The 22 Best Documentary Filmmakers and Their Popular Projects

Documentaries have always been used to educate people, raise awareness about hidden issues, and preserve history.

What sets them apart is the filmmaker behind them. They play an important role in shaping society, changing people's perspectives, and driving campaigns against neglected crimes.

In this article, you will learn about the best documentary filmmakers, what makes them unique, and their best work as well.

Part 1. 22 Best Documentary Filmmakers Who Mastered the Art

Many documentary filmmakers have earned their name in the industry due to their exceptional work. Here are some of the best ones you must know.

1. Janek Ambros

Janek Ambros is an American film director based in Los Angeles, famous for his documentaries on war topics, which earned him many prestigious awards.

His war documentaries, "Imminent Threat" and "Ukrainians in Exile," show how the decisions of the governments and the wars have impacted nations and the exiled people. In December 2022 at the 76th Salerno Film Festival, "Ukrainians in Exile" won the "Best Documentary Award".

He also made a comedy/sci-fi film, "Mondo Hollywoodland", which received the Jury Prize for Creative Vision at the Downtown Los Angeles Film Festival. It shows the director's diverse taste and ability to present different topics beautifully.

2. Brendan Bellomo and Slava Leontyev

Brendan Bellomo is an award-winning American director, famous for his documentary "Porcelain War." He made his first short film, " Bohemibot," at the University, for which he received the "Academy Award for Student Narrative".

Bellomo co-directed the documentary "Porcelain War" with a Ukrainian artist and former soldier, Slava Leontyev.

The film is about the Russian occupation in Ukraine and beautifully shows the challenges of the Ukrainian people and their wish to stay alive under roaring fighter jets. It won the "Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary".

3. Lisa Cortés

Born in the United States, this American filmmaker is known for her exceptional documentaries in which she explores untouched topics and presents them in a bold style.

In"Space Race", she investigated the experiences of the first Black Astronaut, Guion Bluford, and other Black workers, Ed Dwight, and Charles Bolden at NASA.

Her other work includes the "All In: The Fight for Democracy" documentary, which, along with "Space Race," received many nominations and awards. In 2023, she was also selected for the "Pioneer Award" by the Black Film Critics Circle.

4. Maite Alberdi

Maite Alberdi is a Chilean film director and documentarian, famous for attention to detail and strong storytelling in her documentaries.

The topics of her documentaries are unique, and she presents the story of her subjects and life struggles in a way that encourages you to look and observe their lives in a completely different way.

"La Once" documents the relationship between a group of friends who passed high school together and decided to see each other every month. Her other documentary, "The Grown-Ups," shows how a group of friends with Down syndrome, abandoned by everyone, decide to work hard and achieve their dreams.

5. Silje Evensmo Jacobsen

From Norway, Silje Evensmo Jacobsen, a documentary filmmaker, is known for presenting topics of faith, resilience, and the struggle of migrating from a traditional society to a modern one in a distinct style.

Her award-winning documentary "A New Kind Of Wilderness" pictures how a family living in the wilderness separately was forced to adapt to modern society. It won "Grand Jury Prize" at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival. Her other popular documentaries are "Faith Can Move Mountains" and "Team Ingebrigtsen".

6. Natalie Rae and Angela Patton

Natalia Rae is a famous Canadian award-winning film and documentary director. Unlike other filmmakers who focus on history, politics, and war, she chose a sensitive topic that is often neglected but demands a solution.

Along with Angela Patton, Natalie co-directed the famous documentary "Daughters". Angela Patton is the CEO of a non-profit organization," Girls For a Change," that works for the empowerment of Black girls.

This documentary shows how 4 little girls are prepared for a daughter/Daddy dance with their imprisoned fathers at an event of a special fatherhood program in a Washington Jail. It won the Peabody Award because of its excellent storytelling and choice of topic.

7. Frederick Wiseman

Born in 1930, the 95-year-old American filmmaker, Frederick Wiseman, has spent his life documenting the functioning of various American institutions. Instead of criticism, he has a different style for documenting.

He focused on presenting the impact of these institutions on ordinary people in an unbiased way and gave his viewers the chance to learn about them and build their own opinions.

High School, Law and Order, and Welfare are some of his great documentaries. Throughout his long career, he has won 9 awards, which include the "Academy Honorary Award" and the "National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Non-Fiction Film".

8. Michael Apted

Michael Apted got fame from the famous documentary series named "Up," which continued for 5 decades and won a Peabody Award in 2012. This documentary filmed the life situations and achievements of 14 children over the years who belong to different backgrounds.

His documentary film "Coal Miner's Daughter" was also nominated for the "Academy Awards" seven times. Other popular ones are "Gorillas in the Mist", "Nell", and "Enigma".

One of his most interesting works is "Married in America." In this, he followed the same pattern as the "Up" series and interviewed married couples in America every two years over the period of 10 years to learn about the complete story of their marriages.

9. Ken Burns

Ken Burns was born in the USA in 1953. He is famous for his documentaries, which cover American history. He started his career as a cinematographer at the BBC, and then started to make documentaries in his signature cinematography style.

His 11-hour documentary "The Civil War" was a great hit and earned two Emmy Awards. His other famous documentaries are "Baseball", "The War", and "Brooklyn Bridge." Ken's unique style of documentaries earned him the "TCA Lifetime Achievement Award" as well.

10. Charles Ferguson

Charles Ferguson is well known for his 3 documentaries, namely Inside Job, No End in Sight, and Time to Choose. These documentaries focus on the post-Iran war, financial crises, and systemic corruption.

His documentary "No End in Sight" was nominated for an Oscar in 2008, and he got it in 2010 in the category of the "Best Documentary Feature".

11. Michael Moore

In 2005, Time Magazine named Michael Moore as one of the most influential personalities, and that's enough to show his value.

He is one of the few documentary filmmakers who dares to openly criticize the decisions of influential personalities. His documentaries are about the US gun culture, American Politicians, and their involvement in the Iraq war and the American health care system.

Some of his award-winning documentaries are "Roger & Me", "Fahrenheit 9/11", "Bowling for Columbine", and "Michael Moore in TrumpLand".

12. Stanley Nelson

Stanley Nelson is an African-American documentary filmmaker born in the United States. His documentaries serve as a strong advocate for the struggles of African Americans in the past, their rights, and their achievements.

Social justice, the known and forgotten history of America, are some other topics seen in his documentaries.

He is widely recognized worldwide for his exceptional work and has won "Primetime Emmy Awards" three times. Some of his great documentaries are "The Black Press: Soldiers Without Swords", "The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution", and "Freedom Riders".

13. Alex Gibney

You might have seen "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room" or "Taxi to the Dark Side." Well, both of them are the work of Alex Gibney, who earned his name as a famous American director.

Esquire magazine in 2010 said Gibney is becoming the most important documentarian of our time.

Alex's documentaries don't just cover one theme but educate you on diverse topics. His other famous documentaries are:

• The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley (2019).
• The Crime of the Century.

Both of them won many awards.

14. Werner Herzog

Werner Herzog is probably one of the best documentary filmmakers from Germany. He started his career at the age of 19 and now, after 6 decades, he has made 60 feature films and documentaries.

The subject of his documentaries is mostly a main character with high aims, life struggles, and unusual talents. The fact that he put his crew and cast in real-world situations to mimic reality in his documentaries makes them even more unique. Here are some of his popular work of art:

• Grizzly Man
• Encounters at the End of the World
• Cave of Forgotten Dreams
• Into the Abyss

15. Steve James

Steve James, another American documentary filmmaker, has established his name worldwide by focusing on the people who mostly belong to his hometown, Chicago, and presenting their social problems with a new touch.

His first documentary, "Hoop Dreams", was a huge success, which got nominated for the Oscar. During his 30-year career, he won several awards, mainly the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism and the IDFA awards.

Some of his famous documentaries are "Hoop Dreams", "Stevie The Interrupters", "Life Itself," and "Abacus: Small Enough to Jail".

16. Kevin Macdonald

Kevin Macdonald is a Scottish documentary director who has made many award-winning documentaries. He is famous for "Touching the Void", "The Last King of Scotland", "The Mauritanian", and "How I Live Now".

Dictatorship, US illegal detentions of Muslims, and the war era are the topics you'll often see in his documentaries.

One of his most interesting works is his crowd-sourced documentary named 'Life in a Day". It shows an ordinary day made up of some of the selected scenes from the thousands of submissions by ordinary people.

His documentary "Touching the Void" won the "Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film" at the BAFTA Awards.

17. Brett Morgen

Brett Morgan's documentaries surround the life stories of his subjects with great detail and highlight their struggles and achievements.

While in the University, he made the film "Ollie's Army" that discussed the actions of a Student Republican group during the 1994 Senatorial campaigns of Oliver North.

Later, he made a boxing documentary, "On the Ropes," that explores the life struggles of three prizefighters and their coach. It got nominated for an "Academy Award for Best Documentary".

His other documentaries include "Crossfire Hurricane", "Jane", and "Moonage Daydream".

18. Jehane Noujaim

Jehane Noujaim moved from Egypt to Boston in 1984. She's one of the brave filmmakers who openly exposed many ground realities in her documentaries despite being arrested multiple times and accused. She focused on the social and political issues in the Middle East and became the voice of the silent.

After she left MTV, she produced and directed "Startup.com," which later won one of the Prestigious awards, the "IDA Awards for best documentary" and "The Directors Guild of America" awards as well.

His documentary "Square " revealed the reality of the Egyptian revolution and its influence. This was the most challenging project, but also won her the DGA.

19. Rory Kennedy

Rory Kennedy is another famous documentary filmmaker, born in the United States. She chose to make films on issues like treatment of war prisoners, addictions, and nuclear power opposition.

Her documentary "Ghosts of Abu Ghraib" was a groundbreaking work in which she touched history and revealed the infamous abuse scandal that involved the US soldiers and their atrocities on the detainees in the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

Last Days in Vietnam is another example of her deep observation and strong storytelling. It takes you back in time and explains the challenging situation faced by the people in the war. This documentary film was nominated for the "Best Documentary Feature".

20. Ava DuVernay

Ava DuVernay is an American documentary filmmaker who emerged as an advocate against social injustice and racial discrimination in America.

Her historical documentary "Selma" was the turning point of her career. It was released in 2014 and highlights the struggles of the 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery, led by Martin Luther King, Jr.

In 2016, her most popular documentary, "13th," was released, which highlights and raises a voice against the racial injustice in American prisons. It got nominated for an Oscar and 9 Emmy awards, and also won 2 awards for Outstanding Directing and Outstanding Writing for Nonfiction Programming.

21. Robert Kenner

Robert Kenner is a multi-award-winning documentary filmmaker who has received the title of the "Master of Documentary form" because of his groundbreaking work on social and environmental issues.

His documentaries have received rave reviews and have influenced the Senators and the US Attorney General to shape the climate policy.

Food, Inc. and Food, Inc. 2 get massive popularity as they educate you about the industrial food production system and its effects on the environment, animals, and your health. Food Inc. also received the "Gotham Independent Film Award for Best Documentary Feature".

22. Samantha Stark

Samantha Stark has used her documentaries to raise a voice against issues like domestic violence, sexual assault, and police brutality. Because of her impact, she won the "Emmy Award" and was also featured in Doc NYC's "40 Under 40".

She is a director and producer at the "New York Times Presents" documentary series, which includes "Framing Britney Spears", "Controlling Britney Spears", "The Forger", and "The Weekly".

Her most prominent work is the documentary "Framing Britney Spears," in which she discusses how the misuse of legal agreements like conservatorship causes a Pop star to suffer for a decade.

The #FreeBritnery movement got a massive boost with the release of this movie and called for the termination of her conservatorship.

Part 2. FAQs of Best Documentary Filmmakers

Conclusion on Best Documentary Filmmakers

In this article, you've discovered 22 of the best documentary filmmakers, who have served their lives in the industry and directed many inspiring and educational award-winning documentaries. If you want to pursue this career, the work of these creators can pave the way for you with their selection of topics and production techniques.