Five of Screen’s expert critics select their favourite documentaries from 2020.
Fionnuala Halligan
Fionnuala Halligan is Screen’s chief film critic and reviews editor. Read her top ten films of the year here.
American Utopia
Dir. Spike Lee
David Byrne, Spike Lee and that concert tour: what a team. Both giants are light on their feet here as they swerve, sway and douse the viewer in joy, plus a few urgent political messages that are a nice reminder of music’s primal passion to provoke. Contact: Universal Pictures
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The Reason I Jump
Dir. Jerry Rothwell
Through a delicately balanced meld of visual, sensory and auditory methods, Rothwell’s formally daring film about autism from the inside is a special experience. Contact: MetFilm Sales
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Saudi Runaway
Dir. Susanne Regina Meures
This starts with jerky phone footage from Mecca and ends up as a breathtaking docu-thriller about a brave young girl who tries to change her life against the odds. Contact: Rise And Shine World Sales
Tim Grierson
Screen’s senior US critic, LA-based Grierson has written for the publication since 2005. Read his top ten films of the year here.
David Byrne’s American Utopia
Dir. Spike Lee
It is not surprising the year’s most joyous concert film was masterminded by the architects of two of the all-time best: David Byrne (Stop Making Sense) and Spike Lee (Passing Strange). American Utopia superbly chronicles the former Talking Heads frontman’s dazzling Broadway show, bringing together vivid performances and sharp political protest — but the kind you can dance to. Contact: Universal Pictures
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City Hall
Dir. Frederick Wiseman
What does a metropolitan government look like from the inside? Wiseman’s four-and-a-half-hour tour of Boston’s offers a riveting glimpse at the impassioned individuals striving to tame a bureaucracy.
Contact: The Party Film Sales
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Boys State
Dirs. Jesse Moss, Amanda McBaine
A gripping portrait of masculinity and burgeoning political animals, Boys State documents a thousand teenage boys at a retreat who are tasked with creating their own government from scratch. Contact: Apple TV+/A24
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Jonathan Romney
A longtime contributor, Romney also writes for Film Comment, Sight & Sound and The Observer, and teaches at NFTS. Read his top ten films of the year here.
Gunda
Dir. Victor Kossakovsky
The latest from the veteran documentarist is ‘just’ a beautifully made study of a sow and her piglets (plus a few inquisitive chickens). But it is also a deeply empathetic statement on the condition of being an animal and, by extension, a musing on what constitutes humanity, and how we identify ourselves in relation to the natural world we often domesticate cruelly. Contact: Cinephil
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Radiograph Of A Family
Dir. Firouzeh Khosrovani
Iranian documentarist Khosrovani offers a sort of pre-autobiography — using family photos to tell the story of her parents, their differences exacerbated by seismic disruptions of their nation’s history. Contact: Taskovski Films
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City Hall
Dir. Frederick Wiseman
Wiseman’s latest is a panoramic study of Boston but, with Democrat mayor Marty Walsh at its centre, it’s also an expression of faith in the enduring possibility of civic ideals. Contact: The Party Film Sales
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Allan Hunter
Hunter has worked for Screen since 1990. He is based in Edinburgh and is co-director of Glasgow Film Festival. Read his top ten films of the year here.
City Hall
Dir. Frederick Wiseman
A monumental work from Wiseman in which his portrait of the governance of Boston becomes a celebration of civil society, public discourse and the ideals of democracy. A typically painstaking, immersive work from the master documentary-maker built on precise observation and compassion. Vital and timely, it felt like a reassuring balm in a year when so many cherished, long-established values were under threat. Contact: The Party Film Sales
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Enemies Of The State
Dir. Sonia Kennebeck
The meticulously assembled, stranger-than-fiction story of Matt DeHart, a hacktivist who fell foul of a vengeful US government. A film for conspiracy theorists and sceptics alike. Contact: Submarine Entertainment
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Time
Dir. Garrett Bradley
A beautifully composed personal story with a wider resonance, as one woman’s determination to free her husband from jail becomes an ode to human resilience and beating the odds. Contact: Amazon Studios
Wendy Ide
Ide joined Screen in 2015 as a UK-based critic, and also writes for The Observer and Sight & Sound. Read her top ten films of the year here.
The Truffle Hunters
Dirs. Michael Dweck, Gregory Kershaw
This idiosyncratic fly-on-the-wall portrait of the elderly men and their dogs who seek northern Italy’s precious fungi is a balm of a film. Like Honeyland before it, The Truffle Hunters takes time to fully draw its characters, embracing a rhythm and a rooted connection to the natural world, which feels both archaic and utterly beguiling. Contact: Sony Pictures Classics
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Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets
Dirs. Bill Ross IV, Turner Ross
This riotous, unexpectedly moving film blends fact and fiction with liquor, beer and class-A drugs, inviting the audience to kick back for the final night of a closing dive bar. Contact: Cinephil
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Il Mio Corpo
Dir. Michele Pennetta
The lives of two young men — one Italian, one a Nigerian immigrant — are threaded together as they eke out an existence in Sicily, in this striking observational film. Contact: Sweet Spot Docs
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