Letterboxd's Official Top 250 Documentary Films

Letterboxd's Official Top 250 Documentary Films's icon

Created by Chilton.

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LAST UPDATE: April 2024

A companion piece to Dave Vis' list of Letterboxd's official top 250 films of all-time, which excludes documentaries from consideration.

Ranked by average user rating. This list was extracted from here. Updated once a month. This is an official list progress project on all-time stats pages for Pro and Patron users. Expanded from a top 100 to a top 250 on June 27th, 2021, on the list's 3-year anniversary.

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ELIGIBILITY RULES:

• Documentaries must be feature-length (45+ minutes), with a theatrical and/or festival release in its entirety.
• TV series, miniseries, and episodes are excluded but docs listed as 'TV movie' on IMDb are eligible. Exceptions made for series and episodes that also had a limited theatrical release.
• No featurettes unless theatrically distributed, even if feature-length (featurettes are marked as 'Video' on IMDb, such as 'making of' docs).
• In an attempt to combat unintentional fan manipulation, all music-adjacent films must have screened at a film festival to qualify.
• No standup comedy marked as a documentary, nor any stage shows. Exceptions may be made for borderline exceptions.
• Skateboarding compilations are excluded.
• There is a 1,000 minimum ratings threshold.

NOT ON IMDB:
#112 Disintegration Loop 1.1 (2024, Basinski)

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  1. 1 -

    Stop Making Sense

    1984, in 9 top lists Check
  2. 2 -

    Shoah

    1985, in 18 top lists Check
  3. 3 -

    Paris Is Burning

    1990, in 12 top lists Check
  4. 4 -

    Nathan for You: Finding Frances

    2017, in 1 top list
    Check
  5. 5 -

    As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief...

    2000, in 6 top lists Check
  6. 6 -

    O.J.: Made in America

    2016, in 7 top lists Check
  7. 7 -

    Hoop Dreams

    1994, in 15 top lists Check
  8. 8 -

    Tiexi qu

    2002 — a.k.a. Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks, in 8 top lists Check
  9. 9 -

    The Act of Killing

    2012, in 9 top lists Check
  10. 10 -

    Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father

    2008, in 2 top lists Check
  11. 11 -

    For Sama

    2019, in 3 top lists
    Check
  12. 12 -

    Streetwise

    1984, in 4 top lists Check
  13. 13 -

    Gaza Fights for Freedom

    2019, in 0 top lists
    Check
  14. 14 -

    Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii

    1972, in 1 top list Check
  15. 15 -

    13th

    2016, in 3 top lists Check
  16. 16 -

    Koyaanisqatsi

    1982, in 12 top lists Check
  17. 17 -

    Cabra Marcado Para Morrer

    1984 — a.k.a. Twenty Years Later, in 6 top lists Check
  18. 18 -

    Harlan County U.S.A.

    1976, in 11 top lists Check
  19. 19 -

    Baraka

    1992, in 5 top lists Check
  20. 20 +1

    The Look of Silence

    2014, in 4 top lists Check
  21. 21 -1

    Yuki yukite, shingun

    1987 — a.k.a. The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On, in 10 top lists Check
  22. 22 -

    Minding the Gap

    2018, in 2 top lists
    Check
  23. 23 -

    Les plages d'Agnès

    2008 — a.k.a. The Beaches of Agnès, in 6 top lists Check
  24. 24 -

    Chelovek s kino-apparatom

    1929 — a.k.a. Man with a Movie Camera, in 24 top lists Check
  25. 25 -

    Welfare

    1975, in 7 top lists Check
  26. 26 -

    La batalla de Chile: La lucha de un pueblo sin...

    1975 — a.k.a. The Battle of Chile: Part I, in 8 top lists Check
  27. 27 -

    Black Is... Black Ain't

    1994, in 2 top lists Check
  28. 28 -

    When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts

    2006, in 6 top lists Check
  29. 29 -

    La batalla de Chile: La lucha de un pueblo sin...

    1976 — a.k.a. The Battle of Chile: Part II, in 6 top lists Check
  30. 30 -

    Edifício Master

    2002, in 2 top lists Check
  31. 31 -

    American Utopia

    2020 — a.k.a. David Byrne's American Utopia, in 3 top lists
    Check
  32. 32 +1

    Life of Crime 1984-2020

    2021, in 0 top lists
    Check
  33. 33 -1

    Jogo de Cena

    2007 — a.k.a. Playing, in 4 top lists Check
  34. 34 -

    Dominion

    2018, in 0 top lists
    Check
  35. 35 -

    Tongues Untied

    1989, in 11 top lists Check
  36. 36 -

    Feng ai

    2013 — a.k.a. 'Til Madness Do Us Part, in 1 top list Check
  37. 37 -

    Senna

    2010, in 4 top lists Check
  38. 38 +3

    20 Days in Mariupol

    2023, in 1 top list
    Check
  39. 39 -1

    Samsara

    2011, in 3 top lists Check
  40. 40 -1

    Sans soleil

    1983 — a.k.a. Sans Soleil, in 16 top lists Check
  41. 41 -1

    Les glaneurs et la glaneuse

    2000 — a.k.a. The Gleaners & I, in 13 top lists Check
  42. 42 new

    Bray Wyatt: Becoming Immortal

    2024 — a.k.a. Becoming Immortal
    Check
  43. 43 -1

    Century of Cinema: A Personal Journey with...

    1995, in 1 top list Check
  44. 44 -1

    Flugt

    2021 — a.k.a. Flee, in 2 top lists
    Check
  45. 45 +11

    Jenin, Jenin

    2003, in 0 top lists Check
  46. 46 -2

    Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse

    1991, in 2 top lists Check
  47. 47 -2

    All the Beauty and the Bloodshed

    2022, in 3 top lists
    Check
  48. 48 -2

    F for Fake

    1973, in 11 top lists Check
  49. 49 -2

    Tôkyô orinpikku

    1965 — a.k.a. Tokyo Olympiad, in 6 top lists Check
  50. 50 -1

    The Last Waltz

    1978, in 9 top lists Check
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Last updated on Apr 24, 2024 by Chilton; source