Netflix is well known for some of the most amazing single documentaries that were ever made and released to public circuit. The subjects covered in these films span the gamut from intimate personal stories and social issues to environmental exigencies and historical events. 13th – directed by Ava DuVernay, focuses on the correlation between race and justice in the United States along with mass incarceration. The legendary kelp forest of South Africa, and an extraordinary octopus who filmmakers spend months tracking through every second in the poignant My Octopus Teacher. Social Dilemma talks about effects of Social networking and America Factory covers a Chinese owned factory in Ohio. We craft each Netflix Original documentary with care, combining exhaustive research and production experience with powerful visuals to create a transformative viewing event. In this articleHow to watch the best single documentaries available on NetflixA guide to some of the most thought-provoking and engaging films – accessible with a Netflix subscription
My Octopus Teacher
My Octopus Teacher will star the unlikely character of a wild octopus who forges an equally surprising relationship with filmmaker Craig Foster in My Octopus Teacher, is now available to stream on Netflix. For a year, Foster records his almost daily interaction with the octopus that not only proves their intelligence and curious behavior but also habituates to each other. The movie follows the octopus through its lifecycle, explaining how it hunts, hides in plain sight with expert camouflage techniques and where other marine life fits into his existence. Foster offers a moving, philosophical take on his bond with the octopus and how it reshaped him. The film also underlined the significance of ocean conversation and fragile ecosystem underwater. My Octopus Teacher was widely praised for its exquisite cinematography, intimate story telling and emotional impact. It won several awards, including the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and it has been noted as a film that offers viewersafter it to experience “the most beautiful thing we could ever see on this earth” with footage of onesong sung by whales in their microcosm.
The Social Dilemma
The Social Dilemma (Jeff Orlowski-Yang) – This informative doc by Jeff Orlowski does a good job of showing all the ways in which social networking has taken hold and allows itself to exploit its users simply for profit. Ex-employees & execs from: Facebook | Google-Twitter are interviewed and tell you exactly how social networks works including the algorithms that power them. It makes a deep dive into the privacy and ethical issues surrounding large data mining, surveillance capitalism and its consequences on psychological health at both individual level as well as for society. Combining re-enacted scenes with expert testimony, The Social Dilemma shows how social media breeds addiction and mental health issues while driving political polarization to depths that threaten democracy itself. It’s been hailed as a timely and urgent documentary, having kick-started conversations around the necessity for more responsibility and regulation in big tech.
American Murder: The Family Next Door
American Murder: The Family Next Door is a true crime documentary directed by Jenny Popplewell which tells the tragic tale of Shanann Watts and her two young daughters, all murdered in cold blood by their husband Chris Watts back in 2018. The movie compiles raw, real-time recordings – via social media entries and text messages to police body-cam views – from the weeks before the homicides right through investigation aftermath. The documentary chronicles the lives of the Watts family, how they had become more and more estranged over time and what gagging betrayal ultimately led to their slaughter. It also delves into the media circus and cultural backlash that swept through America after the trial, demonstrating how social media can make true crime stories go viral. American Murder: The Family Next Door, which has found praise lately for its riveting storytelling and compassionate take on a slightly different type of true crime handled from the harsh light in full glory ways we may be accustomed to with removed perspective.
Crip Camp
Crip Camp (Dir: Nicole Newnham and Jim LeBrecht) A truly inspiring documentary about a transformative summer camp for teens with disabilities and how it shaped the disability rights movement. Set in the 1970s at Camp Jened, a ramshackle hideaway on New York’s Catskill mountains where young people with disabilities gathered to build community and experience freedom via music, dancing and sex. Using historical footage and recent interviews with past campers and counselors, the film provides an indelible memory of what it was like to live at Camp Jened – a training ground for future disability rights leaders. The documentary tracks the Camp Jened experience for several former campers to their work on the frontlines of disability rights, culminating with an extraordinary legal battle against HHS in 1977 – a courtroom drama that changes forever how America attains social justice. This is a warm, inspiring film of its subject matter- as well as being recognised for helping to shine further light on the ongoing battles and triumphs within the disability community. Executive produced by Barack and Michelle Obama, the film was widely praised and received a Best Documentary Feature nomination at last month’s Academy Awards.
13th
Ava DuVernay’s 13th is a gut-punching documentary about where race and justice in America meets mass incrimination. The title, however, conveniently skips a few step by referring to the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution which abolished slavery (unless as punishment for some crime). DuVernay submits, this loophole has been exploited to keep African Americans in chains under the guise of a war on drugs, maintaining a system of control and exploitation for an entire race. Combining archival footage with testimony from activists and scholars, director Ava DuVernay’s examination of the U.S. prison system looks at how the country’s history of racial inequality drives the high rate of incarceration in America. What The 13th illuminates is how with the backlash of anti-crime sentiments in response to Black social movements, these newly prisons became homes for a new legacy upheld by one that had maintained capitalist profits from both free labor and wage slavery at various ends. In addition to its exhaustive take on the criminal justice system, 13th has been highly praised as a clarion call for change. Contending with a variety of awards, it was nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Documentary Feature category.