Documentary AreaSimply the best Documentaries

Over one billion Christians look to Rome, more than half of all Christians on the planet. But how did a small Jewish sect from the backwoods of 1st-century Palestine, which preached humility and the virtue of poverty, become the established religion of western Europe - wealthy, powerful and expecting unfailing obedience from the faithful? Amongst the surprising revelations, Professor MacCulloch tells how confession was invented by monks on a remote island off the coast of Ireland, and how the Crusades gave Britain the university system. Above all, it is a story of what can be achieved when you have friends in high places.

In the echoing chambers of a cave located in the Cradle of Humankind in South Africa, paleoanthropologist Lee Berger stumbles upon a revelation that could rewrite History. Not only has he uncovered the world's oldest graveyard, but it's also unlike anything we've ever seen. Amid the shadows, the faint glimmers of ancient hearths, mysterious tools and cryptic symbols hint at rituals beyond our understanding. A place where knowing what an ancient creature did means glimpsing into its very soul.
This isn't just any discovery - it's a journey into a world of human-level complexity in an entirely different species from our own. A tale that beckons with the allure of the unknown, challenging everything we thought we knew about hominid evolution and the origins of belief. A story so profound, it demands respect from the entire human race. Dive into the mystery and experience the awe, spirituality, and eerie wonders of the 'Cave of Bones'.

A documentary by Werner Herzog, who gained exclusive access to film inside the Chauvet caves of Southern France and captures the oldest known pictorial creations of humanity. Some of them were crafted as much as 32,000 years ago. The film consists of images from inside the cave as well as of interviews with various scientists and historians. Also includes footage of the nearby Pont d'Arc natural bridge.

The Cave of Swallows in Mexico is a 400m vertical shaft, deep enough to engulf the Empire State Building. The Lechuguilla cave system in the USA is 193km long and 500m deep with astonishing crystal formations hanging from its chambers. Although often overlooked, caves are remarkable habitats with equally bizarre wildlife. Cave angel fish cling to the walls behind cave waterfalls with microscopic hooks on their flattened fins. Cave swiftlets navigate by echo-location and build nests out of saliva. The Texas cave salamander has neither eyes nor pigment. Unique access to a hidden world of stalactites, stalagmites, snotites and troglodytes brings a wealth of surprises.

One of Cezanne’s best-known pictures, but it is also one of his most mysterious. Why did the so-called father of modern art paint two old men hunched over a game of cards? What is the picture trying to tell us?
By exploring Cezanne’s puzzling religious beliefs and his passion for Mary Magdalene, the patron saint of Provence, Waldemar Januszczak uncovers the surprising secrets of a haunting masterpiece.

Boxing, 'the poor man's sport', has long given kids from America's roughest neighborhoods an opportunity to escape violence with violence. But with success in the ring comes new fights for which there is no training: champions are made and broken in the blink of an eye, and young men thrust into the spotlight are often ill-equipped for the fame, fortune, and hangers-on that accompany a title belt". And for many, the toughest bouts are fought during retirement, when health and financial issues begin to mount. Built around the stories of heavyweight legends as Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield and Bernard Hopkins, We will examine their lives in and out of the ring.