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Classic Documentaries Before 1990 · page 16

2,921 documentaries · ordered 26 October 2026 · How we order lists

Newest first: the year each film was released, from the open film record (Wikidata), then the order the list has always had. Every film’s page names its source.

1. No. 37619851 h 45 min

   That's Dancing!

   by Jack Haley Jr. · United States · English

   music
2. No. 37719851 h 20 min

   The Circle

   by Friðrik Þór Friðriksson · Iceland · Icelandic
3. No. 3781985

   The Dream Is Alive

   by Graeme Ferguson · United States · English
4. No. 3791985

   The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal

   by Arnold Leibovit · United States · English
5. No. 38019851 h 32 min

   The Mind of Clay

   by Mani Kaul · India
6. No. 38119851 h 4 min

   The Mothers of Plaza de Mayo

   by Susana Blaustein Muñoz · Argentina · Spanish

   woman
7. No. 38219851 h 25 min

   The Penny War

   by Ciro Durán · Germany · Colombia · Spanish
8. No. 3831985

   The Secret Country: The First Australians Fight Back

   by Alan Lowery · Australia · English
9. No. 38419851 h

   The Statue of Liberty

   by Ken Burns · United States · English

   Statue of LibertyNew York City
10. No. 38519851 h 32 min

    Tokyo-Ga

    by Wim Wenders · United States · Germany · German, Japanese
11. No. 386198536 min

    Totem

    by Claus Bohm · Denmark
12. No. 3871985

    Ubåt! En till sannolikhet gränsande visshet

    by Maj Wechselmann · Sweden · Swedish
13. No. 388198558 min

    Unfinished Business

    by Steven Okazaki · United States · English

    internment of Japanese Americans
14. No. 3891985

    We Are Born of Stars

    Director not on record · Japan
15. No. 3901985

    What Sex Am I?

    by Lee Grant · United States · English
16. No. 3911985

    Yama—Attack to Attack

    Director not on record · Japan · Japanese
17. No. 39219851 h 25 min

    You Got to Move

    by Veronica Selver · United States · English
18. No. 39319842 h 16 min

    28 Up

    by Michael Apted · United Kingdom
19. No. 39419841 h

    Abel Gance et son Napoléon

    by Nelly Kaplan · France · French
20. No. 3951984

    Abortion: Stories From North and South

    Director not on record · Canada · English
21. No. 3961984

    A Ilha De Moraes

    by Paulo Rocha · Japan · Portugal · Portuguese, Japanese
22. No. 3971984

    ...All our lives

    Director not on record · Spain
23. No. 39819841 h 28 min

    Almonds and Raisins

    by Russ Karel · United States · United Kingdom · English, Yiddish
24. No. 39919841 h

    America and Lewis Hine

    by Nina Rosenblum · United States · English

    historyLewis Hine
25. No. 40019841 h 16 min

    Ananas

    by Amos Gitai · France · Israel

By decade

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3,059New Documentaries of the 2020sdocumentaries, newest first3,128Documentaries of the 2010s in 2026documentaries, newest first4,066Documentaries of the 2000s in 2026documentaries, newest first1,196Documentaries of the 1990s in 2026documentaries, newest first767Documentaries of the 1980s in 2026documentaries, newest first