Best African documentary movies
Get ready to binge. We've found a collection of must-watch documentary films from Africa, now streaming on Netflix, HBO, Hulu, Prime Video, and other top services!
ZEF - The Story of Die Antwoord (2024)
ZEF - The Story of Die Antwoord (2024)
South African producer / director JON DAY spent the last 5 years making a documentary about the mysterious rap-rave group, DIE ANTWOORD. Art directed by surrealist photographer, ROGER BALLEN. Narrated by NINJA & ¥O-LANDI'S daughter, 16 JONES.
My Octopus Teacher (2020)
My Octopus Teacher (2020)
After years of swimming every day in the freezing ocean at the tip of Africa, Craig Foster meets an unlikely teacher: a young octopus who displays remarkable curiosity. Visiting her den and tracking her movements for months on end he eventually wins the animal’s trust and they develop a never-before-seen bond between human and wild animal.
The Square (2013)
The Square (2013)
The Square looks at the hard realities faced day-to-day by people working to build Egypt’s new democracy. Cairo’s Tahrir Square is the heart and soul of the film, which follows several young activists. Armed with values, determination, music, humor, an abundance of social media, and sheer obstinacy, they know that the thorny path to democracy only began with Hosni Mubarak’s fall. The life-and-death struggle between the people and the power of the state is still playing out.
Pangolin: Kulu's Journey (2025)
Brothers in Blood: The Lions of Sabi Sand (2015)
Brothers in Blood: The Lions of Sabi Sand (2015)
This is a powerful documentary, filmed over a 16 year span, about the rise of a Coalition of six lions, branded The Mapogo Lions, and their takeover of the largest territory by a pride.
Trances (1982)
Trances (1982)
A portrait of the groundbreaking Moroccan band Nass El Ghiwane, documenting a series of electrifying live performances in Tunisia, Morocco, and France; on the streets of Casablanca; and in intimate conversations. Storytellers through song and traditional instruments, and with connections to political theatre, the band became a local phenomenon and an international sensation, thanks to their rebellious lyrics and sublime, fully acoustic sound, which draws on Berber rhythms, Malhun sung poetry, and Gnawa dances.
Banking on Africa: The Bitcoin Revolution (2020)
Banking on Africa: The Bitcoin Revolution (2020)
As the world races to lead the way in blockchain technology, could Africa have an advantage? This documentary follows the journey of Bitcoin pioneers as the continent seeks to leverage cryptocurrency to leapfrog standing world economic powers.
Unhinged: Surviving Jo'burg (2010)
Unhinged: Surviving Jo'burg (2010)
Unhinged: Surviving Jo'burg is an honest, quirky and sometimes frenzied documentary about Johannesburg, South Africa's biggest city and the world's gateway to Southern Africa. With rapid narrative, dry humour, trivial factoids, insightful observations and a highly enjoyable soundtrack, the film tells a slice-of-city-life story. It's a personal video snapshot of today's city, providing a unique opportunity for viewers to get a glimpse inside a place that the world has a very fuzzy sense of. Written by Adrian Loveland
YOLO (2015)
YOLO (2015)
“Filmed in the remains of Soweto’s historic Sans Souci Cinema (1948-1998), YOLO is a makeshift structuralist mash-up created in collaboration with the Eat My Dust youth collective from the Kliptown district of Soweto, South Africa. Vibrating with mic checks and sine waves, resonating with an array of pre-roll sound—this is cause and effect shattered again and again, temporarily undone. O humanity, You Only Live Once!”—Ben Russell
Electro Shaabi (2013)
Electro Shaabi (2013)
In the slums of Cairo, youth dancing to electro chaabi, new music that blends folk song, electro beats and freestyles chanted in the style of rap. The idea is to merge the sounds and styles so chaotic. One slogan mangling! Victim of corruption and social segregation, youth in neighborhoods exorcise partying. Release of body and a speech repressed transgression religious taboos: more than just a musical phenomenon, Electro Chaabi is a healthy outlet for youth oppressed by the prohibitions imposed.
Labirint (2017)
Labirint (2017)
Two halves split by the perseverance of a scorpion. Come on, feet.
DramaConsult (2013)
DramaConsult (2013)
DramaConsult a film by Dorothee Wenner DramaConsult has initiated an ethnographic expedition from Africa to Europe. The protagonists are real life businessmen from Lagos: A spare parts dealer, a real estate developer and a young shoe manufacturer with high-flying plans. Accompanied by two smart business consultants, the group travels to Germany to link up with potential partners and investors. The film tracks the process of economic intervention as an adventure trip in the era of globalization.
Miners Shot Down (2014)
Miners Shot Down (2014)
In August 2012, mineworkers in one of South Africa’s biggest platinum mines began a wildcat strike for better wages. Six days later the police used live ammunition to brutally suppress the strike, killing 34 and injuring many more. Using the point of view of the Marikana miners, Miners Shot Down follows the strike from day one, showing the courageous but isolated fight waged by a group of low-paid workers against the combined forces of the mining company Lonmin, the ANC government and their allies in the National Union of Mineworkers.
Mandela (1996)
Mandela (1996)
A documentary that chronicles the life of South African leader Nelson Mandela. Mandela is probably best known for his 27 years of imprisonment, and for bringing an end to apartheid. But this film also sheds light on the little-known early period of Mandela's life.
Africa Express Presents: EGOLI (2021)
Africa Express Presents: EGOLI (2021)
Chronicling the creative process, intimate collaborations and the fascinating characters behind Africa Express' EGOLI album, recorded in one week in Johannesburg South Africa in 2018 with BCUC, BLK JKS, Blue May, Damon Albarn, DJ Spoko, Dominowe, Faka, Georgia, Ghetts, Gruff Rhys, Infamous Boiz, Mr Jukes, The Mahotella Queens, Moonchild Sanelly, Morena Leraba, Muzi, Nick Zinner, Nonku Phiri, Otim Alpha, Phuzekhemisi, Poté, Remi Kabaka Jr, Sibot and Zolani Mahola.
Titanic: The Shocking Truth (2012)
Titanic: The Shocking Truth (2012)
TITANIC: THE SHOCKING TRUTH explores the conspiracy theory that the Titanic never sank to the bottom of the Atlantic/. Evidence is documented to support the theory that the Titanic and her sister ship, the Olympic were swapped and the weakened Olympic tragically sank. Were White Star Line and the British government responsible for possibly one of the greatest frauds and sea tragedies in living history?
Abo Zaabal 89 (2024)
Abo Zaabal 89 (2024)
Raised in an environment where socialism and the pursuit of justice in Egypt were central, the filmmaker navigates through mixed emotions—pride, burden, and alienation—stemming from his and his parents' intense activist lives. His journey to trace back his family's history highlights the substantial emotional and psychological toll this activism took the thee of them.
National Geographic: Egyptian Secrets of the Afterlife (2009)
National Geographic: Egyptian Secrets of the Afterlife (2009)
To the ancient Egyptians, life after death was a high-stakes underworld journey fraught with terrifying obstacles: fiery lakes of death, battles with monsters, and ultimately eternal death or resurrection with the sun. It's a journey each Egyptian believed was real, and for the pharaoh the stakes were even higher--the entire cosmos depended on the king's successful journey and resurrection. New excavations are revealing more than we've ever known about what the Egyptians believed they would encounter on their afterlife journey. Now, world-renowned archaeologist Dr. Sahi Hawass is excavating a mysterious tunnel at the very bottom of Seti's tomb--far below the surface of the earth. Join National Geographic on a quest in which Dr. Hawass will put his own life in jeopardy for the sake of discovery.
Too Early / Too Late (1982)
Too Early / Too Late (1982)
Inspired by a letter by Friedrich Engels and a 1974 account of two militant Marxist writers who had been imprisoned by the Nasser regime, Straub-Huillet filmed this film in France and Egypt during 1980. They reflect on Egypt’s history of peasant struggle and liberation from Western colonization, and link it to class tensions in France shortly before the Revolution of 1789, quoting texts by Engels as well as the pioneering nonfiction film Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory (1895).
What Comes Around (2018)
What Comes Around (2018)
In Rod El Farag, one of the poorest residential areas in Cairo, obtaining meat, fruit and daily bread is a constant struggle. But the sense of community shared by the inhabitants there helps them to some extent overcome their hardships through a social practice known as ‘al Gami’ya’, or ‘the assembly’.
Marked (2019)
Marked (2019)
This documentary explores Nigeria's cultural practice of marking, including its origins and meaning as a symbol of identity, beauty and spirituality.
VHS - Kahloucha (2006)
VHS - Kahloucha (2006)
Documentarian Nejib Belkadhi trails amateur Tunisian filmmaker Moncef Kahloucha as he makes his latest feature, Tarzan of the Arabs.
My Father the Mover (2020)
My Father the Mover (2020)
Alatha's father calls himself a Mover. Using African dance moves, he helps kids in Khayelitsha township to transcend their hardship (drugs, poverty and abuse) and "find their superpowers." The Mover is also a single father. And while he has helped many kids, he still has difficulty getting his own daughter to find her own powers. But in a tender moment together, this is all about to change.
Untitled (2017)
Untitled (2017)
More than two years after the sudden death of Michael Glawogger in April 2014, film editor Monika Willi realizes a film out of the film footage produced during 4 months and 19 days of shooting in the Balkans, Italy, Northwest and West Africa. A journey into the world to observe, listen and experience, the eye attentive, courageous and raw. Serendipity is the concept - in shooting as well as in editing the film.
Softie (2020)
Softie (2020)
Boniface Mwangi is daring and audacious, and recognized as Kenya’s most provocative photojournalist. But as a father of three young children, these qualities create tremendous turmoil between him and his wife Njeri. When he wants to run for political office, he is forced to choose: country or family?
Thailand's Wild Cats (2021)
Thailand's Wild Cats (2021)
The mysterious jungles of Thailand are home to some of the rarest wild cats on earth - the Clouded Leopard, The Asian Leopard, The Indian Fishing Cat and the Indo Chinese Tiger. In one of the last truly wild corners of the world this extraordinary collection of secretive predators defend their last remaining stronghold. As their territories intertwine and continuously shift, these cats must cheat death on a daily basis if they are to survive and thrive out in these tangled lands
These Girls (2006)
These Girls (2006)
The story of several young women living on the streets of Cairo.
