The 11th Hour

A look at the state of the global environment including visionary and practical solutions for restoring the planet's ecosystems. Featuring ongoing dialogues of experts from all over the world, including former Soviet Prime Minister Mikhail Gorbachev, renowned scientist Stephen Hawking, former head of the CIA R. James Woolse

Bring Your Own Brigade

An investigation into our landscape's hidden fire stories and on-the-ground experiences of firefighters and residents struggling through deadly fires.

Accidental Climber

Jim Geiger, a retired forest ranger and amateur mountaineer, attempts to become the oldest American and first great grandfather to summit Mt. Everest, aged 68. His transformation from a weekend hiker to attempting one of the most extreme and physically demanding feats known to man is driven by a desire to prove that age is just a number. What ensued, however, forever changed Jim's life.

Cooked: Survival by Zip Code

Filmmaker Judith Helfand's searing investigation into the politics of “disaster” – by way of the deadly 1995 Chicago heat wave, in which 739 residents perished (mostly Black and living in the city’s poorest neighborhoods).

Vajont 9 ottobre '63

The Volcano: Rescue from Whakaari

A close examination of the Whakaari / White Island volcanic eruption of 2019 in which 22 lives were lost, the film viscerally recounts a day when ordinary people were called upon to do extraordinary things, placing this tragic event within the larger context of nature, resilience, and the power of our shared humanity.

Blood and Water

When the 2004 tsunami hit the coast of Sri Lanka, 65-year-old Anton Ambrose's wife and daughter were killed. "In five minutes," he says, "I lost everything." A year later, Anton returns to Sri Lanka. With him is his nephew, award-winning filmmaker Rohan Fernando. A Tamil, Anton moved to California in the 1970s and became a very successful gynecologist. His daughter, Orlantha, made the opposite journey, returning to Sri Lanka where she ran a non-profit group that gave underprivileged children free violin lessons. Blood and Water is the story of one man's search for meaning in the face of overwhelming loss, but it is also filled with improbable characters, unintentional comedy and situational ironies.

Trouble the Water

"Trouble the Water" takes you inside Hurricane Katrina in a way never before seen on screen. The film opens the day before the storm makes landfall--just blocks away from the French Quarter but far from the New Orleans that most tourists knew. Kimberly Rivers Roberts, an aspiring rap artist, is turning her new video camera on herself and her Ninth Ward neighbors trapped in the city. Weaving an insider's view of Katrina with a mix of verité and in-your-face filmmaking, it is a redemptive tale of self-described street hustlers who become heroes--two unforgettable people who survive the storm and then seize a chance for a new beginning.

The Great Famine

When a devastating famine descended on Soviet Russia in 1921, it was the worst natural disaster in Europe since the Black Plague in the Middle Ages. Examine Herbert Hoover’s American Relief Administration—an operation hailed for its efficiency, grit and generosity. By the summer of 1922, American kitchens were feeding nearly 11 million Soviet citizens a day.

The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom

On 11 March 2011, an earthquake caused a tsunami to hit the Tōhoku (Northeast) region of Japan. In this film, survivors of the tsunami rebuild as cherry blossom season begins. The film is a stunning visual haiku about the ephemeral nature of life–and of the healing power of Japan's most beloved flower.

Top Ten Natural Disasters

National Geographic gets 10 experts to pick the most significant natural disasters ever, adding eyewitness accounts and CGI to flesh out the stories.

Tsunami - Die Flut von 2004 und die Folgen

It was one of the greatest natural disasters of all time. On the morning of Boxing Day 2004, a massive tsunami hit the coast of the Indian Ocean. More than 230,000 people died, including many holidaymakers from Germany and France. On the occasion of the 20th anniversary, survivors tell their stories. How has the disaster affected their lives to this day?

Pompeii: The New Revelations

Archaeologist Raksha Dave and historian Dan Snow return to Pompeii to gain special access to a variety of new excavations, including two never-before-seen discoveries.

Supervolcano: Yellowstone's Fury

For over a century, tens of millions of visitors have marveled at the natural beauty of Yellowstone National Park. But, beneath all this beauty lurks a beast. Yellowstone sits directly above one of the largest volcanic systems on Earth. For the past two million years, this supervolcano has erupted roughly every 600,000 years. The last major eruption occurred 640,000 years ago. So, is it overdue for another eruption? There have been disturbing signals... Supervolcano: Yellowstone's Fury examines the cataclysmic effect an eruption would have on the world. It would be the largest natural disaster in recorded history. NYU Earth Scientist Michael Rampino warns, "An eruption like Yellowstone could trigger the end of civilization as we know it." For experts, the question is not if there will be another eruption, but when. University of Toronto geologist John Westgate agrees: "There will be a very large-scale supervolcanic eruption from Yellowstone. That's a fact."

Le déluge du Saguenay : une tragédie humaine

Burning

Follows the deadly Australian bushfires of 2019-2020, known as ‘Black Summer’. Burning is an exploration of what happened as told from the perspective of victims of the fires, activists and scientists.

Closed for Storm

The story of Six Flags New Orleans, a theme park devastated by Hurricane Katrina that has become a holy grail of sorts for urban exploration and the efforts to restore the park to its former glory.

The Hurricane of '38

In September of 1938, a great storm rose up on the coast of West Africa and began making its way across the Atlantic Ocean. The National Weather Bureau learned about it from merchant ships at sea and predicted it would blow itself out at Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, as such storms usually did. Within 24 hours, the storm ripped into the New England shore with enough fury to set off seismographs in Sitka, Alaska. Traveling at a shocking 60 miles per hour -- three times faster than most tropical storms -- it was astonishingly swift and powerful, with peak wind gusts up to 186 mph. Over 600 people were killed, most by drowning. Another hundred were never found. Property damage was estimated at $400 million -- over 8,000 homes were destroyed, 6,000 boats wrecked or damaged.

Nashville Rises

Nashville Rises is the first documentary film about the city of Nashville, Tennessee's response to the 2010 Tennessee floods. It premiered at the 42nd Nashville Film Festival on April 14, 2011 and received the festival's "Ground Zero Tennessee Spirit Award for Best Short Documentary Film". The film was narrated by Billy Bob Thornton and directed by Zac Adams.

The Johnstown Flood

On a stormy day in May of 1889, the South Fork Dam impounding Conemaugh Lake exploded, unleashing a 40-foot wall of water. The bustling industrial city of Johnstown, PA, in the valley below was reduced to a wasteland, killing more than 2,200. This heavily dramatized documentary reviews the factors that led to the dam's collapse, while dramatic reenactments and survivors' personal testimonies detail the horror.