“These animals are like ghosts,” says Carlton Ward Jr.—National Geographic explorer, photographer, and 8th generation Floridian—at the beginning of this captivating film that endeavors to keep the Florida Panther from becoming just that: a ghost. As the last big cat surviving in the eastern United States and the state animal of Florida, the panther is an icon of Florida’s ever-diminishing wild places, as revealed in the film’s sumptuous images. Leading a team that includes cowboys, wildlife biologists, photographers/videographers, and a lot of folks who simply care about the future of Florida’s fragile ecology, Ward treks repeatedly into the Everglades and expanses of South Florida to seek, record, and save these ghosts.
Related Movies
I Am Another You (2017)
Through the eyes of a young drifter who rejects society's rules and intentionally chooses to live on the streets, Chinese filmmaker Nanfu Wang explores the meaning of personal freedom – and its limits.
Project Florida (1971)
Marketing film for Walt Disney World showing the creation of the new theme park, with footage of WED designers at work, actual construction, scale models, the Preview Center, and Walt Disney discussing his hopes for the project from an earlier 1966 film.
Naked Gardens (2024)
A visually stunning narrative documentary, NAKED GARDENS immerses audiences in the complex, unseen world of a family nudist resort in the Florida Everglades. Filmed over one season at this lush tropical campsite, the film follows the stories of individuals drawn to an unusual community, which promises both non-conformist values and, more importantly for some, a cheap place to live. As aging owner Morley and his residents prepare for the largest gathering of nudists in the US, the Mid-Winter Naturist Festival, they are faced with challenges both as a community and as individuals.
How the West Was One (2024)
In a contemporary reimagining of the American West, three young women - a snake hunter, a New York artist, and a rodeo queen - challenge the idea of who is permitted to be a cowgirl.
Turtle: The Incredible Journey (2009)
The story of a little loggerhead turtle, as she follows in the path of her ancestors on one of the most extraordinary journeys in the natural world. Born on a beach in Florida, she rides the Gulf Stream up towards the Arctic and ultimately swims around the entire North Atlantic across to Africa and back to the beach where she was born. But the odds are stacked against her; just one in ten thousand turtles survive the journey.
Some Kind of Heaven (2021)
Behind the gates of a palm-tree-lined fantasyland, three residents and one interloper at America’s largest retirement community strive to find happiness.
Vernon, Florida (1981)
Early Errol Morris documentary intersplices random chatter he captured on film of the genuinely eccentric residents of Vernon, Florida. A few examples? The preacher giving a sermon on the definition of the word "Therefore," and the obsessive turkey hunter who speaks reverentially of the "gobblers" he likes to track down and kill.
Murder on a Sunday Morning (2001)
2001 French documentary about the murder trial of a 15 year old black teen accused of murder in Jacksonville, Florida. Winner of 2002 Academy Award for Best Documentary.
Bully (2011)
This year, over 5 million American kids will be bullied at school, online, on the bus, at home, through their cell phones and on the streets of their towns, making it the most common form of violence young people in this country experience. The Bully Project is the first feature documentary film to show how we've all been affected by bullying, whether we've been victims, perpetrators or stood silent witness. The world we inhabit as adults begins on the playground. The Bully Project opens on the first day of school. For the more than 5 million kids who'll be bullied this year in the United States, it's a day filled with more anxiety and foreboding than excitement. As the sun rises and school busses across the country overflow with backpacks, brass instruments and the rambunctious sounds of raging hormones, this is a ride into the unknown.
The Definition of Insanity (2020)
The Miami-Dade Community Mental Health Project comes to life in this documentary, following a team of dedicated public servants working through the courts to steer people with mental illness on a path from incarceration to recovery.
Stolen Kingdom (2025)
A look into the underground community of rule-breakers at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida and how their actions led to the disappearance of an Audio-Animatronic named Buzzy.
The Perfect Neighbor (2025)
A minor disagreement between neighbors in Florida takes a lethal turn, with police body camera footage and interviews probing the aftermath of the state's controversial "stand your ground" laws.
Christmas In Florida (2021)
A canceled Thanksgiving parade and no options professionally or personally, Kimberly DiPersia and Alex R. Wagner decide it would be a perfect opportunity to travel to Florida.
Invisible History: Middle Florida's Hidden Roots (2021)
This film sheds light on the little-known history of plantations and the enslaved in North Florida. It seeks to advance a sense of place and identity for thousands of African-Americans by exploring the invisible history of slavery in Leon County.
Prowlers of the Everglades (1953)
Part of the "True-Life Adventure Series"; Disney filmmakers take their cameras to Florida, not to document the swamps that would become Walt Disney World, but to capture the lives of creatures in the everglades. Focusing primarily on alligators, we also see the behavior of animals such as snakebirds, raccoons, and even otters who like to "play" with the alligators.
They Called Him Mostly Harmless (2024)
When an unidentified hiker is found deceased in the Florida wilderness, authorities release a sketch. Multiple hikers call in claiming to have met the man. There's only one problem – he never told them his name. It would take two years, thousands of devoted internet sleuths, and a miracle of science to identify him, and that's when the trouble really starts.
A Greater Society (2018)
It’s the 2014 midterms and residents of a South Florida retirement community feel the weight of democracy on their shoulders. In one of the most influential counties of America’s largest swing state, these political kingmakers trade their golf clubs for clipboards and hit the pavement to get out the vote. A GREATER SOCIETY is a feature documentary to inspire voter turnout. Inside the gates of Wynmoor Village are three miles of manicured lawns lined with palm trees, a golf course, and carefully maintained condominiums. At first glance, it’s just another retirement community where elders go to enjoy their golden years relaxing by the pool and taking ceramics classes; but look further and you’ll see that the people who live in this community share something unique: the power to have a real impact on national politics.
The Rabbit Hunt (2017)
Every weekend, seventeen year old Chris and his family hunt rabbits during sugarcane field burning and harvesting in the Florida Everglades.
