The topic:

Documentary Magazine, published by the International Documentary Association (IDA), released a list of what it determined to be the 25 greatest documentaries of the 21st Century.

How the list was made: Documentary polled 300 documentary filmmakers and producers, critics, programmers, and academics, asking them to name three documentaries they deemed the “greatest.” Each documentary had to be released after January 1, 2000.

Notable picks: Joshua Oppenheimer’s The Act of Killing (2012) sits in the number spot, garnering the most votes. Other films that made the list include No Other Land (2024), the most recent release on the list, and The Gleaners and I (2000), the oldest release. 

Guest: Manuel Betancourt, film critic for LAist and assistant editor of Documentary Magazine. He also contributes regularly to Variety and The AV Club

Check out Documentary’s full list here.

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