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Best Documentary Movies After A Breakup From The 80S And 90S You Have Probably Never Heard Of

Every documentary film here was chosen with after a breakup in mind. These aren't algorithmically ranked, they were chosen because they actually work for this.

The best documentary movies after a breakup from the 80s and 90s you have probably never heard of. Includes Baraka, Paris Is Burning, Koyaanisqatsi and more ...

Post-breakup viewing is its own art form. You don't want to be preached at. You want to be absorbed into something that has nothing to do with your current situation.

Go back far enough and you find films that had no idea they'd become classics. The 80s and 90s produced more of them than any other era.

A great documentary finds the universal in the specific. One person's story becomes everyone's story.

Baraka movie poster
1
1992 · ★★★★☆ 8.2/10

A paralysingly beautiful documentary with a global vision-an odyssey through landscape and time-that attempts to capture the essence of life.

Paris Is Burning movie poster
2
1991 · ★★★★☆ 8.0/10

Where does voguing come from, and what, exactly, is throwing shade? This landmark documentary provides a vibrant snapshot of the 1980s through the eyes of New York City's African American and Latinx Harlem drag-ball scene. Made over seven years, PARIS IS BURNING offers an intimate portrait of rival fashion "houses," from fierce contests for trophies to house mothers offering sustenance in a world rampant with homophobia, transphobia, racism, AIDS, and poverty. Featuring legendary voguers, drag queens, and trans women - including Willi Ninja, Pepper LaBeija, Dorian Corey, and Venus Xtravaganza.

Koyaanisqatsi movie poster
3
1983 · ★★★½☆ 7.9/10

Takes us to locations all around the US and shows us the heavy toll that modern technology is having on humans and the earth. The visual tone poem contains neither dialogue nor a vocalized narration: its tone is set by the juxtaposition of images and the exceptional music by Philip Glass.

These films exist. They're excellent. The only reason you haven't seen them is that nobody told you to. Now someone has.

After watching a great documentary, the world looks slightly different. That's not a small thing.

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