Often times the most unbelievable stories are all around us. The best documentaries can be just as thrilling as fiction, and all the more fascinating for their truth.
National Geographic has produced some of the most visionary and ambitious documentary films and series over the years, covering a wide range of topics with one thing in common: understanding, exploring, and questioning the world we live in. In 2017, the network launched its Documentary Films banner, expanding its feature-length film production and giving us gripping movies like the Academy Award-winning Free Solo, described as one of the greatest documentaries ever made.
Fellow non-fiction nerds, this one is for you!
1. Free Solo (2018)
Free Solo follows rock climber Alex Honnold as he attempts to cross off a particularly insane item from his bucket list — free solo climbing the El Capitan rock wall in Yosemite National Park, meaning no ropes or other protective equipment. Directors Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin do a fantastic job of capturing Honnold’s unprecedented endeavor, creating some of the 21st century’s most striking cinematic images.
It’s clear that the story they were working with provided rare dramatic potential, but it takes non-fiction filmmakers as skilled as the couple to retain the very human core present in Free Solo when faced with the sheer magnitude of its context. A must-watch for documentary enthusiasts.
2. The Rescue (2021)
From the makers of Free Solo, comes a similarly impossible story with an even bigger emotional impact. The 2021 documentary film The Rescue documents in fine detail the rescue operation of the twelve teenage football players and their 25-year-old coach from the flooded Tham Luang cave in Thailand’s Chiang Rai province.
While National Geographic was only able to obtain the rights to the divers’ story, leaving the testimony of the thirteen rescuees to Netflix and its The Trapped 13 documentary, The Rescue is still every bit a complete film, much to the merit of directors Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chi. The suspense and improbability of every feat achieved throughout those 18 days in the monsoon season of 2018 will have this docu stuck in your head for weeks after you watch it.
3. Fire of Love (2022)
This entry is a bit of a cheat, since National Geographic was only in charge of distributing this film and not producing it, but Fire of Love needed to be on this list. Husband and wife Maurice and Katia Krafft spent their lives studying, filming, and photographing volcanoes, so fascinated by the pulsating formations that they would frequently risk their lives to get as close as possible. And they did it all together.
This 2022 film was directed by Sara Dosa and nominated for the Academy Award. It’s mostly made up of the Kraffts’ fascinating archive footage which, through their shared love of volcanoes, inadvertently captured their love for each other.
4. One Strange Rock (2018)
There’s nothing quite as humbling as a detached view of this enormous planet we’re such a minute part of. That is the beauty of the 2018 National Geographic docu-series One Strange Rock, which explores the exceptional, mostly ungraspable conditions that have led us to the life we know today, through the perspective of eight astronauts who have been privileged enough to see the Earth from space.
The 10-part docu-series is hosted by Will Smith, and co-produced by Black Swan director Darren Aronofsky. One Strange Rock‘s overview of Earth’s history has become a fan-favorite from Nat Geo’s large catalog.
5. Europe From Above (2019-)
If you’re in the mood for something a little more extensive or that will last you for a good few weeks, then Europe from Above might be just what you’re looking for. This crowd-pleaser is already on its sixth season and showing no signs of slowing down.
Each episode is dedicated to a different European region, quite literally filmed from above with magnificent cinematography as the narrator delves into whatever extraordinary occurrences from past and present have defined that particular place’s history. It’s soul-feeding television without the jumps some other more intense entries in this list will inflict upon your cardiovascular and nervous systems.
6. Playing with Sharks (2021)
Steven Spielberg’s Jaws is considered partly responsible for the fearsome, almost mythical reputation sharks have acquired through the years, and some of the most terrifying real shark footage in that film was shot by the woman at the center of Disney Plus and National Geographic’s Playing with Sharks, Valerie Taylor, who spent the rest of her life trying to undo the damage Spielberg’s movie had caused.
This reinvigorating documentary trails the life of the pioneering Australian diver, filmmaker, and conservationist while trying to demystify some of the common misconceptions about one of the most feared animals on planet Earth. A remarkable woman and a remarkable animal paired together to make a remarkable film.
7. The Mission (2023)
Divisive but necessary, this 2023 documentary film about John Allen Chau is a gripping look at religion, society, and the way the two intercept and affect one another. Chau was a missionary on a quest to introduce the legally protected Sentinelese Indigenous people to the Christian faith, ultimately getting killed in the process.
Although the film has been criticized by religious folk who feel the subject was borderline ridiculed by filmmakers Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss, most viewers agree that The Mission provides an earnest attempt at objectivity (as impossible as that is to achieve), with great empathy for all parties involved. It’s yet another incredible story of one person used to explore much deeper and layered themes.
8. Science Fair (2019)
Science Fair is another light watch to make you simultaneously feel hopeful for the future, and a bit funky about your own life. The Cristina Costantini and Darren Foster-directed documentary follows nine gifted teenagers from around the world competing in the prestigious Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. They might all be brilliant, but they’re teens nonetheless, delivering a combination that makes for a delightful 91 minutes of documentary filmmaking.
9. Sea of Shadows (2019)
Gillnets, used to catch totoaba fish in order to harvest their swim bladder to make culinary delicacies, are killing vaquita whales in the Gulf of California. There are plenty of documentaries about endangered species out there but the illegal, smuggling nature of this particular threat (the totoaba swim bladder is often called the “cocaine of the sea”) turns Sea of Shadows into a nail-biting action film as marine conservation activism organization Sea Shepherd squares up against Mexican cartels and the Chinese mafia in an attempt to destroy as many of their murderous gillnets as they can.
Directed by Richard Ladkani, Sea of Shadows is an eye-opening, frankly revolting piece of filmmaking.
10. Before the Flood (2016)
While Before the Flood‘s point is far from being the fact that it stars Leonard DiCaprio, the Hollywood star’s involvement and seemingly genuine interest and dedication to the climate change cause gave this National Geographic documentary a platform many others would love to have. It’s a great thing, then, that the film earns every bit of the attention that its mega-famous celebrity host earned it with hard-hitting, well-crafted storytelling and filmmaking.
The 2016 documentary, directed by Succession actor Fisher Stevens and featuring an all-star score by Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Mogwai, and Gustavo Santaolalla, is a thorough, nearly comprehensive look at the impacts of global warming on our precarious environment. It should be mandatory viewing.
Published: Jul 19, 2024 02:55 pm