Paramount+
Documentary
Years

Popular Documentary Movies

As Far as They Can Run
Paramount+
As Far as They Can Run
Three young adults join a running program for disabled youth in Pakistan, hoping to shift perspectives in their rural community.
As Far as They Can Run 2022
To the Shores of Iwo Jima
Paramount+
To the Shores of Iwo Jima
Documentary short film depicting the American assault on the Japanese-held island of Iwo Jima and the massive battle that raged on that key island in the Allied advance on Japan. Four cameramen died bringing this footage to the public
To the Shores of Iwo Jima 1945
Omoiyari
Paramount+
Omoiyari
Violinist and songwriter Kishi Bashi travels on a musical journey to understand WWII era Japanese Incarceration, assimilation, and what it means to be a minority in America today.
Omoiyari 2022
Dive!
Paramount+
Dive!
Follow filmmaker Jeremy Seifert and his circle of friends as they dumpster dive in the back alleys and gated garbage receptacles of L.A.'s supermarkets. In the process they uncover thousands of dollars worth of good food and an ugly truth about waste in America: grocery stores know they are wasting and most refuse to do anything about it.
Dive! 2010
Favorite Daughter
Paramount+
Favorite Daughter
A grandmother, mother, and daughter quarantine together in a Tribeca apartment as they laugh about life over wine.
Favorite Daughter 2022
Whitney, a Look Back
Paramount+
Whitney, a Look Back
The one-hour special will include lost performances and rare moments with Houston, alongside new interviews with those closest to her, including Dionne Warwick, Clive Davis, CeCe Winans, Monica and Kelly Price. In addition, the special will explore new details about the days leading up to and following her death on Feb. 11, 2012. Whitney, A Look Back comes as the world marks 10 years since her tragic passing.
Whitney, a Look Back 2022
Gary Numan: Android In La La Land
Paramount+
Gary Numan: Android In La La Land
The Godfather of electronic music is on a one-way trip to crack America, returning to the studio for the first time in nearly a decade. Android is a celebration of a music-making pioneer and the love story that helped him turn his life around.
Gary Numan: Android In La La Land 2016
Secrets of the Hive
Paramount+
Secrets of the Hive
Honeybees are in crisis – but there is hope. Biologists are studying the estimated 20.000 bee species in the world to look for viable pollinators of our crops. In their quest they discover the marvellous world of bees: bees that live in flowers, invade other hives, produce perfumes – and pollinate our crops without us even realizing.
Secrets of the Hive 2015
Breath of Freedom
Paramount+
Breath of Freedom
In World War II. African-American GIs liberate Germany from Nazi rule while racism prevailed in their own army and home country. Returning home they continue fighting for their own rights in the civil rights movement.
Breath of Freedom 2014
God Loves Uganda
Paramount+
God Loves Uganda
A powerful exploration of the evangelical campaign to infuse African culture with values imported from America's Christian Right. The film follows American and Ugandan religious leaders fighting sexual immorality and missionaries trying to convince Ugandans to follow biblical law.
God Loves Uganda 2013
The Marfa Tapes
Paramount+
The Marfa Tapes
Jack Ingram, Miranda Lambert, and Jon Randall offer a glimpse inside the creative process of the making of their new album in this documentary featuring live performances set against the West Texas backdrop, candid interviews, and behind-the-scenes footage captured during the five-day album recording sessions in November 2020.
The Marfa Tapes 2022
Forgiving Dr. Mengele
Paramount+
Forgiving Dr. Mengele
Eva Mozes Kor, who survived Josef Mengele's cruel twin experiments in the Auschwitz concentration camp, shocks other Holocaust survivors when she decides to forgive the perpetrators as a way of self-healing.
Forgiving Dr. Mengele 2006
Off and Running
Paramount+
Off and Running
With white Jewish lesbians for parents and two adopted brothers - one mixed-race and one Korean-Brooklyn teen Avery grew up in a unique and loving household. But when her curiosity about her African-American roots grows, she decides to contact her birth mother. This choice propels Avery into her own complicated exploration of race, identity, and family that threatens to distance her from the parents she's always known. She begins staying away from home, starts skipping school, and risks losing her shot at the college track career she had always dreamed of. But when Avery decides to pick up the pieces of her life and make sense of her identity, the results are inspiring. OFF AND RUNNING follows Avery to the brink of adulthood, exploring the strength of family bonds and the lengths people must go to become themselves.
Off and Running 2009
Blondie's New York and the Making of Parallel Lines
Paramount+
Blondie's New York and the Making of Parallel Lines
The story behind Blondie's album Parallel Lines, which sold 16 million copies and captured the spirit of 1970s New York at a time of poverty, crime and an exploding artistic life.
Blondie's New York and the Making of Parallel Lines 2014
Vito
Paramount+
Vito
In the aftermath of Stonewall, a newly politicized Vito Russo found his voice as a gay activist and critic of LGBTQ+ representation in the media. He went on to write "The Celluloid Closet", the first book to critique Hollywood's portrayals of gays on screen. During the AIDS crisis in the 1980s, Vito became a passionate advocate for justice via the newly formed ACT UP, before his death in 1990.
Vito 2011
Titanic's Final Mystery
Paramount+
Titanic's Final Mystery
The sinking of the RMS Titanic remains one of the most enduring and mysterious tragedies of the 20th century. For decades, investigators and amateurs alike have floated theories for why it occurred and who was to blame for the extraordinary loss of life, but no one answer could fully explain what happened. Until now. To mark the 100th anniversary of the infamous disaster, Smithsonian Channel will premiere Titanic's Final Mystery. The two-hour special investigates a century of theories and uncovers astonishing new forensic evidence that proves the most likely theory for the case.
Titanic's Final Mystery 2012
The Day Kennedy Died
Paramount+
The Day Kennedy Died
The doctor who tried to save him. The Secret Service agent who was seconds too late. The man wrongly accused of his murder. And the woman who unwittingly sheltered an assassin. The death of JFK has inspired thousands of books and debates over the last 50 years, but the stories of the people there on that day have gone largely untold...until now. Experience November 22, 1963 as it has never been presented before, in this minute-by-minute account of that day, narrated by Academy Award-winner Kevin Spacey, and brought to life through rarely seen footage and rarely heard testimonies.
The Day Kennedy Died 2013
Samurai Warrior Queens
Paramount+
Samurai Warrior Queens
The drama documentary tells the real life story of Samurai woman Takeko Nakano who in 1868 fights for her clans' independence in a final battle that marks the end of the Samurai era.
Samurai Warrior Queens 2015
How To Clone A Woolly Mammoth
Paramount+
How To Clone A Woolly Mammoth
The Siberian discovery of the best-preserved woolly mammoth on record has teams of experts working around the globe, and around the clock, on some of the most ambitious projects in science. In Russia, paleontologists are conducting a historic autopsy on the 40,000-year-old beast to find out how it lived, and how it died. Meanwhile labs in South Korea and at Harvard University are using the latest advances in DNA manipulation in hopes of cloning the furry giant and introducing it to the modern world.
How To Clone A Woolly Mammoth 2014
The Girl Who Talked to Dolphins
Paramount+
The Girl Who Talked to Dolphins
This is the story of the most extraordinary and audacious experiment in the history of animal science. It was carried out by visionary 1960s neuroscientist John Lilly, who had a remarkable ambition; to communicate with dolphins by teaching them to speak English. The experiment was seized upon by NASA, who were embarking on the first serious search for extra-terrestrial intelligence beyond the Earth. When they detected a signal from ET, they would need to understand how to communicate with a species other than humans. Here, without leaving the planet, was the opportunity to practice such inter-species communication. But what started with ‘60s idealism would spiral into the darkness of the decade, and end in tragedy, with rumours and scandal about drug abuse and a sexual relationship between Peter and Margaret. Fifty years on, this film tells the real story of just what happened at the Dolphin House.
The Girl Who Talked to Dolphins 2014
Jacaré
Paramount+
Jacaré
This documentary follows a group of adventurers into the Amazon jungle as they attempt to catch animals to be shipped to zoos in the USA.
Jacaré 1942
Bree Wayy: Promise Witness Remembrance
Paramount+
Bree Wayy: Promise Witness Remembrance
Dawn Porter’s uplifting short takes us behind the scenes of Amy Sherald’s Breonna Taylor portrait, bringing grace and dignity to the tragic loss of her life.
Bree Wayy: Promise Witness Remembrance 2021
Vaxxed Nation
Paramount+
Vaxxed Nation
Exploring how Israel was able to vaccinate 58% of its eligible population against COVID-19 in less than four months despite political strife and deep ideological divisions.
Vaxxed Nation 2021
Legend of Lead Belly
Paramount+
Legend of Lead Belly
Huddie Ledbetter was born into poverty, battled racism, and did time, but in spite of his early hardships, or perhaps because of them, he became one of the great musicians of the 20th century. We trace the life and career of Lead Belly, a man praised by critics and revered by artists, whose unique music crossed a host of genres and influenced countless industry legends, from The Beatles to Led Zeppelin to Nirvana and beyond.
Legend of Lead Belly 2013
Lions Unleashed
Paramount+
Lions Unleashed
In Rwanda, Africa, a new era is dawning after a brutal civil war ripped through the country, killing close to two million people and wiping out its most iconic wildlife: the regal lion. Now, 25 years later, the big cats are being reintroduced to the region to reclaim their throne. Follow this magnificent seven, a collection of five females and two males, as they travel thousands of miles from South Africa to Akagera National Park and attempt to figure out their new land, form relationships, and restore the pride of a nation.
Lions Unleashed 2017
Cruise Ship Down: Saving Concordia
Paramount+
Cruise Ship Down: Saving Concordia
Relive the infamous 2012 shipwreck of the cruise ship Costa Concordia and follow the engineering feat to raise her.
Cruise Ship Down: Saving Concordia 2014
The Penguin Counters
Paramount+
The Penguin Counters
Armed with low tech gear and high minded notions that penguin populations hold the key to human survival, Ron Naveen lays bare his 30 year love affair with the world's most pristine scientific laboratory: Antarctica. Famed as a place that wants you dead, this film follows a rag tag team of field biologists to some of the harshest corners of the planet, where they track the impact of climate change and ocean health by counting penguin populations. From the tip of Argentina to the ominous Deception Island, 'The Penguin Counters' is a treacherous, heart warming journey by a 21st century Dr. Doliitle who dreams of conserving this stunning but fragile region for future generations.
The Penguin Counters 2017
My Journey with a Polar Bear
Paramount+
My Journey with a Polar Bear
For four years, Asgeir Helgestad, a Norwegian wildlife filmmaker, has followed a beautiful polar bear mother named Frost in her home on Svalbard, a group of islands in the Arctic Ocean. Rising temperatures are causing dramatic changes in her ecosystem, leading to desperate struggles to find food for herself and her young cubs. Follow this tale of man and beast, hope and despair, and life and death in a land disappearing before their eyes.
My Journey with a Polar Bear 2019
Americans Underground: Secret City of WWI
Paramount+
Americans Underground: Secret City of WWI
An amazing discovery has been made beneath a farm field in Northern France: a vast underground city where World War I soldiers, on both sides of the conflict, took refuge a century ago. Even more remarkable, it is one of hundreds of buried havens set up close to a 45-mile stretch of the Western Front. Follow American explorer and photographer Jeff Gusky as he documents one of these long forgotten shelters, and witness his attempts to connect the names of the American soldiers etched into the limestone walls to their living descendants.
Americans Underground: Secret City of WWI 2017
The Search for the Ocean's Super Predator
Paramount+
The Search for the Ocean's Super Predator
There's a mysterious predator lurking in the depths of Australia's wild Southern Ocean, a beast that savagely devoured a great white shark in front of cinematographer David Riggs 11 years ago. Riggs's obsession to find the killer leads him to an aquatic battle zone that's remained hidden until now. Here, killer whales, colossal squid and great white sharks face off in an underwater coliseum where only the fiercest creatures of the marine world survive.
The Search for the Ocean's Super Predator 2014
Levitated Mass
Paramount+
Levitated Mass
The artist behind the sensation of a $10 million, 22-city tour, and the international media storm that ensued.
Levitated Mass 2013
Bird vs. Plane: Miracle on the Hudson
Paramount+
Bird vs. Plane: Miracle on the Hudson
On the 10th anniversary of US Airways Flight 1549's miraculous landing on the Hudson River, Smithsonian Channel revisits the event to explore the impact of bird strikes in aviation accidents. See first-person accounts from survivors, flight safety experts, and leading scientists in the fields of ornithology and wildlife management as Bird vs. Plane: Miracle on the Hudson highlights the groundbreaking work to prevent future occurrences.
Bird vs. Plane: Miracle on the Hudson 2019
The Lockerbie Bombing
Paramount+
The Lockerbie Bombing
On 21 December 1988 a Pan Am 747 jet exploded over the small Scottish town of Lockerbie. On the 25th anniversary of the worst terrorist attack on British soil, this is the story.
The Lockerbie Bombing 2013
Mysteries of the Rainforest
Paramount+
Mysteries of the Rainforest
The island of Barro Colorado in the Panama Canal is full of mysteries, some involving the wide diversity of wildlife, and some involving the island itself. Every year, hundreds of scientists and students come here to uncover the rainforest's secrets, but this year is very different. The island is running dry and no one knows why. Follow several research teams as they observe, experiment, and conduct research in this pristine habitat, and most pressing of all, try to find out what happened to the rain and when it will come again.
Mysteries of the Rainforest 2017
The Incredible Bionic Man
Paramount+
The Incredible Bionic Man
From bionic arms and legs to artificial organs, science is beginning to catch up with SF in the race to replace body parts with man-made alternatives. How to Build a Bionic Man follows psychologist Bertolt Meyer, who has a bionic hand himself, as he meets scientists working at the cutting edge of research to find out just how far this new technology can go. Now, thanks to research on advanced prosthetic arms and legs, as well as artificial eyes, hearts and lungs - and even hybrids between computer chips and living brains - scientists can finally replace body parts and even improve on human abilities. While Bertolt's search shows just how far science has come, it also asks questions about what it means to be human and where this technology could lead in the future.
The Incredible Bionic Man 2013
A Life Among Monkeys
Paramount+
A Life Among Monkeys
A Life among Monkeys’ tells the story of Smithsonian primatologist, Dr Wolfgang Dittus, through the unfolding narrative of the lives of the toque macaques monkeys, living among the spectacular ruins of an ancient temple in the heart of the Sri Lankan jungle.
A Life Among Monkeys 2019
The Mountain Lion and Me
Paramount+
The Mountain Lion and Me
On the outskirts of Yellowstone National Park is Paradise Valley, Montana, home to bears, wolves, elk, and an animal so secretive, few ever get to see it: the mountain lion. Wildlife filmmaker Casey Anderson became one of those lucky few after following the tracks of the elusive cat from his backyard into the world of a mother and her three cubs. It was the beginning of what would become a remarkable relationship that gave Casey a rare glimpse into the life of a mountain lion family and a new understanding of an animal we know so little about.
The Mountain Lion and Me 2018
Orchestra of Exiles
Paramount+
Orchestra of Exiles
The suspenseful chronicle of how the prodigious Polish violinist Bronislaw Huberman helped save Europe’s premiere Jewish musicians from obliteration by the Nazis during World War II. In three years, he transformed from a world renowned violinist to a humanitarian racing against time.
Orchestra of Exiles 2012
Islands of Creation
Paramount+
Islands of Creation
In the jungles of the Solomon Islands, a remote archipelago in the South Pacific, a biologist is attempting to do something Charles Darwin and Ernst Mayr never accomplished: catch evolution in the act of creating new species. Albert Uy is on the verge of an amazing discovery in the Solomon Islands, but there's a threat looming on the horizon. The islands' resources are being exploited, putting all local wildlife at risk. It's a race against time to gather the evidence necessary to prove the existence of a new species before it's lost forever.
Islands of Creation 2015
The Men Who Brought the Dawn
Paramount+
The Men Who Brought the Dawn
The Men Who Brought the Dawn 2007