The following is a list of the Top Five Documentary Films chosen annually by the National Board of Review, beginning in 2003. Notes † Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature winner ≠ Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature nominee ‡ Writers Guild of America Award for Best Documentary Screenplay winner # Writers Guild of America Award for Best Documentary Screenplay nominee √ Producers Guild of America Award for Best Documentary Motion Picture winner ≈ Producers Guild of America Award for Best Documentary Motion Picture nominee Top Five Documentary Films 2000s YearFilmDirector(s)Ref.2003Capturing the Friedmans ≠Andrew JareckiThe Fog of War †Errol MorrisMy Architect ≠Nathaniel KahnSpellboundJeffrey BlitzWinged MigrationJacques Cluzaud, Michel Debats and Jacques Perrin2004Born into Brothels † Zana Briski and Ross KauffmanPaper ClipsJoe FabSuper Size Me ≠ ‡Morgan SpurlockThe Story of the Weeping Camel ≠Byambasuren Davaa and Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession Alexandra Cassavetes2005Ballets RussesDayna Goldfine and Dan GellerGrizzly ManWerner HerzogMad Hot BallroomMarilyn AgreloMarch of the Penguins † #Luc Jacquet and Yves DarondeauMurderball ≠Henry Alex Rubin and Dana Adam Shapiro200651 Birch StreetDoug BlockAn Inconvenient Truth †Davis GuggenheimIraq in Fragments ≠James LongleyShut Up & SingBarbara Kopple and Cecilia PeckWordplayPatrick Creadon2007Darfur NowTed BraunIn the Shadow of the MoonDavid SingtonNanking #Bill Guttentag and Dan SturmanTaxi to the Dark Side †‡Alex GibneyTootsKristi Jacobson2008American TeenNanette BursteinThe Betrayal – Nerakhoon ≠Ellen Kuras and Thavisouk PhrasavathDear ZacharyKurt KuenneEncounters at the End of the World ≠Werner HerzogRoman Polanski: Wanted and DesiredMarina Zenovich2009Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country ≠ ≈Anders ØstergaardCrudeJoe BerlingerFood, Inc. ≠Robert KennerGood Hair #Jeff StilsonThe Most Dangerous Man in America ≠Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith 2010s YearFilmDirector(s)Ref.2010A Film UnfinishedYael HersonskiInside Job †‡Charles FergusonJoan Rivers: A Piece of WorkRicki Stern and Anne SundbergRestrepo ≠Tim Hetherington and Sebastian JungerThe Tillman StoryAmir Bar-Lev2011Born to Be WildDavid LickleyBuckCindy MeehlGeorge Harrison: Living in the Material WorldMartin ScorseseProject NimJames MarshSenna #Asif Kapadia2012Ai Weiwei: Never SorryAlison KlaymanDetropiaHeidi Ewing and Rachel GradyThe Gatekeepers ≠Dror MorehThe Invisible War ≠ #Kirby DickOnly the YoungJason Tippet and Elizabeth Mims201320 Feet from Stardom †Morgan NevilleThe Act of Killing ≠Joshua OppenheimerAfter TillerMartha Shane and Lana WilsonCasting ByTom DonahueThe Square ≠Jehane Noujaim2014Art and CraftSam Cullman and Jennifer GrausmanJodorowsky's DuneFrank PavichKeep on Keepin' OnAlan HicksThe Kill TeamDan KraussLast Days in Vietnam ≠ #Rory Kennedy2015Best of EnemiesRobert Gordon and Morgan NevilleThe Black Panthers: Vanguard of the RevolutionStanley Nelson Jr.The DiplomatDavid HolbrookeListen to Me MarlonStevan RileyThe Look of Silence ≠ ≈ Joshua Oppenheimer2016De PalmaNoah Baumbach and Jake PaltrowThe Eagle HuntressOtto BellGleasonClay TweelLife, Animated ≠ Roger Ross WilliamsMiss Sharon Jones!Barbara Kopple2017Abacus: Small Enough to Jail ≠ Steve JamesBrimstone & GloryViktor JakovleskiEric Clapton: Life in 12 BarsLili Fini ZanuckFaces Places ≠ Agnès Varda and JRHell On Earth: The Fall of Syria and the Rise of ISISMohammed Jambaz, Sebastian Junger, and Nick Quested2018Crime + PunishmentStephen MaingFree Solo † ≈Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy ChinMinding the Gap ≠Bing LiuThree Identical Strangers ≈Tim WardleWon't You Be My Neighbor? √Morgan Neville2019American Factory † ≈ Steven Bognar and Julia ReichertApollo 11 √Todd Douglas MillerThe Black GodfatherReginald HudlinRolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin ScorseseMartin ScorseseWrestleSuzannah Herbert and Lauren Belfer 2020s YearFilmDirector(s)Ref.2020All In: The Fight for Democracy # Liz Garbus and Lisa CortésBoys StateJesse Moss and Amanda McBaineDick Johnson Is Dead ≈Kirsten JohnsonMiss AmericanaLana WilsonThe Truffle Hunters ≈Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw2021Ascension ≠ ≈Jessica KingdonAttica ≠Traci Cury and Stanley Nelson Jr.Flee ≠ ≈Jonas Poher RasmussenThe Rescue ≈Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy ChinRoadrunner: A Film About Anthony BourdainMorgan Neville2022All the Beauty and the Bloodshed ≠Laura PoitrasAll That Breathes ≠ ≈Shaunak SenDescendant ≈Margaret BrownTurn Every PageLizzie GottliebWildcatTrevor Frost and Melissa Lesh202320 Days in Mariupol † ≈Mstyslav Chernov32 SoundsSam GreenThe Eternal Memory ≠Maite AlberdiThe Pigeon Tunnel ‡Errol MorrisA Still Small VoiceLuke Lorentzen2024Black Box Diaries ≠Shiori ItōDahomeyMati DiopLook into My EyesLana WilsonSuper/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story √Ian Bonhôte and Peter EttedguiWill & HarperJosh Greenbaum20252000 Meters to AndriivkaMstyslav ChernovCome See Me in the Good LightRyan WhiteMy Mom JayneMariska HargitayNatchezSuzannah HerbertOrwell: 2+2=5Raoul Peck References