The year that was 2013 has almost run its course, so the time has come for Team ScreenAnarchy to pool its ever-growing troupe of contributors from the four corners of the planet, gather its collective thoughts and pay special tribute to those films that have made a particularly strong impact over the past twelve months.
In recent years, documentary filmmaking has taken off in ways nobody could have foreseen. In large part because of technological advances in the making and delivery of the work, now pretty much anybody with a smartphone and a laptop is equipped to be a documentarian. Add to that an inquisitive mind, an intelligent perspective and an engaging subject, and the world becomes your oyster. Below is a selection of the year's most fascinating, entertaining and thoroughly disturbing non-fiction features that graced our screens in 2013.
Todd Brown, Peter Martin, Brian Clark, Joshua Chaplinsky, Dustin Chang, Pierce Conran, , Kwenton Bellette, J Hurtado, Eric Ortiz Garcia, Jim Tudor, Christopher O'Keeffe, Patryk Czekaj, Kurt Halfyard, Jaime Grijalba Gomez, Patrick Holzapfel, Ryland Aldrich and Shelagh Rowan-Legg
contributed to this story.
The Act Of Killing - directed by Joshua Oppenheimer
Todd Brown - Founder and Editor
A remarkable treatment of an incredibly difficult subject.
Peter Martin - Managing Editor
Bold and daring, not only in subject matter but also in filmmaking techniques, going beyond 'what' to 'why.'
James Marsh - Asian Editor
Simple words struggle to adequately explain this terrifying encounter with genuine human monsters, only to then indulge their fantasies in a purely cinematic way in the hopes of exploring something about how they operate and what compelled them to do what they did for so many years. There simply isn't another film in existence quite like The Act Of Killing, nor need there be, as Oppenheimer's unique masterpiece will linger inside your thoughts and dreams long after the credits roll.
Brian Clark - European Editor
Joshua Chaplinsky - Contributing writer
Its narrative may meander a bit, but no other documentary this year was as powerful as The Act of Killing. The bravery to take on such a topic, the fact that the death squad leaders WANTED to participate, the ending... man, if they don't get that ending, there is no movie. Chilling stuff. One of the most affecting films to come around in forever.
Dustin Chang - Contributing writer
Pierce Conran - Contributing writer
Oppenheimer's film is probably the best documentary I've seen in years. Horrific, terrific and surreal, it's a unique and surprising work like no other.
Jason Gorber - Featured Critic
Hard to pick between this and The Square, both meant so much to me. Both are extraordinary, both are moving and vital. The Act Of Killing may be the better film, The Square may be better journalism. They're both indicative of just how rich the world of documentary is these days.
Kwenton Bellette - Contributing writer
Rewind This! - directed by Josh Johnson
Eric Ortiz Garcia - Contributing writer
As a movie collector who still buys lots of physical media, I didn't connect with other docs more than I did with these two little gems - Rewind This! and Adjust Your Tracking. Plus, I was very happy to see Troma's Lloyd Kaufman, aka el Lloydo, in both!
J Hurtado - Contributing writer
Adjust Your Tracking - directed by Dan M. Kinem, Levi Peretic
Eric Ortiz Garcia - Contributing writer
As a movie collector who still buys lots of physical media, I didn't connect with other docs more than I did with these two little gems - Rewind This! and Adjust Your Tracking. Plus, I was very happy to see Troma's Lloyd Kaufman, aka el Lloydo, in both!
Blood Brother - directed by Steve Hoover
Jim Tudor - Contributing writer
Jodorowsky's Dune - directed by Frank Pavich
Christopher O'Keeffe - Contributing writer
Leviathan - directed by Lucien Castaing-Taylor, Verena Paravel
Patryk Czekaj - Contributing writer
Probably the most artful and imaginative documentary I've seen this year. This experimental piece kept me on the edge of my seat until the very end.
Manakamana - directed by Stephanie Spray, Pacho Velez
Kurt Halfyard - Contributing writer
Another film project issued by the increasingly prolific Harvard Sensory Ethnography Lab. Last year they issued one of my favourite experiences on the festival circuit, Leviathan. Extraordinarily simple in execution, Manakamana consists of 11 of these 11-minute-long cable car rides as passengers go to pay respects to the Goddess Bhagwati. Splices are provided by the darkness of the cable-stations at either end of the trip. While this is happening it allows us to make our own contemplations, and ponder the mysteries of the passengers' faces and body language.
Muscle Shoals - directed by Greg 'Freddy' Camalier
Jim Tudor - Contributing writer
Narco Cultura - directed by Shaul Schwarz
Jaime Grijalba - Contributing writer
This documentary knows exactly what it's doing, where it's going and what it needs to address. With a fairly conventional point of view, it nevertheless manages to ask some amazing questions about how this documentary was made, the access and the things that were filmed. There are two stories, or at least perspectives flowing here: the events in the city of Juarez, a city I don't know how it stands up nowadays, how it even manages to be alive and survive, much like the people who get killed left and right by the people of the drug cartels. And then there's a band based in the USA that sings "Narco Corrido", a song sometimes commissioned or in tribute of the bands or specific people from the narco mobs, glorifying their killings and the deaths that they use to achieve it. It's incredible to see that juxtaposition of euphoria with ultimate sadness, it gives you a lot to think about.
Pine Ridge - directed by Anna Eborn
Patrick Holzapfel - Contributing writer
The Short Game - Josh Greenbaum
Ryland Aldrich - Festivals Editor
The Square - directed by Jehane Noujaim
Jason Gorber - Featured Critic
Hard to pick between this and The Square, both meant so much to me. Both are extraordinary, both are moving and vital. The Act Of Killing may be the better film, The Square may be better journalism. They're both indicative of just how rich the world of documentary is these days.
Watermark - directed by Jennifer Baichwal, Edward Burtynsky
Shelagh M. Rowan-Legg - Contributing writer
Jennifer Baichwal is one of the world's greatest documentary filmmakers, and she hits it out of the ballpark again with her subtly poetic yet pointed look at how humans use and abuse our most precious resource.
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