Documentaries of the Year

Floating high above a Guyanese rainforest, Herzog looks for rare animal and plant life, and finds fascinating characters full of strange stories.

Herzog's far-out fantasy, with beautiful underwater photography and previously unseen Nasa footage, is lyrical, haunting and sometimes very funny.

An extraordinary film. Director Philip Groening captures the silence (hear the snowflakes land!), the strangeness and the wonder in a French monastery.

Home movies and archival footage are assembled into an absorbing study of family, belonging, sacrifice and separation.

Personal perspectives, collage-like form and bold use of visuals and sound make this a powerful view of the war in Iraq.

One of the great music documentaries of recent years, with the elusive, reclusive man himself along with Jarvis Cocker, Lulu, Brian Eno and more.

A moving documentary portrait of the jazz legend: essential viewing for fans and newcomers alike.

Unflinching, inevitably controversial, but deeply humane, this looks at the suicides at San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge.