Top 34 Documentaries in France
This curated ranking covers the 34 largest documentaries in France, ordered by estimated audience size from Rascasse's anonymized search-behavior signals. Yves Saint Laurent (film), POV (TV series) and Zone Interdite (TV program) lead the list with a combined estimated audience of 3,738,883 people. Across all 34 entries the average audience size is 124,965, and the largest, Yves Saint Laurent (film), reaches around 1,818,017 people in France. Audience size is the estimated number of unique people in France who actively engage with each documentary, derived from search demand signals. Rankings reflect search-behavior signals collected across France and are refreshed weekly.
Ranking
| Rank | Name | Audience size | Country share | Subtype | Category |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Yves Saint Laurent (film) |
1,818,017 | 12.7% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 2 |  POV (TV series) |
1,686,210 | 20.0% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 3 |  Zone Interdite (TV program) |
234,656 | 98.7% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 4 |  Vice (TV series) |
178,028 | 6.0% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 5 |  Man on Wire |
70,267 | 23.5% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 6 |  Walking with Dinosaurs |
45,149 | 4.2% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 7 |  Anime club |
43,537 | 1.5% | Documentary | Literature |
| 8 |  Bowling for Columbine |
40,561 | 8.2% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 9 |  FRONTLINE |
38,665 | 0.6% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 10 |  Pumping Iron |
16,955 | 1.5% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 11 |  March of the Penguins |
13,100 | 4.6% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 12 |  The Blue Planet |
12,637 | 4.0% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 13 |  Wile E. Coyote and The Road Runner |
9,996 | 1.3% | Documentary | Literature |
| 14 |  Restrepo (film) |
8,059 | 0.5% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 15 |  The Thin Blue Line (1988 film) |
6,934 | 1.2% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 16 |  Blue Planet |
4,276 | 0.9% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 17 |  Oddities (TV series) |
4,184 | 0.6% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 18 |  Roadkill (Internet show) |
4,005 | 0.6% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 19 |  Finding Your Roots |
3,045 | 0.4% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 20 |  The Original Kings of Comedy |
2,425 | 0.3% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 21 |  Frozen Planet |
1,997 | 0.8% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 22 |  The Story of Stuff |
972 | 0.7% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 23 |  Inside Edition |
717 | 0.1% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 24 |  A Football Life |
701 | 0.7% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 25 |  Vegucated |
700 | 1.8% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 26 |  México Pelágico |
596 | 25.4% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 27 |  Miss Representation |
504 | 0.4% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 28 |  The Acting Class |
428 | 2.1% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 29 |  Deadly Women |
418 | 0.1% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 30 |  Living with Wolves |
317 | 1.9% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 31 |  Seconds From Disaster |
248 | 0.8% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 32 |  Living Proof (film) |
245 | 0.2% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 33 |  Extreme Engineering |
141 | 0.3% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 34 |  Light Fantastic (TV series) |
138 | 0.6% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
Frequently asked questions
How is this Top 34 list compiled?
Rascasse aggregates anonymized search-behavior signals across France and ranks each documentary by its estimated audience size. Only entries with at least 5 measured entities are listed.
How often is the list updated?
The ranking is refreshed weekly from the latest search-behavior data and re-published as a static page.
What is the largest documentary in France?
Yves Saint Laurent (film) currently leads with an estimated audience of 1,818,017 people in France.
Methodology
Audience sizes are estimated from anonymized search-behavior signals across France. Lists below 5 entries are not published. See methodology for full details.