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.

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.

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.

Filmmaker Chris Bell's (Bigger Stronger Faster) hard-hitting and thought-provoking expose of Big Pharma, its marketing practices and their impact on the staggering level of addiction to prescription drugs in North America.

"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.

The Tylenol murders are among the nation’s most notorious unsolved crimes. This gripping P+ Original docuseries transports to 1982 amid the chaos and fear, and into the mind of the prime suspect. The killer laced several pills with cyanide across Chicago and watched from afar as seven people died, including a child. Decades later, grieving families carry the horror of this heinous crime. Can cutting-edge DNA technology of today finally nail down the killer?

The ubiquitous pink ribbons of breast cancer philanthropy--and the hand-in-hand marketing of brands and products associated with that philanthropy--permeates our culture, providing assurance that we are engaged in a successful battle against this insidious disease. But the campaign obscures the reality and facts of breast cancer: more and more women are diagnosed with breast cancer every year, and they face the same treatment options they did 40 years ago. Yet women also are the most influential market group, buying 80 percent of consumer products and making most major household purchasing decisions. So then who really benefits from the pink ribbon campaigns - the cause or the company? And what if the very companies and products that profit from their association have actually contributed to the problem?

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

In the tradition of fly-on-the-wall documentaries, the film gains unprecedented access to the New York Times newsroom and the inner workings of the Media Desk. With the Internet surpassing print as the public's main news source and newspapers all over the country going bankrupt, Page One chronicles the transformation of the media industry at its time of greatest turmoil.

Even though performer Charlyne Yi doesn't believe in love, she bravely embarks on a quest to discover its true nature - a journey that takes on surprising urgency when she meets unlikely fellow traveler, actor Michael Cera.

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.

At Chengdu Panda Base in China, scientists are dedicated to protecting the species by breeding adult Giant Pandas in order to introduce cubs into the wild. This film follows one such researcher, whose passion leads her to initiate a new technique inspired by a black bear program in rural New Hampshire. What starts as a cross-culture collaboration becomes a life-changing journey for an American biologist who crosses an ocean to join her; a scientist from Inner Mongolia; and a very curious female cub named Qian Qian, born in captivity.

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.

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

When Robert Mugabe was removed from power, Zimbabwe military leaders promised they would not seize control for themselves but would ensure democracy in a national election. Against a backdrop of economic crisis, food shortages, and political violence, the stakes could not be higher.Working to defeat the ruling party, which has controlled Zimbabwe since independence, is the young and charismatic Nelson Chamisa, who draws comparisons to a young Nelson Mandela in expressing the country’s utmost desire to be “led” and not “ruled”. After decades of a corrupt group clinging to power using any tool available—legal or not—can a free, fair, and transparent election be truly possible? As the follow-up to her widely acclaimed Democrats, Camilla Nielsson brings viewers into the heart of the struggle for power with stunningly close access and unhesitating courage, in a nation closely monitored by the entire world. President is a riveting and epic reminder that, while individuals and their specific ideals may differ, the fight for democracy is never-ending and of profound significance everywhere.

The atomic bomb and meltdowns like Fukushima have made nuclear power synonymous with global disaster. But what if we’ve got nuclear power wrong? The documentary explores whether the one technology we fear most could save our planet from a climate catastrophe, while providing the energy needed to lift billions of people in the developing world out of poverty.

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.