New map shows each state's best documentary

Posted Tuesday, November 22, 2011 at 5:14 PM Central

by John Couture

POV, a PBS program that airs documentaries, recently unveiled a cool map of the United States. Each state is represented by what they deem is that state's "best" documentary.

They do put a disclaimer on the blog that by best they mean either that the documentary most identifies with the state or that it's the best quality documentary about that state. Of course, whenever you compile a list of movies there is a bit subjectivity that comes into play.

I'll be honest though, after checking out their choices, I would say that I would agree with almost all of their selections. Michael Moore, Stacy Peralta and Marshall Curry each have two of their films selected, while the rest of the states are represented by a unique filmmaker.

The documentaries selected range from 1964 to 2011 in their production year, so they do a good job of representing not only a cross-section of America, but also the passage of time. Check out the map below (click on it to be taken to a bigger version and a list of each documentary by state) and let us know if you agree with their selections.