Movies Like Uncovering Our Earliest Ancestor: The Link

Echoes of the Ancients: A Journey through Neanderthal Lives

2025

Echoes of the Ancients explores the lives, genes, and legacy of Neanderthals through science, archaeology, and art. It reveals the deep roots of human identity in a visually stunning and intellectually rich journey across prehistoric Europe.

When Whales Walked: Journeys in Deep Time

2019

Discover the evolutionary secrets of some of the world’s most majestic creatures. From voracious crocodiles and acrobatic birds to stupendous whales and majestic elephants, this documentary follows top scientists on a global adventure as they follow clues from the fossil record and change what we thought we knew about the evolution of iconic beasts.

Attenborough and the Giant Egg

2011

David Attenborough returns to the island of Madagascar on a very personal quest. In 1960 he visited the island to film one of his first ever wildlife series, Zoo Quest. Whilst he was there, he acquired a giant egg. It was the egg of an extinct bird known as the 'elephant bird' - the largest bird that ever lived. It has been one of his most treasured possessions ever since. Fifty years older, he now returns to the island to find out more about this amazing creature and to see how the island has changed. Could the elephant bird's fate provide lessons that may help protect Madagascar's remaining wildlife? Using Zoo Quest archive and specially shot location footage, this film follows David as he revisits scenes from his youth and meets people at the front line of wildlife protection. On his return, scientists at Oxford University are able to reveal for the first time how old David's egg actually is - and what that might tell us about the legendary elephant bird.

Your Inner Fish

2014

How did your body become the complicated, quirky, amazing machine it is today? Anatomist Neil Shubin uncovers the answers in this 3-part science series that looks at human evolution. Using fossils, embryos and genes, he reveals how our bodies are the legacy of ancient fish, reptiles and primates — the ancestors you never knew were in your family tree.

Out Of Europe

2020

Looking at whether the history of early human evolution should be rewritten. For decades, most experts have been convinced that Africa is the cradle of mankind and many fossil finds from Kenya, Ethiopia, South Africa and Chad seemed to prove it.

The Bones

2024

Following the journey of fossils from their discovery in remote corners of the earth to laboratories, museums, auction houses and collectors’ living rooms, the film weaves together interlocking stories of eccentric characters caught between the demands of commerce and the basic human drive to unlock the most profound mysteries of life. THE BONES takes us deep into the Gobi, Sahara, and North American badlands, and through laboratories, museums, high-end auction houses, and grungy hotel rooms at the Tucson gem show. Wrapped in elusive questions about the origins of life on earth, and its potential future demise, THE BONES unearths the deep passions at the heart of the dinosaur world.

Decoding Neanderthals

2013

Over 60,000 years ago, the first modern humans left their African homeland and entered Europe, then a bleak and inhospitable continent in the grip of the Ice Age. But when they arrived, they were not alone: the stocky, powerfully built Neanderthals had already been living there for hundreds of thousands of years. So what happened when the first modern humans encountered the Neanderthals? Did they make love or war?

Time of the Giants

2020

Attenborough and the Giant Sea Monster

2024

Sir David Attenborough investigates the discovery of a lifetime: the giant skull of a prehistoric sea monster, known as a pliosaur – the Tyrannosaurus rex of the seas!

Charles Darwin and the Tree of Life

2009

Darwin's great insight – that life has evolved over millions of years by natural selection – has been the cornerstone of all David Attenborough’s natural history series. In this documentary, he takes us on a deeply personal journey which reflects his own life and the way he came to understand Darwin’s theory.

Walking with Cavemen

2003

The great follow-up to 'Walking with Dinosaurs' and 'Walking with Beasts', presented by Professor Robert Winston, explains the story of human evolution.

Jane

2017

Drawing from never-before-seen footage that has been tucked away in the National Geographic archives, director Brett Morgen tells the story of Jane Goodall, a woman whose chimpanzee research revolutionized our understanding of the natural world.

Dawn of Humanity

2015

Nova and National Geographic present exclusive access to an astounding discovery of ancient fossil human ancestors.

The Amber Time Machine

2004

David Attenborough searches for the identities of preserved creatures inside a piece of Baltic amber that was given to him by his adoptive sister when he was twelve years old.

Les Derniers Secrets de l'humanité

2023

This series incorporates the latest animated 3D films to explore recent discoveries about human history, especially in Asia.

Unknown: Cave of Bones

2023

Scientists examine underground clues from over 250,000 years ago that raise questions about our early relatives — and what it truly means to be human.

Attenborough and the Sea Dragon

2018

Sir David Attenborough investigates the discovery of a 200 million year old Ichthyosaur on the Jurassic Coast in southern England. Using state of the art technology and CGI David brings the story of the fossilised ichthyosaur out of the rock and shows us what this creature was really like as it lived during the Jurassic time period.

The Curious Birth of Benjamin Button

2009

A documentary about the making of David Fincher's 2008 film THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON. Virtually every element in the evolution of the Fincher's film is documented here, from the project's attachment to numerous other directors during the 1990s, to its shoot in 2006 and 2007 in New Orleans, to its complex, CGI-intensive postproduction process.