The 100 Greatest Documentaries, ranked as objectively as possible

Twelve years in the making, Claude Lanzmann’s monumental epic on the Holocaust features interviews with survivors, bystanders, and perpetrators across 14 countries. The film contains no historical footage; instead, it uses these interviews to 'reincarnate' the Jewish tragedy, revisiting the sites where the crimes occurred. A true redefinition of documentary filmmaking, it portrays the extermination of six million European Jews during the Second World War and gave the event its name in many countries: the Shoah.

Pretending to be Mohsen Makhmalbaf making his next movie, Hossain Sabzian enters the home of a well-to-do family in Tehran, promising it a prominent part in his next movie. The actual people involved in the incident re-enact the actual events, followed by the footage from the actual trial that took place.

From dawn to dusk, we witness the bustling life of a Soviet metropolis through the eyes of a man with a film camera. With his companion leaning on a tripod, he documents the rhythm of the city's inhabitants, offering an innovative vision of daily life through the kaleidoscopic journey presented in this revolutionary urban symphony by the masterful Dziga Vertov.

In one of the most vivid depictions of Nazi concentration camps, this film, shot in 1955, uses a mix of new color and black-and-white footage alongside historical newsreels and Allied recordings to illustrate the horrors of the Final Solution. Through alternating past and present footage, the film contrasts the lives of the Nazi guards with the starving prisoners, ultimately asking the haunting question of who bore responsibility.

"He wrote me...." A woman narrates the thoughts of a world traveler, meditations on time and memory expressed in words and images from places as far-flung as Japan, Guinea-Bissau, Iceland, and San Francisco.

The impact of the decline of heavy industry on workers and their families in the Tiexi district of Shenyang, China, at the turn of the 21st century, documented unflinchingly by a fly-on-the-wall camera.

Jean-Luc Godard does not propose a chronological history of cinema but rather a double exploration, a journey through the Twentieth Century history, in the country of images and an exploration of the creation of Godard himself, a self-portrait of the director. This is the story of the emotions created by cinema and the story of the loneliness of the creator. With excerpts of famous movies, Godard shows how cinema must struggle against photography, TV and literature to reproduce the real. Stories always unfinished and yet passionate for, as Godard says, "we must burn films, burn them with inner fire".

This innovative documentary explores the intriguing world of art forgery. Directed by Orson Welles, it intertwines personal narratives and investigative elements, focusing on notorious figures like Elmyr de Hory. The film questions the nature of authenticity and truth in art. A masterful blend of storytelling and cinematic sleight of hand, it's a fascinating watch for those intrigued by the illusions that pervade art and life.

In her first and only film, the influential Iranian film director and controversial modernist poet, Forugh Farrokhzad, depicts a series of events during the everyday lives of the inhabitants of the Bababaghi Hospice leper colony. Without shying away from documenting the various stages of leprosy, Forugh Farrokhzad captures the raw essence of what living with leprosy is like, using powerful images, rapid-fire editing, and an unforgettable, tragically poetic narration.

Errol Morris's unique documentary dramatically re-enacts the crime scene and investigation of a police officer's murder in Dallas, Texas. Briefly, a drifter (Randall Adams) ran out of gas and was picked up by a 16-year-old runaway (David Harris). Later that night, they drank some beer, smoked some marijuana, and went to the movies. Then, their stories diverged. Adams claimed that he left for his motel, where he was staying with his brother, and went to sleep. Harris, however, said that they were stopped by police late that night, and Adams suddenly shot the officer approaching their car. The film shows the audience the evidence gathered by the police, who were under extreme pressure to clear the case. It strongly makes a point that the circumstantial evidence was very flimsy. In fact, it becomes apparent that Harris was a much more likely suspect and was in the middle of a crime spree, eventually ending up on Death Row himself for the later commission of other crimes. Morris implies that the DA's and the judge's desire for the death penalty in this case (for which Harris would have been ineligible because of his youth) made Adams a scapegoat on whom to pin this heinous crime.

The artist, Antonio Lopez, tries to paint the quince tree he planted some time back in his garden. Throughout his life, he has worked on the same theme many times, almost as if it were a physical necessity. Every year, with the arrival of autumn, this need resurfaces. The artist's work has never represented the sun's rays between the leaves of the tree, and, given his characteristic realist style, he tries to achieve this. But he goes about it in the same way, without consciously pursuing a finished picture - he just wants to be close to the fragile lavish tree for a few weeks.

Eduardo Coutinho's interrupted 1964 project, revisited in 1981, takes you on a journey through the Northeast of Brazil. As he reconnects with the same places and people, Coutinho unveils the changes and challenges they faced, highlighting a family's struggle after the murder of their patriarch, a dedicated political leader. This documentary captures the profound impact of the political upheaval of this period in Brazil, so give it a watch!

This documentary follows two young African-Americans through their high school years as they perfect their skills in basketball in the hopes of getting a college scholarship and eventually play in the NBA. Arthur Agee and William Gates both show great potential and are are actively recruited as they look to enter high school. They start off at the same high school but unable to pay an unexpected bill for tuition fees, Arthur has to withdraw and go to the local public high school. The film follows them through their four years of high school and their trials and tribulations: injuries, slumps and the never ending battle to maintain their grades. Through it all, their hoop dreams continue.

An intimate, picaresque inquiry into French life as lived by the country's poor and its provident, as well as by the film's own director, Agnes Varda. The aesthetic, political and moral point of departure for Varda are gleaners, those individuals who pick at already-reaped fields for the odd potato, the leftover turnip.

Portrait of the artist as a young man. In spring, 1965, Bob Dylan, 23, a pixyish troubador, spends three weeks in England. Pennebaker's camera follows him from airport to hall, from hotel room to public house, from conversation to concert. Joan Baez and Donovan, among others, are on hand. It's the period when Dylan is shifting from acoustic to electric, a transition that not all fans, including Baez, applaud. From the opening sequence of Dylan holding up words to the soundtrack's "Subterranean Homesick Blues," Dylan is playful and enigmatic.