One of the most iconic queer-themed documentaries of all time sees several trans women, drag queens and voguers reveal their passion and desire to be recognised like any other normal human being as they search for a queer utopia in New York’s Harlem.
As highly personal a documentary as it gets about seeking for truth and justice, featuring the derring-do of the journalist-director who was sexually assaulted by a powerful man many years ago as she painstakingly attempts to put the demon to the sword.
Minervini’s work about the real America i.e. the disturbia of the working-class provokes with its sheer no-bullshit honesty, with an invisible camera that gives zero distinction between drama and documentary.
A meaningful social initiative to connect young daughters with their incarcerated fathers is the subject of this rewarding Sundance award-winning documentary that might be one of the most moving films of the year.
An unclassifiable but whimsically rewarding anti-neocolonialist travelogue that sees the director turn the camera onto himself as he leaves his poor village and discovers how ridiculously modern the Western world is.
Panahi is literally in the driver seat, as he charts a new course for Iranian cinema (of the oppressed) in this powerful docu-drama that is as defiant as any in his oeuvre.
A political statement of intent by Panahi – one that is imbued with a sense of loss and frustration, yet shines brightly as a courageous beacon of hope for change.
McElwee’s intended docu-travelogue about General Sherman’s American Civil War campaign turns into a narcissistic look at his faltering romantic exploits with the Southern women around him, yet its unabashed subjectivity feels surprisingly fresh and compelling.
Akin’s exuberant documentary is a work of real cultural value, capturing the vibrant if ‘unclassifiable’ Turkish underground and street music scene with an inquisitive spirit.
A Finnish youth environmental activism documentary that is surprisingly genteel, and hence quietly effective and reflective, encouraging us to be compassionate to activists—and as activists—in active modes of disruption.
Eternality Tan 