Top 10: Best documentaries reviewed by Film Excess to date

1. The Look of Silence (2014) - Joshua Oppenheimer

2. Let the Fire Burn (2013) - Jason Osder

3. Amy (2015) - Asif Kapadia
 

4. Finding Vivian Maier (2013) - John Maloof, Charlie Siskel

5. Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry (2012) - Alison Klayman

6. Secrets of the Tribe (2010) - José Padilha

7. Burma VJ/Burma VJ: Reporter i et Lukket Land/Burma VJ: Reporting From a Closed Country (2008) - Anders Østergaard
 

8. 20 Feet from Stardom (2013) - Morgan Neville

9. Corman's World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel (2011) - Alex Stapleton 

10. Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005) - Alex Gibney

Other masterpiece documentary reviewed by Film Excess to date:

The Cove (2009) - Louie Psihoyos

Other great documentaries reviewed by Film Excess to date (in alphabetical order):

A World Not Ours (2012) - Mahdi Fleifel
The Act of Killing/Jagal (2012) - Joshua Oppenheimer
Alive Inside/Alive Inside: A Story of Music and Memory (2014) - Michael Rossato-Bennett
Armadillo (2010) - Janus Metz
The Bengali Detective (2011) - Philip Cox
Crumb (1994) - Terry Zwigoff
Dario Argento: An Eye for Horror (2000, TV) - Leon Ferguson
Earth (2007) - Alastair Fothergill, Mark Linfield
Family (2001) - Phie Ambo, Sami Saif
The Five Obstructions/De Fem Benspænd (2003) - Jørgen Leth, Lars von Trier 
GasLand (2010) - Josh Fox
Happy People: A Year in the Taiga (2010) - Werner Herzog, Dmitry Vasyukov
Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple (2006) - Stanley Nelson

Good, recommendable documentaries reviewed by Film Excess to date (in alphabetical order):

Danmark (1935) - Poul Henningsen
East Side Story (1997) - Dana Ranga 
F for Fake (1973) - Orson Welles, Gary Graver, Oja Kodar, François Reichenbach 
The Imposter (2012) -Bart Layton
Searching for Sugar Man (2012) - Malik Bendjelloul

Mediocre, poor and/or failed documentary reviewed to date:

Man With a Movie Camera/Человек с киноаппаратом (1929) - Dziga Vertov

[30 titles in total]

Previous Top 10 lists:

The best action movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
The best adapted movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
The best adventure movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
The best big flop movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
The best B/W movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
The best true story movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
The best big hit movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
The best biopic movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Best 'box office success' movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Best car chases in movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Best comedies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Best cop movies reviewed by Film Excess to date   Best crime movies reviewed by Film Excess to date      Best debut movies reviewed by Film Excess to date Best Danish movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Top 10: Best Disney movies reviewed by Film Excess to date

What do you think of the list? 
Which documentaries would be on yours?  
What worthwhile documentaries are missing? 

Secrets of the Tribe (2010, documentary) - Padilha's superb anthropology documentary

♥♥♥♥♥♥

 

1 Film Excess win:

Best Documentary   

1 Film Excess nomination:

Best Documentary (won)

 

An ominous poster for José Padilha's Secrets of the Tribe

 

Secrets of the Tribe looks into the controversy arisen by Patrick Tierney's book Darkness in El Dorado (2000), which raises grave accusations against prominent Western anthropologists concerning their involvements with the indigenous Yanomamö people in the Amazon.

Secrets of the Tribe is a phenomenal example of how to make a documentary of this kind. It deals with relatively intellectual and complex content; scientific research conducted decades ago, ideals of science and research in general, references in many directions, a large gallery of subjects and their conflicts. From the dethroned, megalomaniacal Napoleon Chagnon, who stands out as resourceful and intelligent, - but also monstrous, - to criminal Jacques Lizot, through Claude Lévi-Strauss, Kenneth Good and more peripheral characters, Secrets of the Tribe presents a fascinating and quite disturbing look-in at the world of indigenous anthropology. It raises a critical and keen debate of the discipline to a higher level, where it is the legitimacy of modern science as a whole that is really up for debate.

Secrets of the Tribe is directed by Brazilian master filmmaker José Padhilha (Elite Squad/Tropa de Elite (2007)).

 

Related posts:

 

2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

A still of Chagnon with a Yanomami Indian

LA Times critic Kenneth Turan sings his praise for the film here

Cost: Unknown

Box office: Unknown

= Unknown

[Secrets of the Tribe premiered January 22 (Sundance) and runs 110 minutes. It was shot in Brazil, Venezuela and the US as a co-production between 11 companies and institutions. It was screened at 5 US festivals in total and at 1 Polish, as well as on various TV channels. 260 IMDb users have given Secrets of the Tribe a 7.5/10 average rating.]

What do you think of Secrets of the Tribe?