Documentaries: they're not all Netflix true crime fodder! We wanted to recommend some lesser-seen non-fiction films from the past, since quality never ages — and from groundbreaking exposes to intimate character studies, these documentaries will definitely lift a veil from your eyes and reveal an entire world you weren't privy to.

The five picks on this list are among the greatest docs ever made, and while not earth shattering on release, over time they've come to be classics that showcase the power of the medium to illuminate, educate and inspire. And yes, we do count 1999 as being "old school" — that was literally filmed in another century.

'Koyaanisqatsi' (1982)

Highly influential, often imitated, but wholly singular and never replicated, "Koyaanisqatsi" is a film unlike any other — a purely visual and audio experience without characters, story, plot, dialogue, interviews, subtitles or explanation. It's a cacophony of time lapses and extreme close-ups, examining the human toll on planet earth through the lens of New York City in the early '80s.

By far the best part, outside of its otherworldly cinematography, is the Philip Glass score. The entire film is just his music, which is some of the greatest ever recorded for a film. A dizzying, unrelenting, berating and haunting score that has few words, but will possibly change your life if you let it into your head.

'Sherman's March' (1986)

If somebody gives you a bunch of money to make a documentary about a Civil War general, be very careful to not take that money and then do a personal essay film about your recent breakup and inability to find love.

Ross McElwee didn't take that advice when he went out to explore the South for the making of "Sherman's March," but thankfully the resulting pivot resulted in an instant classic. The subtitle of the film is "A Meditation on the Possibility of Romantic Love in the South During an Era of Nuclear Weapons Proliferation," and that kind of explains everything you need to know about this tongue-in-cheek faux-examination of General William Sherman.

'American Movie' (1999)

Not everybody can make a movie. It turns out, you need a tremendous amount of talent, knowledge, experience, artistic integrity, luck and the right people surrounding you. Mark Borchardt did not have any of those things — just passion, an idea and a dream. His tenacity and burgeoning alcoholism is what makes "American Movie" so memorable; it's the true behind-the-scenes story of a man trying to make a horror short.

But everything that can go wrong does, and what we get is a profile on the American spirit and the hubris of guys who think they can do what so few others have. Maybe Mark should have waited until iPhones were out, because doing backyard movies is way easier now than it was back in the '90s.

'Harlan County, USA' (1976)

Is it pathetic that a documentary about fossil fuel companies and a labor strike is still just as relevant in 2024 than it was in 1976? You'd think we would have moved past the need for coal miners or costly contract negotiations, but if you never learn from history, you're doomed to repeat it.

"Harlan County, USA" won a lot of awards for covering the "Brookside Strike" of 1973, where workers and their families withheld their labor from the Duke Power Company in Kentucky. Even though no documentary can truly be objective (humans had to edit the footage, filmmakers had to decide which stories to tell, etcetera) there's no way that you can come out of this film and not feel outrage and heartbreak for the workers putting their lives on the line just to poison the planet. Picket lines, lung disease, stock market manipulation, gun violence... Nope, still not talking about 2024, this was all stuff covered in the film.

'Salesman' (1969)

If you thought being a coal miner or indie filmmaker was a hard gig, imagine your livelihood all depends on selling Bibles door to door. "Salesman" is the oldest doc on our list, and is the least relevant to our modern age, but it's still a captivating insight into the '60s, religion and the American Dream.

Yes, this is shot in black and white, which is somehow now controversial, but if you're going in knowing this is about men trying to conquer capitalism by selling God to poor neighborhoods for their own personal benefit, then who cares how the movie is shot? The personal drama is timeless and the footage is still fascinating to this very day.

Liked this? Check out these upbeat documentaries and films about eccentric characters.

Image: YouTube