New Documentary Movies on Kanopy - Page 156

Approved for Adoption

2012

Approved for Adoption

2012
7.3
This remarkable animated documentary traces the unconventional upbringing of the filmmaker Jung Henin, one of thousands of Korean children adopted by Western families after the end of the Korean War. It is the story of a boy stranded between two cultures. Animated vignettes – some humorous and some poetic – track Jung from the day he first meet his new blond siblings, through elementary school, and into his teenage years, when his emerging sense of identity begins to create fissures at home and ignite the latent biases of his adoptive parents. The filmmaker tells his story using his own animation intercut with snippets of super-8 family footage and archival film. The result is an animated memoir like no other: clear-eyed and unflinching, humorous, and above all, inspiring in the capacity of the human heart.
United in Anger: A History of ACT UP

2012

United in Anger: A History of ACT UP

2012
6.9
United in Anger: A History of ACT UP is an inspiring documentary about the birth and life of the AIDS activist movement from the perspective of the people in the trenches fighting the epidemic. Utilizing oral histories of members of ACT UP, as well as rare archival footage, the film depicts the efforts of ACT UP as it battles corporate greed, social indifference, and government negligence.
Elephant Whisperer

2012

Elephant Whisperer

2012
Sangduen Chailert, or Lek, as she is generally known, has already rescued over 200 elephants. She has dedicated her life to saving the Asian elephant and founded a special camp, The Elephant Nature Park to protect them. We follow this winner of Time Magazine’s “Asian Hero of the Year” Award in her work. Lek is on a mission to save the Asian elephant in her native Thailand. This film looks at the plight of the Asian elephant, as it goes from being a widely used domestic animal, to becoming a burden on modernizing communities. With experts predicting its extinction within four decades, Lek’s work is needed now more than ever and she has gathered a large group of supporters and volunteers in her quest for a better future for the Asian elephant. This moving film demonstrates Lek’s natural understanding of and rapport with these huge animals and will stir the viewers emotions as it highlights the often desperate state some elephants are kept in.
Sea Nomads

2012

Sea Nomads

2012
6
One Dream, Two Brothers, One continent. Two brothers follow their dream of surfing the American Pacific showing the Continent as a whole, through its different cultures, villages, food, people, animals and landscapes while camping and surfing on their way back home to Argentina.
Chely Wright: Wish Me Away

2012

Chely Wright: Wish Me Away

2012
4.8
After a lifetime of hiding, Chely Wright becomes the first commercial country music singer to come out as gay, shattering cultural stereotypes within Nashville, per conservative heartland family and, most importantly, within herself. With unprecedented access over a two-year period, including her private video diaries, the film layers Chely's rise to fame while hiding in the late 90's with the execution of her coming out plan, culminating in the exciting moment when she steps into the media glare to reveal she is gay. The film shows both the devastation of internalized homophobia and the transformational power of living an authentic life. The film also documents the conflicting responses from Nashville, the heartland and the LGBT community as Chely Wright prepares for an unknown future.
Revolution

2012

Revolution

2012
6.1
Revolution is a new movie from internationally-acclaimed filmmaker Rob Stewart. A follow-up to his award-winning documentary Sharkwater, this continues his remarkable journey of discovery to find out that what he thought was a shark problem is actually a people problem. As Stewart's battle to save sharks escalates, he uncovers grave dangers threatening not just sharks, but humanity. In an effort to uncover the truth and find the secret to saving our own species, Stewart embarks on a life-threatening adventure through 15 countries, over four years in the making. In the past four years the backdrop of ocean issues has changed completely. Saving sharks will be a pointless endeavor if we are losing everything else in the ocean, not just sharks. Burning fossil fuels is releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere; changing the oceans, changing atmospheric chemistry and altering our climate.
Looking for Barcelona

2012

Looking for Barcelona

2012
6.5
The Central Park Five

2012

The Central Park Five

2012
7
In 1989, five black and Latino teenagers from Harlem were arrested and later convicted of raping a white woman in New York City's Central Park. They spent between 6 and 13 years in prison before a serial rapist confessed that he alone had committed the crime, leading to their convictions being overturned. Set against a backdrop of a decaying city beset by violence and racial tension, this is the story of that horrific crime, the rush to judgment by the police, a media clamoring for sensational stories and an outraged public, and the five lives upended by this miscarriage of justice.
Steve Jobs: Consciously Genius

2012

Steve Jobs: Consciously Genius

2012
This unauthorized documentary examines the influential life of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, the visionary CEO who forever altered how Americans used computers and digested music.
The Perfect Human Diet

2012

The Perfect Human Diet

2012
5.7
"The Perfect Human Diet" is an unprecedented global exploration to find a solution to our epidemic of overweight obesity and diet-related disease - the #1 killer in America. The film bypasses current dietary group-think by exploring modern dietary science, previous historical findings, ancestral native diets and the emerging field of human dietary evolution; revealing for the first time, the authentic human diet. Film audiences finally have the opportunity to see what our species really needs for optimal health and are introduced to a practical template based on these breakthrough scientific facts.
After Porn Ends

2012

After Porn Ends

2012
5.6
Documentary examining what happens to some of the biggest names in the history of the adult entertainment industry after they leave the business and try and live "normal" lives.
Bill W.

2012

Bill W.

2012
6.8
William G. Wilson is co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, a man included in TIME Magazine's "100 Persons of the 20th Century." Interviews, recreations, and rare archival material reveal how Bill Wilson, a hopeless drunk near death from his alcoholism, found a way out of his own addiction and then forged a path for countless others to follow. With Bill as its driving force, A.A. grew from a handful of men to a worldwide fellowship of over 2 million men and women - a success that made him an icon within A.A., but also an alcoholic unable to be a member of the very society he had created. A reluctant hero, Bill Wilson lived a life of sacrifice and service, and left a legacy that continues every day, all around the world.
Never Stand Still

2012

Never Stand Still

2012
9
The film explores why dance matters - to those who create and perform it and to those who watch it. This documentary tells the remarkable story of how an abandoned Massachusetts farm has evolved into a National Historic Landmark and a nexus for dance throughout the world. Its unlikely purchase by choreographer Ted Shawn during the Great Depression allowed this secluded site in the Berkshires to become the internationally renowned Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival. Through candid conversations with world-class choreographers and dancers, thrilling performances, backstage access, and rare footage from the Pillow's Archives, 'Never Stand Still' immerses the viewer in this most ephemeral of art forms, celebrating not only its value to our culture but to our lives.
Precious Knowledge

2012

Precious Knowledge

2012
Disenfranchised high school seniors become academic warriors and community leaders in Tucson, Arizona's embattled Ethnic Studies classes while state lawmakers attempt to eliminate the program.
Mayan Renaissance

2012

Mayan Renaissance

2012
Mayan Renaissance is a feature length film which documents the glory of the ancient Maya civilization, the Spanish conquest in 1519, 500 years of oppression, and the courageous fight of the Maya to reclaim their voice and determine their own future, in Guatemala and throughout Central America. The film stars 1992 Nobel Peace Laureate and Maya Leader Rigoberta Mencu Tum. All of the images, voices, expert commentary and music in the film come directly from Central America, the heart of the Mayan World.
56 Up

2012

56 Up

2012
7.2
When a cross-section of seven-year-olds were interviewed for 7 Up in 1964 it was immediately evident that their social backgrounds influenced their attitudes towards life. While the upper class children were confident and self-assured, those from middle and working class backgrounds were resigned to a challenging life of hard work. This premise was put to the test every seven years when the same group were interviewed about the progression of their lives. 49 years in the making, the changes that occurred to the original 14 make for fascinating television and are in many ways the stories of all our lives. From success and disappointment, marriage and childbirth, to poverty and illness, nearly every facet of life has been captured on film. Now, at the age of 56, the group are once more brought together and, with the benefit of hindsight, assess whether their lives have been ruled by circumstance or self-determination.
Portrait of Wally

2012

Portrait of Wally

2012
6
“Portrait of Wally”, Egon Schiele’s tender picture of his mistress, Walburga (“Wally”) Neuzil, is the pride of the Leopold Museum in Vienna. But for 13 years the painting was locked up in New York, caught in a legal battle between the Austrian museum and the Jewish family from whom the Nazis seized the painting in 1939.
China Heavyweight

2012

China Heavyweight

2012
6
In southwestern China, state athletic coaches scour the countryside to recruit poor, rural teenagers who demonstrate a natural ability to throw a good punch. Moved into boxing training centers, these boys and girls undergo a rigorous regimen that grooms them to be China’s next Olympic heroes but also prepares them for life outside the ring. As these young boxers develop, the allure of turning professional for personal gain and glory competes with the main philosophy behind their training – to represent their country. Interconnected with their story is that of their charismatic coach, Qi Moxiang, who – now in his late thirties and determined to win back lost honor – trains for a significant fight.
Earth

2012

Earth

2012
5.2
Let yourself be taken on a fascinating journey around the world. Experience animal and landscape shots as if you were in the middle of it, thanks to modern 3D technology. The diversity of species will astonish you. Experience an iridescent play of colors as only nature can provide. Modern 3D technology takes nature right into your living room. Let the shots impress and captivate you. This real 3D Blu-ray disk in stereoscopic 3D not only accompanies you through our colorful world but also explains the evolution of our planet, the most beautiful of all planets, the blue planet, our home!
30 Years of Darkness

2012

30 Years of Darkness

2012
6.9
When the Spanish Civil War came to an end, Manuel Cortes was unable to flee the country. After a long journey, he managed to get back home in the dark without being discovered. His wife, Juliana, told him how the winning forces were shooting many of their fellow citizens. Manuel and Juliana decided to dig a small hole in the wall for Manuel to hide in. He could not even begin to imagine that this small hideaway was to become his private jail for the following 30 years. This is the story of the so-called post-war moles, people who had to put their lives on hold in order to escape from the repression imposed by the victors of the civil war.