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Documentary film has the power to engage an audience at a level beyond entertainment, and go on to enlighten hearts and minds. 

​During New Zealand's National Alert levels which require everyone to follow varying levels of Social Distancing the desire to come together to share experiences remains strong. Virtual Thoughtful Thursdays looks at all the films we've shown over the years at Thoughtful Thursdays, listing those which have a legally free to view online version for our Whanganui audience.

Scroll to the bottom to see all the Thoughtful Thursday films we've screened that are now available to view for free in New Zealand. Or carry on reading for some useful information to help your viewing experience be as good as possible.

Equipment and devices

Your viewing experience will depend upon the quality of three things.

​1. Firstly the size and placement of your screening device:

• any device that can connect to the internet with a browser application, for example Safari on an iPad, or Google Chrome on an Android Tablet device
• some viewing services offer dedicated apps and sometimes these improve your viewing experience
• if you are using a small screen, such as an iPhone, then the closer you can comfortably be to the screen the better your experience will be. Remember to use a stable platform to rest the device on, rather than holding it, as this soon becomes uncomfortable after a few mins. Books on a table or a cushion on a chair are all good ideas
• you may also be able to screen cast your device onto your television. If you have a ChromeCast or AppleTV plugged into the TV then this is a straight forward solution. Also some TVs have a built in function to act as monitors for your device. Try an internet search for 'how to Chromecast my device' or 'watching an iPhone on AppleTV' for more information.

2. Secondly consider how best you can hear the device:

• a quiet room is good if you are sharing your viewing experience with someone else in your bubble. Reduce distractions by switching your device to 'do not disturb' mode and also a darker room can help but be careful of eye strain if the screen is too bright
• using headphones is great if you are watching alone
• again if you can ChromeCast or use an AppleTV to view your device on your TV then the sound will also be wirelessly transferred and be a great way to see and hear everything.

3. Lastly, your internet speed and service could impact your viewing experience:

• even if you have a fast fibre connection to your home, many of the streaming services are now reducing their quality (bandwidth) for individual viewers. A lower bandwidth can mean the picture looks fuzzy or blurry as the resolution is lower from what you are used to. There is no solution to this other than maybe trying to watch during the day instead of popular times - but remember for international services our daytime could be other countries popular times
• if your playback stutters then you could also try just leaving the streaming link open, but stop watching it until it has buffered a bit more, so it stops pausing.

Free online viewing services

Unlike many other lists of 'films you must watch at home' of the Virtual Thoughtful Thursday recommendations are free to watch online. Although sometimes you may need to be in a council area, like Whanganui, that supports a service called Kanopy through the local library.

Many of you will have heard of Netflix, iTunes, Disney+, or OnDemand services from NZ broadcasters. Whilst these services are great for a broad range of content, much of it recent releases. They all feature a cost per item, either directly for things like iTunes where you pay for what you watch, or indirectly for subscription services like Disney+, where you pay for a monthly or annual fee to watch as much as you want in that period.
Either way all of these services can quickly start to cost much more than you might pay for a weekly cinema visit, and they feature aggressive marketing practices to keep you hook.

The great news is that in 2020 there are a growing number of completely free repositories of quality online film content, in particular documentary film. Some of these services impose monthly limits, or in the case of DocPlay, offer a free 30 day trial. But others such as the national film archives around the globe, provide quality, important, films that are free to watch, including outside each particular country.

Lastly in these unusual times a number of filmmakers are making their catalogue of films free to watch online using platforms such as YouTube, or Vimeo (which is like YouTube but has no adverts).

Remember that online services are not required to follow the same guidelines for classification and audience suitability.

Therefore you may need to do some of your own research before anyone under 18 years is safe to watch some titles. For Virtual Thoughtful Thursday films we will include the original theatrical release classification in the listing. But technically, although unlikely, the version of the film that was classified may be different to the version available online, so these classifications are only a guide.