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. 200 -3

    The Great White Silence

    1922, in 3 top lists Check
  2. 189 -3

    Häxan

    1922, in 17 top lists Check
  3. 24 -

    Chelovek s kino-apparatom

    1929 — a.k.a. Man with a Movie Camera, in 24 top lists Check
  4. 93 +6

    Nazi Concentration Camps

    1945 — a.k.a. Nazi Concentration and Prison Camps, in 0 top lists Check
  5. 136 -3

    Jazz on a Summer's Day

    1959, in 2 top lists Check
  6. 106 -6

    Le joli mai

    1963 — a.k.a. The Lovely Month of May, in 4 top lists Check
  7. 229 -2

    Comizi d'amore

    1964 — a.k.a. Love Meetings, in 1 top list Check
  8. 138 +3

    Obyknovennyy fashizm

    1965 — a.k.a. Triumph Over Violence, in 6 top lists Check
  9. 49 -2

    Tôkyô orinpikku

    1965 — a.k.a. Tokyo Olympiad, in 6 top lists Check
  10. 101 -

    Dont Look Back

    1967 — a.k.a. Bob Dylan: Dont Look Back, in 10 top lists Check
  11. 203 -4

    Titicut Follies

    1967, in 9 top lists Check
  12. 97 -2

    Diaries Notes and Sketches

    1968, in 5 top lists Check
  13. 217 +2

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

    1968 — a.k.a. The Hour of the Furnaces, in 9 top lists Check
  14. 116 -2

    Monterey Pop

    1968, in 2 top lists Check
  15. 64 -3

    Le chagrin et la pitié

    1969 — a.k.a. The Sorrow and the Pity, in 11 top lists Check
  16. 161 -5

    Gimme Shelter

    1970, in 8 top lists Check
  17. 130 -4

    Hospital

    1970, in 5 top lists Check
  18. 62 -

    Original Cast Album: Company

    1970, in 3 top lists Check
  19. 74 -3

    Woodstock

    1970, in 13 top lists Check
  20. 147 -2

    Land des Schweigens und der Dunkelheit

    1971 — a.k.a. Land of Silence and Darkness, in 5 top lists Check
  21. 90 -3

    The Murder of Fred Hampton

    1971, in 2 top lists Check
  22. 174 -2

    La région centrale

    1971, in 8 top lists Check
  23. 58 -3

    Obrazy starého sveta

    1972 — a.k.a. Pictures of the Old World, in 6 top lists Check
  24. 14 -

    Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii

    1972, in 1 top list Check
  25. 121 -4

    Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania

    1972, in 5 top lists Check
  26. 48 -2

    F for Fake

    1973, in 11 top lists Check
  27. 192 -5

    Wattstax

    1973, in 1 top list Check
  28. 83 -2

    Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars

    1973, in 0 top lists Check
  29. 77 -2

    Hearts and Minds

    1974, in 7 top lists Check
  30. 227 -2

    Italianamerican

    1974, in 2 top lists Check
  31. 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
  32. 202 -2

    Daguerreotypes

    1975, in 2 top lists Check
  33. 153 -3

    Grey Gardens

    1975, in 10 top lists Check
  34. 25 -

    Welfare

    1975, in 7 top lists Check
  35. 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
  36. 18 -

    Harlan County U.S.A.

    1976, in 11 top lists Check
  37. 132 -1

    Lost, Lost, Lost

    1976, in 2 top lists Check
  38. 113 -2

    News from Home

    1976, in 7 top lists Check
  39. 190 -

    21 Up

    1977, in 2 top lists Check
  40. 78 -2

    Le fond de l'air est rouge

    1977 — a.k.a. A Grin Without A Cat, in 3 top lists Check
  41. 50 -1

    The Last Waltz

    1978, in 9 top lists Check
  42. 119 +4

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

    1979 — a.k.a. The Battle of Chile: Part III, in 6 top lists Check
  43. 243 -9

    Garlic Is as Good as Ten Mothers

    1980, in 2 top lists Check
  44. 232 -3

    Mur murs

    1981, in 2 top lists Check
  45. 135 -3

    Burden of Dreams

    1982, in 4 top lists Check
  46. 16 -

    Koyaanisqatsi

    1982, in 12 top lists Check
  47. 40 -1

    Sans soleil

    1983 — a.k.a. Sans Soleil, in 16 top lists Check
  48. 171 -6

    Style Wars

    1983, in 0 top lists Check
  49. 79 +3

    Vestida de azul

    1983 — a.k.a. Dressed in Blue, in 0 top lists Check
  50. 125 -3

    28 Up

    1984, in 5 top lists Check
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Last updated on Apr 24, 2024 by Chilton; source