First ideas about documentary on the modern world were set on the Moana movie of John Grierson in 1926. In first years, documentaries were about events like people leaving factories or gathered for a festival or celebration. It was a very profitable job because people were eager to see themselves and others in the cinema and paying high for it. “Nanook of the North” by Robert J. Flaherty in 1922 was the first documentary movie fictionalized before and after. Then “Triumph of the Will” documentary about 1934 Nazi Party Congress was the first acceptance of documentary genre by a government. Today documentary is one of the most popular genres in the movie section. How many popular documentaries are there released in 2012?
2012 was an outstanding year for documentaries. One of the most popular documentaries of year is Detropia. Documentary is about Detroit and how economic woes hit the heart of American economic growth and auto makers. After 2009 crisis, City is in a big crisis still in many aspects like civic crisis and social life crisis. Documentary takes the viewers to abandoned buildings of city and people of Detroit with their heart breaking and fearful. Writers praised the documentary with its lyrical style.
“The Invisible War” is other popular documentary of 2012 especially in USA. Filmmaker Kirby Dick’s outstanding work focuses on rape of women and men soldiers. Also documentary hit hard about authorities’ response on problems and how they changed the rules about intolerable behaviors. Documentary draws reaction from different points of USA. Also it talks about superior officers’ punishment system.
“Player Hating: A Love Story” is a documentary about an talented Hip Hop artist Jasun Wardlaw. Documentary is directed by Maggie Hadleigh-West. Documentary is mainly about Wardlaw and his group. Their effort for creating music and releasing their first big record album are both emotional and inspiring. Jasun Wardlaw or Half-a-Mill with his popular Hip Hop name fights to save himself and his friends from criminal world of Brooklyn. Documentary is not working on a unique title but Jasun Wardlaw is very natural, intimate and cute while talking about his story and this behavior is taking the documentary one step up.
“The Punk Syndrome” became the most popular documentary in the music documentaries category in 2012. It’s still waiting queue for releasing in USA but Canadians and Europeans watched it. Documentary follows a day of Finnish punk rockers. Story is about how they are living as a group, what they are thinking and why they are writing lyrics about problems. It’s true that there are various documentaries about music and especially about punk life. But documentary is coming from roots of Punk and also have a strong discourse about life and humanity.
“The Waiting Room” is one of the 2012 documentaries came after discussions on health care system. The feature of documentary that splits it from others is its technic showing real life and patients without any fiction. Documentary is showing how patients are waiting in hospitals for hours, how doctors and nurses are trying to look them but they are tired of overworking. Also movie is ringing the alarm with showing hospitals and medical centers in USA.
“West of Memphis” is the most popular documentary of 2012 in the crime genre. Filmmaker Amy Berg investigates the famous West Memphis Three murder case. Three Arkansas youngsters were arrested after evidence but it always became controversial. Amy Berg is searching the truth and finding the real killer. “West of Memphis” is a strong example of crime documentaries genre in the world.
