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The Best Documentaries of Our Day Are Being Made on YouTube

 

Thumbnail by Defunctland

Recently in a session of my film class, my professor said something along the lines of "a great documentary makes you interested in something you wouldn't care about anyway,". This was in reference to the film Snowy, a 2020 documentary film about a family's pet turtle. Her point reminded me of a very specific type of documentary. The YouTube video essay. For those unfamiliar, a video essay is an artform that has largely been created and innovated on the video sharing platform, YouTube. Films in this genre often center around one specific topic and delve into said topic with a depth that I really haven't seen anywhere else. They are almost all indie films, made by either singular artists or small teams. These people tend to write, edit, and direct the entirety of these pieces all on their own. And they are fascinating. I have watched a two hour long documentary on the origin of a sound effect from Roblox and I was intensely interested the entire time. One of my favorite filmmakers in this genre, Defunctland, almost exclusively covers theme parks and has made some of the most introspective and beautiful art available on the internet. The independent nature of these creators allows them to create films about things that could never be covered by a studio film. Stories that, while small, contain within them a beauty and nuance that are wholly unique.


Attached are some of my favorite video essays from a variety of creators:

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