The best documentaries of 2011 from Roger Ebert [View all]

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1. The Interrupters


Steve James (in center above), who made the masterpiece "Hoop Dreams," now makes his most important film, telling the story of ex-convicts who go daily into the streets of Chicago to try to talk gang members out of shooting at each other. All have done prison time. Some have murdered. They were young when were seduced by the lure of street gangs. Today they see young people throwing their lives away and often killing bystanders by accident.

James' film follows members of CeaseFire, tough negotiators who monitor gang activity in their neighborhoods and try to anticipate developing warfare. They make it their business to know the gang leaders and members. They build trust. In some shots in this film they are physically in the possible line of fire--and so are Steve James and his small crew. This film has true impact.

8. Garbo the Spy


He was called "Garbo" because an Allied spymaster thought he was the best actor in the world. Juan Pujol García, a Spaniard based in Lisbon, fed the Nazis a stream of misleading information from a spy network that existed entirely in his imagination. Using invented facts and a spy network that didn't exist, he convinced the Nazis that the Allied landing at Normandy was a decoy operation to draw their troops away from the "real" landing site, at Calais. One man's imagination changed the course of the way.

Lacking period footage of Garcia (naturally), director Edmon Roch ingeniously cobbles together newsreel footage, scenes from old war movies, and modern talking heads to piece together his story of a startling deception.

All 20 here: http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2011/12/the_best_documentaries_of_2011_1.html


Would like to see some of these!