List of National Geographic documentary films

This is a list of films produced and released by National Geographic under their feature Documentary Films banner, established in 2017. ^[1] National Geographic Partners is a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company and National Geographic Society, initially established between 21st Century Fox and the National Geographic Society until Disney's acquisition of Fox's media assets on March 20, 2019. ^[2]

Title	Director(s)	Release date	Notes
LA 92	Daniel Lindsay, T. J. Martin	April 28, 2017	Co-production with Lightbox
Jane	Brett Morgen	October 20, 2017	Co-production with Public Road Productions
Into the Okavango	Neil Gelinas	April 22, 2018
Free Solo	Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin	September 28, 2018	Co-production with Parkes+MacDonald Image Nation, Little Monster Films, and Itinerant Media
Science Fair	Cristina Costantini, Darren Foster	October 19, 2018	Co-production with Univision and Muck Media
Sea of Shadows	Richard Ladkani	July 12, 2019	Co-production with Terra Mater Factual Studios, Appian Way Productions, Malaika Pictures, and The Wild Lens Collective
The Cave	Feras Fayyad	October 18, 2019	co-production with Danish Documentary, SWR, TV2, Doha Film Institute, IMS, Hecat Studio, and ma.ja.de Film
Saudi Runaway	Susanne Regina Meures	January 25, 2020	Distribution only [3]
Rebuilding Paradise	Ron Howard	July 31, 2020	Co-production with Imagine Documentaries
The Last Ice	Scott Ressler	May 22 2020
Akashinga: The Brave Ones	Maria Wilhelm	June 17, 2020	"Doc short" co-production with Avatar Alliance Foundation
The Nightcrawlers	Alexander A. Mora	September 13, 2020	"Doc short", co-production with Violet Films, Genius Loki, and Doc Society
Lost and Found	Orlando von Einsiedel	September 18, 2020	"Doc short" co-production with Rideback and Grain Media
Blood on the Wall	Sebastian Junger, Nick Quested	September 30, 2020	Co-production with Junger Quested, Diamond Docs, Goldcrest Features, and Lone Wolf
City So Real	Steve James	October 29, 2020	Released as miniseries, co-production with Participant and Kartemquin Films
Own the Room	Cristina Costantini, Darren Foster	March 12, 2021	Disney+ original, co-production with Shopify Studios
Rise Again: Tulsa and the Red Summer	Dawn Porter	June 18, 2021
Playing with Sharks: The Valerie Taylor Story	Sally Aitken	July 23, 2021	Disney+ original, co-production with Screen Australia, Dogwoof, Screen NSW, TDog Productions, Madman Films, and Wildbear Entertainment
Fauci	John Hoffman, Janet Tobias	October 6, 2021	Co-production with Story Syndicate, Sierra Tango, Better World Projects, and Diamond Docs
The First Wave	Matthew Heineman	October 7, 2021
The Rescue	Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin	October 8, 2021	Co-production with Ventureland, Storyteller Productions, Little Monster Films, and Passion Pictures
Becoming Cousteau	Liz Garbus	October 22, 2021	Co-production with Story Syndicate, The Cousteau Society, ACE Content and Diamond Docs
Torn	Max Lowe	December 3, 2021
We Feed People	Ron Howard	May 27, 2022	Co-production with Imagine Documentaries
Fire of Love	Sara Dosa	July 6, 2022	Distribution only [4]
The Territory	Alex Pritz	August 19, 2022
Retrograde	Matthew Heinemann	September 3, 2022
The Flagmakers	Cynthia Wade, Sharon Liese	September 16, 2022	Disney+ original
Wild Life	Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin	April 14, 2023
Bobi Wine: The People's President	Moses Bwayo, Christopher Sharp	July 28, 2023	Distribution only [5]
The Mission	Amanda McBaine, Jesse Moss	October 13, 2023
The Space Race: The Untold Story of the First Black Astronauts	Lisa Cortés, Diego Hurtado de Mendoza	February 12, 2024 [6]	Co-production with K/M Documentaries
Sugarcane	Julian Brave NoiseCat, Emily Kassie	August 9, 2024 [7]
Fly	Christina Clusiau, Shaul Schwartz	September 2, 2024 [8]
Blink	Edmund Stenson, Daniel Roher	October 4, 2024 [9]	Co-production with MRC, Fishbowl Films, and Eyesteel Film, distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures through the Walt Disney Pictures banner in North America.
Awaiting release
Lost in the Jungle	Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin, Juan Camilo Cruz	September 12, 2025 [10]	Co-production with Little Monster Films and Lightbox
Untitled Carl Sagan documentary	Nanette Burstein	TBA	Co-production with Fuzzy Door Productions and Hungry Man Productions [11]
The Tale of Silyan	Tamara Kotevska	TBA	Co-production with Concordia Studio, The Corner Shop and Ciconia Film [12]

References

1. Birnbaum, Debra (2017-01-13). "National Geographic Unveils New Banner to Produce Feature Documentaries (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 2021-02-13.
2. "The Walt Disney Company Signs Amended Acquisition Agreement To Acquire Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc., For $71.3 Billion in Cash And Stock". The Walt Disney Company. June 20, 2018. Archived from the original on June 22, 2018. Retrieved August 1, 2018.
3. N'Duka, Amanda (2020-02-25). "Nat Geo Documentary Films Picks Up Sundance Doc 'Saudi Runaway'". Deadline. Retrieved 2021-02-13.
4. Lang, Brent (January 23, 2022). "Sundance: National Geographic Documentary Films Prevails in Bidding War to Buy 'Fire of Love'". Variety . Retrieved February 5, 2022.
5. "National Geographic Acquires "Bobi Wine: The People's President"" . Retrieved 2022-09-04.
6. Acuna, Kirsten. "Disney has 30 major movies coming out in 2024 — here they all are". Business Insider. Retrieved 2024-01-01.
7. White, Peter (2024-02-21). "Nat Geo Buys 'Sugarcane' Documentary Out Of Sundance". Deadline. Retrieved 2024-06-16.
8. Morfoot, Addie (2024-04-26). "Nat Geo Documentary 'Fly,' Exploring the World of Base Jumping, Unveils First Clip (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 2024-06-16.
9. "National Geographic Documentary Films Dates Domestic Theatrical Release for BLINK, Follow Up Feature From the Academy Award-winning Team Behind NAVALNY, Debuts Trailer and Key Art". BusinessWire . October 4, 2024. Archived from the original on August 30, 2024. Retrieved August 31, 2024.
10. Fienberg, Daniel (September 1, 2025). "'Lost in the Jungle' Review: 'Free Solo' Directors Capably Tackle a Remarkable Tale of Survival in the Amazon for Nat Geo". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved September 5, 2025.
11. Carey, Matthew (March 30, 2023). "Documentary On Carl Sagan, Brilliant Astronomer And 'Cosmos' Author, In The Works From National Geographic & Seth MacFarlane". Deadline. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
12. Feinberg, Scott (September 22, 2025). "'The Tale of Silyan,' Venice-Winning Doc, Acquired by Nat Geo for Oscar Run (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved September 24, 2025.