Knowing I did not need to get up super early to go to work in the mornings during COVID-19 meant that I gracefully abused my evening times to watch things I ordinarily would not have been able to to justify disrupting sleep for!
This list is by no means exhaustive - in fact there are so many more, but these are 10 documentaries that I found truly powerful during locakdown; usually breathtaking in imagery, mind blowing in facts and by the end of it, a naturally felt pull for action!
I was on the verge of tears for most of this beautiful film that depicts one of the earliest casualties of climate change in nature, the coral reefs. Not only is it expert in capturing the emotion we all need to be feeling at this point, but it presents data and facts in memorable ways. Plus they've provided a social media toolkit for those that want to share the word. (Personally I appreciate it when the production crew has taken the time to compile resources to make it easier for people to research, share info take action further.
At 1 hour 11 minutes in, I quote this:
For as long as I can influence people I will, You've got to keep at it. Otherwise you're not going to like yourself when you're an old man. You're gonna like yourself a lot more if...
If you only watch one from this list, this one blew my head off.
Focussed on a new technological solution that would revolutionise the American agriculture scene and regenerate our depleted soil, The Need to Grow has had a big promotion push this year and you can still see it for free (at time of writing) by signing over your details.
Technically not watched in lockdown, I saw this in 2019 when it was screened at the Castle cinema, in Hackney, London with an exciting Q&A with the director afterwards, but I couldn't not include it as I think it's one of the lesser known ones that deserves a mention. It is a beautiful piece of art that combined the element of family by centering his child in the story, and mixed media elements to play with imagination. It shows solutions around the world already in motion and provided an overall hopeful, positive outlook in a smart creative way.
This one is quite old, but I saw it for the first time during lockdown. It's an amazing account of the fracking industry and the devastating health affects on communties and land around Amercia. There's a copy of it to rent or buy here, or there is this free version on YouTube.
When reading about the Keystone XL pipeline, buddy up with this documentary to really enhance your learning on why fracking is so devastating, not only for the planet, but also people and communities.
Very Hollywood in style, Leonardo Dicaprio gets a hugely educational tour of the climate and ecological crisis by attening UN conferences, speaking with experts and visiting places like Greenland where he gets to watch narwhales swimming wild. It's incredibly envy inducing but an easy watch and appealing to most through the breadth of issues covered. There is one scene in which a climate scientist talks him through some intereactive maps that are used to show how predictions about the climate are based based on current human activity, which is very interesting.
If you can rent or buy it here, or watch the free version on YouTube.
This starts with a biographical look at Oceanographer Sylvia Earle and I think does a sensational job at conveying how the steady decay of ecology and the environment has only been occuring in the last 50 - 60 years. I'm not sure how I'd not heard of her before but it was wonderful to hear from an older voice, and see footage from her perspective, when the world was a little slower paced. I think it's really important to be able to communicate different ideas, from different angles to different generations, and Sylvia speaks with a poetic rhetoric about the ocean. Through this style, it's great at creating a sense of nostalgia for a (arguably) better time, certainly richer in wildlife and life.
Side note - there is a weird sexist comment on marriage which is pretty infuriating - in fact there are a fair few issues regarding sexism and feminism of the time so look out for that - it's a great example of intersectionality! It's available on Netflix at time of writing this post.
Right at the beginning of lockdown, I watched Right to Harm which, similar to Gasland, looks at the shocking health impacts on communities throughout America, but this time from mass factory farming, particularly CAFOs (a term I was not familiar with until seeing this doc), known formally as 'Concentrated Animals Feeding Operations'... I know right? Despite the strong silhouette figure of a pig with smoke coming from it's nose on the cover, and focus on the CAFOs, you don't actually see any disturbing footage of animals being harmed; in fact you barely see any animals at all. So if you are worried about seeing those things, I can assure you, you'll be able to handle this documentary. It's not about the harming of animals, which, when combined with the cover and subject, you could easily think it was. It's available here on Vimeo.
Another one that's been promoted widely during lockdown is The Story of Plastic - you can guess what it's about. In my opinion, this is not the best I've seen, but I'd rather say it's a decent introduction to those that might know nothing about the topic.
The story of Jane depicts the life of Jane Goodhall, a researcher best known for her lifetime study of chimpanzees in Tanzania. Using real footage of the time, that was previously thought lost, and interspersed with reflective dialogue from Jane herself, it's a beautiful account of how she came to fall in love with these primates, how she was accepted by a chimpanzee family she was following and her environmental and conservation work to date. It's available now on Netflix at the time this post is written.
An epic love story of permaculture, organic farming and regenerative agriculture.
This absorbing documentary doesn't shy away from life and death, centering on specific animals, and creating mini stories within a long adventure, to fall in love with. Clever metaphorical elements enrich the story telling, such as the a scene depicting a lamb finding it's way after the loss it's mother, during a time when the main couple also suffer loss, and feel lost too. There is a notable lack of information on the investment the main couple received to fund such a dreamy project at the scale they did, and a distinct lack of credit to known permaculture and farming techniques, but this is a wonderfully inspiring film that makes people see what can be possible, and as a viewer you are drawn to the joy, heartbreak, loss, power and beauty of regenerative agriculture, as you get a greater sense that you are a part of this life, and everything is in a state of renewal and decay.
A great introduction to watch with friends and family.
If you've seen all those, and want more, here are 25 documentaries about climate change, sustainability, ethical treatment of animals & a greener future from IMDB.
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