Browse documentary movie and series in New Zealand
Dive into the world of documentary movie and series in New Zealand. From timeless classics to trending hits, explore an exciting collection of titles that define the documentary genre.
Explore critically acclaimed blockbusters, hidden gems, and trending new releases that showcase the diversity and creativity of documentary storytelling. Use our filters to find top-rated titles, recent hits, or beloved classics tailored to your taste.
With Popcorn Time, uncover your next favorite movie or TV show and enjoy the best of documentary entertainment. Start browsing now and bring documentary into your watchlist today!
Movie
Follow four young women as they prepare to rush at the University of Alabama in 2022. Against the viral backdrop of #BamaRush on TikTok, and the long-held tradition of sorority recruitment at the University of Alabama, the film explores the emotional complexities and high-stakes of belonging in this crucial window into womanhood.
Bama Rush (2023 )
Movie
Rob Reiner profiles Albert Brooks, comedic legend, acclaimed filmmaker, talented character actor and a lifelong friend, who Reiner first met in their high school drama club.
Albert Brooks: Defending My Life (2023 )
Movie
A poetic meditation on nature, mortality, and the passage of time in her exploration of our symbiotic nexus with trees. Weaving together several stories of arboreal adoration, unfolds as a deeply human tale of our connection to the natural world and to one another.
Trees and Other Entanglements (2023 )
Movie
When Danish filmmaker Lea Glob first portrayed Apolonia Sokol in 2009, she appeared to be leading a storybook life. The talented Apolonia was born in an underground theater in Paris and grew up in an artists’ community—the ultimate bohemian existence. In her 20s, she studied at the Beaux-Arts de Paris, one of the most prestigious art academies in Europe. Over the years, Lea Glob kept returning to film the charismatic Apolonia and a special bond developed between the two young women.
Apolonia, Apolonia (2023 )
Movie
The history of New York’s Meatpacking District, told from the perspective of transgender sex workers who lived and worked there. Filmmaker Kristen Lovell, who walked “The Stroll” for a decade, reunites her community to recount the violence, policing, homelessness, and gentrification they overcame to build a movement for transgender rights.
The Stroll (2023 )
Movie
After a nationally televised high school football game between top-ranked IMG Academy and unknown Bishop Sycamore ended with an IMG blowout win, it's discovered that Bishop Sycamore isn't at all what it seems.
BS High (2023 )
Movie
W. Kamau Bell tackles the joys and challenges of growing up mixed-race through conversations with kids and families in the San Francisco Bay Area, including his own.
1000% Me: Growing Up Mixed (2023 )
Movie
With his signature circular glasses and mustache, Michael Chow is an exuberant force at the crossroads between eccentricity and sophistication. The famed restaurateur defined “The Moment” with the openings of Mr. Chow, the bustling upscale Chinese eateries that attracted the glitterati of Swingin’ London, 70s Hollywood, and post Studio 54 New York.
aka Mr. Chow (2023 )
Movie
The world of kid karting is fascinating and at the same time raises many questions. This little-known extreme sport is governed by the same rules as competitions for adults – what matters is rivalry, a place on the podium and regular training. Not all children are ready for such a sacrifice.
Early Apex (2023 )
Movie
Driving around the streets of Cuba, Lav Diaz – the famous Filipino director – and Gustavo Flecha - a talkative Cuban taxi driver – find themselves discussing about politics, migration, social conditions and love; touching many personal stories and experiences, they create an historical affresco of the conditions of their own countries.
Taxibol (2023 )
TV Show
The 20th century has seen some of the largest and most devastating naval battles in history. Warships symbolised a nation's power on the world stage, watched by an awe inspired public and press. However, many of these ocean titans were to become victims of the conflict.
Sunken Warships: Secrets from the Deep (2023 )
Movie
Nora built a shelter in a rural village, where she lives with 500 fruit bats, a gang of turkeys all named Hertzel, a mayna bird named Itzik and her beloved dog Koper. Isolated from society, she is helping the bats and every other animal that crosses her path. She soon discovers that there is no shelter far enough or secluded enough to protect them from the pain, loss and love that life brings.
נורה (2023 )
Movie
On July 13, 2002, Fatboy Slim, real name Norman Cook, performed the second of his free open-air concerts, The Big Beach Boutique II, in front of a record-breaking crowd, making history – both good and bad. Organisers and police were expecting forty thousand people but more than a quarter of a million turned up on Brighton Beach for the free event, changing the way UK events were run forever. Now, 20 years on, Norman, and those who were on the front line of this seismic historical moment talk us through the process and the obstacles; The immense difficulties and struggles that the local police faced with such an unexpected amount of descendants on the city, the councillors and residents that opposed the controversial event and many of those who participated in what Norman has described as a “Woodstock moment”.
Right Here Right Now (2023 )
Movie
In 2003, British glam rockers The Darkness took the world by storm with their smash hit single "I Believe in a Thing Called Love". Then at the height of their fame, the band split up and fell into obscurity. 20 years on from their platinum-selling debut, Justin Hawkins, his brother Dan, eccentric bassist Frankie Poullain, and new drummer Rufus Taylor tell their story.
Welcome to the Darkness (2023 )
Movie
With a colossal cigar dangling from the corner of his mouth, a libation in hand, and an unmistakable disdain for his political adversaries, Roger Stone emerges as the quintessential ally to Donald Trump. Revered as a right-wing powerbroker, Stone's influential journey traces back to the era of President Nixon, a legacy inked onto his own back. In a film marked by unparalleled access, Christoffer Guldbrandsen captures the tumultuous final months of the Trump administration, centering on the heart of power and climaxing with the unprecedented storming of Congress. Guldbrandsen finds himself amidst the chaos as Trump supporters converge on Washington, witnessing firsthand Roger Stone's strategic retreat from his hotel suite as the 'Stop the Steal' campaign spirals into a riot. A Storm Foretold – Roger Stone and Die unfolds the narrative of a once-established political party metamorphosing into an anti-democratic movement, where impassioned rhetoric evolves into tangible violence.
A Storm Foretold (2023 )
Movie
A portrait of environmental folk hero & gay icon Bob Brown, who took green politics to the center of power. His story is interwoven with the life cycle of the ancient trees he's fighting for.
The Giants (2023 )
Movie
Brenda’s first memories were of growing up in a loving white foster family, before she was suddenly taken away and returned to her Aboriginal family. Decades later, she feels disconnected from both halves of her life, so she goes searching for the foster family with whom she had lost contact. Along the way she uncovers long-buried secrets, government lies, and the possibility of deeper connections to family and culture.
The Last Daughter (2023 )
Movie
The story of how Aurora Mardiganian (1901-94), a survivor of the Armenian genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire (1915-17), became a Hollywood silent film star.
Aurora's Sunrise (2023 )
Movie
Award-winning film director and actress Rachel Ward is the last person you’d expect to join a farming revolution. Following the birth of her first grandchild, Rachel is confronted head-on by the impact of our climate crisis as Australia’s Black Summer fires descend on her farm. Besieged by drought and ecological despair, Rachel finds hope in the soil beneath her feet and embarks on a journey of discovery to regenerate the land on her farm, and herself.
Rachel's Farm (2023 )
Movie
At a shipyard on Germany's North Sea, a marvel of modern engineering is taking shape; hundreds of construction workers, engineers, architects, designers, animators, cast and crew are transforming 144,000 tons of steel.
Making The Disney Wish: Disney’s Newest Cruise Ship (2023 )
Movie
This documentary provides an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the "Beauty and the Beast" Musical, which is currently showing at the Capitol Theater in Sydney, Australia, and it will soon be moving to Brisbane in February 2024 and Melbourne in June 2024.
Be Our Guest! Behind the Scenes of Beauty and the Beast: The Musical (2023 )
Movie
Directed by Mark Cousins, My Name is Alfred Hitchcock re-examines the vast filmography and legacy of one of the 20th century’s greatest filmmakers, Alfred Hitchcock, through a new lens: through the auteur’s own voice.
My Name Is Alfred Hitchcock (2023 )
Movie
Flyways follows endangered migratory shorebirds as they travel their ancient migration routes around the planet. Using nanotechnology and global tracking from the International Space Station, the project will uncover the paths of the world’s greatest, feathered endurance athletes and shine a light on the scientists and international lawyers who are collaborating to save them.
Flyways (2023 )
Movie
Bear Grylls travels to Ukraine to meet and interview the Ukrainian president. Along the way, he witnesses the consequences of conflict for the people of Ukraine and learns more about the experiences of ordinary Ukrainians.
War Zone: Bear Grylls Meets President Zelenskyy (2023 )
Movie
Our world is at a crossroads of myriad crises, but all too often the solutions to the problems we face – especially climate change – are put in the ‘too hard basket. But, as director Celeste Geer discovers, it doesn’t have to be this way. Following Then the Wind Changed, her Walkley Award-winning film about rebuilding after the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires, she sought answers to why, after decades of warnings, we continue to shirk the necessary measures that will prevent all-out climate catastrophe.
The Endangered Generation? (2023 )
Movie
A generation portrait in which we follow the lives of five international economy students from their studies at the University of St. Gallen over the course of five years: during their academic education, in their private lives and the first years of their professional careers.
The Driven Ones (2023 )
Movie
A rare foray into the art world of Hong Kong since the city’s return to China, exploring the aftermath of an extended lockdown and a failed revolution, under the strictures of a rigorous security law. This documentary delves into the opening of the M+ Museum, designed by Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron and enriched by the donation of Chinese contemporary art pieces from Swiss collector Uli Sigg. It examines the museum’s and the art scene’s contributions to the debate on Hong Kong’s future, unveiling a new generation of artists and offering an unprecedented perspective on this Asian metropolis in search of its identity.
In the Mood for Art (2023 )
Movie
As the nation plunges into pandemic, Gwen Isaac’s observational documentary delves into the trenches with Siouxsie Wiles, the fuchsia-haired microbiologist who emerged as a national hero and a satanic witch in the minds of a divided New Zealand.
Ms. Information (2023 )
Lift The Ice (2023 )
TV Show
A heart-warming series about the amazing staff and volunteers who each and every day, change and save the lives of animals in their care at Australian animal charities and emergency hospitals, all for the love of pets.
For the Love of Pets (2023 )
Movie
The film follows renowned skipper Matt Knight, who teams up with world-class big wave surfer Andrew Cotton to adventure into the most dangerous waters of the Atlantic. Their journey is inspired by a passage in a 19th century treasure hunter’s journal. Joined by family and friends, the pair are faced with life-threatening challenges on their quest.
Savage Waters (2023 )
Movie
In his first HBO comedy special, John Early brings his unique blend of cutting commentary, pop star swagger, and all-around loveable hilarity to Roulette Intermedium in Brooklyn, New York. In the style of a gritty 70s rockumentary, Early performs stand-up and explosive song covers from Britney to Neil Young, intercut with Spinal Tap-esque backstage sketches.
John Early: Now More Than Ever (2023 )
