Cinematic Fantastic

THE BEST NONFICTION FILMS

When I drew up my list, it struck me that the two recurrent themes were war and music. Iraq was the great subject no documentary filmmaker could avoid. And in a time of war, we need the music more than ever.

Darwin's Nightmare It was released in 2005 in some parts of the country; '06 in others. But it's too good not to mention. Made by the young Belgian filmmaker Hubert Sauper, this devastating work is about the repercussions of the introduction of the Nile perch into Tanzania's Lake Victoria, an act that completely alters not only the ecosystem but the economy of the region. But the movie evolves, with novelistic richness and no editorializing, into a profound, and disturbing, examination of how the First World exploits Africa, and how the export of fish for the fine restaurants of Europe results in the import of arms for war. The work of a real filmmaker, with a touch of the poet and a big soul.

Deliver Us From Evil There have been several excellent films exploring the molestation scandals in the Roman Catholic Church. Amy Berg's is the best yet: a searing indictment of the stonewalling church hierarchy (led by Cardinal Mahoney of Los Angeles, who calls to mind a mafia don), and a moving portrait of the victims. Most remarkably, Berg got one of the worst offenders, the twinkly-eyed sociopath Father Oliver O'Grady, who molested countless victims for almost 30 years, to appear on camera. A chilling portrait of a man in radical self-denial.

Iraq in Fragments There were a host of strong documentaries dealing with the war. James Longley's beautifully shot film is not about the U.S. presence, and it's not a polemic. In three "fragments," without commentary, it gives us slices of Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish life. This eye-opening film shows us what newspapers and TV don't.

Shut Up and Sing An intimate, rousing, fly-on-the wall look at the Dixie Chicks as they figure out how to handle the storm occasioned by lead singer Natalie Maines's anti-Bush remark. Codirected by Barbara Kopple and Cecilia Peck, it's tight, well-edited and unexpurgated. Chicks haters will find plenty to get mad about. The rest of us will cheer.