Recommended Films for Screening
More than ever, people cite documentaries and other films as reasons they were moved to adopt a vegan lifestyle. Film-screening events are great opportunities for vegan outreach. What’s more, VegFund Film Screening grants will cover the cost of licensing the film and other event-related expenses, such as venue rental, vegan food samples, and marketing.
If you’re interested in receiving a grant from VegFund to screen a film, please review our guidelines for Film Screening grants and then apply for a grant. Here’s a list of our recommended films for screening. If there’s a film you’d like to screen that’s not on this list*, please contact us directly at grants@vegfund.org.
Please note that a few of the films listed below are not available for public screenings — notably some that are available on streaming services only — but we encourage individuals to consider hosting a Netflix Teleparty or Amazon Watch Party. While these are not eligible for VegFund grants, private in-person and virtual screening parties are a great way to share these important films with friends and family. If you have questions about a film’s eligibility for grant funding, contact us at grants@vegfund.org.
Film topic codes
Film focused on animals, animal rights, animal welfare
Film highlighting environmental impacts of animal agriculture on veganism
Film discussing dietary and health benefits of veganism
A Prayer for Compassion
2019
1 hour 37 minutes
Thomas Wade Jackson’s quest across America ultimately takes him to Morocco for the UN Climate Conference and throughout the Indian subcontinent to ask, “Can compassion grow to include all beings?” A Prayer for Compassion calls on people of faith and spiritual seekers of every stripe to expand their circle of compassion to embrace all life, regardless of species, and make choices in alignment with this value.
Director
Thomas Wade Jackson
To obtain a screening license, visit:
aprayerforcompassion.com
Blackfish
2013
1 hour 37 minutes
Blackfish tells the story of Tilikum, a performing killer whale that killed several people while in captivity. Director-producer Gabriela Cowperthwaite compiles shocking footage and emotional interviews to explore the creature’s extraordinary nature, the species’ cruel treatment in captivity, the lives and losses of the trainers, and the pressures brought to bear by the multi-billion dollar sea-park industry.
This emotionally wrenching, tautly structured story challenges us to consider our relationship to nature and reveals how little we humans have learned from these highly intelligent and enormously sentient fellow mammals.
Director
Gabriela Cowperthwaite
Available on several streaming services.
Butenland
2019
1 hour 22 minutes
A farm that has become a farm for life. The former dairy farmer Jan Gerdes and the animal welfare activist Karin Mück have created a place with their project “Hof Butenland,” where there are no more livestock — a peaceful coexistence that seems almost utopian.
Director
Marc Pierschel
Available on Netflix and Vimeo:
https://vimeo.com/ondemand/butenland
code blue
2019
1 hour 42 minutes
Through the lens of filmmaker Marcia Machado, code blue follows a passionate physician, Dr. Saray Stancic, as she reflects upon her journey from a multiple sclerosis diagnosis to wellness through her adoption of lifestyle medicine. Dr. Stancic introduces us to expert physicians and scientists who are paving the way to make meaningful and necessary change in our health care environment, and, in turn, empowering audiences to stand up and reclaim control of their health.
Director
Marcia Machado
To obtain a screening license, visit:
codebluedoc.com/host-a-screening
Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret
2014
Running time: 1 hour 31 minutes
Cowspiracy follows filmmaker Kip Andersen as he investigates the meat industry and asks why the world’s leading environmental organizations are too afraid to talk about it. As Andersen approaches leaders in the environmental movement, he increasingly uncovers what appears to be a refusal to discuss the issue of animal agriculture.
Director
Kip Andersen, Keegan Kuhn
To obtain a screening license, visit: cowspiracy.com/screening-license
David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet
2020
Running time: 1 hour 23 minutes
During his lifetime, Sir David Attenborough has seen first-hand the monumental scale of environmental change caused by human actions. Now, for the first time, he reflects on the devastating changes he’s witnessed and reveals how together we can address the biggest challenges facing life on our planet.
Directors
Alastair Fothergill, Jonathan Hughes
Available on Netflix. https://www.netflix.com/title/80216393
Dominion
2018
Running time: 2 hours 5 minutes
This feature-length documentary combines footage from hidden, handheld, and drone cameras to expose the dark underbelly of modern animal agriculture. The film reveals how humans exploit and abuse animals, particularly in the meat, dairy, egg, clothing, and entertainment industries. Joaquin Phoenix and Kat Von D narrate. Earthlings creator Shaun Monson is a co-producer.
Director
Chris Delforce
For information on screening, visit:
dominionmovement.com/act
Available to screen free of charge: dominionmovement.com/download
Earthlings
2005
1 hour 48 minutes
Narrated by Academy Award Nominee Joaquin Phoenix and featuring music by Moby, Earthlings is powerful, thought-provoking, and by far the most comprehensive documentary ever produced about humankind’s absolute economic dependence on animals raised as pets, food, clothing, entertainment, and scientific research. Using hidden cameras and never-before-seen footage, Earthlings chronicles the day-to-day practices at some of the largest industries in the world, all of which rely entirely on animals for profit.
Director
Shaun Monson
Available to screen free of charge:
www.nationearth.com
Eating Animals
2017
1 hour 35 minutes
How much do you know about the food that’s on your plate? Based on the bestselling book by Jonathan Safran Foer and narrated by co-producer Natalie Portman, Eating Animals is an urgent, eye-opening look at the environmental, economic, and public health consequences of factory farming. Spotlighting farmers who have pushed backed against industrial agriculture with more humane practices, the film offers attainable, common-sense solutions to a growing crisis, while making the case that ethical farming is not only an animal rights issue but one that affects every aspect of our lives.
Director
Christopher Quinn
Available on Hulu, Prime Video, and Vimeo.
Eating You Alive
2016
1 hour 52 minutes
Eating You Alive follows the stories of various Americans who have reversed chronic diseases such as cancer, obesity, heart disease, and diabetes by consuming a whole foods plant-based diet. The film takes a scientific look at the harmful effects of a meat-based diet.
Director
Paul David Kennamer Jr.
To obtain a screening license, visit:
www.eatingyoualive.com
VegFund funds screenings directly.†
Forks Over Knives
2011
1 hour 52 minutes
Forks Over Knives examines the claim that most chronic and degenerative diseases that afflict us can be controlled or even reversed by rejecting animal-based and processed foods and adopting a plant-based diet. The main storyline follows the personal journeys of a pair of pioneering medical researchers, Dr. T. Colin Campbell and Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn.
Director
Lee Fulkerson
To obtain a screening license, visit:
https://www.forksoverknives.com/the-film/
GUNDA
2021
1 hour 33 minutes
Experiential cinema in its purest form, Gunda chronicles the unfiltered lives of a mother pig, a flock of chickens, and a herd of cows with masterful intimacy. Director Victor Kossakovsky invites the audience to slow down and experience life as his subjects do, taking in their world with a magical patience and an other worldly perspective. Gunda asks us to meditate on the mystery of animal consciousness and reckon with the role humanity plays in it. Executive producer: Joaquin Phoenix.
Director
Victor Kossakovsky
To host a community screening, fill out the screening request form here. A representative from NEON will be in touch with you shortly with information about purchasing public viewing rights. If you need immediate assistance, please email nontheatrical@neonrated.com.
Consider pairing your film screening with this insightful video of executive producer Joaquin Phoenix interviewing director Victor Kossakovsky about the filming of Gunda to stimulate a lively post-film discussion.
H.O.P.E. What You Eat Matters
2016
1 hour 40 minutes
H.O.P.E. is a life-changing documentary that reveals the effects of the typical Western diet, which is high in animal-based foods. It contrasts the limited interests of the pharmaceutical and agricultural industry with the all-encompassing interests of living beings on this planet and with the power of responsible consumer action. H.O.P.E. is an urgent call to action for all of us to commit to sustainability and safeguarding our living environment.
Director
Nina Messinger
To obtain a screening license, visit:
www.hope-theproject.com/the-film/host-a-free-screening
I Am Greta
2020
1 hour 37 minutes
In August of 2018, Greta Thunberg, a 15-year-old student in Sweden started a school strike for the climate. Her question for adults: If you don’t care about her future on earth, why should she care about her future in school? Within months, her strike evolved into a global movement.
Director
Nathan Grossman
Available on Hulu.
https://www.hulu.com/movie/i-am-greta-6eb88d15-22f0-4f7b-90aa-6933ddc2f90a
International Vegan Film Festival
2021
Running time: Approximately 2 hours 30 minutes for full schedule of films
The International Vegan Film Festival (IVFF), an incorporated not-for-profit, is a trailblazing event dedicated to celebrating the vegan ideal: a healthier, more compassionate, environmentally friendly lifestyle that can be achieved through the consumption of plants and animal-free alternatives. The annual IVFF program presents more than 30 vegan-themed films. Film lengths run from a few minutes to half-an-hour, and the full festival runs approximately 2 hours and 30 minutes (varies by festival year).
To screen the festival, visit:
https://www.theivff.com/host-a-screening.html
Kangaroo
2017
1 hour 43 minutes
This film reveals the truth surrounding Australia’s love–hate relationship with its beloved icon. The kangaroo image is proudly used in Australia, yet when they hop across the vast continent, some consider them to be pests to be shot and sold for profit.
Directors
Kate McIntyre Clere, Michael McIntyre
To obtain a screening license, visit:
kangaroothemovie.com/host-a-screening
VegFund funds screenings directly.†
Land of Hope and Glory
2017
49 minutes
The makers of this film intend to set the record straight when UK residents insist that the horrors of factory farming don’t exist in their country. This film contains recent investigations as well as never-before-seen undercover footage, with a total of approximately 100 UK facilities featured throughout the film.
Creator
SURGE UK
Available to screen free of charge:
www.landofhopeandglory.org
Live and Let Live
2013
1 hour 21 minutes
Six people who have switched to veganism, including former butchers and factory farmers, share their stories to examine the relationship between animals and people.
Director
Marc Pierschel
Available on Prime Video and YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWi9ve2LECI
Love & Bananas: An Elephant Story
2018
1 hour 17 minutes
African elephants are slaughtered for their ivory, but the plight of the Asian elephant has been completely overlooked even though they are the elephant we are most familiar with. Love & Bananas exposes the cruel secret that every Asian elephant has to endure to become a service animal: a process knows as Pajan, aka The Crush Box. This film offers a new way of thinking about this species and shows what can be done to prevent the extinction of Asian elephants.
Director
Ashley Bell
To obtain a screening license, visit:
loveandbananas.com/host-a-screening
VegFund funds screenings directly.†
Lucent
2014
1 hour 47 minutes
Lucent explores the darker side of Australia’s pig farming industry, highlighting the day-to-day cruelty accepted by the industry as standard practice. Narrated by Lindsay McDougall (The Doctor from Triple J), the film contains footage from more than 50 farms and slaughterhouses across Australia, much of which has never been seen before.
Director
Chris Delforce
Available to screen free of charge:
www.aussiepigs.com/lucent
Matadero (“Slaughterhouse”)
2017
40 minutes
The documentary’s title, Matadero, is translated into English as Slaughterhouse: What the Meat Industry Hides. It reveals footage taken between 2015 and 2017, from 58 slaughterhouses across 10 Mexican states. The objective of this investigation is to make visible the exploitation and systematic violence inflicted upon animals in slaughterhouses — treatment which is deliberately hidden from the public by the meat industry.
Director
Aitor Garmendia
Available to screen free of charge:
http://traslosmuros.com/documental-matadero/
Okja
2017
2 hours
For 10 idyllic years, young Mija has been caretaker and constant companion to Okja — a massive animal and her best friend — at their home in the mountains of South Korea. When a powerful, multinational corporation kidnaps Okja and transports her to New York, Mija sets out on a rescue mission.
Director
Bong Joon Ho
Available on Netflix.
https://www.netflix.com/title/80091936
On The Wild Side
2019
1 hour 30 minutes
A documentary about the movements against hunting and poaching all over the world, the ethics that push individuals to refuse this form of unnecessary violence, and a reflection on our society in the crucial times of climate change and animal, earth, and human exploitation.
Director
Giacomo Giorgi
Available from several streaming services.
Peaceable Kingdom: The Journey Home
2009
1 hour 36 minutes
This film explores the powerful struggle of conscience experienced by several people from traditional farming backgrounds who come to question the basic assumptions of their way of life.
Director
Jenny Stein
Available to screen free of charge:
www.tribeofheart.org/peaceablejourney/screenings.htm
PlantPure Nation
2016
1 hour 35 minutes
PlantPure Nation tells the story of three people on a quest to spread the message of the critical health benefits of a plant-based diet. Nutritional scientist Dr. T. Colin Campbell speaks to the Kentucky legislature, and his oldest son Nelson works with State Representative Tom Riner to propose a pilot program documenting the benefits of a plant-based diet. They set into motion a series of events that expose powerful forces opposed to the diet. After industry lobbyists kill the pilot program, Nelson tries a grassroots approach before circling back to Kentucky for a dramatic ending.
Director
Nelson Campbell
Available to screen free of charge:
https://www.plantpurenation.com/pages/watch-the-film
Running for Good
2018
1 hour 15 minutes
Running for Good follows marathon runner Fiona Oakes in her attempt to compete in the “toughest footrace on earth,” the Marathon Des Sables, a 250-kilometer race through the Sahara Desert. Fiona Oakes is the fastest woman in the world to run a marathon on all seven continents and the north pole, in both cumulative and elapsed time. At age 14, Fiona was told that she would never walk properly, let alone ever run. While overcoming tremendous adversity, Fiona’s true drive to achieve incredible feats of speed and human endurance are motivated by a deep desire to raise awareness for the plight of animals. Her achievements help fund a 450-plus animal sanctuary that she takes care of every day.
Director
Keegan Khun
Available on Prime Video in some locations or for purchase from https://runningforgoodfilm.com/#home-2-section
Seaspiracy
2021
1 hour 29 minutes
From the co-creator who brought you the groundbreaking documentary Cowspiracy comes Seaspiracy, a followup that illuminates alarming truths about the widespread environmental destruction to our oceans caused by human behavior.
From plastics and fishing gear polluting the waters to the irreparable damage of bottom trawling and by-catch, to illegal fishing and devastating hunting practices, humanity is wreaking havoc on marine life — and, by extension, the entire planet.
Director
Ali Tabrizi
Available on Netflix.
https://www.netflix.com/title/81014008
Sonic Sea
2016
60 minutes
Oceans are a sonic symphony. Sound is essential to the survival and prosperity of marine life. But man-made ocean noise is threatening this fragile world. Sonic Sea is about protecting life in our waters from the destructive effects of oceanic noise pollution.
Directors
Michelle Dougherty, Daniel Hinerfeld
To obtain a screening license, visit:
https://www.sonicsea.org/host-screening
Speciesism: The Movie
2013
1 hour 34 minutes
A young documentary filmmaker uncovers the world of factory farming and discovers a growing political and intellectual movement that recognizes that animals are as important as humans.
Director
Mark DeVries
To obtain a screening license, visit:
speciesismthemovie.com/host-screening
The Cove
2009
1 hour 32 minutes
A team of activists, filmmakers, and freedivers embark on a covert mission to expose a deadly secret hidden in a remote cove in Taiji, Japan. By using state-of-the-art techniques, they uncover a horrible annual tradition of unparalleled cruelty. A provocative mix of investigative journalism, eco-adventure, and arresting imagery makes this an unforgettable and courageous story that inspires outrage and action.
Director
Louie Psihoyos
To obtain a screening license, visit:
opsociety.org/our-work/films/the-cove
The End of Meat
2017
1 hour 36 minutes
Filmmaker Marc Pierschel embarks on a journey to discover what effect a post-meat world would have on the environment, the animals, and ourselves. He meets Esther the Wonder Pig, who became an internet phenomenon; talks to pioneers leading the vegan movement in Germany; visits the first fully vegetarian city in India; witnesses rescued farm animals enjoying their newly found freedom; observes the future food innovators making meat and dairy without the animals, even harvesting “bacon” from the ocean, and much more.
Filmmaker
Marc Pierschel
To obtain a screening license, visit:
www.theendofmeat.com/en/screen.html
The Game Changers
The Game Changers
2019
1 hour 28 minutes
The Game Changers tells the story of James Wilks — elite special forces trainer and winner of The Ultimate Fighter — as he travels the world on a quest for the truth behind the world’s most dangerous myth: that meat is necessary for protein, strength, and optimal health. Meeting elite athletes, special ops soldiers, visionary scientists, cultural icons, and everyday heroes, what James discovers permanently changes his relationship with food and his definition of true strength.
Director
Louis Psyhoyos
Executive Producer
James Cameron
Available for screening only from the filmmaker’s website:
https://gamechangersmovie.com/host-a-screening/
The Ghosts in Our Machine
2013
1 hour 33 minutes
The Ghosts in Our Machine illuminates the lives of individual animals living within and rescued from the machine of our modern world. Through the heart and photographic lens of animal rights photojournalist Jo-Anne McArthur, audiences become intimately familiar with a cast of non-human animals.
Director
Liz Marshall
To obtain a screening license, visit:
lizmars.com/product/host-a-screening
The Invisible Vegan
2019
1 hour 30 minutes
The Invisible Vegan is an independent documentary that explores the problem of unhealthy dietary patterns in the African–American community, foregrounding the health and wellness possibilities enabled by plant-based vegan diets and lifestyle choices. It begins with the personal story of Jasmine Leyva, a 30-year-old black actress and filmmaker in Los Angeles. The film interweaves her narrative with the professional and personal experiences of a prominent group of vegan advocates.
Directors
Jasmine Leyva, Kenny Leyva
To obtain a screening license, visit:
https://www.theinvisiblevegan.com/contact-us/
Available on Vimeo and Prime Video.
The Last Pig
2017
53 minutes
In the mid-2010s, farmer Bob Comis published a recurring blog about the inner conflicts of his work to humanely farm pigs. The Last Pig follows Comis through his final year as a pig farmer and his struggle to reinvent his life as a vegetable farmer.
Director
Allison Argo
To obtain a screening license, visit:
www.thelastpig.com
VegFund funds screenings directly.†
Unlocking the Cage
2016
1 hour 31 minutes
Unlocking the Cage follows animal rights lawyer Steven Wise as he challenges the legal wall that separates animals from humans. This film follows his legal fight on behalf of four captive chimpanzees in New York State.
Directors
D. A. Pennebaker, Chris Hegedus
Available on HBO Max.
Vegan: Everyday Stories
2016
1 hour 31 minutes
Vegan: Everyday Stories explores the lives of four remarkably different people who share a common thread — they’re all vegan. The movie traces the personal journeys of an ultramarathon runner, a cattle rancher’s wife who creates the first cattle ranch turned farmed animal sanctuary in Texas, a food truck owner, and an 8-year-old who convinces her family of six to go vegan.
Director Glenn
Scott Lacey
To obtain a screening license, visit:
veganmovie.org/host-screening
Vegucated
2011
1 hour 16 minutes
Vegucated is a documentary film that follows three meat- and cheese-loving New Yorkers who agree to adopt a totally vegan diet for six weeks, showcasing the rapid evolution of three people who discover they can change the world by what they eat.
Director
Marisa Miller Wolfson
To obtain a screening license, visit:
https://vegucated.com/film/host-a-screening/
What the Health
2017
1 hour 37 minutes
What the Health is a film from the creators of Cowspiracy, following Kip Andersen as he investigates the medical consequences of a meat-based diet.
Directors
Kip Andersen, Keegan Kuhn
To obtain a screening license, visit:
https://www.whatthehealthfilm.com/screening
Available on Netflix and Prime Video.