Independent Lens . Inside Indies . Favorite Films

On the Independent Lens film companion sites, we ask filmmakers to list their top three favorite films. Yes, it’s a challenge to name only three, but they do their best. From Panther Panchali and Gimme Shelter to Waking Life and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, the choices they list are as individual as the filmmakers themselves.

See who chose what below. You can view the complete list, including the names of the directors, and download a printer-friendly version to use when you’re ready to see the best of the best. Prepare to expand your film watching horizons!

Kyle Boyd, Producer/Director/Editor
LIFE MATTERS
It’s really impossible for me to name only three favorites, but limiting the list to films beginning with the letter “S” I would say: Spinal Tap, Sherman’s March, Spartacus, Star Wars and The Shining.

Lisa Blackstone, Director/Producer/Editor
POLKA TIME
Oooo, it’s hard to pick just three. Here are the first three that come to my mind: Casablanca, Singin’ in the Rain and Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

Thom Powers, Director/Producer
GUNS & MOTHERS
I'll limit my answer to documentaries. If you ask me next week, my answer might be different. But today the list includes Hotel Terminus by Marcel Ophuls; Seventeen by Joel DeMott and Jeff Kreines; and Roger & Me by Michael Moore.

Alan Miller, Producer/Director
EROICA!
What a difficult question! I have the desire to list so many. But seminal for me are Brazil, Star Wars and Grease.

Jay Rosenstein, Director/Producer
THE AMASONG CHORUS: Singing Out
Feature films are Manhattan and Tender Mercies. My favorite documentaries always change, but I consistently love Gimme Shelter, Monterey Pop, and Alan Berliner's Nobody's Business, which may be the best-edited film of all time. I also love Startup.com.

Andrew Levine, Producer/Director
THE DAY MY GOD DIED
My favorite films in recent years are Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Fahrenheit 9/11 and Life is Beautiful.

Ron Lamothe, Director/Producer
THE POLITICAL DR. SEUSS
David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia, Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life, and take your pick of anything by Hal Hartley.

Diane Zander, Producer/Director/Cinematographer
GIRL WRESTLER
My favorite documentary of all time is Salesman, by the Maysles brothers and Charlotte Zwerin. I am also a big fan of Jennifer Fox’s An American Love Story documentary series and Jeff Blitz’s Spellbound.

Jamie Meltzer, Producer/Director
OFF THE CHARTS

Don’t Look Back (D.A. Pennebaker film about Bob Dylan; made me want to be a documentary filmmaker when I saw it at age 14)
An American Family (the 1973 cinema vérité PBS series)
Demon Lover Diary ('70s documentary about making of a low-budget horror film in Michigan. Ends with the filmmakers literally being run out of town at gunpoint by Ted Nugent).

Natasha Uppal, Director
ONE NIGHT AT THE GRAND STAR
That’s rough. Okay, if I don’t ponder it over:

Ju Dou (Zhang Yimou)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (Terry Gilliam)

Sasha Waters, Producer/Director
RAZING APPALACHIA

I am tempted here to say Bowling for Columbine, Bowling for Columbine, Bowling for Columbine, but to be true to the sprit of the question, I will say:
Bowling for Columbine, dir. Michael Moore, 2002
The Gleaners and I (Les Glaneurs et la Glaneuse), dir. Agnes Varda, 2001
Bob Roberts, dir. Tim Robbins, 1992