Political documentaries are one of the best and fastest way to get acquainted with a topic. A good documentary can explore an issue, person, or event in a manner underscoring the socio-political implications of the subject and empower the viewer with a deeper knowledge of how our systems work.
FX's new documentary AKA Jane Roe is just one of the newest and most important films of its type – tracing the history of the abortion debate and putting a human face on it to draw conclusions about where we stand today. Below, along with AKA Jane Roe, are nine other political documentaries that audiences owe it to themselves to seek out.
Medium Cool (1969)
In this audacious fusion of documentary realism and dramatic narrative, Robert Forster stars as a cameraman in the employ of a news station covering the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Though he does his best to remain dispassionate and detached from the social unrest he sees around him, before long, he's swept up in the fight for change.
As relevant and timely as ever, Medium Cool is a masterclass in using real-life footage for narrative propulsion and remains one of the most influential documentaries of all time.
The War Room (1993)
In D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus' documentary, they follow the exploits of campaign strategists George Stephanopolous and James Carville as they do everything in their power to assist Democratic nominee Bill Clinton in his 1992 bid for the presidency.
An eye-opening journey into the lost art of politicking, The War Room is a must-watch for anyone curious about the nuts and bolts of campaigning for office.
Bowling For Columbine (2002)
Firebrand documentarian Michael Moore got his big break with this documentary that explores the circumstances surrounding the 1999 massacre at Columbine High School and the political fallout.
Though Moore's style and biases have often been called into question, Bowling for Columbine diagnosed America's gun problem almost 20 years back with a clarity that still stuns, especially considering how very little progress has been made to rectify these issues since the film's release.
The Fog Of War (2003)
An Oscar-winning doc from one of the form's preeminent masters, The Fog of War is Errol Morris' deep dive into the life and career of Robert McNamara, who served as Secretary of Defence under Kennedy and later Johnson during the conflict in Vietnam.
A polarizing figure, McNamara speaks with almost unthinkable candor about his role in The Vietnam and Cold Wars with equal parts introspection, denial, self-aggrandizement, and contrition.
Inside Job (2010)
Directed by Charles Ferguson and narrated by Matt Damon, Inside Job explores the causes and major players behind the 2008 financial crisis.
Pragmatic and infuriating, Inside Job shows how our financial system falls apart when the ruling class is allowed to steamroll over the little guy in the name of wealth and capital.
Best Of Enemies (2015)
One of the more thrilling and amusing documentaries on this list, Best of Enemies retells the landmark staging of televised debates between the ideologically opposed William F. Buckley Jr. and Gore Vidal during the 1968 presidential election.
As entertaining as it is essential, Robert Gordon and Morgan Neville's film depicts the birth of punditry in real-time and shows how its all but drowning out non-biased, exhaustively sourced, good ole fashioned news media.
13th (2016)
Ava DuVernay probes the dark history of racial inequality the haunts the U.S., paying particular attention to the country's prison system and the way it targets and exploits African-Americans.
Taking its title from The 13th Amendment and drawing a line from its adoption all the way to today's prison system, DuVernay makes a compelling argument that incarceration may simply be a rebranded form of slavery.
American Dharma (2018)
Errol Morris again turns his sharp eye on a controversial figure in this 2018 feature, which examines the career of former Trump Whitehouse advisor, Steve Bannon.
Staged largely as a sparring match between Morris and his subject, American Dharma exposes Bannon as both a brilliant political strategist and a grotesque personification of the anti-globalist nationalism that reared its ugly head leading up to the 2016 presidential election.
The Great Hack (2019)
Timely and frightening, Jehane Noujaim and Karim Amer's The Great Hack explores the furor surrounding Cambridge Analytica and how social media factored into the 2016 presidential election.
Based on the findings of journalist Carole Cadwalladr, this alarming doc gives one insight into how politicians and entire governments can weaponize information, and what that may mean for the future of the electoral process.
AKA Jane Roe (2020)
An unprecedented look into the life of Norma McCorvey (the "Jane Roe" at the center of the historical 1973 Roe v. Wade abortion trial), FX's new documentary is the testimony of a woman whose true motives have been shielded from the public for decades.
Filmed over the last year of McCorvey's life, this "death bed confession" reminds viewers that the truth is rarely simple.