--- description: This year, many of us turned to film to be transported outside the confines of our homes. These documentaries took viewers on journeys title: Watch: TIME's Best Short Documentaries of 2021 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt86efeaaa24eb281d/698a1a864ee26268bc31913c/terrance-franklin-minneapolis-05.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Ideas](/section/ideas/) ## Ideas Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [society](/tag/society/) ## society Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Watch: TIME's Best Short Documentaries of 2021 by [TIME Video](/author/time-video/) ## TIME Video Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 29, 2021 5:00 PM CUT  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 nearbyKevin Mohatt for TIME by [TIME Video](/author/time-video/) ## TIME Video Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 29, 2021 5:00 PM CUT 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/ "undefined") 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/ "undefined") 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/ "undefined") --- ## _My Name Is Mookie_ Director Francesca Trianni[ joined ](https://time.com/6075094/terrance-franklin-shooting/ "undefined")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/ "undefined") 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/ "undefined") 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/ "undefined") 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":"2026-02-24T10:39:09.033Z","description":"This year, many of us turned to film to be transported outside the confines of our homes. These documentaries took viewers on journeys","url":"https://time.com/6129355/best-documentary-shorts-2021/","keywords":["society"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt86efeaaa24eb281d/698a1a864ee26268bc31913c/terrance-franklin-minneapolis-05.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Video","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-video/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt86efeaaa24eb281d/698a1a864ee26268bc31913c/terrance-franklin-minneapolis-05.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Family of Terrance Franklin release balloons for anniversary of his death","caption":"Nehemiah prepares to release balloons in commemoration of the death of his father while his mother Ashley, his 4-year-old bother, Prince, and 3-year-old sister, Zyla, watch nearby","creditText":"Kevin Mohatt for TIME","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/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/society/","name":"society"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6129355/best-documentary-shorts-2021/","name":"Watch: TIME's Best Short Documentaries of 2021"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Snowy, by Alexander Lewis and Kaitlyn Schwalje","description":"Filmmakers Kaitlyn Schwalje and Alex Wolf Lewis decided to make a film 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.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/C2fEnUCL/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2021-11-04T06:45:00.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/C2fEnUCL.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/6129355/best-documentary-shorts-2021/","duration":"PT12M27S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/6129355/best-documentary-shorts-2021/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"TIME Presents: Milk Factory, a Film by Corinne May Botz","description":"This film made inside the Longworth House lactation suite, one of several created at the U.S. House of Representatives, reveals the hidden labor of working mothers.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/DP8sxBUP/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2021-05-05T15:08:00.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/DP8sxBUP.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/6129355/best-documentary-shorts-2021/","duration":"PT10M35S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/6129355/best-documentary-shorts-2021/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"\"My Name is Mookie\"","description":"Terrance Franklin was killed by Minneapolis police in 2013. The Minneapolis Police Department investigated its own officers and cleared them soon after. But a video suggests a different story, and the case may now be reopened.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/pPne0bm0/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2021-06-25T11:03:00.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/pPne0bm0.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/6129355/best-documentary-shorts-2021/","duration":"PT20M15S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/6129355/best-documentary-shorts-2021/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"UNKNOWN: Eighty Years After Pearl Harbor, Two Brothers Are Identified By DNA","description":"The DPAA is an obscure unit inside the Pentagon, which scours the globe for the remains of long-lost service members who vanished in the air, land or sea during combat. This short documentary from TIME takes viewers along as the DPAA utilizes DNA and forensic analysis to identify the Trapp brothers, and ultimately bring them home to their family.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/EZaceMGY/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2021-11-23T13:00:00.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/EZaceMGY.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/6129355/best-documentary-shorts-2021/","duration":"PT8M4S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/6129355/best-documentary-shorts-2021/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Cleaning the 9/11 Memorial Reflecting Pools","description":"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","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/hZpzS0Ho/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2021-09-09T21:51:00.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/hZpzS0Ho.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/6129355/best-documentary-shorts-2021/","duration":"PT3M26S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/6129355/best-documentary-shorts-2021/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```