Recently awarded the Oscar in 2025, No Other Land is one of the most powerful recent examples of the importance of documentary cinema as testimony to injustice and the attempts to erase the historical memory of the Palestinian people under Israeli occupation.
Narrated by Samuel L. Jackson using texts by James Baldwin, I Am Not Your Negro is perhaps one of the most powerful, illustrative, and infuriating examinations of the history of racism in the United States. Baldwin’s vision confronts the hopes of a historically oppressed people with the systemic racism that led to the deaths of Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr., and Medgar Evers.
The war in Ukraine is one of the most significant armed conflicts of the 21st century. 20 Days in Mariupol, however, takes a more human approach, following four journalists in the besieged city during the early days of the Russian invasion, documenting the devastating impact on civilians.
One of the most important historical documentaries of the 20th century is the one that shed light on the atrocities of the Holocaust. Night and Fog (Nuit et Brouillard), by Alain Resnais, compiles footage that emerged at the end of World War II, once the reality of Nazi concentration camps became known. It’s a difficult film to watch, but a crucial document to understand one of humanity’s darkest chapters.
Another horrific atrocity of the 21st century relates to the Syrian Civil War. The documentary For Sama portrays the dire situation in Aleppo from a unique, deeply human perspective—that of a woman, mother, and filmmaker documenting the violent consequences of war while reflecting on the future she wants for her daughter, Sama.