazon Prime in August 2019
Amazon is winning the streaming wars when it comes to quantity of quality documentaries available.
The Best Documentaries on Netflix in August 2019
This month's new additions include a wild story involving baseball doping and the first release presented by Barack and Michelle Obama.
The 100 Best Documentaries Streaming on Amazon Prime in July 2019
This month's new additions include a recent Oscar nominee, a classic music doc trilogy, and the latest from Robert Greene.
The 50 Best Documentaries Streaming on Netflix in July 2019
This month sees the debut of 'The Great Hack,' a documentary about Cambridge Analytica from the Oscar-nominated team behind 'The Square.'
The 100 Best Documentaries Streaming on Amazon Prime This June
This month's additions include the Oscar-winning 'One Day in September, plus documentaries about emergency room doctors, punk rock dads, and the cult classic film 'Flash Gordon.'
The 50 Best Documentaries Streaming on Netflix This June
This month's additions include two essential music documentaries, one of them a new film by Martin Scorsese.
100 Must-See Documentaries Streaming on Amazon Prime This May
This month's additions include a political documentary starring Robert Downey Jr., a look at stunt performers including Zoe Bell, and the previous film by the director of 'Apollo 11.'
50 Must-See Documentaries Streaming on Netflix This May
This month's new additions include documentaries about marijuana, industrial musicals, and Alexandria Ocasia-Cortez.
100 Must-See Documentaries Streaming on Amazon Prime This April
This month's additions include two of our favorite nonfiction films of last year plus Sarah Polley's brilliant 'Stories We Tell.'
50 Must-See Documentaries Streaming on Netflix This April
We recommend the very best in nonfiction content streaming on Netflix this month.
100 Must-See Documentaries Streaming on Amazon Prime This February
This month's new documentaries available include 'Generation Wealth' and the Oscar-nominated classic 'Streetwise.'
100 Must-See Documentaries Streaming on Netflix This February
This month, we present a guide to all the Oscar-winning and Oscar-nominated documentaries streaming on Netflix.
100 Must-See Documentaries Streaming on Netflix This January
The new year brings a new documentary from Chris Smith on the Fyre Festival debacle plus the return of 'Senna.'
‘Minding the Gap’ and ‘The Silence of Others’ Lead IDA Honors
The International Documentary Association has also already named some of this year's winners, including 'Distant Constellation' and 'Bisbee '17.'
‘Free Solo,’ ‘RBG,’ and ‘Quincy’ Lead Music Awards for Documentaries
The Hollywood Music in Media Awards honor original scores, soundtracks, and songs in films, television, and video games.
‘Free Solo,’ ‘Minding the Gap,’ and ‘Wild Wild Country’ Lead Critics’ Choice Nominees
The 3rd annual Critics' Choice Documentary Awards will be held on November 10th.
100 Must-See Documentaries Streaming on Netflix This April
100 Must-See Documentaries Streaming on Netflix This MonthBecause people say there are no good movies on Netflix anymore.Not much is changing for documentary offerings at Netflix this month. There hav…
100 Must-See Documentaries Streaming on Netflix This April
100 Must-See Documentaries Streaming on Netflix This Month Because people say there are no good movies on Netflix anymore. Not much is changing for documentary offerings at Netflix this month. T…
100 Must-See Documentaries Streaming on Amazon Prime This March
If you’re a Prime member, you’ve got plenty to watch for free. Ten new recommendations have been added to the list this month, including one title (cult classic Heavy Metal Parking Lot) in the shorts…
Netflix Wins Its First Oscar for a Feature With ‘Icarus’
The Academy Awards also honored the short documentary ‘Heaven is a Traffic Jam on the 405.’
100 Must-See Documentaries Streaming on Netflix This March
100 Must-See Documentaries Streaming on Netflix This MonthBecause people say there are no good movies on Netflix anymore.More of our favorite documentaries from last year have been added to Netflix in…
100 Must-See Documentaries Streaming on Amazon Prime This February
100 Must-See Documentaries Streaming on Amazon Prime This MonthIf you’re a Prime member, you’ve got plenty to watch for free.This month, we’ve added five titles to the Amazon 100 list that are new to …
100 Must-See Documentaries Streaming on Netflix This February
100 Must-See Documentaries Streaming on Netflix This MonthBecause people say there are no good movies on Netflix anymore.There’s not a ton of movement on or off Netflix this month, for documentaries a…
2018 Oscar Nominations
10 documentaries are contending for Academy Awards this year.Nominees for the 90th Academy Awards were announced this morning, and there weren’t too many surprises in the documentary categories. The o…
Barack Obama Shares the Secret to Great Leadership in ‘The Final Year’ Clip
Watch an inspiring scene from the new documentary.Democrats are sure to be in a mournful mood while watching The Final Year, but that doesn’t mean the new documentary is totally depressing. In fact, f…
100 Must-See Documentaries Streaming on Amazon Prime This January
100 Must-See Documentaries Streaming on Amazon Prime This MonthIf you’re a Prime member, you’ve got plenty to watch for free.This month, the Amazon 100 list adds nine new titles, including the Steve J…
Support Nonfics
You can help fund this growing outlet for documentary criticism.In the new year, we at Nonfics are making a harder push for quality content, and that means we need to make a harder push for support fr…
100 Must-See Documentaries Streaming on Netflix This January
100 Must-See Documentaries Streaming on Netflix This MonthBecause people say there are no good movies on Netflix anymore.This month, an old favorite rejoins the Netflix 100, as the underrated music do…
‘Faces Places’ Voted the Best Documentary of 2017 in 5th Annual Nonfics Year-End Poll
100 nonfiction releases ranked by critics and pros.This year didn’t seem to have a frontrunner for best documentary of 2017, but it makes sense which film has topped our annual poll of critics, filmma…
10 Short Documentaries Named to 2017 Oscar Shortlist, Including Four Now Streaming
Half of these films will be nominated for an Academy Award.The Academy of Arts and Sciences has unveiled the 2017 shortlist of 10 finalists in contention for the Oscar for Best Documentary Short. And …
100 Must-See Documentaries Streaming on Netflix This December
100 Must-See Documentaries Streaming on Netflix This MonthBecause people say there are no good movies on Netflix anymore.This month, Netflix proves to be in the Errol Morris business with the launch o…
100 Must-See Documentaries Streaming on Amazon Prime This November
100 Must-See Documentaries Streaming on Amazon Prime This MonthIf you’re a Prime member, you’ve got plenty to watch for free.This month, the Amazon 100 list adds nine new titles, including the Oscar-c…
‘Jane’ Named Critics’ Choice for Best Documentary of 2017
Other Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards winners include ‘Kedi’ and the Ken Burns limited series ‘The Vietnam War.’Last night the Broadcats Film Critics Association and Broadcast Television Journalist…
100 Must-See Documentaries Streaming on Netflix This November
100 Must-See Documentaries Streaming on Netflix This MonthBecause people say there are no good movies on Netflix anymore.This month’s Netflix 100 introduces five new titles to the list, two of which d…
‘Faces Places’ and ‘Edith+Eddie’ are Among 2017 IDA Documentary Award Nominees
Contenders for feature and short categories plus honorees for Creative Recognition Awards have been announced.The International Documentary Association has revealed the five nominees for Best Feature …
First Round of Nominees for the 2017 IDA Documentary Awards Announced
AwardsSeries, archival, and student contenders plus special honorees have been unveiled for the December event.‘Watani: My Homeland’While most of the big categories for this year’s IDA Documentary Awa…
‘Kedi’ Leads 2017 Critics Choice Documentary Awards Nominations
Here are the best documentary contenders of the year.Nominees for this year’s Critics Choice Documentary Awards have been announced by a joint partnership of the Broadcast Film Critics Association and…
100 Must-See Documentaries Streaming on Netflix This October
100 Must-See Documentaries Streaming on Netflix This MonthBecause people say there are no good movies on Netflix anymore.This month’s Netflix 100 features six new additions, some of which debuted on t…
Alec Baldwin to Star in John DeLorean Documentary
Don Argott is directing the film about the man behind the ‘Back to the Future’ car.We’ve got some news about the next documentary from two of our favorite filmmakers, Don Argott and Sheena M. Joyce (T…
Alec Baldwin to Star in John DeLorean Documentary
Don Argott is directing the film about the man behind the ‘Back to the Future’ car.We’ve got some news about the next documentary from two of our favorite filmmakers, Don Argott and Sheena M. Joyce (T…
100 Must-See Documentaries Streaming on Amazon Prime This September
100 Must-See Documentaries Streaming on Amazon Prime This MonthIf you’re a Prime member, you’ve got plenty to watch for free.Following a summer hiatus, the Amazon 100 is back, and we’ve got a lot of n…
100 Must-See Documentaries Streaming on Netflix This September
100 Must-See Documentaries Streaming on Netflix This MonthBecause people say there are no good movies on Netflix anymore.After taking a short hiatus this summer, we’re back with your monthly essential…
Netflix Unveils Two Original Documentary Shorts at the 2017 Telluride Film Festival
‘Heroin(e)’ and ‘Long Shot’ to launch globally on Netflix.As our friend Adam Benzine points out, Netflix debuted The White Helmets at Telluride last year. Will one of these new short docs be an Oscar …
GlobeDocs Film Festival Announces 2017 Film Lineup
Boston’s only all-documentary film festival runs October 11–15.Below find the press release announcing the program for this year’s GlobeDocs Film Festival, which includes a lot of great-looking nonfic…
25 Perfect Shots in Documentary
As part of the media company that owns One Perfect Shot, the Nonfics team selected some perfect documentary shots.
10 Reasons Hollywood Film Scores are the World’s Greatest Form of Music
Nonfics is now a newsletter! Please support documentary criticism by subscribing here: nonfics.substack.com. Most people know the James Bond theme music or the Pirates of the Caribbean theme. …
6 Picks with the Soska Sisters: The Twisted Twins on Their Documentary Favorites
In 2015, Jen and Sylvia Soska shared their favorite documentaries.
Video: Sebastian Junger Discusses ‘Korengal’ and His “Oddly Relaxing” Time at Outpost Restrepo
One of the most anticipated documentaries of the year, Korengal is the semi-sequel to the Oscar-nominated 2010 film Restrepo. Again mining the footage shot on the frontlines of the War in Afghanistan,…
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Great news, fans of real stories. You can now sign-up to receive updates from Nonfics.com right in your inbox. It’s the easiest way to get the best documentary news, reviews and editorials from the ha…
‘The Realness’ Episode 15: ’12 O’Clock Boys’
Episode #15 - 12 O'Clock Boys: Libsyn Player12 O’Clock Boys is one of the most critically acclaimed documentaries of the year so far, but we’re not quite sure it’s that great. Luckily our friend K…
‘The Realness’ Episode 14: The Best and Worst Documentaries of Sundance 2014
Episode #14 - The Docs of Sundance 2014: Libsyn PlayerTo download the podcast, right click here and choose “Save Link As…Download MP3 FileSubscribe on iTunes!Links:All of the Sundance coverage at Nonf…
Shots From the Canon #17: ‘Gimme Shelter’ (Albert Maysles, David Maysles, Charlotte Zwerin, 1970)
Every week or so, filmmaker and writer Robert Greene will attempt to push for a new canon of cinematic nonfiction. This week’s Shots is written by guest filmmaker and writer Amanda Wilder.
‘The Realness’ Episode 13: ‘The Crash Reel’
Episode #13 - The Crash Reel: Libsyn PlayerThis week we review The Crash Reel, Lucy Walker’s new film about snowboarder Kevin Pearce. The film has a number of passionate fans, and we try to pin down e…
‘The Realness’ Episode 12: The 2013 Oscar Shortlist for Best Documentary Feature
Episode #12 - Oscar Shortlist: Libsyn PlayerSpecial Oscar edition! This week we tackle the 15 films on the Best Documentary Feature shortlist. Which films were left off the list, and why? After Tiller…
‘The Realness’ Episode 11: ‘Style Wars’ and DOC NYC Picks
Episode #11 - Style Wars: Libsyn PlayerHow does it compare to similar movies, like Paris Is Burning, and does it build its characters effectively enough? In this respect, Chris sees it as maybe more v…
‘The Realness’ Episode 10: ‘The War Room’ and ‘Caucus’
Episode #10 - The War Room and Caucus: Libsyn PlayerIt’s election week! In this episode we start with a modern classic of American nonfiction cinema, D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus’s The War Room. …
‘The Realness’ Episode 9: ‘These Birds Walk’
Episode #9 - These Birds Walk: Libsyn PlayerThe most critically acclaimed documentary opening this weekend is These Birds Walk, a film from Omar Mullick and Bassam Tariq about the Edhi Foundation of P…
‘The Realness’ Episode 8: ‘The Square’ and ‘Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment’
Episode #8 - The Square and Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment: Libsyn PlayerFirst up this week is Jehane Noujaim’s The Square, a new film made from within the Egyptian Revolution. We discuss it…
‘The Realness’ Episode 7: New York Film Festival and ‘Blood Brother’
Episode #7 - New York Film Festival and Blood Brother: Libsyn PlayerThis week we look back at some of our favorite films from the New York Film Festival. Their documentary slate this year was a divers…
‘The Realness’ Episode 6: ‘The Act of Killing’
Episode #6 - The Act of Killing: Libsyn PlayerThis week we discuss Joshua Oppenheimer‘s The Act of Killing, now in theaters. It follows a group of gangsters in Indonesia, who were responsible for many…
‘The Realness’ Episode 5: The Top 5 Docs of 2013 (So Far)
Podcast #5 - The Top 5 Docs of 2013 (So Far): Libsyn Player2013 is halfway gone and we’ve already seen plenty of list-worthy documentaries. This week we each count down our top five docs of the year s…
‘The Realness’ Episode 4: ’20 Feet From Stardom’ and Backup Singers
Podcast #4 - 20 Feet from Stardom: Libsyn PlayerWe’re back! 20 Feet from Stardom is so good that it jolted us out of our hiatus. We review the film, Morgan Neville‘s documentary music doc. Finally, we…
‘The Realness’ Episode 3: A Discussion of Les Blank
Podcast #3 - Les Blank: Libsyn PlayerThis week we dive into the work of the late Les Blank, one of the great documentarians of American culture. We’re joined by Charlotte Cook, Director of Programming…
‘The Realness’ Episode 2: ‘Free Angela and All Political Prisoners’ and Narrative Remakes of Documentaries
Podcast #2 - 'Free Angela and All Political Prisoners' and Fiction Remakes: Libsyn PlayerThis week we review Shola Lynch‘s new film, Free Angela and All Political Prisoners, and its “historica…
‘The Realness’ Episode 1: ‘Room 237’ and Humor in Documentary
Podcast #1 - Room 237: Libsyn PlayerIn this inaugural episode of The Realness Documentary Podcast, Daniel and Christopher discuss Room 237.Room 237 is a subjective documentary that explores the numero…