Ten of the Top Documentaries About Life In Poverty

#10

A Place at the Table

49 million people in the U.S. don't know where their next meal is coming from despite America having the means to provide nutritious, affordable food for every citizen. A Place at the Table examines the issue through the lens of three people who are struggling with food insecurity.

#9

Living on One Dollar

Living on One Dollar follows the journey of four friends as they set out to live on just $1 a day for two months in rural Guatemala. They battle hunger, parasites, and extreme financial stress as they attempt to survive life on the edge.

#8

The End of Poverty

This documentary is notorious for its unique historical perspective on global poverty. The End of Poverty highlights the ways poverty has amassed through the years, beginning as early as the 16th century and concluding with present day.

#7

Food Stamped

Filmmaker Yoav Potash follows his wife, nutritionist Shira Potash, as she attempts to formulate a healthy diet using a typical food stamp budget. The documentary offers a piercing look at the challenges low-income people face in avoiding obesity and long-term health problems related to diet.

#6

The True Cost

This is a story about the clothes we wear, the people who make them, and the impact the industry is having on our world. The True Cost is a groundbreaking documentary film that pulls back the curtain on the untold story and asks us to consider, who really pays the price for our clothing?

#5

Rich Hill

As they ride their skateboards and go to football practice, three boys face difficult circumstances - isolation, instability, and parental unemployment – in their daily struggle just to survive. With no road map and all evidence to the contrary, these teenagers cling to the hope that even they can live the American dream.

#4

Recycled Life

In this sobering and haunting documentary, filmmakers carry their cameras into The Guatemala City Garbage Dump, Central America's most toxic landfill, where thousands of indigenes have lived and worked, ostracized by Guatemalan society.

#3

Hoop Dreams

This documentary follows two young men during their high-school career, beginning with their participation in playground games and ending with their being recruited by colleges. The film highlights the obstacles they faced including parental drug addiction, family poverty, and inner-city violence.

#2

To Catch a Dollar

His quest to help the working poor invest in themselves won Professor Muhammad Yunus a Nobel Peace Prize. Known as the father of microcredit, Yunus spent years developing the Grameen Bank, a fully licensed bank with a mission to eradicate poverty, not make a profit.

#1

Bombay Beach

This artistically innovative film tells the story of three protagonists from the impoverished community of Bombay Beach, a near-ghost town on the Salton Sea and a symbol of the failure of the American Dream.