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Well Documented: The Essential Documentaries that Prove the Truth is More Fascinating than Fiction
This fascinating book from veteran film journalist Ian Haydn Smith, with a foreword from award-winning director Asif Kapadia, explores 100 of the most compelling documentaries, each with the power to radically change our perceptions and challenge the way we see the world.
Every so often a documentary comes along with the power to change the way you think , to share alternative perspectives, to make you furious about injustice or warm your heart.
Contained in this book are documentaries that fulfil these criteria and astound viewers around the world ; real-life stories to stop you in your tracks, bring tears to your eyes, and put your heart in your mouth.
From Barbara Kopple's Oscar-winning gritty depiction of working class America in Harlan County, USA to James Marsh's breathtaking Man on Wire , from powerful sporting tales such as Touching the Void to stories of true crimes and their repercussions such as Making a Murderer , this book delves deep into how these films were made , what makes them great, and also what other films you might like if you loved these ones.
From Oscar winners to unseen gems from the Netflix vaults, international filmmakers to true crime, sport and culture stories, every documentary featured will make you think, make you feel, and make you tell people, “You NEED to see this film.”
Veteran film journalist Ian Haydn Smith writes with passion and knowledge about these masterpieces, and illustrations bring these films off the page. A foreword from BAFTA and Grammy-winning director Asif Kapadia helps situate this book as one of the invaluable works on cinema today.
Every so often a documentary comes along with the power to change the way you think , to share alternative perspectives, to make you furious about injustice or warm your heart.
Contained in this book are documentaries that fulfil these criteria and astound viewers around the world ; real-life stories to stop you in your tracks, bring tears to your eyes, and put your heart in your mouth.
From Barbara Kopple's Oscar-winning gritty depiction of working class America in Harlan County, USA to James Marsh's breathtaking Man on Wire , from powerful sporting tales such as Touching the Void to stories of true crimes and their repercussions such as Making a Murderer , this book delves deep into how these films were made , what makes them great, and also what other films you might like if you loved these ones.
From Oscar winners to unseen gems from the Netflix vaults, international filmmakers to true crime, sport and culture stories, every documentary featured will make you think, make you feel, and make you tell people, “You NEED to see this film.”
Veteran film journalist Ian Haydn Smith writes with passion and knowledge about these masterpieces, and illustrations bring these films off the page. A foreword from BAFTA and Grammy-winning director Asif Kapadia helps situate this book as one of the invaluable works on cinema today.
224 pages, Hardcover
Published November 22, 2022
About the author
Ian Haydn Smith
31 books27 followersIan Haydn Smith is the editor of Curzon and BFI Filmmakers magazines. He has written and broadcast widely on film and photography.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
November 12, 2022
Thank you to NetGalley and White Lion Publishing for this ARC! I love photography and documentary films so this was a great read. I was drawn to request this because of the photo of Amy Winehouse on the cover. This book includes so much in just a little over 100 pages. I highly recommend this for photo and film loves!
December 3, 2022
Well Documented is probably the fifth or sixth book from Ian Haydn Smith I have read and, like the others, it does an excellent job of going into enough depth to give a good understanding of the topic under discussion without getting bogged down in details that are better left for more academic works. In this case, the reader comes away with an appreciation for the various ways of presenting a documentary, in fact, even a better understanding of what constitutes a documentary.
As a list it touches on various topics and perspectives, from different countries and documentarians both well-known and lesser known. The additional suggestions that accompany each entry offer additional films, which makes this a valuable resource for anyone with an interest in viewing a wide range of documentaries. If a reader has had an interest in documentaries for a while, many of these may already be familiar, but there are probably far more that all but the most dedicated hasn't seen and perhaps not even heard of.
This book has made me want to revisit some of the ones I have seen and see quite a few of the many I haven't seen. So I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys the genre and wants both viewing suggestions and a nice explanation of how some of them work.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
As a list it touches on various topics and perspectives, from different countries and documentarians both well-known and lesser known. The additional suggestions that accompany each entry offer additional films, which makes this a valuable resource for anyone with an interest in viewing a wide range of documentaries. If a reader has had an interest in documentaries for a while, many of these may already be familiar, but there are probably far more that all but the most dedicated hasn't seen and perhaps not even heard of.
This book has made me want to revisit some of the ones I have seen and see quite a few of the many I haven't seen. So I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys the genre and wants both viewing suggestions and a nice explanation of how some of them work.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
October 17, 2022
Not for the first time this author proves himself very adept at this format. Proving the book to be self-descriptive at the title level, this conveys the best of documentary cinema and TV, from "Man With a Movie Camera" to "Amy", and from looks at miscarriages of justice, eco-disaster and tightrope walkers to David Attenborough with his gorillas. Touching on all corners of the world, this books shows the documentary form to have had many a classic – I've only seen a few of these, even if the renown of many more is obvious. Celebrity exposes, true crimes, polemics – anything and everything is here, and we get a pictorial entry to them all, with a shortlist of further viewing to make for a themed night or two should we wish to have it. All told it makes for a most suitable bucket list of the cinematic documentary genre, and does indeed act as a very well documented advert for the format. Four and a half stars.
March 1, 2025
I recently finished reading A Journey Through Documentary Film which is similar in structure to this book. Entries on individual documentary films, rather than looking at the genre as a whole. I liked both of them, but this one is broad view into documentary films. For one thing it takes on concert films, while in A Journey Through Documentary Film didn’t consider that as documentaries. This of course shows one of the “problems” with the genre, it hasn’t been completely defined. This of course makes it an interesting genre to debate.
There is some overlap between the two, perhaps obviously, which makes it interesting to see how different the two writers are. Some entries I like better in A Journey, and some here in Well-Documented. The main difference is that this book is well illustrated, and with a larger, and more diverse selection of documentary films. So basically, for those that are interested on exploring documentary films this is a pretty good place to start.
There is some overlap between the two, perhaps obviously, which makes it interesting to see how different the two writers are. Some entries I like better in A Journey, and some here in Well-Documented. The main difference is that this book is well illustrated, and with a larger, and more diverse selection of documentary films. So basically, for those that are interested on exploring documentary films this is a pretty good place to start.
November 20, 2022
I loved this book so much I am buying copies for friends! I am a documentary film fan and have heard of or watched many of these films and yet there are many still highlighted in this book that I have not seen or even have not heard of the director or film. Not only is this book well sectioned by type of film, it is global in nature (which I really appreciate) and has great photos, and what I would describe as "poster-art" that sums up a quote from the film or filmmaker with a beautiful image from the film. The descriptions are brief yet comprehensive and this is a very visually pleasing book. As I said, I will be buying this as gifts. I highly recommend this book even if you are newer to documentary film -- these films will be a great place to start.
Thank you to Netgalley and Quarto Publishing Group - White Lion for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Thank you to Netgalley and Quarto Publishing Group - White Lion for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
January 26, 2023
I accessed a digital review copy of this book from the publisher.
This book covers a variety of documentaries. They are grouped into different sections like people and places, crime, and social. The documentaries cover a range of subjects and are from creators around the world. They are from a large time span. The book gives a short summary of the documentary, who created it, and its cultural place. There are a variety of photographs and stills from the documentaries.
The book is interesting. It is informative both historically and over the topics of the films.
This is a good book for anyone who is interested in film history or documentaries.
This book covers a variety of documentaries. They are grouped into different sections like people and places, crime, and social. The documentaries cover a range of subjects and are from creators around the world. They are from a large time span. The book gives a short summary of the documentary, who created it, and its cultural place. There are a variety of photographs and stills from the documentaries.
The book is interesting. It is informative both historically and over the topics of the films.
This is a good book for anyone who is interested in film history or documentaries.
November 9, 2022
I love a good documentary, so this book is amazing! It lists and explains so many exciting and eyeopening documentaries - lots that i've never heard of.
The book is laid out into different sections - covering a wide range of genres so you can easily find something to suit your taste. Each documentary mentioned has a blurb and an image. Really nicely laid out - good to dip in and out of.
Really great concept for a book, and super up my street!
The book is laid out into different sections - covering a wide range of genres so you can easily find something to suit your taste. Each documentary mentioned has a blurb and an image. Really nicely laid out - good to dip in and out of.
Really great concept for a book, and super up my street!
November 18, 2022
I started this book not knowing what to expect. I was more than pleasantly surprised. Very good book of various documentaries, some I have seen and some I have not. Very good quick blurb on what the documentary was about. I will be looking for some I have not seen because of this book. Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for the ARC of this book. Receiving the book in this manner had no bearing on my review.
November 19, 2022
This is a fantastic guide to documentaries about all topics from around the world and spanning a hundred years. I found some that I really want to watch and more than a few that sounded just too intense but excellent. I do wish the synopses said what language each film was in and also where to find them. That said, it’s an excellent guide.
I read a temporary digital arc of this book for review.
I read a temporary digital arc of this book for review.
December 28, 2022
Ian Haydn Smith is editor of BFI Filmmaker Magazine and Curzon Magazine. This is a really informative summary of 100 documentaries divided into 7 categories and taken from around the world and over the history of cinema. The summaries of the films - although brief - are very informative and the foreword to each section gives a lot of useful background. I came away from this with a list of documentaries that I really want to see.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews