Documentaries

Sir David Attenborough

How David Attenborough Went From Delighting at the Natural World to Pleading for Its Future

The environmental icon’s latest series, “Mammals,” showcases the threats humanity has created for our relatives

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Before Beyonce and Taylor Swift Ran the World, There Was Joan Baez

Today’s artists—especially women—are sometimes criticized for speaking out, but for Baez, art and activism were indivisible

Two unidentified Gullah Geechee women photographed by Lorenzo Dow Turner in the early 1930s

How the Memory of a Song Reunited Two Women Separated by the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade

In 1990, scholars found a Sierra Leonean woman who remembered a nearly identical version of a tune passed down by a Georgia woman’s enslaved ancestors

John Smith claimed Pocahontas saved him from execution when she was just 11 or 12 years old. Whether the story happened the way Smith tells it—or even at all—is up for debate, a 2017 Smithsonian Channel documentary explains.

The True Story of Pocahontas Is More Complicated Than You Might Think

Historian Camilla Townsend separates fact from fiction in the life of the Powhatan "princess"

Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper in Milan, Italy

Ken Burns Turns His Lens to Leonardo da Vinci

An upcoming two-part documentary will be the filmmaker's first foray into a non-American subject matter

Child refugees from Germany and Austria at the Amsterdam Burgerweeshuis orphanage. Truus Wijsmuller stands at far left, looking at the children she helped save.

The Unsung Hero Who Saved Thousands of Children During the Holocaust

Truus Wijsmuller spirited Jewish refugees to safety and stood up to the architect of Adolf Hitler's "Final Solution"

The new film places the relationship between Mollie Burkhart (played by Lily Gladstone) and her husband Ernest (Leonardo DiCaprio) at the center of the story.

The Real History Behind 'Killers of the Flower Moon'

Martin Scorsese's new film revisits the murders of wealthy Osages in Oklahoma in the 1920s

Bethann Hardison in Invisible Beauty

New Documentary Showcases Bethann Hardison's Battle to Diversify the Fashion Industry

"Invisible Beauty" explores the fashion trailblazer's work as a model, agent and activist

John H. Smith (left), mayor of Prichard, Alabama, unsuccessfully campaigned for the creation of an Africatown national park.

The Forgotten 1980s Battle to Preserve Africatown

A new book tells the definitive history of an Alabama community founded by survivors of the slave trade

A moment from Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie, which premiered last month at Sundance Film Festival 

Michael J. Fox Reflects on Rise to Fame and Life with Parkinson's

A new documentary offers an intimate look at the actor and activist's story

Louis Armstrong's Black & Blues explores the legendary singer and trumpet player's life and legacy.

This Rap Documentarian's Latest Subject? Louis Armstrong

Sacha Jenkins tells the jazz musician's story through rarely-seen archival footage and letters

Edward Hopper's Nighthawks, 1942

Reexamining Edward Hopper—and the Woman Behind His Career

“Hopper: An American Love Story” highlights the artist’s relationship with his wife, Josephine Nivison

Abigail Disney beside a poster for The American Dream and Other Fairy Tales earlier this month

Abigail Disney Criticizes Labor Practices at the Company Her Family Founded

Her new documentary, "The American Dream and Other Fairy Tales," shines a light on income inequality and workers' rights

Sidney Poitier on the set of Lilies of the Field, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor

Sidney Poitier Is Back on the Big Screen

The late and great actor and director is the subject of 'Sidney,' a new documentary produced by Oprah Winfrey

Bad Bunny, a global reggaeton sensation whose latest album just topped the Billboard 200 for the 11th week, released a short documentary on Puerto Rico’s infrastructure failures and gentrification.

Bad Bunny's Latest Music Video Doubles as a Documentary on Gentrification in Puerto Rico

Amid Hurricane Fiona, the artist combines his music with an 18-minute film by reporter Bianca Graulau

Paula, Sam and Sol Messinger aboard the M.S. St. Louis in May 1939. The U.S. denied the ship entry, forcing its 937 passengers to return to Europe. More than a quarter of these refugees were later killed in the Holocaust.

Why Was America So Reluctant to Take Action on the Holocaust?

A new Ken Burns documentary examines the U.S.' complex, often shameful response to the rise of Nazism and the plight of Jewish refugees

The Woman King tells the story of the Agojie, an elite, all-woman army in the West African kingdom of Dahomey.

The Real Warriors Behind 'The Woman King'

A new film stars Viola Davis as the leader of the Agojie, the all-woman army of the African kingdom of Dahomey

David Bowie’s artistry is the subject of Moonage Daydream, the latest film from documentarian Brett Morgen.

David Bowie, in His Own Words

The new documentary 'Moonage Daydream' draws entirely from archival footage and recordings

Loving Highsmith aims to challenge crime author Patricia Highsmith’s reputation as a cold-hearted misanthrope.

Was Patricia Highsmith Actually a Hopeless Romantic?

The documentary 'Loving Highsmith' presents a new side of the enigmatic crime writer

Many of the children who survived Hurricane Katrina are still healing from the trauma of their experiences.

The Black Children of Hurricane Katrina Finally Tell Their Stories

A new documentary, 'Katrina Babies,' spotlights the disaster's youngest survivors

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