The most dangerous documentaries ever made

[jw5]

'E-Team' (2014) -

The documentary 'E-Team' tells the story of four people with one of the most dangerous job imaginable. They are part of the "emergency team" and their responsibility is to slip into the most dangerous, war-struck parts of the world at the most hostile times.

 

[jw5]

'E-Team' (2014) -

They submerge themselves in tragedy and violence to gather evidence of atrocities and human rights violations that can be used in international courts and shared with the media.

 

[jw5]

'Cartel Land' (2015) -

Filmmaker Matthew Heineman ventured into dangerous territory for his 2015 documentary 'Cartel Land.' The drug war has been a popular subject thanks to hit shows like 'Narcos' and 'Breaking Bad,' but Heineman observed the situation from a new angle.

 

[jw5]

'Cartel Land' (2015) -

He spent time shadowing the Autodefensas, a group of citizen volunteers who are taking on the regime of violence and fear created by the cartels in Mexico. He also followed a group of volunteers on the US side of the boarder who have the goal of keeping the cartel, as well as Mexican immigrants, in Mexico. There are bullets flying and questionable motives on all sides.

 

[jw5]

'Taxi to the Dark Side' (2007) -

This harrowing documentary by Alex Gibney takes an in-depth look at the American military's use of torture. He begins with a case where an innocent taxi driver was allegedly tortured to death by US soldiers, after they received false information that he was involved in a terrorist plot.

 

[jw5]

'Taxi to the Dark Side' (2007) -

Gibney interviewed soldiers who claim they received orders to carry out brutal torture, which their superiors now deny. The documentary unapologetically hangs the US government out to dry for these human rights violations.

 

[jw5]

'The Act of Killing' (2013) -

Joshua Oppenheimer's Oscar-winning documentary 'The Act of Killing' gives a shockingly candid look into the minds of mass murderers who took part in one of the most brutal genocides in history.

 

[jw5]

'The Act of Killing' (2013) -

Oppenheimer sits down with members of the Indonesian death squad who 'purged' millions of innocent people during the anti-Communist era in 1965-1966.

 

[jw5]

'Aquarela' (2018) -

'Aquarela' is a visually astounding documentary that explores the power of water. Russian filmmaker Victor Kossakovsky dedicates part of the film to Siberia’s Lake Baikal, the oldest, deepest, and longest freshwater lake in the world.

 

[jw5]

'Aquarela' (2018) -

The opening scene tracks the progress of a car as it drives across the frozen lake in the distance until, suddenly, it disappears through the ice. This was not part of the plan. For another section of the film, Kossakovsky found two brave sailors willing to bring him close to the melting ice caps in Greenland. The blocks of ice that fall into the water can cause tsunamis. They were lucky to escape with both the shots they needed and their lives.

 

[jw5]

'Super Size Me' (2004) -

'Super Size Me' might seem a little silly compared to the rest, but Morgan Spurlock truly did take his life into his hands when he committed to eating nothing but McDonald's for a month! The documentary sees him proceed with the experiment against the advice of his doctor (and his then-girlfriend who's a vegan chef). He experienced a wide range of unpleasant side effects from the diet as well as a deterioration of his overall health and physical state that took more than a year to recover from.