BBC, Motto Pictures, Magnolia Pictures, First Run Features, Icarus FilmsLouis Theroux and other filmmakers pick their best documentaries of 2016
In an increasingly complex and tumultuous world, the role of the documentary filmmaker has never been more important. Once a genre confined to public television and perhaps seen by some as at best educational and at worst 'a bit boring', docs now command a currency and cachet like never before.
And it would seem everyone wants a piece. Whether that's new platforms like Netflix commissioning series like Making a Murderer and Captive, to Hollywood glitterati like Leo DiCaprio moving into factual with his film about climate change, Before The Flood. It seems we've all got the docs bug, with the genre experiencing a 'golden age' both in its exposure and ambition.
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Here at BBC Three we like to think we’ve contributed a small part to the rich and diverse documentary landscape in 2016. This year, we’ve covered everything from police brutality in America - NYPD: The Biggest Gang in New York- to the Yazidi women fighting so-called Islamic State - Stacey on the Frontline: Girls, Guns and ISIS. We’ve brought you a serialised investigation into the disappearance of Damien Nettles on the Isle of Wight - Unsolved: The Boy Who Disappeared- and a second series of the BAFTA-winning Life And Death Row. Not to mention our six-part series American High School, set in one of the most segregated schools in the US, and short-form docs like The Men Who Sleep in Trucks, Drugs Map of Britain and Breaking into Prison. And now we've clubbed together with our colleagues and friends across the BBC and beyond to bring you our list of the best documentaries that have inspired, moved and educated us this past year.
It features contributions from filmmakers like Louis Theroux and Stacey Dooley, to the director of Netflix's Captive and the person who heads up the entire BBC’s docs output. So read on and expand your mind this Christmas break with these absolute crackers.
Louis Theroux's top pick: Weiner
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Why Louis loved it
If I had to pick one documentary this year, I think it would be Weiner - a documentary portraying the rebirth and then re-death of a New York politician as he ran for Mayor of the city. Its intimacy and its dark comedy and the many surprises of the journey were hugely engaging.
Louis Theroux, Filmmaker
What's the story?
Weiner tells the tale of the somewhat ironically named Anthony Weiner, following his New York mayoral campaign in 2013 and the repeated dick pics that marred it.
With unprecedented and intimate access to Weiner himself, his wife Huma Abedin (a former close aide to Hillary Clinton) and his campaign team, it's as pure fly-on-the-wall filmmaking as you can get.
As scandal upon scandal and sext upon sext is revealed, directors Josh Kreigman and Elyse Steinberg are there every step of the way, offering a fascinating insight into a man who continually self-destructs and uses his charm, intelligence and wit to try and weather the storm each time.
Why others loved it
"Weiner was the surprise stand-out film for me this year. It’s a classic example of privileged access to an astonishing unfolding story – that proved to have broader resonance in the American political landscape this year. A hugely compelling, complex character at its heart, plus that rarest of ingredients in documentaries – humour."
- Kate Townsend, Editor of the BBC's Storyville strand
"2016 was a tumultuous political year, and what better way to set the seal on the chaos than a peak behind the veil? With incredible access to Anthony Weiner as he attempts to resurrect his political career despite a flood of dick-pick controversies (entirely of his own making), this very 21st-century morality tale seamlessly slips between the tragic, the comic and the surreal - I kept wanting to check that I was watching a doc, and not an episode of the Thick Of It."
- Dan Murdoch, Director (KKK: The Fight For White Supremacy and Black Power: America's Armed Resistance)
"Weiner was funny, compelling, intimate, and ultimately tragic. You couldn't help rooting for him despite his manifold flaws as his world collapsed around him. He just can't help himself - and that turned him into a filmmaker's dream. Most politicians hit by scandal hide away; not Anthony Weiner. In one scene he sits in his dressing gown giggling manically, watching the previous night's car crash interview on repeat as his wife, Huma Abedin, looks on in horror. It felt like you were witnessing the moment she finally fell out of love with him as she asks, utterly exasperated, 'Why are you laughing?' Excruciating but unforgettable."
- James Jones, Director (Unarmed Black Male, Saudi Arabia Uncovered)
"It was the most extraordinary political story of 2016. Apart from Trump. And Brexit. And Balls on Strictly."
- Jamie Balment, BBC Commissioning Editor for Documentaries
Stacey Dooley's top pick: Our World: Starving Yemen
I knew nothing about the current state of Yemen prior to stumbling across this piece. I think they managed to show very clearly the harsh reality of these kids dying, without it feeling too gratuitous. Clear, informative and very important telly. Everyone involved should be incredibly proud.
Stacey Dooley, Presenter and Journalist
What's the story?
Although released in October, this film couldn't be more relevant now. Focusing on the 'silent killer' of starvation among children in Yemen, reporter Nawal Al-Maghafi follows one of the few doctors still working in the remote areas of the region on a mission to save the hungry children of Yemen.
Clare Sillery's top pick: Exodus: Our Journey To Europe
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The best docs make you look at the world in a different way. I thought Exodus was a remarkable series. It took you right inside the biggest story of our age - the mass migration to Europe of over a million people - and it made you feel like you’d never really understood it, or seen it that way before.
Clare Sillery, Head of Documentaries, BBC
What's the story?
A year in the making, Exodus was a hugely ambitious project, giving refugees camera-phones to chart their often perilous journeys into Europe, this series took us to the heart of the refugee crisis and documented their plight like never before.
Why others loved it
"This was shocking, humbling, even funny at times - and so visceral that you felt you were on the sinking ship with them. I wept throughout, shaken and angry. I wish the BBC had screened this before the EU referendum."
- Ursula Macfarlane, Director (Captive, Charlie Hebdo: 3 Days That Shook Paris, Breaking Up With The Joneses)
Danny Horan's top pick: Unlocking The Cage
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My theory is it will be the first of many docs that begin to question and change how we view our relationship with animals.
Danny Horan, BBC Commissioning Editor for Documentaries
What's the story?
It seems impossible to round up the best docs of the year without an entry from our furry friends. Like Blackfish and Project Nim before it, this was a feature doc on a mission to try to reduce the harm we humans inflict upon animals. It follows lawyer Steven Wise and 'The Nonhuman Rights Project' as they struggle to try and give animals such as chimpanzees, whales, dolphins and elephants limited personhood rights - and thereby end their mistreatment and captivity.
Marc Isaacs' top pick: No Home Movie
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Every so often, I encounter a film that enters into my being and stays there. I watched No Home Movie in a London cinema with just seven other people, two of whom left after the first seven-minute shot of a tree struggling to remain rooted in the face of a fierce wind. The film requires patience - it invites us to experience time in an uncompromising way, but it is precisely this approach that allows us to enter into the core of the film. Crucially, there is a heartwarming human relationship at its centre which contains essential themes relevant to all of us. I had the feeling that the two people who walked out of the theatre were walking away from themselves.
Marc Isaacs, Director (Lift, All White In Barking, The Men Who Sleep In Trucks)
What's the story?
Although released in 2015, Chantal Akerman's film got a limited cinema release this year. Intensely honest and personal, it charts the filmmaker's final conversations with her mother.
Max Gogarty's top pick: Tickled
The brilliant thing about this film is the totally unexpected and bonkers twists and turns at every corner. Although starting rather innocently, it unravels into a high-octane thriller exposing a dark underbelly at the heart of competitive tickling. Reading up about it afterwards, it's amazing to see the life this film had after its release, featuring a face-off with one of its subjects who turned up unannounced at a screening in L.A. Google it. They filmed the whole thing (obviously).
Max Gogarty, BBC Three Content Editor and Producer/Director of Chemsex
What's the story?
If you haven't heard about this film, where on Earth have you been all year? It's one of the most bizarre stories to hit our screens in 2016 - starting off as a relatively harmless exploration into the world of competitive tickling (yup, that's a thing) and descending into an investigative thriller exposing a web of lies, power and exploitation.
Louis Theroux's special mention:Author: The JT Leroy Story
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I really enjoyed this film, which investigated the themes of authorship, celebrity, and deception.
Louis Theroux, Filmmaker
What's the story?
This is a film that reveals the women behind the persona of the bestselling male writer who claimed to be the son of a prostitute. Confused? It's a complex and intriguing tale uncovering the infamous story of author JT Leroy, and the literary hoax of the century.
Danny Horan's special mention:How To Die: Simon's Choice
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I think this is almost flawless, in terms of filmmaking. It brings together a political and ethical issue with a powerful emotional story at its heart. Beautifully executed.
Danny Horan, Documentaries Commissioning Editor at the BBC
What's the story?
Father and businessman Simon is diagnosed with an aggressive form of motor neurone disease and given two years to live. Faced with the prospect of a rapid physical decline, Simon tells his family that he is considering ending his life at a Swiss suicide clinic. This deeply moving film follows Simon and his family and friends as they grapple with the huge moral, emotional and legal dilemmas around Simon's choice.
Grace Hughes-Hallett's top pick: Life, Animated
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Life, Animated was one of my favourite documentaries of the past year. It’s a film about a young autistic man who uses the plots of disney films as a way to cope with the world around him, with moving and sometimes extraordinary outcomes.
Grace Hughes-Hallett, Producer (Who is Dayani Crystal? No Distance Left to Run)
What's the story?
Life, Animated tells the inspirational story of Owen Suskind, a young man who was unable to speak as a child until he and his family discovered a unique way to communicate by immersing themselves in the world of classic Disney animated films.
Why others loved it
Louis Theroux, Filmmaker
"A sensitive portrayal of a young man with autism"
Nasfim Haque's top pick: Ross Kemp's Britain
Amidst pre-Brexit hysteria, the series was a slither of sanity in the mix. A genuine non-judgemental exploration of an issue that is often reduced to 'immigrants are draining our economy' rhetoric. So Ross told us they aren’t. On the contrary. It is cheaper for the government to pay for an air fare ticket for those who have outstayed their visa than to put an illegal immigrant through a deportation process. Something that he discovered is already being done at a Sikh temple (by a government run scheme). Immigrants aren’t all taking our jobs because (surprise, surprise) Ross visited a banana-packing factory staffed by Eastern Europeans because apparently no Brit citizen can be arsed to get out of bed for the wage. Finally, Ross seemed genuinely appalled at the story of a Syrian refugee who described making the tough choice to escape without her children in a bid to help them flee safely later. Ross Kemp, we salute you.
Nasfim Haque, Deputy Editor, BBC Three and Executive Producer
Emma Cooper's top pick: Who Do You Think You Are? Danny Dyer
This made me so happy. I grinned and shrieked all the way through. It made me believe in fairytales.
Emma Cooper, Executive Producer at Pulse Films
