Incredibly insightful and intimate, if you watch anything on this list it should be this one! But if you have time for more.. Paris Is Burning (1990)
El ruiseñor y la noche: Chavela Vargas canta a Lorca (2015)
Sun Ra: a joyful noise (1980)
Amy (2015)
Black Wax (1983)
McQueen (2018)
Hale County This Morning, This Evening — Definitely an acquired taste, but imo one of the best documentaries out there. Beautiful, slow, immersive. RaMell Ross took years worth of footage and curated a 76 minute work of art. Lots of discourse out there on it. HUGE rec. Paris is Burning — basic rec but worth it if you’ve never seen. House/ballroom scene of the mid/late ‘80s NYC. I sob consistently every time. Roger & Me — Love or hate Michael Moore, this doc is amazing. Covers US deindustrialization & the consequences for the midwest, specifically focusing on Flint, Michigan. All That Breathes — Another breathtakingly beautiful doc. Follows two brothers in Delhi who run a bird hospital for injured black kites. Hindu nationalism, interspecies connection, ecological collapse. Nominated for an oscar. So good.
Why is this such a lost art? Bring together those friends that would never have met other wise. Make the people you love, love each other. I recently had a small birthday wine n dine with my friends and anticipated awkwardness between my different groups of friends, but it was the complete opposite. God I love my friends and love making a space for them to mingle and laugh in eeeee. I think in a time where my friends and I are transitioning to adulthood and focusing on careers, this brings something to look forward to and a way to create a world outside of work and study.
