--- description: Three documentaries out now that deserve to be on your radar. IN THE STACKS With Ex Libris: New York Public Library, prolific 87-year-old filmmaker Frederick... title: Books, Rats and Elegant Shoes image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt34853535744418a5/6988dfb4096a94ea3d69fc68/books-rats-elegant-shoes-documentaries.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [documentaries](/tag/documentaries/) ## documentaries Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Books, Rats and Elegant Shoes  by [Stephanie Zacharek](/author/stephanie-zacharek/)  ## Stephanie Zacharek Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Film Critic Sep 28, 2017 11:02 AM CUT  Manolo: The Boy Who Made Shoes for Lizards Manolo: The Boy Who Made Shoes for LizardsMusic Box Films  by [Stephanie Zacharek](/author/stephanie-zacharek/)  ## Stephanie Zacharek Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Film Critic Sep 28, 2017 11:02 AM CUT Three documentaries out now that deserve to be on your radar. IN THE STACKS With _Ex Libris: New York Public Library_, prolific 87-year-old filmmaker Frederick Wiseman trains his ultra-perceptive lens on the NYPL system, an organism that makes New Yorkers’ lives better in ways big and small. OF RATS AND MEN The rat-phobic may shy away. But Theo Anthony’s _Rat Film_ is as much about a city–specifically, Baltimore–as it is about rodents. It’s a sympathetic, if sometimes disturbing, look at how rats and humans get along. Or don’t. THE ART OF THE HEEL Michael Roberts’ _Manolo: The Boy Who Made Shoes for Lizards_, a portrait of high-heel maestro Manolo Blahnik, is pure delight for anyone who cares about shoes or about the intricacies of true craftsmanship. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4960620/documentaries-deserve-on-your-radar/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4960620/documentaries-deserve-on-your-radar/"},"headline":"Books, Rats and Elegant Shoes","datePublished":"2017-09-28T11:02:56.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T17:37:59.582Z","description":"Three documentaries out now that deserve to be on your radar. IN THE STACKS With Ex Libris: New York Public Library, prolific 87-year-old filmmaker Frederick...","url":"https://time.com/4960620/documentaries-deserve-on-your-radar/","keywords":["documentaries"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt34853535744418a5/6988dfb4096a94ea3d69fc68/books-rats-elegant-shoes-documentaries.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Stephanie Zacharek","jobTitle":"Film Critic","url":"https://time.com/author/stephanie-zacharek/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt34853535744418a5/6988dfb4096a94ea3d69fc68/books-rats-elegant-shoes-documentaries.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"books-rats-elegant-shoes-documentaries","caption":"Manolo: The Boy Who Made Shoes for Lizards","creditText":"Music Box Films","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/documentaries/","name":"documentaries"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4960620/documentaries-deserve-on-your-radar/","name":"Books, Rats and Elegant Shoes"}}]}] ```