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MOVIEPIQ · DOCUMENTARY · CURATED LIST

Best Documentary Movies With The Family From The 80S And 90S Based On A True Story

These documentary films were selected by the Moviepiq editorial team for a family movie night. Popularity and critic scores don't factor in here. Emotional fit does.

The best documentary movies with the family from the 80s and 90s based on a true story. Includes Baraka, Paris Is Burning, Koyaanisqatsi and more - curated b...

Family film nights require a film that doesn't ask anyone to leave the room. Something that works for different ages without boring anyone to the point of checking their phone.

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.

The best documentaries don't just inform - they change how you see something you thought you already understood.

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.

True stories carry a different weight. Knowing it happened - knowing real people made these choices - changes how you watch.

The best documentaries don't resolve neatly. They give you something to carry. These do that.

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