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NDISCOVERY
Genre

Documentary movies

Browse documentary movies by rating, decade and country, and see which are on Netflix where you live.

–2026MovieDocumentary

An athlete, artist, and activist, Romare Bearden defied boundaries placed on Black men of his generation. He partied with James Baldwin in Paris, composed hit songs, and channeled his memories into powerful collages celebrating Black life that changed contemporary art. He challenged social injustice and broke down barriers in art, culminating in a vibrant artistic legacy that inspires and empowers artists, dancers, and musicians.

7.31979MovieDocumentary · Music

Through concert performances and interviews, this film offers us a comprehensive look at the British pioneer rock group, The Who. It captures their zany craziness and outrageous antics from the initial formation of the group in 1964 to 1978. It notably features the band's last performance with long-term drummer Keith Moon, filmed at Shepperton Studios in May 1978, three months before his death.

7.02018MovieDocumentary

Documentary on psychedelic potash mines, expansive concrete seawalls, mammoth industrial machines, and other examples of humanity’s massive, destructive reengineering of the planet.

7.52015MovieDocumentary · Drama

Film from Andrew Morgan. The True Cost is a documentary film exploring the impact of fashion on people and the planet.

7.52006MovieDocumentary · Music

In March 2005, Neil Young was diagnosed with a brain aneurysm. Four days before he was scheduled for a lifesaving operation, he headed to Nashville, where he wrote and recorded the country folk album Prairie Wind with old friends and family members. After the successful operation and recovery period, he returned to Nashville that August to play at the famed Ryman Auditorium, once again gathering together friends and family for this special performance.

9.01992MovieDocumentary · TV Movie

Trek into the hidden battlefields of northern Botswana where lions and spotted hyenas clash in overlapping territories. With never-before-seen footage, much of it filmed at night, you'll uncover an intense and vicious blood feud that has been waged for millennia. Follow the Southern Clan, led by a powerful hyena matriarch whose firstborn female cub kills her sister at birth to assure her succession as leader of the clan. Lurk in the shadows as a lioness from the Central Pride gives birth to three cubs and then encounters a deadly Egyptian cobra. You'll be stunned by breathtaking chase scenes as the hyena matriarch is brutally killed by a male lion, throwing the clan into chaos. Discover nature's savage conflicts in this ancient rivalry.

7.52021MovieDocumentary

A look at the life and legend of Sir Alex Ferguson, from his working-class roots in Glasgow through to his career as one of the greatest football managers of all time. While recovering from a traumatic brain haemorrhage in 2018, Sir Alex intimately recounts vivid details of his life and career to his son, including his legendary 26-year tenure as manager of Manchester United.

6.42017MovieDocumentary

Bill Nye is retiring his kid show act in a bid to become more like his late professor, astronomer Carl Sagan. Sagan dreamed of launching a spacecraft that could revolutionize interplanetary exploration. Bill sets out to accomplish Sagan's mission, but he is pulled away when he is challenged by evolution and climate change contrarians to defend the scientific consensus. Can Bill show the world why science matters in a culture increasingly indifferent to evidence?

9.02025MovieDocumentary · Comedy

The special celebrates the 40th anniversary of the beloved sitcom and features interviews with the series creator Susan Harris, executive producer Tony Thomas, original writers, and superfans like Kelly Ripa, Sheryl Lee Ralph, and Mario Lopez. It explores the show's enduring appeal and lasting influence on pop culture.

7.91972MovieMusic · Documentary

A film about the first benefit rock concert when major musicians performed to raise relief funds for the poor of Bangladesh. The Concert for Bangladesh was a pair of benefit concerts organised by former Beatles guitarist George Harrison and Indian sitar player Ravi Shankar. The shows were held at 2:30 and 8:00 pm on Sunday, 1 August 1971, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, to raise international awareness of, and fund relief for refugees from East Pakistan, following the Bangladesh Liberation War-related genocide.

–2020MovieCrime · Documentary

Johnnie Porche, a former Special Ops Army vet and police officer from a distinguished law enforcement family, suddenly finds himself a marked man when his fiancée, deputy Angela Parks, falls for a charismatic and ruthless gang leader in jail for murder. As Angela's obsession grows, so do the deadly stakes for Johnnie and his family, with the convicted killer sending messages through Angela ordering a hit on anyone who gets in their way, including witnesses.

9.02026MovieDocumentary

A celebration of girlhood and the complexities that come with it, Cookie Queens is a coming-of-age story about the joys, pressures, and tensions woven into one of America’s most cherished rituals: Girl Scout Cookie season.

10.02026MovieDocumentary · Music

Follows musician Pete Townshend's colorful life and career, and specifically about a time that almost destroyed him and his band: when, shortly after the release of the album Tommy, Townshend and The Who tried to make a science fiction rock opera called Lifehouse.

–1989MovieDocumentary

Over one hundred of Hollywood's glittering stars came together to record a musical tribute to the survivors of earthquake ravaged Armenia. Directed by world renowned Peter Bogdanovich, and beautifully photographed by Academy Award winning cinematographer Laszlo Kovacs, this very special one hour show narrated by Robert Stack is not to be missed! Bogdanovich brings together footage and interviews from the recording session, footage of Armenia before and after the earthquake, information on Armenian history and culture, and a piece on the Armenian Genocide.

–2026MovieMusic · Documentary

John & Yoko/Plastic Ono Band with Elephant's Memory and Special Guests performed these now-legendary sold-out One To One concerts to a combined audience of 40,000 people, raising over $1.5M for children with intellectual and developmental disabilities. They were the only full-length concerts John Lennon (with Yoko Ono) performed after leaving The Beatles.

5.92019MovieDocumentary · TV Movie

Over a 50-year career and more than a hundred movies, filmmaker John Ford (1894-1973) forged the legend of the Far West. By giving a face to the underprivileged, from humble cowboys to persecuted minorities, he revealed like no one else the great social divisions that existed and still exist in the United States. More than four decades after his death, what remains of his legacy and humanistic values in the memory of those who love his work?

7.22011MovieDocumentary

Beloved by children of all ages around the world, Elmo is an international icon. Few people know his creator, Kevin Clash, who dreamed of working with his idol, master puppeteer Jim Henson. Displaying his creativity and talent at a young age, Kevin ultimately found a home on Sesame Street. Narrated by Whoopi Goldberg, this documentary includes rare archival footage, interviews with Frank Oz, Rosie O’Donnell, Cheryl Henson, Joan Ganz Cooney and others and offers a behind-the-scenes look at Sesame Street and the Jim Henson Workshop.

6.41995MovieDrama · Documentary

40 international directors were asked to make a short film using the original Cinematographe invented by the Lumière Brothers, working under conditions similar to those of 1895. There were three rules: (1) The film could be no longer than 52 seconds, (2) no synchronized sound was permitted, and (3) no more than three takes.

7.72026MovieDocumentary

Follow the untold story of the 47-year old legacy of the McDonald's All American Game and the past, present and future stars that defined it.