Back by popular demand here’s part 2 of the most mind blowing documentaries we could find (Read part 1 here). The power of informational filmmaking to bring awareness to emerging ideas and challenge consensus worldviews is invaluable. Here’s a handpicked selection of documentaries that do just that. If you are looking for thought provoking films, we made a list for that too.
1. LIFE OF A CELL
The real life Star Wars. There is a battle playing out inside your body right now. It started billions of years ago and it is still being fought in every one of us every minute of every day. It is the story of a viral infection – the battle for the cell. This documentary is a masterpiece of animation work that takes you on an inward journey to the cellular level of your own body.
2. HUMAN
An epic document of the struggles and triumphs that unite us all, HUMANtakes viewers on a journey across the globe to uncover the essential truths about what it means to be human. Through a series of more than 2000 interviews conducted throughout 60 countries, director Yann Arthus-Bertrand successfully expresses the collective human experience in all its forms – from deeply personal and wounding stories of poverty, domestic abuse and anguish to tales of love, joy and the euphoria of being alive.
3. THE TRANSCENDENTAL OBJECT AT THE END OF TIME: TERENCE MCKENNA DOCUMENTARY
Terence McKenna was an author, lecturer, philosopher and shamanic explorer of the realm of psychedelic states. He spoke and wrote about a variety of subjects, including metaphysics, alchemy, language, culture, technology, and the theoretical origins of human consciousness. He has been described by some as being “so far out, nobody knows what he’s talking about”, and by others as “the most innovative thinker of our times”.
To shake us out of our perceptual torpor, McKenna played the holy fool, the crazy wisdom sage. He pushed our faces in the most exotic, lurid inventions of modern science and technology. What elevated him above most other prophets was that he delivered his prophesies with a wink, an implicit acknowledgement that ultimately reality is stranger than we CAN suppose.
4. PLANETARY
This is a fascinating masterpiece about the social and economical dynamics of the present day compared to ancient mighty civilizations that have fallen. Exploring the ever growing problems we face as a culture and offering thoughtful technological solutions which can all be put in place immediately if we work together. This is streamable on Netflix.
5. NOVA The Fabric of the Cosmos The illusion of Time
This program challenges our traditional questions about time such as; does it flow in one direction or does it flow at all? Does everyone experience the same now? Is time travel possible? Will time come to an end? Certainly one of the most mind blowing documentaries on YouTube.
6. SAMADHI
Is the separate person an illusion? What is the source of the awareness that is reading these words? This is an incredibly deep dive into the philosophy of meditation exploring the concept of Samadhi – the direct experience of unity with the universe. Much of the documentary relies on your basic understanding of non duality, kundalini and the primordial spiral or fibonacci that’s explored in the filmmaker’s prequel “Inner Worlds Outer Worlds”. Which can be watched for free at www.innerworldsmovie.com.
7. ASHES AND SNOW
Gregory Colbert’s Ashes and Snow feature film captures extraordinary moments of contact between people and animals as seen through the lens of the artist’s camera on more than thirty expeditions to some of the earth’s most remote places. Written, directed, produced, and filmed by Gregory Colbert, it is a poetic field study that depicts the world not as it is, but as it might be—a world in which the natural and artificial boundaries separating humans from other species do not exist.
8. KYMATICA
We may be quick to blame secret organizations, greedy corporations and corrupt politicians for the state of the environment and economy. The harsh truth is that the world is in its current state because humanity, as a world-wide population, is evolving and taking the world with it. We all now stand at the precipice of the greatest disaster mankind has ever known or it can be a great moment of mass awakening. From the legends of ancient shamanic tribes through the annals of organized religion, subtle clues of our salvation have been left for us to discover. Quantum science and metaphysics are confirming what these ancients knew , and these secrets to mankind’s salvation are just beginning to be revealed.
9. COWSPIRACY
The World’s largest environmental organizations are failing to address the single most destructive force facing the planet today. Follow the shocking, yet humorous, journey of an aspiring environmentalist, as he daringly seeks to find the real solution to the most pressing environmental issues and true path to sustainability.
10. DHAMMA BROTHERS
East meets West in the Deep South. An overcrowded maximum-security prison-the end of the line in Alabama’s correctional system-is dramatically changed by the influence of an ancient meditation program. Behind high security towers and a double row of barbed wire and electrical fence dwells a host of convicts who will never see the light of day. But for some of these men, a spark is ignited when it becomes the first maximum-security prison in North America to hold an extended Vipassana retreat, an emotionally and physically demanding course of silent meditation lasting ten days. The Dhamma Brothers tells a dramatic tale of human potential and transformation as it closely follows and documents the stories of the prison inmates at Donaldson Correction Facility who enter into this arduous and intensive program.
Also check out some related posts:
10 Mindblowing Documentaries Part 1
Top 40 most enlightening spiritual films of all time.
I watch therefore I am: 10 of the best philosophical films
