Popular Documentaries on DVD: 2021

Hemingway: A Film by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick Examine the visionary work and turbulent life of one of the greatest and most influential American writers: Ernest Hemingway. Intimate and insightful, the series weaves together Hemingway's biography with excerpts from his work.

Jazz: A Film by Ken Burns Begins in the 1890s chronicling the history of jazz music and how it was shaped by culture and events in American history.

A Perfect Planet: The Story of Earth's Power and Fragility Explores how various forces of nature affect the planet Earth.

The Biggest Little Farm John Chester chronicles the eight-year quest he and Molly Chester went on when they traded city living for 200 acres of barren farmland.

New York: A Documentary Film This series chronicles the history of New York City from its beginnings in 1609 as a Dutch trading post.

The Truffle Hunters A handful of men search for rare, expensive and delicious white Alba truffles deep in the forests of Piedmont, Italy.

Billie Documentary on the famed jazz singer Billie Holiday, and her would-be biographer.

Harnessing Nature: Building the Great Sacandaga The Great Sacandaga Lake [is] the largest man-made body of water in New York State.

Country Music: A Film by Ken Burns Ken Burns chronicles the history of a uniquely American art form, rising from the experiences of remarkable people in distinctive regions of the nation.

Some Kind of Heaven Beyond the gates of a palm tree-lined fantasyland, four residents of America's largest retirement community, The Villages, FL, strive to find comfort and meaning.

The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song A chorus of leading scholars, ministers, and cultural influencers who grew up in the Black Church will weigh in and give meaning to events past and present.

Bitcoin: The End of Money as We Know It Whatever Bitcoin may be; most people do not yet understand what this controversial and influential innovation is and how it works. This documentary answers these questions.

RBG A look at the life and work of [America’s second female Supreme Court] Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Stray Through the eyes of three stray dogs wandering the streets of Istanbul, the film explores what it means to live without status or security.

The Code Du Sautoy travels from Chartres Cathedral to Grand Central Station in search of the mysterious hidden code that can unlock the very laws of the universe.

Heal: Change Your Mind, Change Your Body, Change Your Life By changing one's perceptions, beliefs, and emotions, the human body can heal itself from any disease.

The Codebreaker Tells the fascinating story of Elizebeth Smith Friedman, the groundbreaking cryptanalyst whose painstaking work decoding thousands of messages for the U.S. government.

Echo in the Canyon A film that celebrates the explosion of popular music that came out of LA's Laurel Canyon in the mid-'60s as folk went electric and the Byrds, the Beach Boys, Buffalo Springfield, and the Mamas and the Papas gave birth to the California Sound.

Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story Martin Scorsese's documentary about Bob Dylan's legendary 1975 tour, which featured a band of troubadours including Joan Baez, Allen Ginsberg, and Joni Mitchell, blends behind-the-scenes archival footage, interviews, and narrative mischief.

Zappa An in-depth look into the life and work of musician Frank Zappa.

Won't You Be My Neighbor? An exploration of the life, lessons, and legacy of iconic children's television host Fred Rogers.

Belushi Never-before-seen photos, letters and home-movies from the Belushi family archive give intimate access to the world-famous superstar.

Free Solo Alex Honnold, the worlds most accomplished free soloist climber, prepares mentally and physically for his most daring adventure to date: scaling the 3200-foot El Capitan in Yosemite without a rope or safety gear. If he succeeds, it will mark the largest wall he, or anyone else, for that matter, has ascended without any kind of equipment.

American Oz The two-hour film will tell the story of author L. Frank Baum and the making of his classic novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the movie it inspired and the importance of this iconic work in American life.

Scenic Walks of the World Collection of programs presenting scenic walks through the world's landscapes, experiencing natural and man-made wonders, from New Zealand to Ireland, Machu Picchu to the hot springs of Alaska, and more.

The Adirondacks A documentary about the local mountain range, park, and surrounding area.

The Roosevelts: An Intimate History - A Film by Ken Burns Profiles Theodore, Franklin, and Eleanor as the most prominent members of the most important family in history. Through their stories, PBS chronicles the history they helped to shape, from the Square Deal to the New Deal, San Juan Hill to the Western Front, to the founding of the United Nations.

Shoah Over a decade in the making, this monumental investigation of the unthinkable: the murder of more than six million Jews by the Nazis. Using no archival footage, Claude Lanzmann instead focuses on first-person testimonies.

Final Account An urgent portrait of the last living generation of everyday people to participate in Adolf Hitler's Third Reich.

The Vietnam War: A Film by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick In an immersive narrative, Burns and Novick tell the epic story of the Vietnam War as it has never before been told on film.