Browse Movies : Documentary : P

Driven to contain threats to social order, American policing has exploded in scope and scale over hundreds of years. Now, it can be described by one word: power.

Through rare interviews with victims’ family members, eyewitnesses and experts on the criminal mind, this documentary reveals new insights into how Joran van der Sloot’s lifelong pattern of violence and pathological lying leads to the deaths of two young women. Few killers have ever murdered again after they became famous for another killing, but on the fifth anniversary of Natalee Holloway’s disappearance, Joran murders 21-year-old Stephany Flores in Peru. Hauntingly, his trip there is financed by money he extorted from Natalee Holloway’s mother, Beth, after falsely promising to reveal where Natalee’s body was for a price. In 2023 — 18 years after Natalee’s disappearance — Beth Holloway finally gets her day in court with Joran, who admits for the first time that he murdered her daughter. His admission brings some long-sought comfort to Natalee’s family, but Joran’s history of deceit and manipulation leads some to question the details in his latest story.

The life of a chimpanzee who was raised like a human child as part of a pioneering 1970s experiment. The film combines interviews with participants in the experiment and archival footage to depict the chimpanzee's experience.

A galvanizing look at actor, model and icon Brooke Shields as she transforms from a sexualized young girl to a woman discovering her power. Holding a mirror up to a society that objectifies women and girls, her story shows the perils and triumphs of gaining agency in a hostile world.

Pasang: In the Shadow of Everest brings to life the untold and inspiring story of Pasang Lhamu Sherpa, the first Nepali woman to summit Mt. Everest who, in her quest, awakened her country to the entrenched inequalities confronted and endured by women and in Nepal.

A personal video diary charting model Sara Ziff’s rise from fresh face to one that adorns billboards. The film considers the demand for adolescent models, the pressure to stay thin, the abuse of drugs and the persistence of sexual harassment.

Reveals the far-flung reaches of our plastic problem with interviews with the world’s foremost experts in biology, pharmacology, and genetics shed light on the perils of plastic to our environment and expose the truth of how plastic affects our bodies and the health of future generations.

Through revealing interviews with experts and victims' families, this gripping documentary examines the problem of deadly foodborne illness in the US.

Pope Francis - A Man of His Word is intended to be a personal journey with Pope Francis, rather than a biographical documentary about him. The pope’s ideas and his message are central to this documentary, which sets out to present his work of reform and his answers to today’s global questions.

Over the past century more than 45,000 large dams have redefined river corridors around the globe with disastrous results. Descending the Baker River from the Northern Patagonia Ice Cap to its terminus at the Pacific Ocean, Patagonia Rising investigates a controversial plan to build five large hydroelectric dams in Chile's famed wilderness. Stopping off at Patagonia's most remote frontier ranches, this engaging story brings voice to the iconic South American cowboys, Gauchos, caught in the crossfire of future energy demands. Chile could become a leader in sustainable energy development, or it could continue down the road to squandering the pure watersheds of Patagonia.

Margaret Atwood's Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth is the basis for this documentary on "debt" in its various forms--societal, personal, environmental, spiritual, criminal, and of course, economic. Filmmaker Jennifer Baichwal (Manufactured Landscapes) strikingly interweaves these (sometimes surprising) debtor/creditor relationships: two families in a years-long Albanian blood feud; the BP oil spill vs. the Earth; mistreated Florida tomato farm workers and their bosses; imprisoned media mogul Conrad Black and the U.S. justice system.

Pearl Jam Twenty chronicles the years leading up to the band's formation, the chaos that ensued soon-after their rise to megastardom, their step back from center stage, and the creation of a trusted circle that would surround them-giving way to a work culture that would sustain them.

"Dance, dance, or we are lost." Pina Bausch's final words summarize her life and provide the inspiration for director Wim Wenders' (WINGS tribute to the legendary choreographer. The documentary features interviews with and performances by Bausch's beloved original company members, and offers an indelible image of an artist who went the full distance in her uncommonly rich creative life.

Morgan Spurlock examines the world of advertising by making a film financed entirely by product placement.

In this captivating nature documentary series, five predator species around the world work to survive in their environments. Experience life through the eyes of cheetahs, polar bears, wild dogs and more of the planet's most powerful hunters as they fight to maintain their dominance. Academy Award nominee, Tom Hardy, narrates this heart-pounding nature documentary series.

A documentary about a star-crossed singer-songwriter and her crafty secret admirer.

A documentary about Luciano Pavarotti featuring memorable performances, including classic songs from Pavarotti’s Three Tenors days and previously unseen footage.

A coming-of-age story about an Adélie penguin named Steve who joins millions of fellow males in the icy Antarctic spring on a quest to build a suitable nest, find a life partner and start a family. None of it comes easily for him, especially considering he's targeted by everything from killer whales to leopard seals, who unapologetically threaten his happily ever after.

Peter Dunning is the proud proprietor of Mile Hill Farm, which sits on 187 idyllic acres in Vermont. The land’s 38 harvests have seen the arrivals and departures of three wives and four children, leaving Peter with only animals and memories. The arrival of a film crew causes him to confront his history and his legacy, passing along hard-won agricultural wisdom even as he doubts the meaning of the work he is fated to perform until death. Haunted by alcoholism and regret, Peter veers between elation and despair, often suggesting to the filmmakers his own suicide as a narrative device. He is a tragedian on a stage it has taken him most of his life to build, and which now threatens to collapse from under him. At once a postcard from paradise and a cautionary tale for our times, Peter and The Farm sifts through the potential energy of a human life, that which is used and that which is squandered.