CNN is testing out a new formula for the original documentary series it has featured regularly over the past decade. Since the 2013 launch of “Parts Unknown,” led by Anthony Bourdain, the Warner Bros.

The must-see movies about Mount Everest are often either inspiring or terrifying documentaries, from Dying for Everest to Sherpa.

Reality doesn’t bite. Well, okay, at times it does. A number of our choices for the best documentaries of the year capture turbulent realities, ominous politics, and, on occasion, stark tragedy.

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