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The Best Documentaries of 2021

Julia
Life of Crime: 1984-2020
Listening to Kenny G
Live at Mister Kelly's
MLK/FBI
Max Richter's Sleep
Moby Doc
My Name Is Pauli Murray
Nasrin
No Ordinary Man
Not Going Quietly
Own the Room

The best documentaries of 2021 emerged from all corners of the world, covering a wide range of subjects. Of course, filmmakers started really addressing the pandemic in 2021, but there were also smart bio-docs about major figures from world history and entertaining formal experiments. While a lot of the film world felt down in 2020 and 2021, the best documentaries continued to find new stories to tell. These are the best documentaries of 2021 with links in the reviews to watch them directly.