Documentary AreaSimply the best Documentaries

Follow the life and career of Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, who currently plays for Spanish club Real Madrid and the Portugal national team, through a series of interviews with Ronaldo himself as well as friends and family. Directed by Anthony Wonke and executive-produced by Asif Kapadia, Ronaldo was shot over the course of 14 months with the film-makers gaining access to Ronaldo's private life and inner circle of friends, family and team-mates. The film was shot in Madeira, Lisbon, and Madrid, where he currently resides as a squad member of Real Madrid.

Dr Janina Ramirez unlocks the secrets of illuminated manuscripts that were custom-made for kings and explores the medieval world they reveal. 'Ruling by the Book.' Janina begins her journey with the first Anglo-Saxon rulers to create a united England, encountering books in the British Library's Royal manuscripts collection which are over a thousand years old and a royal family tree which is five metres long.
Janina finds out about a king who had a reputation for chasing nuns and reads a book created as a wedding gift for a ten-year-old prince. She roams from Westminster Abbey to other ancient English spiritual sites such as Winchester, St Albans and Malmesbury, and sees for herself how animal skins can be transformed into the finest vellum.

The unearthing of a gruesome grave filled with thousands of skeletons at the beach of Kamakura in Japan could be about to unlock the true extent of the merciless violence and mystery surrounding the true origins of one of the most feared and revered warriors of all time: the Samurai.
In the Middle Ages, Kamakura was the capital of Japan. The 'Shogun', a kind of aristocratic military dictator, ruled here. This shogunate ended in 1333 with the Battle of Kamakura. A drastic event in Japanese history, because this resulted in not only political, but also social, philosophical and technical innovations. The remains of the samurai warriors who fell near Kamakura now provide scientists with detailed insights into the time of the Kamakura shogunate and the bloody conflict between the shogun and the emperor.
The chilling burial ground dates back to 1333. Kamakura was one of the most heavily fortified regions of Japan. When the Emperor became angered by the growing powers of the ruling Hojo family, he sought to retake control of the region, setting the stage for a war that would change the shape of the nation. Among over 4000 sets of remains, six have a unique story to tell: the husband and wife involved in a sword fight to the death; the warrior monk; a peasant boy soldier; and members of the ruling Hojo family, captured and decapitated, with their heads displayed as trophies of victory. These remains reveal the secrets of the Samurai, their ferocious fighting skills and their merciless killing techniques.

The setting alternates between prehistory and modern day times in which scientists study the fossilized remains of the creatures in the film. In 2009, a group of paleontologists discover a rare fossil in Kansas. The fossil was previously exposed by a summer rain, and it appears to be a marine reptile, tracing back over 70 million years. It was a female Dolichorhynchops and will be the inspiration for telling the story of Dolly, who travels the Kansas Inland Sea, 80 million years ago during the late Cretaceous period with her family.
The film brings to life some of the most bizarre, ferocious and fascinating creatures to ever inhabit the ocean, incluing Tylosaurus, Xiphactinus, Cretoxyrhina, and Ammonite. It combines animation with recreations in a 3D prehistoric adventure. A journey to the bottom of the ancient oceans dramatizes awe-inspiring creatures.

Some 30 million Americans have sent their DNA to be analysed by companies like 23andMe and AncestryDNA. But what happens once the sample is in the hands of testing companies, and how accurate are their results? The film explores the power of genetic data to reveal family connections, ancestry, and health risks—and even solve criminal cold cases.

Zachary Quinto explores the unpredictable and terrifying phenomenon of sinkholes to determine just what causes them. He visits a Florida man whose brother was killed when their family home was literally swallowed whole by the Earth as well as a series of sinkholes that are forming a series of caves right below the houses of a quaint suburban neighbourhood.
Whether they be a part of some biblical prophecy or further evidence of mankind's effect on our planet, he's alarmed to discover that all the same, they can strike anywhere in the world, at any time.