10 Best Documentaries on Netflix
Truth is stranger than fiction. Add these great documentaries to your queue today!
The story of a music legend, a steroid scandal, an American factory under Chinese ownership, and a daring climb up a sheer rock wall are just some of the great true stories Netflix is bringing your way.
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David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet
September 28, 2020The story of life on our planet by the man who has seen more of the natural world than any other. In more than 90 years, Attenborough has visited every continent on the globe, exploring the wild places of our planet and documenting the living world in all its variety and wonder. Addressing the biggest challenges facing life on our planet, the film offers a powerful message of hope for future generations.
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Icarus
June 3, 2017While investigating the furtive world of illegal doping in sports, director Bryan Fogel connects with renegade Russian scientist Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov—a pillar of his country’s “anti-doping” program. Over dozens of Skype calls, urine samples, and badly administered hormone injections, Fogel and Rodchenkov grow closer despite shocking allegations that place Rodchenkov at the center of Russia’s state-sponsored Olympic doping program.
“Icarus” won the Academy Award for Best Documentary in 2017.
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Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution
March 25, 2020Down the road from Woodstock in the early 1970s, a revolution blossomed in a ramshackle summer camp for disabled teenagers, transforming their young lives and igniting a landmark movement.
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Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond
September 5, 2017Offbeat documentarian Chris Smith provides a behind-the-scenes look at how Jim Carrey adopted the persona of idiosyncratic comedian Andy Kaufman on the set of Man on the Moon.
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Quincy
September 21, 2018An intimate look into the life of icon Quincy Jones. A unique force in music and popular culture for 70 years, Jones has transcended racial and cultural boundaries; his story is inextricably woven into the fabric of America.
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American Factory
August 21, 2019In post-industrial Ohio, a Chinese billionaire opens a new factory in the husk of an abandoned General Motors plant, hiring two thousand blue-collar Americans. Early days of hope and optimism give way to setbacks as high-tech China clashes with working-class America.
“American Factory” won the Academy Award for Best Documentary in 2019.
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Fyre
January 18, 2019He promised supermodels and yachts, but delivered tents and cheese sandwiches. How one man engineered a music festival disaster.
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13th
October 7, 2016An in-depth look at the prison system in the United States and how it reveals the nation’s history of racial inequality.
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My Octopus Teacher
September 4, 2020After years of swimming every day in the freezing ocean at the tip of Africa, Craig Foster meets an unlikely teacher: a young octopus who displays remarkable curiosity. Visiting her den and tracking her movements for months on end he eventually wins the animal’s trust and they develop a never-before-seen bond between human and wild animal.
“My Octopus Teacher” won the Academy Award for Best Documentary in 2021.
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Team Foxcatcher
April 18, 2016With never-before seen home video, this film recounts the paranoid downward spiral of John E. du Pont and the murder of Olympic wrestler Dave Schultz.
