59 best documentary movies of 2022

It is a film about pigs, cows and chicken. Black and white. Without words. Without music. Victor Kossakovsky is offering not just a mesmerizing poetic work of art but also a wonderful life experience. We get to know Gunda the sow, her family and neighbors, and it gives us the reason to think about the secret of consciousness and the value of life of those with whom we share this planet.

Like a lone cowboy, Sergei passionately devotes his life to traditional horse breeding in the impenetrable Arctic Sakha; permafrost and the absence of roads, electricity and channels of communication mean that there is nobody else to rely on but oneself. Sergei is sensitive and introspective; he truly cares about his family, community and treats nature with the utmost respect. He loves the independence and freedom this life brings, despite the immense sacrifices that it necessitates, such as total isolation and being a stranger to his own children. Spectacular camerawork characterizes the Sakha horses in all their magnificence, and juxtaposes the post-soviet towns and the boundless taiga landscapes, where the cold bites through the screen.

They've built a movement out of minimalism. Longtime friends Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus share how our lives can be better with less.

Five star players, five world-class pros with fabulous fees. They are 20 years old, they already know what it means to win. This is the NaVi esports team. The filmmakers talk about a difficult time in their life associated with a major defeat and loss of champion status. Ahead of the guys is the final of the 2020 championship in Poland, which can once again raise them to the top.

The first biography of Pavel Durov, the creator of the social network VKontakte and the Telegram messenger told by his close circle. The biography of a person who claims to protects your privacy, but in fact - protects his own.

The cast of Friends reunites for a once-in-a-lifetime celebration of the hit series, an unforgettable evening filled with iconic memories, uncontrollable laughter, happy tears, and special guests.

Passionate about ocean life, a filmmaker sets out to document the harm that humans do to marine species — and uncovers an alarming global conspiracy.

The story of everyday survival of the traditional sea hunters of the Bering Strait in the Far East of Russia is enriched with animated Inuit myths that at times prevail reality. This is a visually impressive cinematic parable about the vitality of the ancient Arctic culture.

A documentary that restores to the world, five hundred years after his death, the universal and sensitive genius of one of the greatest artists of the Italian Renaissance: Raphael Sanzio. Guided by the art historian Luca Tomìo, we decided to start our journey from the Renaissance atmosphere of Raphael’s birthplace, the Duchy of Urbino, to retrace, from the very beginning, Raphael's artistic education. From a young age, he found himself confronted with giants of the Renaissance art such as Piero della Francesca and Antonio del Pollaiolo, in the workshop of his father Giovanni Santi, also an excellent painter of the Urbino court.

The film restores the panorama of the centuries. Journalistic narration with extensive use of artistic reconstructions, computer graphics, animation shows that the business tradition in the region was not interrupted. She manifests herself in different ways in different eras. A key trick used by different types of screen technologies is animation. Monuments to great people, buildings, industrial structures, landscapes of the Volga and Oka, film and photo chronicles are transformed, change in time and space, acquire a different dimension in order to somehow interact with the present, enter into a dialogue with descendants.

This documentary offers a deeply intimate look at extraordinary teenager Billie Eilish. Award-winning filmmaker R.J. Cutler follows her journey on the road, onstage, and at home with her family as the writing and recording of her debut album changes her life.

During the same summer as Woodstock, over 300,000 people attended the Harlem Cultural Festival, celebrating African American music and culture, and promoting Black pride and unity. The footage from the festival sat in a basement, unseen for over 50 years, keeping this incredible event in America's history lost—until now.

A real-life undercover thriller about two ordinary men who embark on an outrageously dangerous ten-year mission to penetrate the world's most secretive and brutal dictatorship: North Korea.

A surrealist biographical documentary about trailblazing electronic musician and animal rights activist Moby.

This revealing portrait of comedian, activist, pop-culture icon and thought leader Dick Gregory documents his many personal reinventions throughout the decades, from celebrity to civil rights hero and beyond, while hearing from the incredible entertainers who have been inspired by his blueprint.

A documentary that reveals California's complex struggle over who gets fresh water, and how moneyed interests game the system. Constant battling over uncertain water supplies heralds an impending crisis—not just in California, but around the world.

Take a stroll down Sesame Street and witness the birth of the most influential children's show in television history. From the iconic furry characters to the classic songs you know by heart, learn how a gang of visionary creators changed the world.

THE LONELIEST WHALE is a cinematic quest to find the “52 Hertz Whale,” which scientists believe has spent its entire life in solitude calling out at a frequency that is different from any other whale. As the film embarks on this engrossing journey, audiences will explore what this whale’s lonely plight can teach us — not just about our changing relationship to the oceans, but to each other. Executive Produced with Leonardo DiCaprio and Adrian Grenier.

A team of modern adventurers is on a quest for gold in the mountains of eastern Arizona.

In 1971, due to the world premiere of Death in Venice, Italian director Lucino Visconti proclaimed his Tadzio as the world’s most beautiful boy. A shadow that today, 50 years later, weighs Björn Andresen’s life.

A documentary about your favourite comic's favorite comic. Patrice O’Neal: Killing is Easy is told through the eyes of the people who knew him best including Bill Burr, Kevin Hart and Colin Quinn who reflect on this true original, a man who never achieved the success that many believed he was due and whose untimely death at the age of 41 left many wondering what could have been.

He is considered to be one of the greatest German film stars, Hans Albers, known as "Der blonde Hans", a man made for the cinema. He was an actor, singer, idol of the Germans - and darling of the Nazis. Nevertheless, he could not protect his great love, the Jewess Hansi Burg. In 1938 she had to flee to London from anti-Semitism in Germany. But Albers himself stayed in Germany and continued to film, driven by a desire for a career and the call of money. In 1946, one year after the end of the Second World War, they meet again: Hansi Burg returns to the land of the murderers of her parents in the uniform of the British Army and visits Hans Albers in his villa on Lake Starnberg. He lives there with another woman. The rival has to go, then there is a tense debate. For a day and a night, the blonde Hans has to face uncomfortable questions and even more uncomfortable truths.

The story of the unprecedented sports shutdown in March of 2020 and the remarkable turn of events that followed. This sports documentary is a chronicle of the abrupt stoppage, athletes’ prominent role in the cultural reckoning on racial injustices that escalated during the pandemic, and the complex return to competition in the summer and fall.

An honest and hilarious backstage pass into the lives of some of stand-up comedy’s most boundary-breaking women, exploring the hard-fought journey to become the voices of their generation and their gender.

The story of Ollie and Zoe, a newly engaged couple who agree to try out an open relationship.

Never-before-seen footage shows how our living in lockdown opened the door for nature to bounce back and thrive. Across the seas, skies, and lands, Earth found its rhythm when we came to a stop.

Drawing on over seventy-five encounters with New Yorkers of different ages, races, genders, and sexual interests, The Browsers is a portrait of The Big Apple as seen through the eyes of lovers, searching the web for their special someone.

A look at the life and legend of Sir Alex Ferguson, from his working-class roots in Glasgow through to his career as one of the greatest football managers of all time. While recovering from a traumatic brain haemorrhage in 2018, Sir Alex intimately recounts vivid details of his life and career to his son, including his legendary 26-year tenure as manager of Manchester United.

David Attenborough and scientist Johan Rockström examine Earth's biodiversity collapse and how this crisis can still be averted.

Leonid Parfyonov travels to Georgia, where he studies how amphorae are made and grapes are crushed with bare feet, and learns why orange wine is slowly conquering the world.

The film “We Others Will Not” emerged as a direct continuation of numerous meetings and conversations with Sergei Bodrov Jr. and Alexei Balabanov. The idea to reflect again on the phenomenon of Sergei Bodrov Jr.’s identity belongs to Evgeniy Nikishov and Valeriy Fedorovich. Together we decided to go on this difficult journey. Close friends and colleagues talk about Sergei: the producer Sergei Selyanov, the designer Nadezhda Vasilyeva, the composer Vyacheslav Butusov, the cinematographer Sergei Astakhov, and also… Sergei Bodrov Jr. and the director Alexei Balabanov, whose films “Brother” and “Brother 2” acquired popular fame at the threshold of the 2000s.

Through exclusive interviews and archival footage, this documentary traces an intimate portrait of seven-time Formula 1 champion Michael Schumacher.

Movie stars and members of the film industry make fun of several narrative and visual clichés that are as shocking and aesthetic as they are often truly ridiculous.

Girl photographers are the new rock stars who are changing their views on creativity and social stereotypes. In the film, the heroines-Anya Aristova, Lyubov Kozorezova, Anisia Kuzmina and others-for the first time find themselves in front of the camera lenses, and not behind them, as usual. They will tell you how to create a visual history of the generation, touch on the current topic of self-acceptance and show how they work on their photo shoots.

In 2019, Nepalese mountain climber Nirmal “Nims” Purja set out to do the unthinkable by climbing the world’s fourteen highest summits in less than seven months. (The previous record was eight years). He called the effort “Project Possible 14/7” and saw it as a way to inspire others to strive for greater heights in any pursuit. The film follows his team as they seek to defy naysayers and push the limits of human endurance.

Krasnodar's debut in the Champions League in 2020. Emotional doc film about the brightest season in the history of the club.

Tobi is a typical 16-year-old, desperate for the end of school and wondering what path in life to take. The hard-working people in Tobi’s tiny village struggle to make ends meet, while the kids can’t wait to escape to Budapest as soon as they turn 18. Against the challenges of an increasingly conservative Hungary, where trans rights are currently being stripped back, this insightful documentary generously shines a light on the journey of Tobi’s mother as much as Tobi themselves. Having come out once as male in his mid-teens, Tobi later shifts towards a non-binary identity. It’s a steep learning curve for the family to re-evaluate the deeply ingrained gender binary in this rural corner of Central Europe, but for this caring and communicative group, love wins the day.

In the 1970s, five men struggling with being gay in their Evangelical church started a bible study to help each other leave the "homosexual lifestyle." They quickly received over 25,000 letters from people asking for help and formalized as Exodus International, the largest and most controversial conversion therapy organization in the world. But leaders struggled with a secret: their own “same-sex attractions” never went away. After years as Christian superstars in the religious right, many of these men and women have come out as LGBTQ, disavowing the very movement they helped start. Focusing on the dramatic journeys of former conversion therapy leaders, current members, and a survivor, PRAY AWAY chronicles the “ex gay" movement’s rise to power, persistent influence, and the profound harm it causes.

Like many young people around the world, best friends Fawzi and Mahmoud are obsessed with soccer. But for the past several years, the teenagers have been stuck in Zaatari, the world’s largest camp for Syrian refugees, located in Jordan. With uncertain legal status and an interrupted education, their prospects are limited. On the local soccer pitch, however, they can imagine a brighter future as professional athletes, a path to escaping the camp and providing for their families. When scouts from a world-renowned Qatari sports academy visit Zaatari, Fawzi and Mahmoud believe they might be able to realize their dreams—if given the opportunity.

FAT: A Documentary 2 is the sequel to the international sensation that delves deeper into the lies and myths surrounding the age old question: "What should I be eating?"

Liv Grannes from Mosjøen became Norway's highest decorated woman after World War II. But, both her achievements, and Stalin and Churchill's false flag operation in Helgeland, disappeared in the darkness of history. Why?

The charismatic young entrepreneur Waleed Ahmed started his own company at age 18, and was referred to as "The Norwegian Mark Zuckerberg". He quickly gained access to politicians, diplomats, and royalty. His short-lived and grandiose career ended with an arrest by the FBI and an 11-year prison sentence for fraud. This portrait tells a larger narrative of belonging, identity, fraud, and dreams.

The enthralling, against-all-odds story that transfixed the world in 2018: the daring rescue of twelve boys and their coach from deep inside a flooded cave in Northern Thailand.

Filmed over five years in Kansas City, this documentary follows four transgender kids – beginning at ages 4, 7, 12, and 15 – as they redefine “coming of age.” These kids and their families show us the intimate realities of how gender is re-shaping the family next door in a unique and unprecedented chronicle of growing up transgender in the heartland.

Documentary about Whiskey.

This documentary follows the men and women who race cars up public roads competing in historic hillclimbs. Once a year these roads are closed down in order to host incredible events that test the skills and courage of the few racers who choose to Challenge these Giants.

When filmmaker Peter Mortimer encounters an elusive young climber named Marc-André Leclerc, an evolution in free solo mountaineering unfolds. Along the two-year journey up high alpine peaks and steep frozen waterfalls, Peter explores Marc’s connection to nature, his uncompromising quest for adventure, and the risks he takes to pursue his passion.

Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Iceland, July 9, 2016. The surprising discovery of a canister —containing four reels of The Village Detective (Деревенский детектив), a 1969 Soviet film—, caught in the nets of an Icelandic trawler, is the first step in a fascinating journey through the artistic life of film and stage actor Mikhail Ivanovich Zharov (1899-1981), icon and star of an entire era of Russian cinema.

Recounted mostly through animation to protect his identity, Amin looks back over his past as a child refugee from Afghanistan as he grapples with a secret he’s kept hidden for 20 years. A thrilling documentary made with a blend of animation and archive footage tells an immensely powerful tale of a gay Afghan survivor and his need to confront his past in order to truly have a future. Amin arrived as an unaccompanied minor in Denmark from Afghanistan. Today, at 36, he is a successful academic and is getting married to his long-time boyfriend. A secret he has been hiding for over 20 years threatens to ruin the life he has built for himself. For the first time he is sharing his story with his close friend. FLEE weaves together a stunning tapestry of images and memories to tell the deeply affecting and original story of a young man grappling with his traumatic past in order to find his true self and the meaning of home.

Are we in fact living in a simulation? This is the question postulated, wrestled with, and ultimately argued for through archival footage, compelling interviews with real people shrouded in digital avatars, and a collection of cases from some of our most iconoclastic figures in contemporary culture.

Thirty years after his film JFK, filmmaker Oliver Stone takes viewers on a journey though recently declassified evidence in the assassination of President Kennedy - the most consequential American murder mystery of the twentieth century. Joined by Oscar-winning narrators Whoopi Goldberg and Donald Sutherland, as well as a distinguished team of forensics, medical and ballistics experts, historians, and witnesses, Stone presents compelling evidence that in the Kennedy case “conspiracy theory” is now “conspiracy fact.”

Explore Woodstock 99, a three-day music festival promoted to echo unity and counterculture idealism of the original 1969 concert but instead devolved into riots, looting and sexual assaults.

Max S. reveals how he built a drug empire from his childhood bedroom in this story that inspired the series "How to Sell Drugs Online (Fast)."

A documentary on the legendary film composer Ennio Morricone.

Celebrate the joy of a perfectly executed shot to the groin as Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O and the rest of the gang return alongside some newcomers for one final round of hilarious, wildly absurd and often dangerous displays of stunts and comedy.

Posing as a wealthy, jet-setting diamond mogul, an Israeli conman wooed women online then conned them out of millions of dollars. Now some victims plan for payback.

Investigators reveal how Boeing’s alleged priority of profit over safety could have contributed to two catastrophic crashes within months of each other.

An enchanting making-of story told through all-new in-depth interviews and cast conversations, inviting fans on a magical first-person journey through one of the most beloved film franchises of all time.

Through outrageous, never-before-seen footage, witness the making of the Jackass crew's last go at wild stunts.