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: March 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:
#115 Disintegration Loop 1.1 (2024, Basinski)

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  1. 249 -

    Martin Margiela: In His Own Words

    2019, in 0 top lists
    Check
  2. 248 new

    BloodSisters

    1995, in 0 top lists Check
  3. 247 -1

    Pearl Jam Twenty

    2011, in 1 top list Check
  4. 246 -5

    City Hall

    2020, in 2 top lists
    Check
  5. 245 -6

    Boys State

    2020, in 0 top lists
    Check
  6. 244 -8

    Shakedown

    2018, in 0 top lists Check
  7. 243 -

    Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of...

    2021, in 0 top lists
    Check
  8. 242 +6

    Ram Ke Naam

    1992, in 0 top lists Check
  9. 241 -4

    Ethnic Notions

    1986, in 1 top list Check
  10. 240 -2

    My Winnipeg

    2007, in 9 top lists Check
  11. 239 -6

    Mayor

    2020, in 0 top lists
    Check
  12. 238 new

    Ryuichi Sakamoto | Opus

    2023, in 0 top lists
    Check
  13. 237 -2

    Jane B. par Agnès V.

    1988 — a.k.a. Jane B. for Agnes V., in 1 top list Check
  14. 236 +6

    Dio: Dreamers Never Die

    2022, in 0 top lists
    Check
  15. 235 -1

    Winter on Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedom

    2015, in 1 top list Check
  16. 234 -3

    Garlic Is as Good as Ten Mothers

    1980, in 2 top lists Check
  17. 233 +12

    Estou Me Guardando Para Quando O Carnaval Chegar

    2019 — a.k.a. Waiting for the Carnival, in 0 top lists
    Check
  18. 232 -

    Citizenfour

    2014, in 3 top lists Check
  19. 231 -18

    Jodorowsky's Dune

    2013, in 1 top list Check
  20. 230 -

    Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage

    2010, in 1 top list Check
  21. 229 -3

    Mur murs

    1981, in 2 top lists Check
  22. 228 -5

    4 Little Girls

    1997, in 1 top list Check
  23. 227 +2

    Comizi d'amore

    1964 — a.k.a. Love Meetings, in 1 top list Check
  24. 226 -2

    Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am

    2019, in 0 top lists
    Check
  25. 225 +2

    Italianamerican

    1974, in 2 top lists Check
  26. 224 -2

    Blackfish

    2013, in 0 top lists Check
  27. 223 +5

    Pixo

    2009, in 0 top lists Check
  28. 222 -3

    In Jackson Heights

    2015, in 2 top lists Check
  29. 221 -12

    Beyond Utopia

    2023, in 0 top lists
    Check
  30. 220 +1

    Jane Fonda in Five Acts

    2018, in 0 top lists
    Check
  31. 219 -2

    La hora de los hornos: Notas y testimonios...

    1968 — a.k.a. The Hour of the Furnaces, in 9 top lists Check
  32. 218 +2

    Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America

    2021, in 0 top lists
    Check
  33. 217 -2

    56 Up

    2012, in 2 top lists Check
  34. 216 +2

    Être et avoir

    2002 — a.k.a. To Be and to Have, in 8 top lists Check
  35. 215 -1

    Night Will Fall

    2014, in 0 top lists Check
  36. 214 +2

    Bones Brigade: An Autobiography

    2012, in 0 top lists Check
  37. 213 -2

    The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of...

    2003 — a.k.a. The Fog of War, in 6 top lists Check
  38. 212 new

    Notre Corps

    2023 — a.k.a. Our Body, in 1 top list
    Check
  39. 211 -6

    Lumière!

    2016, in 0 top lists
    Check
  40. 210 -

    The Cove

    2009, in 2 top lists Check
  41. 209 -1

    Welcome to Chechnya

    2020, in 0 top lists
    Check
  42. 208 -1

    How to Survive a Plague

    2012, in 0 top lists Check
  43. 207 +5

    American Dream

    1990, in 2 top lists Check
  44. 206 -

    Hands on a Hardbody: The Documentary

    1997, in 1 top list Check
  45. 205 -1

    The King of Kong

    2007 — a.k.a. The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters, in 1 top list Check
  46. 204 -1

    At Sea

    2007, in 4 top lists Check
  47. 203 -2

    Children of the Mist

    2021, in 0 top lists
    Check
  48. 202 -

    Miss Americana

    2020, in 0 top lists
    Check
  49. 201 -2

    Colectiv

    2019 — a.k.a. Collective, in 2 top lists
    Check
  50. 200 -

    Daguerreotypes

    1975, in 2 top lists Check
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Last updated on Mar 28, 2024 by Chilton; source