Best Corruption Documentaries

The 2008 global financial meltdown caused millions of job and home losses and sent the United States into a deep economic recession. Matt Damon narrates a documentary that examines the collapse's causes and names key financial and political players. Director Charles Ferguson interviews many people, tracing the story from the United States to China, Iceland, and other global financial spots.

Former NYPD officer Michael Dowd recounts how he and his partner committed many crimes, including running a cocaine ring, while on duty in the 1980s and early 1990s.

This documentary shows Daniel Ellsberg's actions as a top American military strategist who leaked the Pentagon Papers, a massive secret document exposing government lies about the Vietnam War. The film examines Ellsberg and the fallout from his revelations, which caused a media frenzy and ended both the Vietnam conflict and Richard Nixon's presidency.

Ex-journalist Michael Moore demands answers when General Motors closes all its auto plants in Flint, Michigan, his hometown. With over 30,000 people jobless, Flint suffers economic ruin, and Moore seeks the General Motors CEO, Roger Smith, to answer for his actions. While searching, Moore also shows how the closures affect his family and friends, and violent crimes increase in Flint.

Michael Moore's political film uses humor and investigative journalism to question the Bush administration's reasons for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The film argues that President George W. Bush and his circle used the media to push an agenda exploiting the 9/11 attacks. The close ties between Saudis and the Bush family, corporate profiteering, and a political elite serving special interests are shown as parts of a corrupt system.

When Josh Fox gets a $100,000 offer from a natural gas company to explore his land in Pennsylvania's Delaware River Basin, he researches drilling and fracking. Josh interviews people near drilling sites, and his findings are scary—their wells are contaminated, and residents can actually set their tap water on fire. Visits to sites in Colorado, Wyoming, and Texas show similar terrible results.

Anthony Porter's death sentence is changed after another man confesses to the crime. After his release, many doubt his innocence and suspect both men are pawns in a larger plan.

In 2008, stockbroker, investment adviser, and financier Bernie Madoff made global headlines when he was arrested for perhaps the largest financial fraud in U.S. history.

The film 'No End in Sight' examines the 2003 American invasion of Iraq and the ensuing war. Charles Ferguson uses interviews with military and government officials, many who served under President George W. Bush early in the Iraq war, to show that the Bush administration and the provisional Iraqi government made serious, careless mistakes.

Filmmaker Robert Greenwald scrutinizes Walmart in this documentary. The film shows how the giant harms communities and people. Greenwald interviews former and current Walmart staff, getting inside views of the company's alleged unfair labor practices. The film also explores Walmart's economic impact on small businesses and communities.

Laura Poitras got encrypted emails containing government covert-surveillance information. She and reporter Glenn Greenwald flew to Hong Kong to meet the sender, Edward Snowden.

Investigative journalist Rae de Leon finds and looks at how authorities ignore young women after they report sexual assaults.

Peter Joseph produced and directed Zeitgeist: Addendum in 2008, a sequel to the 2007 film Zeitgeist: The Movie. The 2011 film Zeitgeist: Moving Forward follows Zeitgeist: Addendum.

Filmmaker Alex Gibney studies Julian Assange and WikiLeaks. He shows how their actions changed how democratic societies handle privacy, secrecy, and the right to information.

Michael Moore explores corporate greed, the global economic crash, and how they hurt American lives. Moore travels from the Heartland to New York's financial center and Washington's government halls to show the cost of the country's love for capitalism.

Reenactments show the mastermind who ran a scam to get children from wealthy families into top American universities.

American Drug War: The Last White Hope is a 2007 documentary by Kevin Booth about the War on Drugs in the United States.

Investigative reporter Jeremy Scahill tracks the rise of the Joint Special Operations Command. He exposes covert operations to capture and kill people, but those agents do not exist officially.

Filmmaker Alex Gibney looks at reports of pedophilia in the Roman Catholic Church. He focuses on a group of men who claimed priests abused them as boys at a Milwaukee school for the deaf.

This documentary follows lobbyist and businessman Jack Abramoff. He faced conviction for conspiracy and fraud, among other charges, in a corruption scandal during the George W. Bush administration. The film shows Abramoff's rich, lavish life. It reveals the shady deals that caused his arrest. This led to a prison sentence and damaged other people's reputations.

Several people fight pharmaceutical companies blocking cheap AIDS drugs after 1996.

Lennon angered the U.S. government by using his music and fame to campaign against the Vietnam War. Filmmakers David Leaf and John Scheinfeld focus on his life and antiwar actions with Yoko Ono from 1966 to 1976.

Pastor Raimund Melz runs a small Christian cult at the Mountain Rock Church in South Carolina. Melz uses Old Testament words to excuse brutal acts like child abuse. Documentarian Ondi Timoner watches one family. They left the church planning to sue Melz. Later, they checked into a unique cult treatment center. Timoner's film shows their trip for therapy and their return to face their pastor.

The Big Fix, a 2012 film, shows filmmakers Josh and Rebecca Tickell traveling the Gulf of Mexico coast. They meet residents whose lives changed due to the 2010 BP Oil Spill. The film argues BP used the oil dispersant Corexit in the Gulf to make Louisiana beaches look safe and the water clean.

Sean Penn narrates this film about a local justice system abusing its power. Filmmaker Dana Nachman explores John Stoll, a California resident arrested and charged with child molestation, including his own son. In the 1980s, Stoll's case was one example of false convictions in the area. Nachman interviews those wrongly arrested. She examines the morally unstable atmosphere that caused this.

Filmmaker Lauren Greenfield studies the disputed history of Filipino politician Imelda Marcos and her family.

Investigating the Abu Ghraib scandal, Errol Morris interviews American guards and Iraqi prisoners at the military jail before prisoner torture images appeared in 2004. One female guard, who stood with fallen Iraqis in those images, told Morris her crimes came from loving another soldier. Another person explains why she took photos of her troops. Morris suggests the scandal came from military system flaws.

Michael Moore, a documentary filmmaker known for supporting the working class, tours the country promoting his book, "Downsize This!". During stops, Moore gives sharp political remarks at book signings and talks with people struggling to survive, from union organizers to the unemployed. Moore and his crew also try surprise interviews with corporate CEOs, eventually securing a talk with Nike's Phil Knight.

Filmmaker Nick Broomfield investigates the unsolved murders of hip-hop artists Biggie Smalls and Tupac Shakur.

Academy Award winner Laura Poitras presents an epic, emotional story connecting an internationally known artist and activist, Nan Goldin. Poitras uses Goldin's slideshows, private interviews, groundbreaking photography, and rare footage of her fight to hold the Sackler family accountable for the opioid crisis. The film links Goldin's past and present, the personal and political, with the actions of P.A.I.N. (Prescription Addiction Intervention Now).

Using trial transcripts, courtroom photos, and other records, this documentary shows nine African-American teenagers. In 1931, two white women accused them of rape. The boys were convicted and sent to prison despite zero evidence. Though later cleared, the incident ruined the boys' lives, and filmmakers link public anger over the case to the start of the 1950s civil rights movement.

Videocracy shows what happened to Italy under Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Director Erik Gandini created Videocracy. This film examines the mercenary side of the media culture. This culture features high glamour and low politics. Berlusconi owned most of the country's TV stations. This gave him a strong tool to shape public opinion for his money and politics. Gandini approached the subject as an insider and an outsider. He gained great access to Berlusconi's associates.

Hubert Sauper's Oscar-nominated documentary features the Nile perch, a species introduced into Lake Victoria as a sixties experiment. Since then, the fish has destroyed other lake marine life and consumes its own young. The Nile perch also serves as the region's most profitable export; those with market stakes minimize the ecological disaster.

New evidence suggests President Kennedy used secret channels to negotiate peace with Nikita Khrushchev and aimed to withdraw from Vietnam.

Brent Leung made 'House of Numbers' in 2009. Leung promoted AIDS denialism. He called the film an objective look at the idea that HIV causes AIDS. Scientists widely rejected the film's impartiality claims. They dismissed the claims as pseudo-science and a conspiracy theory pretending to be balanced. Leung refused to talk about film funding. He only stated funders came from "all over the world". Leung interviewed scientists and AIDS denialists, including Christine Maggiore. Maggiore was HIV-positive when filming happened.

Documentarian Marshall Curry filmed the 2002 Newark, New Jersey mayoral race. Sharpe James held the seat for 16 years. His challenger was attorney Cory Booker. Curry examined the legality and ethics of the veteran mayor's tactics. He captured James' staff engaging in illegal acts and threatening competitors with violence. Curry also documented James' vicious smear campaign. Spike Lee and Cornel West appeared in the film for Booker.

Stephanie Black's 'Life and Debt' is a harsh documentary. It checks how policies from the International Monetary Fund (I.M.F.), the World Bank, and other aid groups changed the Jamaican economy over 25 years.

Roger Weisberg directed the 2012 documentary film 'Money and Medicine'.

Filmmaker Stephanie Soechtig and journalist Katie Couric explore how the American food industry causes more sickness than people thought.

Filmmaker Rachel Boynton travels through the African oil industries of Ghana and Nigeria. She exposes the corruption surrounding that industry.

Decades after leaving Washington, Henry Kissinger remains a split figure in American politics. Journalist Christopher Hitchens argues Kissinger should be called a war criminal. Hitchens builds his case by showing Kissinger's secret foreign actions, including an unauthorized bombing raid in Cambodia and a plot to remove Chilean leader Salvador Allende. Legal experts and former government officials also discuss Kissinger's controversial career.

Rob Ford caused a scandal in Canadian politics.

The story of the Hare Krishna movement in the West contrasts the spiritual search of its followers with the leadership's long-term cover-up of crime, moral collapse, and abuse of power.

George Clooney narrates this documentary. It questions the history that led to Darfur's terrible genocide. It offers sharp criticism of the global community's weak response to the humanitarian disaster. Journalist Nicholas Kristof and Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel appear. This investigation shows the Darfur crisis's brutality while seeking ways toward a more peaceful future.

Bernardo Ruiz directed the 2012 documentary film 'Reportero'.

Lionel Rogosin, an American independent filmmaker, produced and directed the fourth feature film, Black Roots. The film brings together African American folk and blues musicians. They share stories and songs about the black experience in America. Carl Lerner edited the film as an "associate producer." Alan Lomax and his daughter Anna served as "musical consultants." Anna Lomax also acted as "assistant editor." Lionel Rogosin reunites with Jim Collier two years later for Black Fantasy.

Former White House staff and appointees give an inside view of President Trump's challenge to the 2020 presidential election results.

Filmmaker Michael Tucker travels to war-torn Baghdad. He follows the lives of the American troops in the 2/3 Field Artillery unit, called "The Gunners," during the Iraq War. The soldiers take residency in a former palace of Uday Hussein, Saddam Hussein's son. They contemplate their mission while hoping to survive patrols and raids, fearing suspicious packages.

The Tall Man is a 2011 documentary film. Tony Krawitz wrote and directed it.

Filmmaker Kevin Keating examines Rudolph Giuliani's record as New York mayor before the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks made him a national hero. Former Mayor Ed Koch, Rev. Al Sharpton, Donald Trump, and The Village Voice editor Wayne Barrett discuss Giuliani's time.