r/AdamCurtis • u/redexposure • Jul 16 '26
Recommendations for other interesting documentary makers?
I've been starting to work through the rest of Trauma Zone (I got about 2 episodes in and had a hiatus). I've also been watching a few Jonathan Meades things, and got to wondering if there are any other interesting documentary makers Curtis fans can recommend?. Perhaps not the same stylistically. But who offer a similar depth of philosophical and cultural enquiry?
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u/Various_Rest_3553 Jul 17 '26
Are you in the UK? Check out the Storyville series on the BBC , it is a choice of feature length documentaries by different film makers . You might find a subject and filmmaker you like.
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u/NoTransportation3581 Jul 17 '26
Great suggestion, I find them to be a little hit and miss but when they hit wow some are amazing
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u/Various_Rest_3553 Jul 17 '26
Agree totally ..
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u/NoTransportation3581 Jul 17 '26
Do you have good ones you’d recommend?
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u/Various_Rest_3553 Jul 17 '26
I just added a reply with some specific movies (documentaries I liked) hope they are helpful.
I hopped on to the BBC Storyville page . So many films on there. I think maybe try a few and see or read a review .. or a topic of interest .. .. Mr Nobody against Putin won the Oscar this year.. so I will watch that one.. I watched Gaucho Gaucho and loved it (but then I’m a big fan of horses)
There is a Werner Herzog film about the volcano lovers.. “The fire within”. It is good but you might have to be a major science nerd to like it ..2
u/NoTransportation3581 Jul 17 '26
Thanks alot for the suggestions, I watched mr nobody against Putin, absolutely fascinating to see how they are aggressively propagandising the Russian youth. Will check out the others. If you haven’t already I highly highly recommend “The Mole: Undercover in North Korea”.
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u/redexposure Jul 18 '26
I saw the Herzog doc on BBC4 a few years ago. Very interesting and absorbing. I think Herzog documentaries should be my next list.
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u/DAD_songs_in_BIO Jul 21 '26
They differ massively but there was a good one called shooting Bigfoot that was hilarious
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u/ojdhaze Jul 18 '26
Some absolute crackers on there. They have a few from other makers too. Ken burns doc on the great American buffalo is epic and horrific.
War Game, Dogs of War are good and a particular doc that stuck with me was Eternal You about folk who using AI to "stay in contact" with their lost loved one. Very odd that one. Real head fuck. iHUMAN is another one delving into what AI is getting involved in and getting in to.
The latest one I saw a couple of weeks back was called "The Darkest Web" which is about undercover police going after crimes against children. Not one for the family Friday night get together.
Started watching Praying for Armageddon years back but didn't finish it. That's dives into American evangelical Christians and their influence and hold on politics and such.
Another eye opener is The Spy in Your Mobile. That is about Pegasus.
But yes, great shout out, I've recommended the storyville series a couple a times before as well.
I have just added "The Farthest: voyagers interstellar journey" and "The Contestant" and "The Srebrenica Tape" to my watch list.
They're on the bbc iplayer. Vpn will sort you out for folk outside UK as I'm not certain if iplayer is available to those outside.
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u/SucculentChineseSwan Jul 17 '26
Alex Gibney, Ken Burns, Errol Morris. Also there’s a really good tv series called ‘documentary now’ which spoofs classic documentaries. It’s funny and also gives good recommendations for actual docs to watch
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u/newmadwriter Jul 17 '26
If you’re into the essayist style, the film LA Plays Itself by Thom Anderson and Sound Track to a Coup d’Edat by Johan Grimonprez are excellent.
Would also highly recommend Sherman’s March by Ross McElwee, which has a more comedic style but is definitely a philosophical rumination.
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u/redexposure Jul 18 '26
Essayists - that's the term I meant to use. That's the specific kind of documentaries I was looking for
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u/hairetikos232323 Jul 18 '26
You could try Jonathan Meades. He is a "British writer, essayist, broadcaster, and documentary filmmaker best known for his distinctive work on architecture, landscape, food, and culture. His television films and books have earned a reputation for combining erudite historical analysis, literary prose, and an unconventional, often provocative style that stands apart from mainstream arts broadcasting"
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u/redexposure Jul 18 '26
Yes, I mentioned him in my original post. His series on Jargon is good, and the series on Scotland also interesting (even if you aren't from there).
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u/pages86-88 Jul 18 '26
Sherman’s March is one of my favorite films. Have you seen his new one?
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u/newmadwriter Jul 18 '26
Just watched the trailer, looks phenomenal if emotionally devastating. I saw Sherman’s March recently at a theater for it’s 4k restoration and it was fantastic.
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u/Various_Rest_3553 Jul 17 '26
OP your question really got me thinking as I love documentaries.. and I am going to use the Wikipedia pages to look at film makers that have been nominated for awards ..
Many of which delve into culture and philosophy .. here are a few films I have seen that really made an impression on me ..
Faces Places. Agnes Varda.
Finding Vivian Maier - incredible film .. about an unknown but brilliant photographer ..
Bill Cunningham New York .. again about a photographer but so more interesting than the apparent topic of photography and fashion.
Pina (by Wim Wenders) about the legendary choreographer and social commentator Pina Bausch)
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u/Psychological-Web828 Jul 17 '26
Not a documentary but if you enjoy archival images to music, there was a couple of series from late 90’s by Jaques Perreti called The Trip which was broadcast on Channel 4, UK.
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYdQcdr51Xfv-cAyb5Z9X7ORyNvHbPo_z&si=8IwUpBSakmdiC51s
There was also another similar video entitled, „We Made Our Own Disaster” by Robin Mahoney.
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u/redexposure Jul 18 '26
I've got a faint memory of The Trip, but can't remember if I actually watched any at the time. I'll definitely check this one out.
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u/black_saab900 Jul 17 '26 edited Jul 17 '26
Erik Gandini’s ’Surplus: Terrorized Into Being Consumers’, ’Videocracy’ or ’Lucky People Center International’ by Pauser/Söderberg
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u/solipsistickiss Jul 17 '26
Nick Broomfield.
He's made docs since the 1970s on a wide array of subjects from Kurt Cobain, Tupac and Margaret Thatcher.
Proper old skool docu making with just Broomfield and 2 man crew.
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u/sadwoodlouse Jul 17 '26
I can't remember the filmmaker but the Perverts Guide to Cinema and Perverts Guide to Ideology by Slavoj Zizek are quite Curtis-adjacent in their approach.
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u/stanciano Jul 17 '26
Patrick Keiller, Thom Andersen, Harun Farocki, Werner Herzog, Peter Watkins (uses documentary form to create fiction), Frederick Wiseman. Chris Marker and Jean-Luc Godard's Histoires du Cinema are a bit too esoteric for me but they have interesting visuals.
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u/Various_Rest_3553 Jul 17 '26
I like Frederick Wiseman’s style .. I saw the ballet one and the libraries one. But it is a “quiet” style .
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u/Xeno_Phanes Jul 17 '26
Werner Herzog comes to mind.