Documentary backdrop

Documentary movies

Fascinating real-life stories, historical accounts, and educational deep dives that reveal the truth about our world.

Subgenres include: True Crime Documentary, Biographical Documentary, Social & Political Documentary.

Bus Cuts

801. Bus Cuts

Documentary
0.0

20269min

Director: Maya Kelly

Rhode Island slashed its public transportation budget in September, leaving bus riders struggling as they attempt to get to work, school, doctor appointments, and visit their children. Community members already struggling to make ends meet have been forced to wake before dawn just to make it to work. Others are now spending money they don’t have on private rides. Still more are standing for over an hour on crowded buses, worried about sickness and tired from the rest of their commute. As the freezing temperatures approach, concerns are rising. RIPTA advocates will present their case to lawmakers in January and until then, these bus riders have been left out to dry on the unforgiving streets of Rhode Island.


Jane Elliott Against the World

802. Jane Elliott Against the World

Documentary
8.7

20261h 39min

Director: Judd Ehrlich

A rural Iowa schoolteacher becomes a national voice against racism after leading a controversial 1968 lesson in discrimination with her all-white third-grade class. Now nearly 90, she refuses to hold back amid today’s fights about race, history, and power after a lifetime of speaking out.


Time and Water

803. Time and Water

Documentary
8.2

20261h 33min

Director: Sara Dosa

Facing the death of his country’s glaciers and the loss of his beloved grandparents, Icelandic writer Andri Snær Magnason turns his archives into a time capsule to hold what is slipping away — family, memory, time, and water.


Queen of Chess

804. Queen of Chess

Documentary
7.7

20261h 33min

Director: Rory Kennedy

A Hungarian girl dreams of conquering international men’s chess. After a 15-year battle against world champion Garry Kasparov and her domineering father, Judit Polgár revolutionizes the sport’s patriarchal culture to become one of the greatest chess prodigies in history and the greatest woman chess player of all time.


Troublemaker

805. Troublemaker

Documentary History
0.0

20261h 34min

Director: Antoine Fuqua

Newly discovered audio interviews with Nelson Mandela himself delivers an honest, accurate and definitive depiction of the man who remains a global symbol of justice, hope and universal human dignity.


Antiheroine

806. Antiheroine

Documentary Music
0.0

20261h 38min

Director: James Hall

Singer, songwriter, and actor Courtney Love has long had an impact on rock and pop culture. Now sober and set to release new music for the first time in over a decade, Courtney is ready to reveal her story, unfiltered and unapologetic.


When a Witness Recants

807. When a Witness Recants

Documentary Animation
0.0

20261h 52min

Director: Dawn Porter

In 1983, author Ta-Nehisi Coates learned that a 14-year-old boy was murdered in his Baltimore middle school. Upon revisiting the case, he uncovers the truth: Three innocent teenagers were wrongfully convicted and spent 36 years in prison — creating a lasting impact on the accused, the witnesses, and their community.


The Brittney Griner Story

808. The Brittney Griner Story

Documentary
0.0

20261h 47min

Director: Alex Stapleton

Explores the circumstances that led to Brittney Griner playing basketball outside the U.S. despite being one of the best players in the sport, including her harrowing detainment, unwavering determination to secure her freedom, and her advocacy for the release of other wrongful detainees.


A Song for Love

809. A Song for Love

Documentary Music
0.0

20261h 25min

Director: Hogir Hirori

Twenty-one-year-old nursing student Ibrahim is a dervish in Iraqi Kurdistan. He lives and works as a singer and general helper within a religious collective marked by humility, spiritual discipline and devotion to Allah. Through his poetic songs, he gives voice to his innermost feelings – his wish to marry the woman he loves and his anxiety about being able to support his ageing parents – while facing the high demands imposed by both his studies and his faith.


"Unidentified Followed Objects (UFOs)": an interview with director Hisayasu Satô about "Love-Zero=Infinity" (bonus feature on the "Love-Zero=Infinity" Bluray released by Vinegar Syndrome).