20 documentaries that had real-world impact

As one might guess from the title of Food, Inc., this documentary focuses on how industrialized farming has damaged human health, to say nothing of the environment and the people who work for such companies. Though many people might be aware of the dangers associated with the corporate approach to food production, they might not realize the full extent of the problem. No less a company than Chipotle chose to screen the film to demonstrate how this restaurant chain was willing and able to do things in a way that was more ethical and responsible. 

Produced by those who created the bracing documentary The Invisible War, The Hunting Ground draws much-needed attention to the spate of sexual assaults on college campuses throughout the US. The film is particularly unflinching in that it addresses how far too many college and university administrators are unwilling or unable to adequately address the issue. As a result, the film is a call to action, igniting and contributing to the general discourse surrounding sexual assault, and it even played a role in getting politicians to turn their attention to the issue. 

Frank Capra might be best known for films like It’s a Wonderful Life, but he was also famous for being one of the directors of Why We Fight, a series of propaganda films encouraging the US to become involved in World War II (the other was noted Hollywood director Anatole Litvak). The films were largely made in response to Leni Riefenstahl’s Triumph of the Will. While these films did take some liberties with the truth, they ended up being pervasive and impressed none other than President Roosevelt himself. As such, they are fascinating historical documents revealing the extent to which film was understood as a key means of shifting public feeling and understanding of world events.

Few documentaries are as haunting as Night and Fog. Released in 1956 and directed by Alain Resnais, it shows the ugly truth of the concentration camps and the many Jews imprisoned and killed there. Indeed, the film was one of the first to directly address the physical realities of the Holocaust, and as such, it was key to shaping how the general public, both in France and internationally, understood and came to terms with what had been allowed to happen. Even now, nearly a century after the Holocaust, it remains essential viewing and serves as a reminder of the dangers of passivity in the face of despotic power. 

The Vietnam War remains one of the most controversial conflicts in which the US has ever been embroiled, and so the documentary Hearts and Minds remains as divisive as it was when it was first released in 1974. To say that it is opposed to the war would probably be an understatement, and it doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to tearing away the veil of the official coverage of the Vietnam War. Given this, it’s unsurprising that the film became an important part of the rising unrest and opposition to the war and those who continued to lie to the American people about it.

Al Gore might have become a household name thanks to being Bill Clinton’s Vice President, but he would become a true climate crusader. In 2006, he was the main subject of the documentary An Inconvenient Truth, which focused in particular on his efforts to draw the public’s attention to the dramatic impact of climate change. The enormous popularity of the documentary did indeed bring climate change back into the mainstream of political and public discussion. Perhaps the greatest indicator of its impact has been its central place in the culture war surrounding climate change and the steps taken (or not taken) to address it.

For far too long, it was common practice to send the mentally ill to asylums, where they would be all too frequently forgotten by their families and subjected to inhumane medical practices. The bracing and haunting documentary Titicut Follies drew attention to the indignities suffered by the patients at the Bridgewater State Hospital in Massachusetts. It met with critical acclaim, even though the state itself tried to keep it from seeing the light of day. Though it took several years, the film finally got a general release, and it remains a potent reminder of the importance of human dignity in medical treatment.

Few documentaries have been as controversial or influential as Leni Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will, which did a great deal to help buttress the rise of Hitler and the Nazis. More than almost any other documentary in the genre's history, it demonstrated how much the moving image could be used as propaganda. Moreover, it is also a beautifully executed film, with a sweeping power and a forceful visuality that cannot be denied. It has also gone on to have a remarkable afterlife; it is referenced in, among other things, Ridley Scott’s  Gladiator, which further illustrates its real-world effects.

Fracking for natural gas has become yet another flashpoint in the seemingly interminable culture wars surrounding energy production in the United States. The documentary Gasland brought much-needed attention to this practice and its significant environmental impact, and it also seems to have introduced the term “fracking” to the general lexicon. Given the extent to which fracking would become an increasingly dominant means of fossil fuel extraction in the decade and a half since it was released, Gasland has increasingly been understood to have been prophetic, and its warnings about the practice feel even more potent. 

The most powerful documentaries often draw the public’s attention to an issue that has been covered up or misunderstood. In The Invisible War, viewers learn about the tragic prevalence of rapė and assault in the various branches of the armed forces. It is unflinching in addressing this deeply distressing issue, giving it remarkable emotional and rhetorical power. It is also one of those documentaries that had an undeniable impact in the real world, leading to several high-ranking officers taking concrete action to address the issue and others being willing to go on the record about their own experiences.

Many documentaries about nature tend to encourage the viewer to simply appreciate the wild and its various residents, but Blackfish takes a much more controversial approach. Focusing on the vexed issue of captive orcas, it was always fated to touch a nerve, and it certainly did when it was released in 2013. It takes particular aim at SeaWorld and its use of captive orcas, and in the years after its release, the amusement park suffered some lost revenue, and numerous legislative bodies sought to pass legislation. SeaWorld even went so far as to announce that it would begin phasing out its use of live orcas in its shows. Such is the power of a good documentary.  

Whether you love or hate him, there’s no doubt that Michael Moore has significantly impacted the documentary film. Arguably, one of his most important and unsparing films is Bowling for Columbine, which focuses on the myriad causes of gun violence in the US. It doesn’t pull any punches, and it received a significant amount of critical acclaim. Like other significant documentaries, it raised necessary awareness about the aspects of American society that make it so susceptible to mass shootings. This is the kind of documentary that is designed to challenge the viewer even if, at times, its reach exceeds its grasp.

The late Morgan Spurlock was arguably most famous for writing and directing Super Size Me, a film that drew attention to how the fast food industry often privileges its profits at the expense of its customers. While the film has been the subject of controversy due to some of its more misleading claims, the fact remains that it ignited an important conversation regarding America’s addiction to fast food and the widespread phenomenon of obesity and its attendant health issues. Remarkably, McDonald’s also announced that it would no longer offer the super-size option even though it unsurprisingly claimed this had nothing to do with Spurlock’s film and its claims.

The power of documentary as a mode of filmmaking lies in large part in its ability to ignite conversations about topics many people may be unaware of. The Bleeding Edge, for example, drew significant attention to medical devices and the lack of regulation. In addition to igniting a much-needed conversation about how the medical device industry frequently rushes products to market without adequate concern for safety, it also seems to have encouraged Bayer to remove one of its products from the market.  

The LGBTQ+ rights movement has made many strides over the last decade, and one of the most significant of its founding fathers was Harvey Milk. The 1985 film The Times of Harvey Milk introduced a national audience to this pivotal figure, whose tragic assassination at the hands of Dan White in 1978 casts a long shadow. This film, released during the height of the AIDS crisis in the US, demonstrated to audiences the power of organizing. Moreover, it also served as a fitting memorial to a man who was a truly extraordinary politician and activist whose life was taken too soon.

Few things arouse public outcry than the killing of dolphins, which helps to explain why The Cove became such a global phenomenon. It casts a harsh light on the practice of killing dolphins and porpoises, particularly by the Japanese whaling industry, and while it was met with some criticism, it still brought much-needed attention to the issue. Moreover, there is reason to believe it helped to contribute to a smaller number of dolphins being killed worldwide. Powerful and engaging, it’s the type of documentary film that grabs hold of the viewer and refuses to let go, demanding a reckoning for the desolation of nature.

True crime documentaries have a long history, and in addition to highlighting particularly gruesome murders and other crimes, they have frequently proven instrumental in getting authorities to revisit high-profile convictions. The Paradise Lost Trilogy, for example, drew attention to the problems associated with the conviction of the West Memphis Three case. Given the extremely violent nature of the crimes in question, the case had received national attention, and the trio of documentary films produced about it ultimately resulted in the overturning of the conviction and the freeing of Jessie Misskelley, Damien Echols, and Jason Baldwin, all three of whom had been serving a prison sentence.

There’s no doubt that Harlan County, USA remains an extraordinary piece of documentary filmmaking, so much so that it actually won an Academy Award. Focusing on the 1973 miners’ strike in the town of Harlan, Kentucky, the documentary drew people’s attention to the plight of many miners in Appalachia. Just as importantly, the presence of the documentary film crew is believed to have kept more violence from breaking out between the strikers and the company owners. As such, Harlan County, USA is a potent reminder of the power of documentary filmmaking to give a voice to the voiceless. 

Ava DuVernay is undoubtedly one of her generation’s most accomplished directors, capable of imbuing her every film with power and intensity. The documentary 13th is one of her most powerful films, focusing as it does on the prison-industrial complex and the way it has damaged American society. Coming out as it did in 2016, the film ignited a much-needed conversation about the extent to which slavery remains a powerful force in America’s unconscious and how it is perpetuated by the use of prison labor. It sometimes makes viewing difficult, but that’s precisely why it is such an essential piece of documentary filmmaking.

Errol Morris’ The Thin Blue Line has only grown more relevant with each passing year, particularly since it focuses on law enforcement and its shortcomings, particularly as these revolve around the wrongful conviction of Randall Dale Adams. It ultimately became one of Morris’ most important films because it led to an overturning of Adams’ conviction and influenced documentary as a form and genre. While many derided Morris’ use of re-enactments, these have become so much a part of mainstream documentary, particularly in the true crime genre, that they’re now taken for granted.