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Big List of Blifaloo’s Favorite Documentaries

Interesting Info -> Documentary Films

Here is my list of interesting, fascinating, or informative documentary films you can find online. Play via Netflix, HBO, Disney, Amazon, Rakuten, ROKU, etc.

If you are a serial learner and knowledge eater — I think you will dig this list.

Top Documentary Films

My favorite recent documentaries. This contains mostly older films, but I’ll be exploring some even more classic documentaries in later updates, stay tuned!

We updated this page in 2025 so it is much improved. More improvements will be coming. For now, the following is a running list (updated occasionally) with favorite documentary films. They are in no particular order.

Please note: If some images don’t appear, or the page looks funky; just try refreshing your browser.

Hot Coffee – Everyone knows the case of the woman who sued McDonald s over spilled coffee. Or do they? Recommended to me by my friend Frank. You can read more about the documentary on his site, along with the Hot Coffee Trailer.
 
Surfwise: The Amazing True Odyssey of the Paskowitz Family – One of my all-time favorite documentaries. A doctor gives up ‘normal life’ to raise his 9 kids in a traveling camper… their only education was surfing. If you can’t find a streaming copy online, you can click the title link to see the trailer, or purchasing options from Amazon (Including instant downloads). Same goes for all the films on this list.
 
Bobby Fischer Against the World – Fantastic film about the famous chess player, from his rise to fall. I like how the ‘crazy aspect’ of many famous chess players is mentioned. To me, this relates to the idea of “Tetris Dreams”. One day, I’ll write more on this topic.
 
Shocking Asia part 1 and part 2- Interesting film from the late 1970s. Older than most of the films on this list. You can watch it on YouTube, or stream it on Amazon Prime. This is one of my favorite documentaries.
 
Generation RX – Explores common anti-depressants and ADHD medications, the effects on children and other issues related to our medicated selves. You can definitely tell how the film-makers feel about this issue. Passionate and opinionated, but it is good opinion — in my opinion 😉 See the trailer for Generation RX on YouTube.
 
We Live In Public – Smart and disturbingly relevant. Follows eccentric geek Josh Harris and his insane experiments. Ahead of his time — Harris explores how social media will change the world. Geeks will love this, but I think anyone who uses Facebook can appreciate the theme. Watch trailer on YouTube
 
Global Metal – Explores the globalization of music. I’m not hugely into metal, but when I do listen, it is mostly foreign folk-metal I gravitate towards. This is a great documentary for any music fan interested in global music and culture.
 
The Secrets of Body Language – Special from the History Channel. Title link goes to full length video free online (while the image goes to Amazon page). Be sure to watch this if you are interested in the features here on Blifaloo about Body Language, Microexpressions and detecting lies.
 
Waste Land – Fantastic human-interest study. Moving — I cried a few times. Trailer on Youtube. The film documents two years of work of a contemporary modern artist creating art with the cooperation of garbage pickers working at jardim gramacho, one of the worlds largest landfills serving Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.
 
The Greatest Movie Ever Sold – Surprisingly awesome and worth watching. Documentary about product placement and modern advertising. This film provides and inside look at how advertising works and is evolving.
Same director as “Super-Size Me”.
 
Killer high. The Silent Crisis. – In depth analysis of the evils of fentanyl. Suspenseful and powerful documentary about this deadly drug. Fentanyl is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine and claims an untold number of lives of unsuspecting young people every year.
 
On the Trail of a Child Murderer – A harrowing tale of an innocent eight-year-old child who was brutally murdered. The documentary takes us through the discovery of the crime, police investigation, finding the body and eventual unraveling of what really happened.
 
Food, Inc. – Where does your food come from? This movie will make you think about your eating habits and explores topics such as farming, sustainable agriculture, plus health and moral issues related to filling our bellies.   Lots of full length free documentaries now on YouTube.com – I just found this giant pool of free films — will be adding recommendations as I find them.
Have a documentary film suggestion? Contact me. Also see: Music Worth Listening To Documentary Films Photo Credit:
Film image lifted from Ryan Baxter and modified by Blifaloo.

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