60 Great Documentaries That Will Entertain and Enlighten You

Documentaries can be both entertaining and fascinating. And much like television shows, there's a wide range of non-fiction storytelling out there, including deep dives into the inner workings of museums, individual stories of courage, and even eye-opening explainers on how crosswords work. Of course, there's documentary topics you may be more familiar with, like shocking reveals of corruption around the world (like in Icarus), or an exploration of a famous musician's or athlete's career (like in The Last Waltz or The Last Dance).

But documentaries are also filmmaking feats themselves, like The Act of Killing, which retells a terrifying historical moment interspersed with callbacks to famous gangster movies. Plus, subjects of documentary films can find themselves immortalized in the cultural zeitgeist, like many of the people in Paris Is Burning. Documentaries are more than sticking camera in people's faces to catch them in lies, they're about providing a window into other parts of the world–or even places right outside your doorstep–so we can all connect with each other and shed light on otherwise untold stories.

For anyone just getting into documentaries, it's easy to get overwhelmed. But there's an exciting array of content out there showing decades of major historical moments, and interesting smaller stories that could potentially impact how you see the world. A good documentary can get you thinking, and a great one can take you from an armchair activist or casual filmgoer into something more. Below, we've got more than enough documentaries for you to explore, no matter what you're interested in.