A member of a Facebook group that I’m in asked people to comment about their favorite documentary films. From all the comments that were posted, I made a list of documentaries that I would like to watch. And I’ve been watching some of them this past weeks. So far, I have watched eight films, and I have definitely thought that all eight were worth the time and worth recommending. Here’s where I wrote about the first four films in my documentary watching project. If you have any such films to recommend, please comment and let me know about your favorite documentaries.

The Mystical World of George MacDonald. (2009, watched on youtube)
If you are a MacDonald fan, either via C.S. Lewis’s recommendation or directly through such stories as The Princess and Curdie or At the Back of the North Wind, this film is for you. It’s a lovely overview of MacDonald’s life and work, with emphasis on the adult fantasies Phantastes and Lilith, and also with some meanders and tangential material that seems to fit the subject. I would have liked more about MacDOnald’s family and friends and family life, but you can’t have everything. Not mind-blowing, but serviceable.

The Thin Blue Line. (2008, rented from Amazon)
This movie is the film that helped release a wrongfully convicted man from prison. Dallas policeman Robert Wood was shot during a routine traffic stop in 1976, aged 27. Randall Dale Adams was accused convicted for the crime. The only witness, initially, was 16year old David Harris, a car thief and a braggart who told friends in Vidor that he killed the cop in Dallas. But when he was arrested David Harris told another story, a story that implicated Randall Adams and made him responsible for the shooting. The Dallas police, the Dallas district attorney, and later a jury decided that David Harris was telling the truth. This film examines the evidence and the witnesses and leads to a different conclusion. Randall Dale Adams died in 2010, aged 61; David Ray Harris died in 2004 aged 43.

Searching for Sugar Man. (2012, watched on Netflix)
The person who recommended this documentary about the life story of a 60’s musician named Jesus Rodriguez said to just watch it, not to read about it beforehand. And that’s what I did and what I recommend to you. Surprisingly thoughtful and touching, this movie brought up interesting questions about success and art that I am still pondering days after watching it.

Many Beautiful Things. (2016, rented from Amazon)
“Many Beautiful Things is the untold story of one of the world’s greatest women artists and why her name was nearly lost to history. Plunge into the complex age of Victorian England to meet Lilias Trotter, a daring young woman who defied all norms by winning the favor of England’s top art critic, John Ruskin.” An amazing and, yes, beautiful story of the impact of one life spent in service to God and man. I am inspired to remain faithful to the calling that God has placed upon my life, my library and my writing, prayer and study. It’s difficult to persevere when the results are hidden and unrealized, but most, if not all, of us are called to do just that.

These last two documentaries were especially thought-provoking and rich. I would recommend both Searching for Sugar Man and Many Beautiful Things for those artists and ministers and servants who are discouraged in their pursuit of a life that is authentic and fruitful. The truth embodied in both of these stories is that I am called to be faithful, and I may never know what God will do with my life or my art or my work. He is the Gardener, and the Vine; I am simply a small branch.