Top 5 Documentaries [J Wilderness]

I thought I'd put together my Top 5 Favourite Documentaries, and welcome others to post their own in the comments. Or maybe simply suggestions based on my own list :)

I'm a huge documentary geek, always have been. Despite being a certified 'tin-foiler', the majority of my favourite documentaries are relatively mainstream in terms of their profile and reach, and my favourites are not necessarily a reflection on whether the documentarian accurately depicts the full, true reality of what they are documenting (although it helps) but their technique and how they keep things interesting and capture an audience.

I've always dreamed of making my own one day, and it's Nick Broomfield who originally inspired this desire because his technique "cinéma vérité" influenced a whole generation of documentary filmmakers (at least from my own generation) because of his relatively low budget but effective style. It's a style which proves that you don't need a big budget but simply a desire to embrace the spontaneous and present a true reflection of what's happening in the moment, and also to approach a subject matter without any preconceptions and simply see where things take you.

Here's my list, in order, from No. 5 to my personal No. 1:

5) Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills (1996)

"A horrific triple child murder leads to an indictment and trial of three nonconformist boys based on questionable evidence."
Directors: Joe Berlinger, Bruce Sinofsky
IMDB

4) Fourteen Days in May (1987)

"Fourteen Days in May is a documentary film directed by Paul Hamann and originally shown on television by the British Broadcasting Corporation in 1987. The programme recounts the final days before the execution of Edward Earl Johnson, an American prisoner convicted of rape and murder and imprisoned in the Mississippi State Penitentiary. Johnson protested his innocence and claimed that his confession had been made under duress. He was executed in Mississippi's gas chamber on 20 May 1987."
Director: Paul Hamann
IMDB

3) Kurt & Courtney (1998)

"A documentary on the life of Kurt Cobain and his relationship with Courtney Love."
Director: Nick Broomfield
IMDB

2) The Staircase (2004-2018)

"The high-profile murder trial of American novelist Michael Peterson following the death of his wife in 2001."
Director: Jean-Xavier de Lestrade
IMDB

1) Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer (2003)

"Nick Broomfield's second documentary about serial killer Aileen Wuornos, focusing on her mental state on death row."
Director: Nick Broomfield
IMDB

There we have it, my top 5 documentaries. Feel free to post your own suggestions in the comments, I'd love to hear them.

Nick Broomfield has a new doc dropping in September, which is a follow up to his Tupac & Biggie doc which I'm quite excited about on the forthcoming front.

My first documentary (albeit as amateur as it gets) is in preparation, you can see the introduction to the topic here: