# The best documentaries of 2021

From Summer of Soul to Flee: the 2021 documentaries that topped critics' lists and the Critics Choice Documentary Awards (POV Magazine, RogerEbert.com, The Hollywood Reporter).

- 47 votes · 13 items
- Dec 7, 2022 · matinee_detroit
- https://even.best/en/l/2142/the-best-documentaries-of-2021

## Top 13

1. **Flee (2021)** (7 · ▲7 ▼0) — An Afghan refugee's story told in animation.
2. **The Rescue (2021)** (5 · ▲5 ▼0) — The divers behind the 2018 Thai cave rescue.
3. **Summer of Soul (2021)** (4 · ▲4 ▼0) — The 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival; Oscar and six Critics Choice awards.
4. **Attica (2021)** (3 · ▲3 ▼0) — The 1971 prison uprising.
5. **The Velvet Underground (2021)** (2 · ▲3 ▼1) — Todd Haynes on the band and 1960s New York.
6. **Julia (2021)** (2 · ▲3 ▼1) — Julia Child and the birth of TV cooking.
7. **Procession (2021)** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — Survivors of abuse turn their memories into short films.
8. **Ascension (2021)** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — The pursuit of prosperity in modern China.
9. **Becoming Cousteau (2021)** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — Jacques Cousteau's life and legacy.
10. **Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain (2021)** (1 · ▲3 ▼2) — The chef and traveller's life.
11. **A Night of Knowing Nothing (2021)** (1 · ▲2 ▼1) — Letters from an Indian film student amid campus protests.
12. **Writing with Fire (2021)** (1 · ▲2 ▼1) — India's only newspaper run by Dalit women.
13. **All Light, Everywhere (2021)** (1 · ▲2 ▼1) — An essay on seeing, cameras and surveillance.

How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.