New Documentary Movies on Kanopy - Page 234

Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors Without Borders

2008

Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors Without Borders

2008
8
In the war-zones of Liberia and Congo, four volunteers with Doctors Without Borders struggle to provide emergency medical care under extreme conditions. With different levels of experience, each volunteer must find their own way to face the challenges, the tough choices, and the limits of their idealism. "Living in Emergency" is a window into the seldom portrayed and less-than glamorous side of humanitarian aid work. It explores a world that is challenging, complex, and fraught with dilemmas - the struggles, both internal and external, that aid workers face when working in war zones and other difficult contexts.
Not Quite Hollywood

2008

Not Quite Hollywood

2008
6.8
As Australian cinema broke through to international audiences in the 1970s through respected art house films like Peter Weir's "Picnic At Hanging Rock," a new underground of low-budget exploitation filmmakers were turning out considerably less highbrow fare. Documentary filmmaker Mark Hartley explores this unbridled era of sex and violence, complete with clips from some of the scene's most outrageous flicks and interviews with the renegade filmmakers themselves.
The Garden

2008

The Garden

2008
6.6
From the ashes of the L.A. riots arose a lush, 14-acre community garden, the largest of its kind in the United States. Now bulldozers threaten its future.
Zora Neale Hurston: Jump at the Sun

2008

Zora Neale Hurston: Jump at the Sun

2008
8
Zora Neale Hurston, path-breaking novelist, pioneering anthropologist and one of the first black women to enter the American literary canon (Their Eyes Were Watching God), established the African American vernacular as one of the most vital, inventive voices in American literature. This definitive film biography, eighteen years in the making, portrays Zora in all her complexity: gifted, flamboyant, and controversial but always fiercely original.
Who Does She Think She Is

2008

Who Does She Think She Is

2008
1
"Who Does She Think She Is?," a documentary by Academy Award winning filmmaker Pamela Tanner Boll, features five fierce women who refuse to choose. Through their lives, we explore some of the most problematic intersections of our time: mothering and creativity, partnering and independence, economics and art.
Our City Dreams

2008

Our City Dreams

2008
7.4
Filmed over the course of two years, Our City Dreams is the story of a woman's struggles and successes as an artist in New York City. Told through five women artists, from youngest to oldest, the film features Swoon, Ghada Amer, Kiki Smith, Marina Abramovic, and Nancy Spero. From the studio to the streets of New York, from the canals of Venice to the alleys of Cairo and the beaches of Phuket, Our City Dreams takes us deep into the artists' worlds.
Elvis: Return To Tupelo

2008

Elvis: Return To Tupelo

2008
The Elvis phenomenon has its roots in his birthplace where Presley began a musical journey that would take him from the wrong side of the tracks in Tupelo through Memphis to worldwide iconic status. Using interviews, recordings, photographs and rare home movies, Elvis: Return to Tupelo is the rock n roll adventure story of one of the greatest cultural forces of the twentieth century.
America The Beautiful

2008

America The Beautiful

2008
6.2
In a society where "celebutantes" like Paris Hilton dominate newsstands and models who weigh less than 90 pounds die from malnutrition, female body image is one of the more dire problems facing today's society. "America the Beautiful" illuminates the issue by covering every base. Child models, plastic surgery, celebrity worship, airbrushed advertising, dangerous cosmetics - no rock is left unturned.
Man on Wire

2008

Man on Wire

2008
7.4
On August 7th 1974, French tightrope walker Philippe Petit stepped out on a high wire, illegally rigged between New York's World Trade Center twin towers, then the world's tallest buildings. After nearly an hour of performing on the wire, 1,350 feet above the sidewalks of Manhattan, he was arrested. This fun and spellbinding documentary chronicles Philippe Petit's "highest" achievement.
The Souls of Black Girls

2008

The Souls of Black Girls

2008
A provocative news documentary that questions whether or not women of color are suffering from a self-image disorder
Cocaine Cowboys 2

2008

Cocaine Cowboys 2

2008
6.7
Set in 1991 on the inner-city streets of Oakland, California, cocaine dealer Charles Cosby has his life is changed forever when he writes a fan letter to the "Cocaine Godmother" Griselda Blanco, who is serving time at a nearby federal prison. Six months later, Cosby is a multi-millionaire, Blanco's lover, and the head of her $40 million a year cocaine business.
The Order of Myths

2008

The Order of Myths

2008
6
In 2007 Mobile, Alabama, Mardi Gras is celebrated... and complicated. Following a cast of characters, parades, and parties across an enduring color line, we see that beneath the surface of pageantry lies something else altogether.
21 Up South Africa: Mandela's Children

2008

21 Up South Africa: Mandela's Children

2008
6.2
Documentaries that revisit a group of children every seven years is brought to post-apartheid South Africa. Here, filmmaker Angus Gibson interviews 11 young people of various races and backgrounds as they turn 21. The result is an insightful look at how they've changed and the issues they face such as crime, race relations, education and the AIDS epidemic which has killed three of the original 14 children.
Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson

2008

Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson

2008
6.9
Fueled by a raging libido, Wild Turkey, and superhuman doses of drugs, Thompson was a true "free lance, " goring sacred cows with impunity, hilarity, and a steel-eyed conviction for writing wrongs. Focusing on the good doctor's heyday, 1965 to 1975, the film includes clips of never-before-seen (nor heard) home movies, audiotapes, and passages from unpublished manuscripts.
Free for All!

2008

Free for All!

2008
7
One Dude's Quest to Save Democracy. A FilmBuff Presentation.
theEYE: Gillian Ayres

2008

theEYE: Gillian Ayres

2008
Gillian Ayres studied at Camberwell School of Art from 1946-50, before running the AIA Gallery with painter Henry Mundy whom she married. As a young artist in the 1950’s, Ayres was closely involved with leading British abstract artists including Roger Hilton. Ayres was quick to respond to European tachism and American abstract expressionism, creating a body of work that placed her in the forefront of her generation. In the sixties she was the only woman artist to be represented in the important ‘Situation’ exhibitions, showing large paintings combining oil and paint that aimed for the sublime using very radial drip and pour techniques of action painting.
Manga Mad

2008

Manga Mad

2008
6
An introduction to the pop culture history of comics and animation in Japan, particularly adult comics, and the obsessive fantasy world of comic & animation fans.
The Lost Pyramid

2008

The Lost Pyramid

2008
6
A study of the ruined Egyptian pyramid of the 4th dynasty pharaoh Djedefre, including evidence from a ten-year excavation which supports new theories about his reign and the pyramid's importance.
Visual Acoustics

2008

Visual Acoustics

2008
7.4
Visual Acoustics celebrates the life and career of Julius Shulman, the world's greatest architectural photographer, whose images brought modern architecture to the American mainstream. Shulman, who passed away this year, captured the work of nearly every modern and progressive architect since the 1930s including Frank Lloyd Wright, Richard Neutra, John Lautner and Frank Gehry. His images epitomized the singular beauty of Southern California's modernist movement and brought its iconic structures to the attention of the general public. This unique film is both a testament to the evolution of modern architecture and a joyful portrait of the magnetic, whip-smart gentleman who chronicled it with his unforgettable images.
Young & Restless in China

2008

Young & Restless in China

2008
9
Helmed by Sue Williams, this eye-opening documentary follows a cross section of Chinese entrepreneurs, pacesetters and struggling Gen-Xers swept up in a bubbling cauldron of rapid social and economic transition. Profiling a handful of people -- including an activist attorney, a hotelier and a downtrodden rap artist -- the film charts their trajectories over the course of four years and looks at how the sweeping transformations are affecting them.