The Best Rituals & Traditions Documentaries

Religion & Belief - 35 free documentaries about rituals & traditions.

Start with The lives of the Amish in the US (42 min, DW Documentary), then The Frightening Pagan History of Halloween (43 min, HISTORY). All 35 documentaries here are free to watch from their makers' official uploads. To read deeper, the top-rated book on rituals & traditions is The Invention of Tradition by Eric Hobsbawm.

• The lives of the Amish in the US (42 min, DW Documentary)
• The Frightening Pagan History of Halloween | Full Special (43 min, HISTORY)
• Transylvania's Gábor – between tradition and modernity (42 min, DW Documentary)
• Tower People: The Last Medieval Society That Still Exists | The Svans (43 min, Free Documentary)
• The world of the Amish - Between tradition and temptation (42 min, DW Documentary)
• A Life of Rules: Inside Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Communities (58 min, ENDEVR)
• The Truth Behind Serbia's Notorious Witchcraft Subculture (20 min, VICE)
• Lifting 4 Tons For God. Italian Catholics Fight To Survive In Gentrified Brooklyn (22 min, VICE)
• Strictly Kosher (46 min, Real Stories)
• The Korowai: One Of The Most Ancient And Isolated Cultures (58 min, Wonder)
• Purity & Self-Mutilation: Inside Thailand’s Vegetarian Festival | Rites Of Passage (19 min, VICE)
• The Mysterious Origin of Halloween - Randall Carlson (78 min, After Skool)
• The Red Lion (48 min, Real Stories)
• Fusing Hare Krishna Icons and American Traditional Tattoo Art | Tattoo Age Episode 6 (23 min, VICE)
• The Truth Behind Canada’s Missing Girls (47 min, Real Stories)
• Hallucinogens and Culture: Exploring Salvia Divinorum (50 min, Real Stories)
• The Korowai: The Most Shocking Cultural Shift On The Planet (58 min, Wonder)
• Houses of the Dead | Habitats of the World: Indonesia (25 min, Free Documentary)
• The Lady Of The Kind Death (53 min, Real Stories)
• Brawls, Diamonds, and Celebrity Clients with TRAXNYC (78 min, VICE)
• Breaking taboos in Italy - Opening an exclusively male ritual to women (28 min, DW Documentary)
• The Story Of World's Fair: The Largest Global Event (82 min, Real Stories)
• The Mystery Of The Maori Mummy (51 min, Timeline - World History Documentaries)
• The Truth about French Women (49 min, Real Stories)
• The Musician Who's Fighting to Preserve an Ancient Culture (87 min, Real Stories)
• HISTORY OF IDEAS - Rituals (13 min, The School of Life)
• Hong Kong’s Dying Traditional Crafts: Can Modern Touches & AI Help Revive Them? (23 min, CNA Insider)
• 2000s Hello Kitty Craze & Other Toys That Shaped Singapore Culture | On The Red Dot | 1-Hour Special (45 min, CNA Insider)
• Secret Ingredient In Maori Porridge & Indonesian Cake: Fermented Vegetables | Sour, Salty & Alive (22 min, CNA Insider)
• POP CULTURE: What Is Cinema For? (10 min, The School of Life)
• Ganges - The Holy Water (49 min, VPRO Documentary)
• Traditional Medicine vs. Western Practices: Which One Is Better (133 min, Wonder)
• I Learn To Live Off The Land In Pa Ka Yaw, Chiang Mai | Growing Wild 2 - Part 2/4 (46 min, CNA Insider)
• Choose Life: This Shocking Story Changed Culture Forever (90 min, Real Stories)
• Wendy Gray: Trees across Auckland & NZ’s chainsaw culture = exotics are bad and natives are good (60 min, Our Planet)

Top-Rated Books About Rituals & Traditions

1. The Invention of Tradition by Eric Hobsbawm - View on Amazon
2. Wayfinders by Wade Davis - View on Amazon
3. Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond (4.1/5) - View on Amazon
4. The World Until Yesterday by Jared M. Diamond (3.6/5) - View on Amazon