Jane Goodall: Reason for Hope (1999)

This documentary is a biography of Jane Goodall, primatologist and conservationist. It is particularly concerned with her spiritual development, and her message of hope that, working together, humans can overcome our differences and make the world safe and habitable for ourselves and the creatures our choices impact. It follows her from her birth and upbringing in a staunchly matriarchal home in England, her independent decision to travel to Africa, where she meets paleontologist Dr. Louis Leakey. He assigns her, along with Dian Fossey (Gorillas in the Mist) and Birkut Galdikas to study the Great Apes, humankind's closest living relatives. She undergoes many travails, but at 73 she remains a tireless champion and communicator for the plight of chimpanzees and the societies around them.