trailer trash

Current TV recently ran a series on its US channel dubbed 50 Documentaries to See Before You Die. The series, presented by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me, The Greatest Movie Ever Sold), presents ten documentaries each episode which have been dubbed essential viewing by a panel of “pre-eminent film critics, academics and industry insiders”.

Spurlock’s series undoubtedly covers a vast swathe of documentary history, including Academy-award winners, popular favourites and films which can genuinely claim to have changed the world (An Inconvenient Truth, Paradise Lost). But are these 50 films truly representative of the best of documentary filmmaking?

For instance, the impression one might take from the list is that very few worthwhile documentaries have come from outside of the United States. Little Dieter Needs to Fly, Burma VJ, Bus 174 and Waltz With Bashir are the only four docs on the list to have been made outside of the US and Canada. What’s more, the line-up skews heavily towards the modern. Whilst it could be argued that the golden age of documentary emerged with the advent of portable film equipment and greater funding opportunities, only one of the films predates 1988. Where is Dziga Vertov’s masterful Man With a Movie Camera (1929)? Or D.A. Pennebaker’s famous Bob Dylan portrait Don’t Look Back (1967)? Even Nanook of the North, regarded as the first feature-length documentary (1922) and a watershed moment for the genre, is notable for its absence.

And one could argue that there are other egregious omissions from the list. That there is only room for one Errol Morris feature, when the great director also made Gates of Heaven and The Thin Blue Line, is regrettable; the absence of The Times of Harvey Milk is heavily suspect. How did the Dixie Chick’s 2006 documentary Shut Up and Sing make the list, while Ondi Timoner’s Dig! failed to make the cut? The full list of 50 documentaries certainly features dozens of timeless films, but it ultimately left this particular doc-lover wanting.

If, like me, you’re both a documentary fan and a pedantic know-it-all, let us know what your top docs are via facebook or twitter.