13 Family-Friendly Documentaries To Stream Today

Full Frame is a big believer that great nonfiction cinema can be accessible (and entertaining!) for audiences of all ages, so our team has gathered a list of 13 documentaries from previous festivals and Youth Screenings over the years. Whether you want to introduce your children to the beloved Mr. Rogers, be inspired by budding young scientists, or explore a city full of adorable cats, we hope you and your family will enjoy watching these films together.

Won’t You Be My Neighbor? (Director: Morgan Neville) – 2018 alum
This remarkable portrait of the visionary Fred Rogers, who revolutionized children’s television with Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood, reveals the origins of the groundbreaking show, the ways it connected to current events, and its impact on the lives of children, and adults, across the country. Amazon Prime, HBO Now, Vudu, Google Play, Youtube

Inventing Tomorrow (Director: Laura Nix) – 2018 alum, 2018 & 2019 Youth Screening
Six young scientists from around the globe compete in the largest international high school science fair—with their ingenious solutions to environmental problems, they don’t just aim to bring home the top prize, they hope to change the world. Amazon Prime, iTunes

America to Me (Director: Steve James) – 2018 Closing Night Film
A year-long immersion into one of Chicago’s most progressive and diverse public schools, located in suburban Oak Park, America to Me is both intimate and epic. This series explores America’s charged state of race, culture and education today with unprecedented depth and scope. Amazon Prime, Starz, Hulu, Youtube

STEP (Director: Amanda Lipitz) – 2017 Closing Night Film
This uplifting film follows members of a step-dance team at the Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women as they pursue their dreams of attending college. Amazon Prime, Vudu, Youtube, Google Play

Life, Animated (Director: Roger Ross Williams) – 2016 Audience Award – Feature
The family of an autistic boy discovered a way to communicate with him through his treasured Disney films, transforming lines of animated characters into a language of love. Amazon Prime, Hulu, Vudu, Youtube, Google Play, iTunes

Kiki (Director: Sara Jordenö) – 2016 Kathleen Bryan Edwards Award for Human Rights
This entrance into the world of voguing contrasts the energy and pulse of ball culture with the intimate and emotional stories of a group of young LGBTQ people of color. Amazon Prime, Hulu, Vudu, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes

Kedi (Director: Ceyda Torun) – 2016 alum
Strutting amid the many glittering wonders of Istanbul are countless feline wanderers. Here, we glimpse the private lives of these independent creatures, as well as the humans who’ve become attached to them. Amazon Prime, Vudu, Youtube, Google Play

Brooklyn Castle (Director: Katie Dellamaggiore) – 2016 & 2017 Youth Screening
Amidst financial crises and unprecedented public school budget cuts, Brooklyn Castle takes an intimate look at the challenges and triumphs facing members of a junior high school’s champion chess team. Amazon Prime, Vudu, Youtube, Google Play, iTunes

Racing Dreams (Director: Marshall Curry) – 2015 alum
Three preteens with NASCAR aspirations compete for the World Karting Championship while grappling with the pressures of family and the realities of coming of age. Tubi, Amazon Prime, Vudu, iTunes

American Promise (Directors: Michèle Stephenson, Joe Brewster) – 2013 Grand Jury Award
This personal film follows the directors’ son and his best friend from their first day of kindergarten through high school graduation, and how their lives diverge. Vudu, Tubi, Amazon Prime, Youtube, Google Play, iTunes

If You Build It (Director: Patrick Creadon) – 2013 alum
Innovative teachers, striving students, and a radical curriculum in Bertie County, N.C., are chronicled over the course of one transformative year. Amazon Prime, Tubi, Youtube, Google Play, iTunes

Blindsight (Director: Lucy Walker) – 2008 alum
Six blind Tibetan teenagers climb the Lhakpa-Ri peak of Mount Everest, led by seven-summit blind mountain-climber Erik Weihenmayer. Amazon Prime, iTunes

The Heart of the Game (Director: Ward Serrill) – 2006 alum
Go courtside for a true-life rush like no other in this passionate and inspirational documentary in the same powerful tradition as Hoop Dreams. Director Ward Serrill brings the camera up close and personal to capture the Roosevelt Roughriders girls’ basketball team during six turbulent seasons, taking us far beyond the court. Amazon Prime, Vudu, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes