Top Documentaries of 2022: A Guide to Must-See Films

Feb. 6, 2023

Keeping up to date on documentaries from around the world is an important way to expand your knowledge and understanding of different cultures, issues, and perspectives. Documentaries often provide unique and in-depth insights that can be difficult to find in other forms of media. They also allow you to explore topics in-depth and gain a deeper understanding of the world around you. 2022 was a great year for documentaries, and in this article we will demonstrate that.

 

Documentaries are Valuable Sources of Wisdom

A black man recording with his camera

One of the most exciting things about watching documentaries is that they allow you to learn about new and interesting things in a way that is both engaging and entertaining. You'll be able to see different perspectives, learn about different cultures and ways of life, and gain a more nuanced understanding of the world. Plus, it's a great way to challenge your own assumptions and beliefs, which can be a valuable experience that can help you to become more open-minded and curious about the world.

 

Documentaries Connects us with the World

A top-down perspective of a city contained within a sphere

Lastly, keeping up to date on documentaries can also be a powerful way to raise awareness about important social and environmental issues. Documentaries often provide a platform for voices that are not heard in mainstream media and can inspire people to take action and make a difference in their communities and the world. In summary, keeping up to date on documentaries is important because it allows you to expand your knowledge and understanding of different cultures, issues, and perspectives, it's a way to be more informed and it can inspire you to take action and make a difference in the world.

 

Which 2022 documentaries can I watch online right now?

 

The Fabulist

A woman in a black dress singing to an audience

As she deals with her deteriorating health, veteran Hollywood talent agent Sandi Marx chooses to pursue a new profession as a stand-up comedian in this motivational and touching documentary. Whoever has ever pursued a dream will be able to relate to the movie The Fabulist. For those who are inexperienced with stand-up comedy, it's also a fantastic introduction to the genre. This motivational movie does a great job of capturing Sandi's journey's highs and lows. The Fabulist serves as a reminder that there is always time to achieve our goals because we all have something unique to offer the world.

 

Fire of Love

A man in a special suit walking along a volcano

The book Fire of Love relates the tale of two daring volcanologists named Katia and Maurice Krafft who perished in the Mount Unzen eruption in 1991. Miranda July, an independent celebrity, serves as the narration for Sara Dosa's film, which she also wrote, directed, and produced. The National Geographic-distributed movie was warmly received by critics at film festivals including Sundance and South by Southwest, where they praised its extraordinary artistic talent as well as its breathtaking imagery and archive footage. The Kraffts' narrative is equally painful and inspiring, just like its subject matter.

 

The Janes

A group of women posing and smiling for a picture

The Janes, an HBO film, chronicles the tale of the courageous women who created the covert network Jane, which assisted women in Chicago in their search for economical and safe abortions from 1968 to 1973. The network is followed from its creation until some of its top members' imprisonment by the filmmakers Tia Lessin and Emma Pildes, who conduct interviews with the men and women who were involved in it. The accounts are terrifying, and listening to the ladies who ran the network is utterly intriguing.

 

My Life in China

A Chinese man in a boat looking to the horizon

Have you ever considered how you arrived here? What our parents did for us truly defines who we are. A son and father who immigrated to the United States from China share memories of their journey in this movie. The Cultural Revolution forced the father of filmmaker Kenneth Eng to flee in 1966. He established his family in Boston after taking great risks to reach America. But Eng started to feel like he had failed at the American Dream when his restaurant went out of business and his mother fell ill.

 

Oz/Lynch

The face of David Lynch reflecting in several broken glasses

Lynch/Oz is a pleasure for movie fans as it delves into fandom, theories, and everything David Lynch. It's a fitting addition to the fascinating body of work by Alexandre O. Philippe, whose films (The People vs. George Lucas, 78/52: Hitchcock's Shower Scene, Memory: The Origins of Alien, Leap of Faith: William Friedkin on The Exorcist, and others) explore obsession and art in general using the medium of film. Lynch/Oz is a great contribution to the documentary genre, offering insight, interviews, and a Lynchian visual mood.

 

Happy Too

A brown-haired man with an old man reclining to his shoulder

You've never seen a making-of movie like this one. The documentary focuses on the interactions between the actors and the director of a movie depicting the rise and fall of two passionate lovers. Happiness is a Warm Gun, directed by renowned filmmaker Thomas Imbach, had its world premiere at the prestigious Locarno Film Festival in 2002. The movie, which combines reality, fiction, and archive video, tells the amazing tale of two lovers and their passionate relationship. This behind-the-scenes film was being produced concurrently with the movie's filming.

 

Moonage Daydream

David Bowie with a green and orange background

David Bowie appears in a way that has never been seen before in Brett Morgen's Moonage Daydream. In contrast to a more conventional bio-documentary, Morgen's work leans more on mood to paint a surreal yet utterly accurate portrayal of the musical hero. In lieu of talking to people who knew Bowie, Morgen's documentary heavily utilizes archival material and recently discovered uses of Bowie's songs. It is obvious that Morgen intended for us to experience what it was like to know Bowie in addition to learning about him.

 

Daughters of the Sexual Revolution: The Untold Story of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders

A group of women cheerleading with an USA flag as the background

This daring film, directed by Academy Award nominee Dana Adam Shapiro, uses the rise of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders as a metaphor for the pinnacle of the American sexual revolution. This documentary examines the phenomena of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, regarded as the most serious cheerleaders in the country at the time: the American sexual revolution. It does so through a series of testimonies and unpublished archive footage. Younger people will be fascinated by the bizarre occurrences that happened at the period of this documentary, while older audiences will enjoy the era in which this movie is set.

 

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