The Documentary List: 8 Films About Obsession, Craft and Greatness

Fiction can invent a hero. A documentary has to find one. That is why the best films about excellence hit harder than any biopic: the stakes are real, the hours are real and so is the cost. These eight are about people who chose one thing and refused to stop.

The list

• Jiro Dreams of Sushi (2011, David Gelb). Jiro Ono and his small Tokyo counter: a lifetime spent refining the same few gestures.
• Free Solo (2018, Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi). Alex Honnold prepares to climb El Capitan without a rope. Oscar winner for Best Documentary Feature.
• Meru (2015, Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi). Three climbers and the Shark's Fin, a notorious Himalayan route that defeated them once already.
• Senna (2010, Asif Kapadia). Ayrton Senna's Formula 1 career told almost entirely through archive footage.
• Man on Wire (2008, James Marsh). Philippe Petit's 1974 plan to walk a wire between the Twin Towers, staged like a heist film.
• Searching for Sugar Man (2012, Malik Bendjelloul). Two South African fans try to find out what became of an American musician they revere.
• The King of Kong (2007, Seth Gordon). A rivalry over the Donkey Kong high score that turns into a study of pride and recognition.
• Hoop Dreams (1994, Steve James). Two Chicago teenagers chasing basketball careers, filmed across several years of their lives.

Talent gets you into the frame. Repetition is what keeps you there.

How to watch them

Watch for process. Notice the training, the rituals, the failures shown in passing. Ask what each person gave up and whether it was worth it. Several of these films do not flatter their subjects, and that honesty is the point. Obsession builds masterpieces and breaks relationships, sometimes in the same scene.

Start this week

• Block one evening and watch Jiro Dreams of Sushi without a second screen.
• Write down one habit from the film you could apply to your own craft.
• Invite a friend for Free Solo next week and talk about risk afterwards.
• Work through the rest of the list, one film per week.