Best Emirati documentary movies
A curated collection of popular documentary movies from United Arab Emirates.
Hans Zimmer & Friends: Diamond in the Desert (2025)
Hans Zimmer & Friends: Diamond in the Desert (2025)
Conversations with collaborators and friends, alongside special live performances from Dubai's Coca-Cola Arena and beyond, from the dunes of the Arabian Desert, to the heights of the Burj Al Arab.
Heritages (2014)
Heritages (2014)
After being forced to leave his country three times, a Lebanese film director traces his roots and analyzes key moments of the nation's history.
He Named Me Malala (2015)
He Named Me Malala (2015)
A look at the events leading up to the Taliban's attack on the young Pakistani school girl, Malala Yousafzai, for speaking out on girls' education and the aftermath, including her speech to the United Nations.
Beyond the Boundary: ICC Women's T20 World Cup Australia 2020 (2020)
Beyond the Boundary: ICC Women's T20 World Cup Australia 2020 (2020)
The ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2020 was a landmark event in the history of cricket and all women's sport. The ICC partnered with Netflix to capture the action, excitement and emotion of the event in a documentary.
Walking on Water (2019)
Walking on Water (2019)
An uncensored look into the artistic process and personal relationships of Christo, an artist known for his large-scale installations. For the first time since the passing of his wife and partner, Jeanne-Claude, Christo sets out to realize, The Floating Piers, a project they conceived together many years before.
Nearby Sky (2014)
Nearby Sky (2014)
Fatima Ali Alhameli was the first Emirati female camel owner to enter her camel in the country’s camel beauty pageant competition and participate in Abu Dhabi’s camel auctions. Her attempts faced stiff opposition from the organisers and society. However, she persisted as she was determined to represent Emirati women in this largely male bastion and keen on proving to the world that her gender would not hold her back. An inspiring film about a woman’s courage and pioneering spirit.
Why Knot (2014)
Why Knot (2014)
Why do human beings get married in almost every society in the world? Why do we cheat? Why is monogamy so important to a relationship and why does infidelity cause so much grief? These are some of the questions acclaimed documentary filmmaker Dhruv Dhawan confronts in his next feature length documentary which explores why human beings evolved cultures of marriage and monogamy that are rife with infidelity. As he attends various lavish weddings occurring within his family, Dhruv is pestered to follow suit but is haunted by his family’s history of infidelity, as well as his own and embarks on a personal quest to discover the origins of marriage, the reasons for monogamy and the pain of infidelity as he tries to mediate an open relationship with the woman he loves. Dhruv’s search takes us on a journey into the biology of sex, the history of patriarchy and the politics of monogamy told through the lives of scientists, swingers, adulterers and Dhruv’s own family.