Observational Documentary Movies

Weighing more than 15 tons, a sperm whale has a brain larger than any other animal on earth and is considered one of the more social whale species....

Behind the glitz of Miss Italia, director Patrizia Mirigliani fights to save the iconic pageant, now wavering amid scandals and changing beauty...

A couple of artists travels through the Mexico desert to present their puppet show.

Wet’suwet’en leaders unite in a battle against the Canadian government, corporations, and militarized law enforcement to safeguard their...

The Air Jaws team, Chris Fallows, Alison Towner, Dickie Chivell and Enrico Gennari record the breaching behavior of multiple great white sharks off...

A teen with autism unlocks a joyous world of self-expression as she shares her voice for the first time using a letter board.

The story of Nisar Ahmed Khan, told through his children and the people he served, a spiritual guide whose followers still visit his tomb on his...

Irish director Donagh Coleman explores the extraordinary phenomenon of Tukdam, whereby some Tibetan Buddhist practitioners are able to forestall...

While much of the world struggles to keep the planet going, a frighteningly large group of American fundamentalist Christians are working to promote...

The film explores the pursuit of the “Chinese Dream.” Driven by mesmerizing—and sometimes humorous—imagery, this...

Ghost nation? Violent home? Traumatised country? What does the horror of one of the most famous writers of our time hide? What does his fictional...

This documentary was distilled from a 3 1/2-hour television film Nessuno o Tutti, to make the point that many inmates now in mental hospitals could...

The desert city of Las Vegas embodies the American Dream in its most extreme form. Turbo-capitalism and gigantic shows are a magnet for gamblers and...

A documentary about a 15-day river-rafting trip on the Colorado River aimed at highlighting water conservation issues.

Three farming families in Hanyuan, China, strive to give their children a good life in the midst of an ecological crisis, as widespread use of...

30 years after the Chernobyl catastrophe and 5 years after Fukushima it is time to see what has been happening in the “exclusion zones”...

Filmed over 23 years, Rise of the Warrior Apes tells the epic story of an extraordinary troop of chimpanzees in Ngogo, Uganda – featuring four...

Four filmmakers working in the region of Galicia (in the northwest of Spain) follow and portray on the screen Galician artists working in disciplines...

Photographer and visual artist Sammy Baloji’s fascinating film essay explores the Democratic Republic of Congo’s colonial history and its...