Sign up to Guardian Documentaries
Enhancement
Latest release
-
Laura, a Scottish-Syrian film-maker, reconnects online with her cousin Lujain after 10 years apart. Their paths were separated by war, and now Laura hopes to reconstruct the past by sharing memories and family videos
New releases
-
The Ukrainian comedian Vasyl Baidak sparks an unlikely and enduring friendship with retiree Iryna Terekhova when he joins a group of young people from Kyiv to rebuild her home. Terekhova, a devout Orthodox Christian, lives in a farming village in the Chernihiv region, where her house was destroyed during the Russian occupation of March 2022. She reflects on a traumatic time when she was forced to share her cellar with Russian soldiers who said they had come to liberate her, but who devastated her village
-
As Europe’s most infamous migrant camp burned to the ground on the island of Lesbos in 2020, two Syrian friends evaded police to stay
-
Young birdwatchers Mya and Arjun feel the pressure of climate breakdown and the biodiversity crisis. As two reserved teenagers on the cusp of adulthood, they find comfort in birdwatching while being distant from their peers. Fascinated by migratory patterns, Mya spends her time searching for rare bird species, while Arjun is captivated by the beauty of birdsong. As their passion for nature inspires them to raise awareness of conservation and the climate emergency in their communities, they find themselves and their voices, emerging as local leaders among a new generation of conservationists
-
On Mongolia’s coal highway to the Chinese border, truck driver Maikhuu dreams of a better life and financial security for her three children. However, the road from the mines to China is riddled with accidents, toxic pollution, poor hygiene and now, amid the Covid crisis, drivers face days of quarantine on the border. Trapped in a hazardous industry, Maikhuu’s journey reflects the human and environmental costs of Mongolia’s mining boom
Other documentary releases
-
This year marks the 30th anniversary of film-maker Derek Jarman’s canonisation by an activist group of gay male ‘nuns’ known as the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. At the time in 1991, Derek Jarman was the most prominent person in the UK living openly with HIV. He was outspoken, radical and unapologetically queer. The perfect antidote, in the Sisters’ eyes, to Ian McKellen’s acceptance of a knighthood in the 1991 new year honours
-
Eve is the intimate story of a nine-year-old girl living in Tinkers Bubble, one of the oldest off-grid communities in the UK
-
An imaginative documentary about the lives of two brothers who live on a council estate in Hackney, east London
-
The Guardian is celebrating Ukrainian cinema with a specially curated selection of documentaries, made before the current war. Presented in collaboration with the Kyiv-based Docudays UA film festival, these award-winning movies offer insight into the modern history of the country, its culture and its people
Newsletter
-
Daily