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!
- Free
Movie
The 'stolen' insider emails that informed Nicky Hager's best-selling account of National's 2005 election campaign return in Alister Barry's (Someone Else's Country) new film - just in time to caution us against campaigning politicians in 2008. Addressing each other like schoolboy Machiavellis, party leader Don Brash and his advisors spelled out how they'd copy the big boys in Australia and the US in order to win the votes of people who'd never support the kind of policies such men are widely presumed to represent. The dividing and conquering began at Orewa.
The Hollow Men (2008 )
- Free
Movie
Albert Fish, the horrific true story of elderly cannibal, sadomasochist, and serial killer, who lured children to their deaths in Depression-era New York City. Distorting biblical tales, Albert Fish takes the themes of pain, torture, atonement and suffering literally as he preys on victims to torture and sacrifice.
Albert Fish: In Sin He Found Salvation (2007 )
- Free
Movie
Directed by Peter Bogdanovich and packed with rare concert footage and home movies, this documentary explores the history of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, including Petty's famous collaborations and notorious clashes with the record industry. Interviews with musical luminaries including Jackson Browne, George Harrison, Eddie Vedder, Roger McGuinn, Jeff Lynne, Dave Stewart and Petty himself shed some revelatory vision.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: Runnin' Down a Dream (2007 )
- Free
Movie
A documentary on the influential musician Scott Walker.
Scott Walker: 30 Century Man (2007 )
- Free
Movie
Documentary / Music/Musical - This rare documentary explores the early days of The Beatles with rare interviews, newsreels, press conferences and TV appearances. This celebration of Beatlemania presents a candid look at the Fab Four, detailing their thoughts of fame, the screaming fans and the media's fascination with their hair.
The Beatles Explosion (2007 )
- Free
Movie
The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song will honor either a songwriter, interpreter, or singer/songwriter whose career reflects lifetime achievement in promoting the genre of song as a vehicle of artistic expression and cultural understanding. Paul Simon, one of America's most respected songwriters and musicians, was the recipient of the first annual Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. Named in honor of the legendary George and Ira Gershwin, the award recognizes the profound and positive effect of popular music on the world's culture.
Paul Simon and Friends | The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song (2007 )
- Free
Movie
The greatest rapper to ever pick up a mic - with his velvety flow and unparalleled rhyme style he captivated everyone from Jay Z to Tupac. Now Notorious B.I.G. is revealed.
Notorious B.I.G.: Bigger Than Life (2007 )
- Free
Movie
Jonestown: Paradise Lost is a documentary on the final days of Jonestown, the Peoples Temple, and Jim Jones. From eyewitness and survivor accounts, it recreates the last week before the mass murder-suicide on November 18, 1978.
Jonestown: Paradise Lost (2007 )
- Free
Movie
Through interviews and guerilla footage of graffiti writers in action on five continents, the documentary tells the story of graffiti from its origins in prehistoric cave paintings thru its notorious explosion in New York City during the 70’s and 80’s, then follows the flames as they paint the globe.
Bomb It (2007 )
- Free
Movie
The amazing life story of Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman told through examples of the impact of his ideas here in the United States and throughout the world. For this program, the producers have been given exclusive access to the Friedmans and to their personal archive.
The Power of Choice (2007 )
- Free
Movie
Crump directed the feature-length documentary film Black White + Gray: A Portrait of Sam Wagstaff + Robert Mapplethorpe, which premiered in North America at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival and in Europe at Art Basel. It explores the influence curator Sam Wagstaff, photographer Robert Mapplethorpe and musician/poet Patti Smith had on the 1970s art scene in New York City.
Black White + Gray: A Portrait of Sam Wagstaff and Robert Mapplethorpe (2007 )
- Free
Movie
An account of the professional and personal life of renowned American photographer Annie Leibovitz, from her early artistic endeavors to her international success as a photojournalist, war reporter, and pop culture chronicler.
Annie Leibovitz: Life Through a Lens (2007 )
- Free
Movie
Chronicles the last great American showman, filmmaker William Castle, a master of ballyhoo who became a brand name in movie horror with his outrageous audience participation gimmicks.
Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story (2007 )
- Free
Movie
A luxury cruise boat motors up the Yangtze - navigating the mythic waterway known in China simply as "The River." The Yangtze is about to be transformed by the biggest hydroelectric dam in history. At the river's edge - a young woman says goodbye to her family as the floodwaters rise towards their small homestead. The Three Gorges Dam - contested symbol of the Chinese economic miracle - provides the epic backdrop for Up the Yangtze, a dramatic feature documentary on life inside modern China.
Up the Yangtze (2007 )
- Free
Movie
On 15 May, 2006, double amputee Mark Inglis reached the summit of Mt Everest. It was a remarkable achievement and Inglis was feted by press and public alike. But only a few days later he was plunged into a storm of controversy when it was learned that he had passed an incapacitated climber, Englishman David Sharp, leaving him to a lonely end high in the Death Zone.
Dying for Everest (2007 )
- Free
Movie
Uncovers the shocking truth, history and haunting of Ghost Children, Poltergeist Kids, Haunted Orphanages and Crybaby Bridges through untold stories of unmarked graves.
Children of the Grave (2007 )
- Free
Movie
A film about the cultural evolution of the Sydney beach side suburb of Maroubra and the social struggle faced by it's youth - the notorious surf gang known as the Bra Boys.
Bra Boys (2007 )
- Free
Movie
The myth of Joan of Arc has fascinated people the world over. In the collective memory, she is the young shepherd girl who died at the stake having saved France. But 15th century chronicles report that following events in Rouen, certain people refused to believe she was dead and that another woman was burned instead.
The Real Joan of Arc (2007 )
- Free
Movie
Archival material from the original NASA film footage – much of it seen for the first time – plus interviews with the surviving astronauts, including Jim Lovell, Dave Scott, John Young, Gene Cernan, Mike Collins, Buzz Aldrin, Alan Bean, Edgar Mitchell, Charlie Duke and Harrison Schmitt.
In the Shadow of the Moon (2007 )
- Free
Movie
Follows Hollywood filmmakers, The Booth Brothers as they uncover the shocking truth within the haunted halls of The Scariest Place On Earth, Waverly Hills Sanatorium, a monster of a building where it is said over 63,000 people died.
Spooked: The Ghosts of Waverly Hills Sanatorium (2006 )
- Free
Movie
Jesus Camp is a Christian summer camp where children hone their "prophetic gifts" and are schooled in how to "take back America for Christ". The film is a first-ever look into an intense training ground that recruits born-again Christian children to become an active part of America's political future.
Jesus Camp (2006 )
- Free
Movie
Interviews with leading authors, philosophers and scientists, with an in-depth discussion of the Law of Attraction. The audience is shown how they can learn and use 'The Secret' in their everyday lives.
The Secret (2006 )
- Free
Movie
Legendary all-stars of cinema bring to life the evolution of science-fiction and special effects films from the wild and funny days of B-movies to blockbusters that have captured the world's imagination. This is the story of the Sci-Fi Boys, who started out as kids making amateur movies inspired by Forrest J Ackerman's FAMOUS MONSTERS magazine and grew up to take Hollywood by storm, inventing the art and technology for filming anything the mind can dream.
The Sci-Fi Boys (2006 )
- Free
Movie
The amazing story of NASA's Teacher in Space, Christa McAuliffe - and the impact her death had on her family and the nation - watching in horror as space shuttle Challenger exploded on January 28th 1986. Narrated by Susan Sarandon, music by Carly Simon.
Christa McAuliffe: Reach for the Stars (2006 )
- Free
Movie
Basil Gelpke and Ray McCormack's nonfiction treatise Crude Awakening joins Maxed Out, An Inconvenient Truth, and other recent documentaries devoted to unearthing and exploring forces that are untying the connective threads of contemporary society. The subject at hand is crude oil - specifically, the depletion of petroleum from the Earth, in an era when consumption threatens to exceed supply.
A Crude Awakening (2006 )
- Free
Movie
ROCKY MARCIANO: A LIFE STORY is the most definitive, complete, comprehensive and entertaining film ever done about this legendary champion and American hero. The film is narrated by Oscar-Nominee ROBERT LOGGIA. Featured are interviews with Rocky's brothers and sisters, as well as his closest friends. Guest stars include legendary boxing trainer ANGELO DUNDEE, Hall of Famer and Marciano fan TOMMY LASORDA, award-winning author GAY TALESE and many more. Also featured is RUSSELL SULLIVAN author of the critically-acclaimed bio on Rocky: ROCKY MARCIANO: THE ROCK OF HIS TIMES. ROCKY MARCIANO: A LIFE STORY is a National PBS special, and is also broadcast on regional sports networks throughout the country. This is the Special Edition Directors Cut which includes additional footage not seen in its Television Broadcast.
Rocky Marciano: A Life Story (2006 )
- Free
Movie
This no holds documentary chronicles the days before, during and after Hurricane Katrina. Told from the viewpoint of several families stuck in New Orleans, this moving and unflinching story says so much by saying so little. Most of this footage has never been seen by the public, and there is absolutely no stock footage used in this film.
Refuge of Last Resort (2006 )
- Free
Movie
An in-depth look at the world of coffee and global trade.
Black Gold (2006 )
- Free
Movie
Jamie Johnson takes the exploration of wealth that he began in Born Rich one step further. The One Percent, refers to the tiny percentage of Americans who control nearly half the wealth of the U.S. Johnson's thesis is that this wealth in the hands of so few people is a danger to our very way of life.
The One Percent (2006 )
- Free
Movie
Halfway between a sports documentary and an conceptual art installation, "Zidane" consists in a full-length soccer game (Real Madrid vs. Villareal, April 23, 2005) entirely filmed from the perspective of soccer superstar Zinedine Zidane.
Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait (2006 )
- Free
Movie
Private Journeys / Public Signposts turns the camera on photographer Ans Westra. Dutch emigree Westra has captured iconic images of New Zealanders since the late 1950s, expressively observing Aotearoa societal changes, particularly Māori urban drift. This film explores her remarkable life and work, and includes commentary from family and friends, fellow photographers, and colleagues, as well as discussion of the Washday at the Pa controversy. Luit Bieringa, curator of Westra's retrospective photo exhibition, directed the film, his first. - NZOnscreen
Ans Westra - Private Journeys / Public Signposts (2006 )
- Free
TV Show
Bear strands himself in popular wilderness destinations where tourists often find themselves lost or in danger.
Man vs. Wild (2006 )
