Best Documentaries 2020

Be Water

Release Date: – January 25, 2020

Bruce Lee was a man who spent his entire life building bridges; between martial arts styles, between conflicting cultures, and between internal and external philosophies. He had the feeling that true strength comes from within and that despite all adversity, greatness can be achieved by acknowledging that strength and all the mistakes that go with it. Bruce Lee is a hero worth idolizing for not seeing himself as such. He didn’t see himself as a star or a saint. He was true to himself and accepted the good with the bad. He was confident but not arrogant, wise but not condescending. He was a man who fought for all that he accomplished and gained every ounce of success from him. Given the current climate of racial injustice in the United States, it is important that a documentary about a man who has played such an important role in eliminating prejudice against Asian Americans is aware of, and treats them with respect and knowledge, all racial factors. It’s about Bruce Lee, yes, but more importantly, it’s about the struggle that he and so many Asian Americans still face today. You don’t get to see many documentaries 2020 like this and this one is truly remarkable. It is the story of a man who, against all odds, was able to beat all odds and show the world that an Asian man could outshine any leading man and that his determination made him the same superstar, if not more deserving. The so often banished to Hollywood’s white elite.

The Social Dilemma

Release Date: – January 26, 2020

This simply establishes a completely different idea than usual and also shows us the imperfections of this very perfect world. Basically, there are great messages like not being blindly swayed by social media, expressing your opinion, taking a break, being confident, change is necessary and the internet is still awesome, but you need to be in control and not let it get the better of you. Take advantage of how much is needed, do not dictate your self-esteem for it, be more open to the real world, if technology is misused, as it is used these days, it can destroy lives and manipulate you. This is the best documentary on Netflix 2020 so far for today’s generation. Technology is an open platform, but its capabilities allow people to express their opinions and thoughts, and as technology collects their data, it presents appropriate ideas based on your opinion to make more money, not because they are the real ones but because they know the truth. So in the end, remember that this is all a business, if it is used profitably and makes a positive change, and if you spend real time in life instead of spending all day on technology, it will really help, but when used Wrongly, it can destroy the world, say the highly successful people in it who are in Leadership positions in IT companies and we believe the time has come to change the way we use it. You should definitely watch it.

The Truffle Hunters

Release Date: – January 30, 2020

This documentary is about four elderly gentlemen and their four-legged friends who literally scour the countryside in search of one of the most valuable products in culinary science. It takes a kind of flying-on-the-wall approach to explore and share with us how these men work, how their work practices have barely changed since the old days. As they are scammed by middlemen who then sell these rare mushrooms to the catering industry at exorbitant prices that only go up when we have them in a restaurant, it really gives the “food chain” a whole new meaning. The themes are real characters that give us a strange and attractive look at this subsistence level that is truly entertaining for just under ninety minutes. The camera work, the entire production is actually a bit simple and the sound may need a bit more boost, but somehow it all adds to the integrity of the film and the men involved. Next time you have truffle porridge or truffle fries, think about it and maybe it will help you enjoy the flavors a little more.

Crip Camp

Release Date: – March 25, 2020

This documentary shows the strengths and struggles of people with disabilities fighting for the right to equal citizenship in the United States. This engaging documentary begins with a light-hearted introduction to Camp Jened, a place where people with exceptional needs can enjoy the benefits of summer camp that would not otherwise be available to them. As the documentary progresses, we begin to delve into the dark side of the United States, where its rights and freedoms are based on its ability to integrate itself with the ideals of society. Following a small group of determined folks, Crip Camp allows us to see from the perspective of what it’s like to fight for the very rights we take for granted and assume about some of America’s most notorious congressmen.

The Painter and The Thief

Release Date: – May 22, 2020

When an artist in distress has the opportunity to confront the thief of her precious paintings, she does so with a strange and friendly approach of curiosity. Soon the two meet for tea and intensive talks. Such a seemingly action-driven movie is actually a cheeky documentary, one of those crazy miracles where the filmmaker is in the right place at the right time and an exciting story unfolds in front of his lens. Benjamin Ree captures his story in beautiful recordings, unconstrained dialogue, and secrecy. It’s hard to believe there was no staging, as there was no camera or director intervention at all. “The Painter and the Thief” works on many levels, but it is the surprising relationship that develops between the artist and her new muse that is at the heart of this fire. Obviously upset over the loss of her, Barbora Kysilkova quickly moves her emotions to penetrate deep into the psyche of the bereaved Karl Bertil and offers branches of support and friendship. He returns her favor but struggles to get rid of his bad-boy lifestyle and her mistakes. Whether Barbora truly offers a caring hand or uses Danger Boy for artistic inspiration, or both is an interesting question that comes up throughout. Each is a compelling character with definitely very different career paths that have tangled up like the wild weed of infatuation. It’s an in-depth look at how people interact with each other, who we interact with, what we are looking for, and why we are looking in the first place. This movie is as raw, real, and authentic as it can be experienced.

John Lewis: Good Trouble

Release Date: – July 3, 2020

John Lewis Good Trouble is a documentary about the life and times of US Congressman and civil rights activist John Lewis. When the film begins, Lewis speaks directly to the camera: there are forces today that try to transport us to the past. We then see Lewis walking up to Capitol Hill as others comment on him. He is effective because he has lived it, observes Alexandria OcadioCortez. Then we move to Selma, Alabama, in 1965, where Lewis is part of the peaceful march. This is the documentary by writer/director Dawn Porter. Here he reviews 60 years of activism for social justice and civil rights of John Lewis. The documentary covers his upbringing in rural Troy, Alabama, to his ongoing work in Congress today after his stunning victory over Julian Bond in 1986. Let’s be clear that Lewis is a giant African American voter who always reminds people not only to register to vote but to actually vote. For me, the documentary is the most notable for the amount of material Porter and his team was able to find. There are some well-known images, of course, but also many rare, if not invisible, images of the young Lewis who seems to be everywhere during the years of civil rights activism. Watch footage of Nashville Sitin and see how moderate activists are treated, much of the film also delve into the 2018 election cycle and the role of systematic election suppression in the race for the election of governorship of Georgia. This man is a national treasure and I am glad this film lives up to his extraordinary story.

Boys State

Release Date: – August 14, 2020

The Boy State documentary by Jesse Moss and Amanda McBain documented thousands of Texas boys attending the 2018 American Legion Boys State Camp where they go to learn about American democracy by organizing political parties and running a sham government. In a tone that is both gloomy and optimistic, frightening and reassuring, this documentary is a powerful allegory of today’s political climate in all parts of the world, but of course especially in America, offering a subtle picture of the world. The system must be flipped, and only the younger generation can do it.

The Mole Agent

Release Date: – September 1, 2020

Maite Alberdi’s “The Mole Agent” follows in the footsteps of Sergio Chamy, a man in his eighties who was hired by a detective agency to infiltrate a nursing home and investigate how the nursing home treated an elderly woman. What starts out as a fun and carefree movie turns into a story about love, family and loneliness in the last phase of life. The narrative flows well and the pieces fit together beautifully, so it almost feels more like fiction than documentation. It is a moving ode of love and appreciation for life, for parents and grandparents.

David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet

Release Date: – October 4, 2020

This is the most realistically thought-provoking, beautifully presented, and easy-to-understand films I’ve seen in my many years of watching documentaries. David Attenborough is one of the few inspirational people on the planet who speaks common sense and has first-hand knowledge of how our planet’s biodiversity is being destroyed, as stated by this one Witness shows. This is definitely one of the Best Documentaries 2020 came out with. Humanity has invaded the planet, nearly exhausted and destroyed all of its resources, and if nothing is done to reverse it, our world will be uninhabitable for humans by the year 2100. Now is the turning point. He tells us how it can be done and gives us a lot of positive hope. All in all, this is an amazing movie that will raise awareness of what humanity is doing and how to fix it. I would recommend it to anyone interested in this type of documentary.

Totally Under Control

Release Date: – October 13, 2020

If you really want to know why so many Americans have died from COVID19, this will explain it well. In a fair world, that would be the prosecution’s opening statement in a Nuremberg-style trial against Trump and his friends. The timeline is so refreshing that you’ll remember many of the things depicted in this movie from personal experience. What the filmmakers provided were the behind-the-scenes plots of the Trump administration and align them with what we were allowed to see at the time which makes it the Best Documentaries 2020 has to offer. While this outraged information won’t make it easy to deal with the damage former President Trump soon inflicted on this country, I have no doubt that the long arms of justice will take him and guaranteed he would make it through the rest of his life in prison. This is a great and straightforward depiction of what has and is happening. Totally Under Control is definitely one of the most unsettling documentary movies I’ve seen since it covers the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, yet it’s also one of the most powerful, engaging, and thought-provoking documentary films I’ve ever seen. This one is a must-watch!