--- title: Watch: TIME's Best Short Documentaries of 2021 description: This year, many of us turned to film to be transported outside the confines of our homes. These documentaries took viewers on journeys canonical: https://time.com/6129355/best-documentary-shorts-2021/ author: TIME Video article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2021-12-29T17:00:07.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:51:49.467Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Watch: TIME's Best Short Documentaries of 2021 og:description: This year, many of us turned to film to be transported outside the confines of our homes og:url: https://time.com/6129355/best-documentary-shorts-2021/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt86efeaaa24eb281d/698a1a864ee26268bc31913c/terrance-franklin-minneapolis-05.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2400 og:image:height: 1350 og:image:alt: Family of Terrance Franklin release balloons for anniversary of his death og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Watch: TIME's Best Short Documentaries of 2021 twitter:description: This year, many of us turned to film to be transported outside the confines of our homes twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt86efeaaa24eb281d/698a1a864ee26268bc31913c/terrance-franklin-minneapolis-05.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Watch: TIME's Best Short Documentaries of 2021 > Sponsored content. 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Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. ## Video: Cleaning the 9/11 Memorial Reflecting Pools [Watch (HLS stream): Cleaning the 9/11 Memorial Reflecting Pools](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/hZpzS0Ho.m3u8) (3:26)  _Published 2021-09-09. James Maroon is part of a crew that cleans the two square reflecting pools which stand on the site of the Twin Towers as part of the 9/11 Memorial_ by [TIME Video](https://time.com/author/time-video/) ## TIME Video Dec 29, 2021 5:00 PM UTC  Nehemiah prepares to release balloons in commemoration of his father while his mother Ashley, his 4-year-old bother, Prince, and 3-year-old sister, Zyla, watch nearby Nehemiah prepares to release balloons in commemoration of his father while his mother Ashley, his 4-year-old bother, Prince, and 3-year-old sister, Zyla, watch nearby Kevin Mohatt for TIME by [TIME Video](https://time.com/author/time-video/) ## TIME Video Dec 29, 2021 5:00 PM UTC This year, many of us turned to film to be transported outside the confines of our homes. With that in mind, at TIME we commissioned documentaries that took viewers on journeys—whether inside the mind of a beloved pet, along for a day at an unusual job or behind the scenes as forensic analysis is used to reunite long-lost family members. We also tried to shine a light on under-reported issues, from overlooked cases of police misconduct to the invisible work done by mothers inside the walls of the U.S. Capitol. Now as the year comes to an end, we look back at some of TIME’s most powerful works of film. ## _Snowy_ Filmmakers Kaitlyn Schwalje and Alex Wolf Lewis [decided](https://time.com/6113042/snowy-documentary-turtle-happiness/) to make a movie about Snowy the pet turtle after spending Thanksgiving with him one year. Their short documentary is both an investigation into animal happiness and an intervention to improve one turtle’s life. --- ## _Milk Factory_ A short film by director [Corinne Botz](https://www.corinnebotz.com/) goes inside the lactation room of the U.S. Capitol, and reveals the hidden labor of working mothers. The title _Milk Factory_ underlines that lactation is a form of labor, even if federal law conceptualizes it as a break from work, as Mathilde Cohen [writes for TIME.](https://time.com/5954518/lactation-rooms-invisible-labor/) --- ## _My Name Is Mookie_ Director Francesca Trianni[ joined ](https://time.com/6075094/terrance-franklin-shooting/)with TIME’s Karl Vick and Josiah Bates to examine the story of Terrance Franklin, who was killed by Minneapolis police in 2013\. Soon after Franklin’s death, the Minneapolis Police Department investigated its own officers and cleared them of any wrongdoing. But a piece of audio suggested a different story, and TIME’s reporting helped spur [new movement](https://time.com/6104087/minneapolis-police-lawyers-terrance-franklin/) in the case. --- ## _Eighty Years After Pearl Harbor, Two Brothers Are Identified By DNA_ The DPAA is an obscure unit inside the Pentagon that scours the globe for the remains of long-lost service members who vanished in the air, on land or at sea during combat. This [short documentary](https://time.com/6121892/pearl-harbor-anniversary-unknown-victims/) from TIME takes viewers along as the DPAA utilizes DNA and forensic analysis to identify the Trapp brothers, presumed killed at Pearl Harbor, and ultimately bring them home to their family. --- ## _The Pool Cleaner_ On the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, filmmaker Joshua Charow [focused](https://time.com/6096871/9-11-memorial-pool-cleaner/) on a critical caretaker of the 9/11 Memorial: James Maroon, who cleans the massive reflecting pools at the 9/11 Memorial every night. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6129355/best-documentary-shorts-2021/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6129355/best-documentary-shorts-2021/"},"headline":"Watch: TIME's Best Short Documentaries of 2021","datePublished":"2021-12-29T17:00:07.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:51:49.467Z","description":"This year, many of us turned to film to be transported outside the confines of our homes. 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