65+ Best Documentaries On Minimalism for Simple Living
Complete List of 65+ Best Documentaries On Minimalism that will provide support and inspiration for starting minimalism...
Inspiring you to explore unique, fun and creative choices in designing your simple life and home based on what matters most to you…
Table of Contents
BEST DOCUMENTARIES ON MINIMALISM
What Is Minimalist Lifestyle?
How would you describe minimalism?
Minimalism is simple living. Learning to live with fewer material possessions and simplifying the tasks and appointments that fill your schedule.
Then... Filling that new “space” with more experiences while discovering what matters most to you.
What does a minimalist lifestyle look like?
When you “landed here” at This Is My Everybody, you may have been surprised in seeing a focus on color, fun & creativity. Sometimes these words are left out of the minimalist lifestyle experience when exploring what it means to become a minimalist... Favoring a palette of neutrals.
And I certainly love a beautiful, elegant, simple neutral palette as well.
But a minimalism lifestyle without color... without fun… or without creativity would lose my interest quickly.
In my list of documentaries about minimalism, you will find many new perspective options to inspire you to explore unique, fun and creative choices in designing your minimalistic life and home.
“Whatever choice you make will be the right one...”
How Do I Start Minimalism?
Pop some popcorn... Grab a cozy blanket... And let’s watch a movie!
Here are my top picks for the Best Documentaries On Minimalism organized by category to get you started.
Be sure to bookmark this page for reference... As I will continue to update it as new documentaries, TV series and films are released.
Each film on my list of best simple living documentaries was selected to support you in connecting the life you love to the life you are living... ✨😎✨
Do you prefer to read rather than watch?... Check out my feature on The 25+ Best Books On Minimalism For Simple Living
*This page contains affiliate links, which means if you purchase from these links I will make a commission at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.
BEST DOCUMENTARIES ON MINIMALISM LIST
Here are my top picks for the Best Documentaries On Minimalism To Watch this year...
NOTE: Links for each documentary or series are current as of the publication date of this post (June 2022). I will do my best to keep the links updated as streaming availability shifts... If you find a link is no longer working, please let me know!... ✨😎✨
MINIMALIST LIFESTYLE
Which Minimalism Documentary Is Best?
Although my list of minimalism documentaries is filled with one “best” documentary after the next, one great place to start is with the two creators that are well-known minimalists and have multiple minimalism documentary films and series about the concept of minimalism to choose from.
Meaning if you like what you see, you will have more to watch from that same creator.
If this sounds like your cup of tea, then start with The Minimalists and/or Marie Kondo. You can find a complete list from both of these creators below:
Documentaries by The Minimalists: Joshua Fields Millburn & Ryan Nicodemus
Including book tour and blog posts for Love People Use Things ➾ Learn more about their book, Love People Use Things, in The 25+ Best Books On Minimalism for Simple Living
1. Minimalism: A Documentary About The Important Things
How might your life be better with less? Examines the many flavors of minimalism by taking a peek inside the lives of minimalists from all walks of life... families, entrepreneurs, architects, artists, journalists, scientists, and even a former Wall Street broker... All with a goal to live a meaningful life with less...
Mark this documentary to watch for a “refresh moment” or a “new beginning”… A great way to start the New Year!
2. The Minimalists: Less Is Now
Longtime friends Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus share how our lives can be better with less.
3. Let’s Talk About Less (Video Essay Series | 6 Episodes)
Each episode explores a specific problem or topic related to consumerism.
4. Simples (Animated Web Series | 4 Episodes)
Focuses on thinking clearly about the way we live our lives.
5. LivingRoom Conversations (Series | 30 Episodes)
Step into Joshua Fields Millburn’s & Ryan Nicodemus’ “living rooms” for intimate and meaningful insights for living simply.
6. Unpacking Minimalism (Series | 4 Episodes)
Takes topics from The Minimalists Podcast and dives deeper by unpacking each topic to learn more about living with less.
7. Making Minimalism (Series | 6 Episodes)
Go “behind the scenes” with The Minimalists and YouTube videos filmmaker Matt D’Avella as they create their documentary Minimalism: A Documentary About The Important Things (see above).
Documentaries by Marie Kondo: (The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up)
8. Tidying Up with Marie Kondo (Series | 8 Episodes)
Go along with the world-renowned Japanese cleaning consultant, Marie Kondo, as she completes inspiring home makeovers by clearing out the clutter... And choosing joy.
9. Sparking Joy with Marie Kondo (Series | 3 Episodes)
Each episode focuses on Marie Kondo working with people struggling to balance work and home life.
MINIMALIST MINDSET
10. Happy
Chronicles a journey to more than a dozen countries from the swamps of Louisiana to the slums of Kolkata searching for what really makes us happy. An insightful peek into how finding true happiness is a personal journey.
Filmmaker Felix Starck and musician, Selima Taibi, step up as the main characters in their lives searching for something more, as they take a road trip with their dog in a refurbished school bus across North America.
12. I Am
Filmmaker Tom Shadyac interviews philosophers, scientists and intellectual and spiritual leaders to explore ways we can improve the way we live.
Six people explore what it takes to live a good life and find more meaning in their lives, while creating a deeper connection with the families, communities, themselves and the world.
14. Taru Wo Shiru: To Know What Is Enough (Short)
Six individuals in Japan challenge mainstream culture to live independently while transforming the system that is determining the happiness and health of the planet.
15. Why Finland And Denmark Are Happier Than The U.S.
What does it take to be happy? Finland and Denmark consistently top the charts on “happiness reports”. Sharing the work-life balance tips from the two countries that are getting it right!
16. On Yoga: The Architecture Of Peace
Acclaimed photographer Michael O’Neill spent 10 years photographing Yoga masters in India, Tibet and New York... And documents his encounters with each one and their explanations on the Art Of Yoga.
LIVING WITH LESS STUFF
Is it even possible to live completely waste free? Jenny Rustemeyer and Grant Baldwin compete with each other to live a waste-free life for one year... And explore what, if any, impact their individual attempts will make on the environment as a whole.
18. Thrive With Less
Explores minimal living in a culture that values more over less. Created by six student filmmakers at Michigan State University.
19. Get Organized With The Home Edit (Netflix Series | 16 Episodes)
Go behind-the-scenes as Clea Shearer and Joanna Teplin help celebrities and everyday clients edit, categorize and contain their clutter to create beautiful and functional homes.
SUSTAINABILITY
20. Planet Earth (Series | 11 Episodes)
David Attenborough presents the results of a four-year project filmed across 64 countries to celebrate the beauty and variety of the natural world. From the oceans to the deserts to the polar ice caps.
Original version narrated by David Attenborough
Discovery Channel version narrated by Sigourney Weaver
21. More Than Honey
Markus Imhoof explores why bee populations are declining worldwide... And what it means for our future.
Explores the possibility of how people changing their diets from primarily animal-based to more plant-based could help to eliminate or at least diminish disease... And live healthier lives while supporting a healthier planet.
23. The 11th Hour
Produced, co-written and narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio. Explores the state of the natural environment with more than 50 scientists, scholars and leaders with a focus on practical advice and viable solutions that could impact the earth’s ecosystems to change our course with global warming.
24. Fed Up
Filmmaker Stephanie Soechtig and journalist Katie Couric investigate the American food industry’s role within obesity and disease.
25. A Simpler Way: Crisis As Opportunity
An Australian community explores a simpler way to live to offset global issues by building tiny houses, planting gardens and practicing simple living.
26. No Impact Man with Colin Beavan
Based on the book No Impact Man by Colin Beaven... His family’s year-long experiment to live with zero impact on the environment.
27. A Plastic Ocean
Travels to twenty locations around the world where plastics are having a significant impact on the environment and our food. Directed by Craig Leeson.
OWN TINY HOUSES
28. Small Is Beautiful: A Tiny House Documentary
Follows four people who build their own tiny houses to live mortgage free.
29. Tiny: A Story About Living Small
Christopher Smith and Merete Mueller document their experience of constructing a tiny house that measures only 120 square feet... And still offers the comfort of big houses.
30. Living Small: A Tiny House Documentary
Explores the challenges and rewards of building your own tiny house living space whether it is your first time or looking for tips for your next tiny home. With a focus on Anderson Page as a first-time tiny house builder.
Kirsten Dirksen shares her journey into exploring tiny homes with people searching for simpler lives.
32. Tiny House Builders (HGTV Series)
Each episode features master craftsman Derek Diedrickson creating tiny house masterpieces using salvaged materials and integrating with their surroundings.
33. Tiny House Nation (Series | 82 Episodes)
Features home renovation experts John Weisbarth and Zack Giffin who travel across the United States to support families building tiny houses no bigger than 500 square feet.
34. Tiny House, Big Living (HGTV Series | 116 Episodes)
Each episode focuses on what it really means to downsize and live as a minimalist in their own tiny home.
35. Tiny House World (Series | 16 Episodes)
Features potential homeowners looking for their own personal dream tiny house in locations around the world.
36. Tiny House Pioneer Jay Shafer: Thinking Beyond Trailer Parks
Jay Shafer’s 1997 experience of transforming the traditional trailer park stereotype to imitate a traditional gabled home as a tiny house. His efforts helped to pioneer the Small House Movement.
37. Summer of (Family) Love: Tiny Home VW – Road Trip Documentary
Family of five travel and live in a 50 square feet VW Bus for a summer. The only requirement? Each family member can only bring one backpack!
38. Beautiful Off-Grid Tiny House Truck Tour
Made from recycled materials, take a tour of a beautiful off-grid tiny house truck… Built on the back of a 1969 Bedford.
39. Microtopia
Architects, artists and problem-solvers push the limits to find solutions to flexible, portable and independent living.
40. Tiny House Hunting (Series | 68 Episodes)
Follow home buyers as they search for and decide which tiny house is the perfect fit for their life. Drawn to the prospect of financial freedom, sustainability and living a simple life, they choose their tiny house between three options explored per episode. With each episode focusing on a variety of US locations, settings, price points and purposes.
HOME & INTERIOR DESIGN...
Great inspiration to incorporate into any size home
41. Abstract: The Art Of Design
Highlights modern contemporary design and how design impacts our life.
42. Stay Here (Series | 8 Episodes)
Designer Genevieve Gorder and real estate expert Peter Lorimer guide property owners in transforming their property (either the entire home or even a single room) into short-term rentals with unique features.
43. The World’s Most Extraordinary Homes (Series | 12 Episodes)
Architect Piers Taylor and Caroline Quentin travel the world to discover the world’s most extraordinary homes.
44. Amazing Interiors (Series | 12 Episodes)
“Don’t judge a book by its’ cover” is the mantra for the houses you will see featured in this series. Homes that appear ordinary on the outside transform into amazing interiors once inside.
45. Design Is One: The Vignellis
Features the work and “behind the scenes” moments with Lella and Massimo Vignelli.
FAST FASHION
46. The True Cost
Filmmaker Andrew Morgan presents issues within the garment industry including the relationship between the clothes we wear, the people who make them and the price the world pays for the clothing we wear.
47. Unravel
Follow the trail as unwanted clothes and textiles move from production to potential recycling.
Focuses on sustainable fashion and exploring whether “sustainable” is always a genuine credential.
49. The Next Black
Explores the future of clothing with designers, innovators and forward-thinking companies trying to redefine how and what we wear.
MORE MINIMALISM DOCUMENTARIES FOR INSPIRATION
50. Big Dreams, Small Spaces (Series | 17 Episodes)
Horticulturist Monty Don works with garden enthusiasts across Britain to create the garden of their dreams even in small spaces.
Meet the self-taught topiary artist Pearl Fryar who transformed his experience of a bigoted remark — when he and his wife moved into an all-white neighborhood — into a personal motivation to prove the misguided remark wrong. And in the process, rose to national prominence as gardener and a beloved member of his community.
Forester Peter Wohlleben and scientist Suzanne Simard explore how trees function and even how trees communicate with each other over decades.
53. Call Of The Forest: The Forgotten Wisdom Of Trees
Follows scientist Diana Beresford-Kroeger investigating our biological and spiritual connection with forests.
54. Samsara
A visual treasure highlighting international imagery that will inspire you to see wonder in our world from the mundane to the miraculous. Connecting our human experiences with each other as a spiritual experience.
55. Yogawoman
Features some of the women at the forefront of today’s yoga movement in contrast to yoga being originally brought to the West from India by primarily male teachers.
56. Heal
Scientists and spiritual teachers explore changing our perception of how our thoughts, beliefs and emotions can impact our health and our ability to heal.
57. The Kindness Diaries (Series | 26 Episodes)
Leon Logothetis travels the world on his vintage motorbike and relies on the kindness of strangers for food, shelter and fuel... Which he pays back in unexpected and inspiring ways.
58. Happy People: A Year In The Taiga
Features the gentle harmony of the people living in the remote natural community in the heart of the Siberian Taiga. Directed by Dmitry Vasyukov and narrated by Werner Herzog.
59. How To Live Mortgage Free with Sarah Beeny (Series)
NOTE: This show is currently listed as not available in the US.
Property expert Sarah Beeny features homeowners in the United Kingdom who have built their dream home without a large mortgage or much money.
60. A Different Path
Features a story of people who are struggling to live in an automobile dominated society and the frustrations of urban infrastructure.
61. Farmland
Features young farmers and ranchers who are taking on their family business. Explores the high risk and high reward of farming.
62. Clarkson’s Farm (Series | 8 Episodes)
NOTE: Season 2 is currently filming with an expected release date of early 2023.
Follow Jeremy Clarkson as he transitions from his previous career as a race car driver to now running a farm in the English Cotswolds countryside. with no previous farming experience. A fabulous insight into the high risk and high rewards of farming told with tons of humor.
63. Off The Cuff (Series | 15 Episodes)
Travels the world to discover and explore the most fascinating communities in the world... No matter how obscure!
SIMPLE LIVING DOCUMENTARIES
In the 1970s, Gwen Carpenter Roland and Calvin Voisin build and live on a houseboat for six years in the heart of Louisiana’s million-acre Atchafalaya River Basin Swamp with no running water and no electricity. Based on the book Atchafalaya Houseboat: My Years In The Louisiana Swamp by Gwen Roland.
A couple develops a sustainable farm by transforming 200 acres of desolate land outside of Los Angeles.
66. Growing Floret (Series | 5 Episodes)
Erin and Chris Benzakein rehabilitate 24 additional acres to expand their family flower farm in the Skagit River Valley of Washington State.
67. Herb & Dorothy
Herb and Dorothy Vogel, a postman and a librarian, have collected contemporary art since the 1960s and grew their collection to one of the most important art collections in history funded on their very modest salaries. And in the process, they redefined what it means to be an art collector.
Also watch the follow-up documentary... Herb & Dorothy 50x50
68. The Lost Kitchen (Discovery+ Series | 16 Episodes)
Following her passion – while overcoming personal and professional obstacles – Erin French opened a restaurant in her hometown of Freedom, Maine. Go behind-the-scenes to see why travelers from all over the world seek a “lottery reservation” to experience Erin’s locally inspired and sourced menu.
TAKE ACTION ➾
Download Best Documentaries On Minimalism Film Journal for your Simple Living Planner
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Best Documentaries On Minimalism Film Journal
Reference List | Film Journal
With 65+ Best Documentaries On Minimalism and Simple Living organized by category.
Also serves as a film journal to document your favorite takeaways as you watch each film or series.
21 pages
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