1. Citizenfour
The current holder of the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, Laura Poitras' Citizenfour is one of the most important films ever made in America. Telling the story of the secret messages she received from one Edward Snowden (codename: CITIZENFOUR), Poitras, along with journalist Glenn Grewald, charts the journey from those coded messages to the pairs sprawling interview with the whistle-blower as he's holed up in a Hong Kong hotel; Snowden wanted for extradition to the States where he was responsible for the NSA privacy scandal, the biggest leak of government information in American history. Part conspiracy thriller, part expose on the powers of virtual control, and wholly relevant as a treatise on the nature of spying in the digital age, Citizenfour is an expertly crafted masterwork, one which confronts our own fears in relation to those we entrust to protect us. The film ends as it begins, with Snowden alone and isolated in the The Mira hotel, Hong Kong. Something's changed, though, and as the films eerie denouement plays out, we sense that we as a people know a little more about a power-addicted government who can track every keystroke we ever make. In that sense, Citizenfour and Snowden give a little fraction of power back to the people. And for that, the film is invaluable. Which other important, controversial documentaries deserve to be on this list? Share your favourites below in the comments thread.