The 25 Most Hope-Inspiring Documentaries
by johanstiel | created - 26 Sep 2020 | updated - 8 months ago | PublicDocumentaries that fill us with hope and optimism, letting worlds we've never known open our minds, and allowing us to see the world we thought we knew with new eyes.
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1. The Deepest Breath (2023)
PG | 108 min | Documentary, Adventure, Sport
A champion and expert safety diver seemed destined for one another. Despite different paths taken, they meet at the pinnacle of the free-diving world, experiencing the thrilling rewards and inescapable risks of chasing dreams through the depths of the ocean.
Director: Laura McGann | Stars: Alessia Zecchini, Stephen Keenan, Leigh Baker, Mahmoud Barracuda
Votes: 14,538
2. The Biggest Little Farm (2018)
PG | 91 min | Documentary, Family
Documentarian John Chester and his wife Molly work to develop a sustainable farm on 200 acres outside of Los Angeles.
Director: John Chester | Stars: John Chester, Molly Chester, Todd, Alan York
Votes: 8,873 | Gross: $4.37M
3. David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet (2020 TV Movie)
PG | 83 min | Documentary, Biography
One man has seen more of the natural world than any other. This unique feature documentary is his witness statement.
Directors: Alastair Fothergill, Jonathan Hughes, Keith Scholey | Stars: David Attenborough, Max Hughes
Votes: 34,513
4. Jane (II) (2017)
PG | 90 min | Documentary, Biography
The life and work of the renowned primatology scientist, Jane Goodall, especially on her research about chimpanzees.
Director: Brett Morgen | Stars: Jane Goodall, Hugo Van Lawick, Hugo Eric Louis van Lawick
Votes: 5,655 | Gross: $1.72M
5. I Am Greta (2020)
TV-14 | 97 min | Documentary, Biography
The documentary follows Greta Thunberg, a teenage climate activist from Sweden, on her international crusade to get people to listen to scientists about the world's environmental problems.
Director: Nathan Grossman | Stars: Greta Thunberg, Svante Thunberg, Niclas Svenningsen, António Guterres
Votes: 8,367
6. Ice on Fire (2019)
TV-PG | 88 min | Documentary
Can we reverse climate change? Ice on Fire explores the many ways we reduce carbon inputs to the atmosphere and, more important, how to "draw" carbon down, bringing CO2 out of the ... See full summary »
Director: Leila Conners | Stars: Raymond Baltar, Leonardo DiCaprio, Ottmar Edenhofer, Linwood Gill
Votes: 1,676
7. Chasing Coral (2017)
93 min | Documentary
Coral reefs around the world are vanishing at an unprecedented rate. A team of divers, photographers and scientists set out on a thrilling ocean adventure to discover why and to reveal the underwater mystery to the world.
Director: Jeff Orlowski-Yang | Stars: Andrew Ackerman, Pim Bongaerts, Neal Cantin, Phil Dustan
Votes: 5,647
8. My Octopus Teacher (2020)
TV-G | 85 min | Documentary, Drama
A filmmaker forges an unusual friendship with an octopus living in a South African kelp forest, learning as the animal shares the mysteries of her world.
Directors: Pippa Ehrlich, James Reed | Stars: Craig Foster, Tom Foster
Votes: 63,650
9. Wildcat (2022)
R | 106 min | Documentary
Back from war in Afghanistan, a young British soldier struggling with depression and PTSD finds a second chance in the Amazon rainforest when he meets an American scientist, and together they foster an orphaned baby ocelot.
Directors: Trevor Frost, Melissa Lesh | Stars: Dante Cueva Altamirano, Cristian De La Cruz, Erick Scott Vargas Laura, Niery Tafur Olortegui
Votes: 3,235
10. Mission Blue (2014)
95 min | Documentary, Drama
Feature documentary about legendary oceanographer, marine biologist, environmentalist, and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Sylvia Earle and her campaign to create a global network of protected marine sanctuaries.
Directors: Robert Nixon, Fisher Stevens | Stars: Barbara Block, James Cameron, Michael deGruy, Sylvia Earle
Votes: 2,145
11. Winged Migration (2001)
G | 89 min | Documentary
Documentary on the migratory patterns of birds, shot over the course of three years on all seven continents.
Directors: Jacques Perrin, Jacques Cluzaud, Michel Debats | Stars: Jacques Perrin, Philippe Labro
Votes: 12,357 | Gross: $10.76M
12. Before the Flood (2016)
PG | 96 min | Documentary, News
A look at how climate change affects our environment and what society can do to prevent the demise of endangered species, ecosystems and native communities across the planet.
Director: Fisher Stevens | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Ban Ki-moon, Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Mike Brune
Votes: 28,851
13. Virunga (2014)
Not Rated | 100 min | Documentary, War
A team of brave individuals risk their lives to protect the last mountain gorillas.
Director: Orlando von Einsiedel | Stars: André Bauma, Emmanuel de Merode, Mélanie Gouby, Rodrigue Mugaruka Katembo
Votes: 12,245
14. 2040 (2019)
92 min | Documentary
Practical solutions to environmental concerns are addressed with the hope that the filmmaker's daughter, 21 years old in the year 2040, will face a hopeful future.
Director: Damon Gameau | Stars: Damon Gameau, Eva Lazzaro, Zoë Gameau, Paul Hawken
Votes: 1,405
15. Honeyland (2019)
Unrated | 89 min | Documentary, Drama
The last female bee-hunter in Europe must save the bees and return the natural balance in Honeyland, when a family of nomadic beekeepers invade her land and threaten her livelihood.
Directors: Tamara Kotevska, Ljubomir Stefanov | Stars: Hatidze Muratova, Nazife Muratova, Hussein Sam, Ljutvie Sam
Votes: 19,383 | Gross: $0.82M
16. The Pollinators (2019)
Not Rated | 92 min | Documentary
A cinematic journey around the United States following migratory beekeepers and their truckloads of honey bees as they pollinate the flowers that become the fruits, nuts and vegetables we all eat.
Director: Peter Nelson | Stars: Bret Adee, Jeff Anderson, Alan Ard, Leigh-Kathryn Bonner
Votes: 174
17. The Woman Who Loves Giraffes (2018)
123 min | Documentary
A profile of giraffe researcher Anne Dagg who, in 1956, became one of the first people to ever observe and report on animal behaviour.
Director: Alison Reid | Stars: Tatiana Maslany, Victor Garber, Anne Innis Dagg, Fred Bercovitch
Votes: 281
18. The Game Changers (2018)
86 min | Documentary, Sport
A UFC fighter's world is turned upside down when he discovers an elite group of world-renowned athletes and scientists who prove that everything he had been taught about protein was a lie.
Director: Louie Psihoyos | Stars: James Wilks, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Patrik Baboumian, Dotsie Bausch
Votes: 21,821 | Gross: $0.74M
19. The Need to Grow (2019)
96 min | Documentary
The Need To GROW follows pioneers of cutting edge technology as they fight to localize sustainable food systems and regenerate Earth's dying soils.
Directors: Rob Herring, Ryan Wirick | Stars: Erik Cutter, Rosario Dawson, Douglas Gayeton, Kathryn Kellogg Johnson
Votes: 292
20. Birders: The Central Park Effect (2012)
Unrated | 61 min | Documentary
A diverse group of full-of-attitude New Yorkers reveals how a hidden world of beautiful wild birds in the middle of Manhattan has upended and magically transformed their lives.
Director: Jeffrey Kimball | Stars: Regina Alvarez, Anya Auerbach, Mike Bryant, David Burg
Votes: 371
21. Breaking Boundaries: The Science of Our Planet (2021 TV Movie)
TV-PG | 73 min | Documentary
David Attenborough and scientist Johan Rockström examine Earth's biodiversity collapse and how this crisis can still be averted.
Director: Jonathan Clay | Stars: David Attenborough, Elena Bennett, Jason Box, Terry Hughes
Votes: 3,270
22. The Year Earth Changed (2021 TV Movie)
TV-PG | 48 min | Documentary
A fresh new approach to the global lockdown and the uplifting stories that have come out of it. People all over the world have had the chance to engage with nature like never before.
Director: Tom Beard | Stars: David Attenborough, Israfeel Ahamed, Bhashkar Bara, Dulu Bora
Votes: 5,032
23. The Serengeti Rules (2018)
TV-14 | 84 min | Documentary, Biography
Exploring some of the most remote and spectacular places on Earth, five pioneering scientists make surprising discoveries that flip our understanding of nature on its head, and offer new hope for restoring our world.
Director: Nicolas Brown | Stars: Jim Estes, Jaime Excell, Bob Paine, Mathieson McCrae
Votes: 185
24. The Territory (2022)
PG | 85 min | Documentary
When a network of Brazilian farmers seizes a protected area of the Amazon rainforest, a young Indigenous leader and his mentor must fight back in defense of the land and an uncontacted group living deep within the forest.
Director: Alex Pritz | Stars: Neidinha Bandeira, Bitaté Uru Eu Wau Wau
Votes: 1,328
25. All That Breathes (2022)
Not Rated | 97 min | Documentary
Amidst the darkening backdrop of Delhi's apocalyptic air and escalating violence, two brothers devote their lives to protect one casualty of the turbulent times: the bird known as the Black Kite.
Director: Shaunak Sen | Stars: Salik Rehman, Mohammad Saud, Nadeem Shehzad
Votes: 4,777
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