Ask HN: What are some of your favorite documentaries?
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My favorite documentary is “The Barkley Marathons, the race that eats it’s young”
I return to it at least once a year, and while the root of the story - watching people attempt the impossible is certainly inspiring, I find its moral themes are what I appreciate about it the most. The idea of competition as a collective activity, that everyone wants to win, but also everyone wants to see others win their own race, that there’s something about the way that it advances our understanding of humanity that is more important than individual success.
Then also - that your race is yours alone, and that the most important victory is the one you define for yourself. There are people who finish only one or three laps of the five lap marathon, and that failure is a greater achievement than most people will ever know, and they clearly see it that way, there’s near no shame in anyone’s performance and people are clearly defining success for themselves, mostly clearly beyond what anyone else would define it for them. And finally, it’s kind of a throwaway line, but one of the runners says “I think most people could use more pain in their lives.” And it made me realize that often, when enduring hardship, rather than turning away from it, finding ways to challenge myself on my terms is a healthier approach to stress than “relaxing”.
2. General Magic(2018)
3. The Armstrong Lie
4. Icarus (2017 film)
5. Man on Wire
6. Baraka & Samsara
7. BBC Planet Earth
8. Finding Vivian Maier
- Free Solo: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Solo
- Man on Wire: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_on_Wire
And one with the greatest ever road cyclist in the greatest one day race:
- A Sunday in Hell: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Sunday_in_Hell
Tl;dr is three guys go up a mountain, fail, one of them cracks a skull in the meantime, and then they make another attempt...
[1] "Andermatt - Global Village" - tracks the construction of a luxury resort in the Swiss village of Andermatt and how it affects people there. The village and the project still make the news occasionally. Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0NjZjWpXyw
[2] "The Forgotten Space" - essayist movie by Allan Sekula, featured at documenta14. Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rY0ZSlhoKiY
[3] "Cold Case Hammarskjöld" by Danish film maker Mads Brugger about the death of former UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskjöld; absolutely wild ride. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_Case_Hammarskj%C3%B6ld
I made it only three episodes in because it's too content-dense. But quite an eye opener. I knew Churchill was a massive POC but I had no clue he sold out England like that. Any way, worth a watch. It is freely available on VoD streaming platforms.
Every since I stopped watching TV, years ago, I have not seen much documentaries as you have to specifically go and look for one instead of it just randomly showing on Discovery or similar TV channel.
- Icarus: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icarus_(2017_film)
- The Civil War: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Civil_War_(miniseries)
- The Contestant: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Contestant_(2023_film)
I would love any recommendations and will try to watch them
anyway if we're putting herzon movies in here i say it fits :-)
An old HN thread on this (2012): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4462539
1. Objectified (on the design of objects)
2. Helvetica (on the design of typefaces)
3. Urbanized (on the design of cities and urban spaces)
A crazy watch. Two brothers are making a documentary on rookie firefighters in late 2001. The crew goes out to look at a possible gas leak, a loud plane is heard, the camera pans up, and the North Tower is hit. It was one of three recordings of that hit and the only clear one. The rest of the documentary follows the crew into the towers. No one knows what's going on, the scenes are chaotic but also calm as the firefighters try to figure out what to do. Then the second tower falls while (one of the brothers) is in the first. One of the most incredible things I've ever seen.
I think it was well known when it came out, but it's been overshadowed especially since searching "9/11 documentary" gives a million results. If you want to see one of the craziest human experiences unfold in front of you, there's no other film like this.