New Documentary Movies on Kanopy - Page 126

Acorn and the Firestorm

2017

Acorn and the Firestorm

2017
5
For 40 years, the community-organizing group ACORN advocated for America’s poorest communities, while its detractors accused it of promoting the worst of liberal policies. Riding high on the momentum of Barack Obama’s presidential victory in 2008, ACORN was at its political zenith when a hidden-camera video sparked a national scandal and brought it crashing down. The story involves voter fraud, a fake prostitute, and the rise of Breitbart.com.
Blurred Lines: Inside the Art World

2017

Blurred Lines: Inside the Art World

2017
5.6
As one art scene insider proclaims, the contemporary art world can be summed up as “rich people trying to prove how rich they are,” but is that all there is to this billion dollar industry? Well-researched and expertly constructed, Barry Avrich’s eye-opening documentary peels back the layers of the art world economy- from production to circulation, and delineates every integral player in the game of art-making, including curators, gallerists, collectors, donors, auction houses, and … artists. In the process, he unpacks the complex and surprising ecosystem that supports the art world superstars and million-dollar deals that make front-page news. Featuring extraordinary access to industry players and candid statements from prominent artists like Damien Hirst, Julian Schnabel, Taryn Simon, and Marina Abramovic, Blurred Lines collides the two narratives of the art world as both above and beholden to market forces.
A Suitable Girl

2017

A Suitable Girl

2017
6.9
A Suitable Girl follows three young women in India struggling to maintain their identities and follow their dreams amid intense pressure to get married. The film examines the women's complex relationship with marriage, family, and society.
Strangers On The Earth

2017

Strangers On The Earth

2017
6
A musician walks the Camino de Santiago with a cello on his back.
The Reagan Show

2017

The Reagan Show

2017
6.5
Comprised entirely of archival footage taken during those pre-reality-television years, The Reagan Show looks at how Ronald Reagan redefined the look and feel of what it means to be the POTUS.
Luther: The Life and Legacy of the German Reformer

2017

Luther: The Life and Legacy of the German Reformer

2017
Discover the story behind the man who sparked the Protestant Reformation. Told through a seamless combination of live-action storytelling and artistic animation, Martin Luther's daring life is presented in extensive detail while still making the film relevant, provocative, and accessible.
The Departure

2017

The Departure

2017
6.8
An intimate character study of the complex figure Ittetsu Nemoto, an aimless and rebellious former punk rocker-turned-Buddhist priest. He is renowned in Japan for saving the lives of countless suicidal men and women through his wise and compassionate counsel. But Nemoto is now approaching middle-age with a wife and young boy of his own, when he learns his life is at risk from heart disease, compounded by the heavy emotional workload of supporting those who no longer want to live. When saving others takes such a toll, can he find the resiliency to save himself?
Elián

2017

Elián

2017
6.5
The story of Elián Gonzalez, a five-year-old Cuban boy plucked from the Florida Straits, and how the fight for his future changed the course of U.S.-Cuba relations. Featuring personal testimony, interviews, and a news archive, this documentary recounts Elián’s remarkable rescue on Thanksgiving Day in 1999, after his mother and 10 others fleeing Cuba perished at sea, and the custody battle between the boy’s Cuban father and his Miami-based relatives.
Citizen Jane: Battle for the City

2017

Citizen Jane: Battle for the City

2017
6.8
Writer and urban activist Jane Jacobs fights to save historic New York City during the ruthless redevelopment era of urban planner Robert Moses in the 1960s.
Shadowman

2017

Shadowman

2017
4.5
Richard Hambleton was a founder of the street art movement before succumbing to drugs and homelessness. Rediscovered 20 years later, he gets a second chance. But will he take it?
Watched

2017

Watched

2017
This short 19-minute documentary is an intimate and moving exploration of the profound and far-reaching impact of surveillance on Muslim American individuals and communities. Premiering at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival, WATCHED is told through the personal experience of two women, both coming of age in New York. The film charts the devastating toll of surveillance and reveals the scars it leaves behind.
Love the Sinner

2017

Love the Sinner

2017
1
A short documentary exploring the connection between Christianity and homophobia in the wake of the shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando.
Little Stones

2017

Little Stones

2017
5
From a graffiti artist speaking out against domestic violence in the favelas of Brazil to a dancer rehabilitating sex-trafficking survivors in India, Little Stones profiles four women, each of whom are contributing a stone to the mosaic of the women’s movement through their art. The film and accompanying education initiative have been designed to raise awareness about global women’s rights issues, and to celebrate creative, entrepreneurial, and arts-therapy based solutions to the most pressing challenges facing women globally.
The Sensitives

2017

The Sensitives

2017
5.5
In Drew Xanthopoulos’ intimate and cinematic documentary, we meet Joe, a patriarch whose affliction is so all-encompassing that he’s indifferent to his long-suffering wife; and twin brothers Sam and Nathan, musicians who are no longer able to breathe outside of their real-life sterile “plastic bubble,” and whose mother, Karen, developed her illness when she was only 17. These characters all suffer from debilitating sensitivities to their environment. Whether from ambient chemicals, genetics, electricity, or even psychogenic reasons, the cause is not clear, but the reality of the effects on these individuals is undeniable. Fortunately, Susie Molloy, a quiet firebrand who is chemically sensitive herself, seeks to help. In her, those afflicted by this modern malady have found an advocate whose mission is to de-stigmatize this community, and in telling their stories, Xanthopoulos has crafted a film itself as deeply sensitive as its title suggests. Cara Cusumano
Gilbert

2017

Gilbert

2017
6.7
The life and career of one of comedy's most inimitable modern voices, Mr. Gilbert Gottfried.
Meeting Snowden

2017

Meeting Snowden

2017
7
Moscow, Russia, December 2016. Edward Snowden, Larry Lessig and Birgitta Jónsdóttir meet for the first time in a secret place. Apparently, Russia is interfering in the US presidential elections while it mourns the death of its ambassador to Turkey. Snowden carefully chooses his interviews, so nobody really knows something about him. As the world prepares for Christmas, they gather to discuss the only issue that matters, their common struggle: how to save democracy.
Grand Coulee Dam

2017

Grand Coulee Dam

2017
6
During the darkest days of the Depression when construction was started on Grand Coulee Dam, everything about it was described in superlatives. It would be the "Biggest Thing on Earth," the salvation of the common man, a dam and irrigation project that would make the desert bloom, a source of cheap power that would boost an entire region of the country. Of the many public works projects of the New Deal, Grand Coulee Dam loomed largest in America's imagination, promising to fulfill President Franklin Roosevelt's vision for a "planned promised land" where hard-working farm families would finally be free from the drought and dislocation caused by the elements.
L.A. Burning: The Riots 25 Years Later

2017

L.A. Burning: The Riots 25 Years Later

2017
7.5
Documentary film exploring the lives of the people at the flashpoint of the LA riots, 25 years after the uprising made national headlines and highlighted the racial divide in America.
Nervous Laughter

2017

Nervous Laughter

2017
When winter swells collide with a chunk of reef off the north shore of Maui, massive waves up to 60 feet rise and crash to create the best big wave on earth. It’s called Peahi, or “Jaws,” and every year it attracts dozens of elite surfers from around the world to attempt the lethal wave. More and more, however, it’s the local crew that steals the show. An eclectic group childhood friends that followed each other into the Jaws lineup as teenagers, and through peer pressure and rivalries, pushed each other to unprecedented performances in the ensuing years. Then came the El Niño of 2016, which promised to serve up the largest swells in big-wave history. Follow the crew for an inside look at a season rife with nerves, injury, triumph and friendship.
Empathy

2017

Empathy

2017
6.6
Ed is commissioned to make a documentary intending to change those habits of society that are harmful to animals. But completely alien to the animal protection movement, he will realize that to carry out the project, he must first convince himself.