Best Documentary Films

Documentary Category

Is There Anybody Out There? director Ella Glendining is a disabled white woman in her twenties with long blonde hair, short, unusual looking legs, and a few tattoos on her arm. Ella sunbathes on a sandy beach. She looks blissful, basking in the sunshine. A sliver of sparkling blue ocean can be seen in distance.

Ella Glendining’s Debut ‘Is There Anybody Out There?’ Is a Captivating Battle Cry for the Disabled Community

Ella Glendining speaks about bringing together the patchwork elements of her empowering documentary about her search for someone else with the same disability.

Documentary

Five Decades of Songwriting Comes Together in Oliver Murray’s Doc ‘Now and Then: The Last Beatles Song’

Oliver Murray explains why it was important to be concise and economical with the storytelling in his doc about the creation of a legendary Beatles song.

Documentary

NONO & Rodrgio Inada’s Epic ‘Naija Odyssey’ for Whatsapp Reconciles the Fundamentals of Identity and Belonging

NONO & Rodrgio Inada layout the methodical juggling needed to pull off the ambitious multi-country production of their Giannis Antetokounmpo profile film.

Documentary

Nudity Is Stripped of Its Over Sexualised Prejudices in Ross Casswell’s Liberating Documentary Short ‘Naked Woman’

Ross Casswell discusses finding relatable clarity in the collective stories of the three women documented in his exploration of nudity and the female form.

Documentary, Premiere

Robin Trouillet Crafts a Portrait of a Hard Raver Who Goes Again the Grain in ‘Turning Man – 81RPM’

Robin Trouillet reveals how he created a three-dimensional portrait of a unique individual with an uncompromising spirit for his music documentary short.

Documentary, Live Action, Premiere

Zhenia Kazankina’s Doc-Fiction Hybrid ‘Continuity of Parks’ Imagines Greek Heroes Living in a Moscow Park

Zhenia Kazankina breaks down the naturalist performances and mix of documentary and fiction methods of her 16mm reimagining of Greek myth in a Moscow park.

Documentary

Will & Carly Capture the Worrying Reality of Male Perceptions of Breasts in ‘TITS: A Voyage Into Objectification’

Will & Carly speak about exploring the disparity between the fantasy of the male gaze and the reality of women’s breasts in their social experiment short.

Documentary, Premiere

James Slater’s ‘Look for the Diamonds’ Encourages Us Grab Life by the Horns No Matter the Circumstances

James Slater talks about the unconventional approach to documenting illness he employed for his documentary celebrating a uniquely positive outlook on life.

Documentary

Audrey Mascina’s ‘I AM THAT I AM’ Explores Sexuality as Expression and Empowerment Without Constraints

We speak to Audrey Mascina about her strong desire to challenge the limits of how sexuality in all its glory can be captured and presented by filmmakers.

Documentary

Visitor Share the Origin Story of a Remarkable Female Sumo Wrestler in Documentary Short ‘I am Tuvsho’

George Thomson and Lukas Schrank explain how their kit choices allowed them to gain a more intimate perspective for their short documentary.

Documentary

Evgenia Arbugaeva & Maxim Arbugaev Acutely Capture the Effects of Climate Change in Oscar-Nominated Doc ‘Haulout’

Evgenia Arbugaeva explains the difficulty of shooting an Oscar-nominated nature documentary amongst thousands of scared walruses.

Documentary

Joshua Seftel’s Oscar Nominated Short ‘Stranger at the Gate’ Documents the Most Inspiring of Redemption Arcs

Joshua Seftel reveals the interview techniques that encouraged reactions which paint a thousand words in his inspirational love over hate documentary short.