Sometimes you want to watch TV that serves as an escape to another universe (you might have heard of Game of Thrones), but a well-made documentary can be just as riveting.

This year’s Oscar winner, Free Solo, is a classic example of that, but you don’t have to look overseas if you want to watch quality documentary-making.

Showmax currently has three superb, local doccies ready to be ticked off (use the free 14-day trial and you’re golden), which touch on seminal moments in this country’s history.

We will start with Everything Must Fall, which is directed by Rehad Desai, who won the International Emmy Award for ‘Best Documentary’ for Miners Shot Down, about the Marikana massacre.

Here’s the write-up:

An unflinching look at the #FeesMustFall student movement that burst onto the South African political landscape in 2015 as a protest over the cost of education. The story is told by four student leaders at Wits University and their Vice Chancellor, Adam Habib, a left-wing, former anti-apartheid student activist. When Habib’s efforts to contain the protest fail, he brings 1 000 police onto campus, with dire consequences for the young leaders…

We all remember the wall-to-wall media coverage, but here’s what many considered the definitive, and most well-rounded, documentary on the controversial movement:

The doccie nabbed ‘Best Documentary’ and ‘Best Documentary Director’ at this year’s South African Film and Television Awards.

While you’re in the mood, you should also watch the previously mentioned Miners Shot Down (watch that in full here).

Next up is the story of one of South Africa’s most mercurial and mysterious music talents, James Phillips (pictured right up top), as told in The Fun’s Not Over:

Phillips, who died aged 36 in July 1995, was the voice and conscience of a generation of white South Africans. The Fun’s Not Over tells a little known and now almost forgotten part of South African cultural history that emerged from white alternative protest music during the 1980s and 1990s.

If James’ name doesn’t ring any bells, you might recall Bernoldus Niemand. We’ve said enough:

This is James’ story in his own words, and through the voices of the likes of Jack Parow, Koos Kombuis, Max du Preez, Pieter Dirk Uys, Vusi Mahlasela and his friends and family.

SA journalist Gus Silber called it “brilliant, illuminating, and deeply moving…a happy-sad masterpiece of South African musical lore”.

Finally, with the national elections just around the corner, it’s worth revisiting the superb The Giant is Falling, which documents the decline of the ruling party:

…the film charts the various ways people have collectively responded to the ANC’s failure to deliver on its promises. From the end of the ANC’s special relationship with the trade unions, to the #FeesMustFall student movement, to the more recent crushing electoral losses at the polls for the party of liberation, the film picks at the festering sore of inequality that is making the current status quo untenable.

In case you needed a reminder of how we arrived at this point, roll the tape:

That Jacob Zuma cackle really did send a shiver down my spine.

To watch these three doccies, and the massive treasure trove of Showmax content, start your free 14-day trial here. Showmax is also free for existing DStv Premium subscribers, can be watched on your TV, computer, mobile and tablet devices, and costs R99 a month for those who aren’t signed up with DStv.

Now wait for that rainy day and get stuck in.