Documentary AreaSimply the best Documentaries

The extraordinary story of Earth and why it is special and uniquely brimming with life among a largely unknown but harsh cosmic arena. It will be told by eight astronauts from their unique perspective of being away from Earth. In the first episode, Astronaut Chris Hadfield reveals the unlikely and unexpectedly interconnected systems that allow life on our planet to breathe.

The Vision After the Sermon, also known as Jacob Wrestling with the Angel, is a painting full of symbolism and mystery. But what does Gauguin’s famous work have to do with a 17-year-old girl called Madeleine, with Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables, and with sumo wrestlers?
Waldemar Januszczak reveals all as he investigates Gauguin’s epic religious painting about good and evil, temptation and desire.

In the shattered streets of Gaza, four young lives unfold with raw intensity and haunting contradictions. Ayman Alyazouri and his companions navigate the chaos of relentless airstrikes, makeshift shelters, and impossible choices—while holding fast to a worldview shaped by conflict and a fervent hatred they scarcely question. Their daily struggle to find safety and meaning is captured in unflinching detail, blending scripted scenes with documentary realism to reveal the emotional cost of generations raised in perpetual war. This gripping portrait invites viewers to witness an unsettling intimacy with those who dream not of peace, but of vengeance.

One extraordinary family of fish has achieved the ultimate form of gender equality. When it comes to breeding, seahorses do it like no other animal on the planet. Their fierce females refuse to be left holding the baby. So it's the males that carry their brood. In this episode we explore the world of mating seahorses which are the only animals in the world that have a major gender role reversal.

We all come from the same place, a moment when a dead rock came to life. Discover the story of how and why life began on Earth, and what makes our planet different from the others.

The cycle of life of a handful of different animals is captured on film in a whole new way in this documentary. Using special motion-control photography equipment, Genesis allows filmgoers to view animal behaviors which are too small, too slow, or too difficult to normally be seen with the naked eye, including a chick hatching its way out from inside an egg, jellyfish drying into nothing under the heat of the sun, or a snake slowly swallowing prey bigger than itself. This footage is accompanied by narration from Sotigui Kouyate, who uses simple props and easily understandable analogies to explain the science behind what its shown on screen. Genesis was directed by Claude Nuridsany and Marie Perennou, who previously created another acclaimed scientific documentary, Microcosmos.