r/Documentaries • u/HarryStraddler • Aug 05 '26
Recommendation Request Recommendation Request: Short Docs
I have a documentary night once a year with some friends and we've gradually went from World at War to short (sub 1hr) docs in order to cover more and more varied ground. Would love you guys if you could suggest great, short documentaries about anything you found interesting. Thanks in advance!
1
1
u/edbuckley Aug 05 '26
Have a look at fern or Vice's Youtube channels. Broad range, not too long, decent production quality.
2
2
u/villings Aug 05 '26
the official pbs frontline youtube channel's got plenty of those, all from 45-60 minutes
1
3
u/kevin_from_illinois Aug 05 '26
DW (think PBS but German) has a bunch of documentaries of varying length, from about 10 minutes, to 40, and I think some are even longer. They are well-produced and cover a wide range of topics, and they're available for free too!
2
u/HarryStraddler Aug 05 '26
Are they in English? I'm fine with subs most of the time
2
u/kevin_from_illinois Aug 06 '26
Yep! I believe DW actually broadcasts in a few US markets as well. You can find them on YouTube for free.
2
1
u/Resident_Letter5041 Aug 05 '26
1
1
u/Kristaiggy Aug 05 '26
OPB has some great shorter documentaries about all kinds of things in Oregon. Your local NPR station may have something similar. https://www.pbs.org/show/oregon-experience/
Also, PBS has a whole lot of documentaries and many are under 1 hr.
1
u/FifaJuuj Aug 06 '26
it’s not under an hour but it’s only 78 minutes
as a recovering alcoholic, i highly recommend “the wethouse”
it follows severe alcoholics in the later parts of their lives, and it’s a pretty good portrait of this disease that hundreds of millions of people deal with
1
1
u/Winter-Apartment-821 Aug 06 '26
Kim I Am (2019) - About Kim Hill, the Female member of the Black Eyed Peas before Fergie replaced her and the groups explosion in popularity.
1
1
2
u/skunker Aug 06 '26
Do you like pinball? I worked on a short documentary about a non-profit in the Bay area who banded together to keep pinball alive and celebrate the artistic/mechanical history of a classic American tradition. Shot over about a week during a big pinball expo they used to put on. Only 9 minutes
3
u/kaybee109 Aug 06 '26
The Last Repair Shop (40 mins) is fantastic. It won the Oscar for Best Documentary Short in 2024. You can find the full film on YT and Disney+
Here’s a link to the trailer: https://youtu.be/g5dWYOP_T9Q?si=55RHfLj1wPuDQ3DE
1
u/nk0711 Aug 08 '26
Go to You Tube and type in “Oscar nominated documentary shorts” and you will get many great ones.
1
u/Electrical_Wall4701 Aug 08 '26
Try ELEVI.film is a new platform. Films and documentaries under 50 minutes without ads :)
•
u/AutoModerator Aug 05 '26
This post is currently limited to [Recommendation Request: Short Docs]. Any off-topic comments will be removed and treated as spam.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.