Popular Documentary Movies on Kanopy - Page 106

Escape to Life: The Erika and Klaus Mann Story

2001

Escape to Life: The Erika and Klaus Mann Story

2001
5
This documentary contains dramatized episodes about the lives of Erika and Klaus Mann, the brilliant children of German writer Thomas Mann.
The Personals: Improvisations on Romance in the Golden Years

2000

The Personals: Improvisations on Romance in the Golden Years

2000
6
Documentary about a Jewish senior citizens' acting group on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. The film covers both the progress and impediments of a play the group is mounting about senior citizens looking for love and the life/love stories (past, present, and predictions) of the players.
Screaming Queens: The Riot at Compton's Cafeteria

2005

Screaming Queens: The Riot at Compton's Cafeteria

2005
4.2
The first major uprising against police brutality, harassment, and societal oppression was not at Stonewall in 1969, but at Compton's Cafeteria in San Francisco three years earlier. Those who stood up were trans women and gay men. Now, nearly 40 years on, Susan Stryker and Victor Silverman tell the story of this oft-overlooked event in the history of American civil rights.
Black Indians: An American Story

2004

Black Indians: An American Story

2004
6.3
James Earl Jones narrates this examination of the historical relationship between American Indians and African-Americans, who often merged their cultures to work and live together while mainstream white society shunned them. Through illuminating anecdotes and interviews, descendants of fused black and Indian families discuss the complications of their mixed heritage and how their culture was largely erased on official documents.
Mammy Water

1953

Mammy Water

1953
5.8
"Mammy Water" is mother sea, source of food. Jean Rouch filmed this short documentary in the Gulf of Guinea, in Ghana, where is held a colorful festival, the Chama, in which the participants offer cassava, gin and tobacco to the spirits of water and sacrifice a white ox to thank them and express their gratitude and respect.
Superstar in a Housedress: The Life and Legend of Jackie Curtis

2004

Superstar in a Housedress: The Life and Legend of Jackie Curtis

2004
3
Andy Warhol described Jackie Curtis as “A pioneer without a frontier.” In this biographical documentary, Curtis’s co-workers and friends speak of her work and her influence, along with clips from Curtis’s Warhol films as well as never-before-seen footage from her stage shows.
Shakespeare Behind Bars

2005

Shakespeare Behind Bars

2005
5.8
Twenty male inmates in a Kentucky prison form an unlikely Shakespearean acting troupe.
Tripping With Caveh

2004

Tripping With Caveh

2004
4.8
With longtime collaborators Greg Watkins (A Little Stiff) and Thomas Logoreci, the charismatic, experimental filmmaker Caveh Zahedi approaches legendary songwriter Will Oldham (Palace Brothers, Bonnie "Prince" Billy) in an unconventional interview. Caveh offers up a serving of psychedelic mushrooms and a view on the relationship between the musician and his fan.
Arna's Children

2004

Arna's Children

2004
6.8
Juliano Mer Khamis' documentary on his mother, Arna, an activist against the Israeli occupation who founded an alternative education system for Palestinian children.
Hey! Is Dee Dee Home?

2003

Hey! Is Dee Dee Home?

2003
5.6
Punk rock devotees will welcome director Lech Kowalski's reflective video portrait of late bassist Dee Dee Ramone and his life as a music industry icon -- including his self-destructive bouts with heroin. The centerpiece of the hourlong documentary -- which is peppered with vintage performance clips -- is a 1991 interview with a clean Dee Dee, who talks at length about his storied career and penchant for living on the edge.
NEXT: A Primer on Urban Painting

2005

NEXT: A Primer on Urban Painting

2005
6.8
A worldwide culture develops around graffiti art.
Henri Langlois: The Phantom of the Cinémathèque

2005

Henri Langlois: The Phantom of the Cinémathèque

2005
6.8
Life and work of the founder of the Cinémathèque Française.
London in the Raw

1964

London in the Raw

1964
3.8
Influenced by the worldwide success of Italian 'Mondo' movies, British low-budget movie mogul Arnold Louis Miller concocted this exploitation-style documentary. Peering behind the grimy net curtains of London life into seedy bars and clubs, and burrowing beneath the glittering façade of the capital's glamorous cocktail lounges and casinos, "London in the Raw" presents a cynical, sometimes startling, vision of life in 1960s London.
Live Nude Girls Unite!

2000

Live Nude Girls Unite!

2000
4.5
Documentary look at the 1996-97 effort of the dancers and support staff at a San Francisco peep show, The Lusty Lady, to unionize. Angered by arbitrary and race-based wage policies, customers' surreptitious video cameras, and no paid sick days or holidays, the dancers get help from the Service Employees International local and enter protracted bargaining with the union-busting law firm that management hires. We see the women work, sort out their demands, and go through the difficulties of bargaining. The narrator is Julia Query, a dancer and stand-up comedian who is reluctant to tell her mother, a physician who works with prostitutes, that she strips.
The True Meaning of Pictures: Shelby Lee Adams' Appalachia

2002

The True Meaning of Pictures: Shelby Lee Adams' Appalachia

2002
6.5
The meaning of art itself comes into question in this documentary about Shelby Lee Adams' controversial photos of families in Appalachia.
Woubi Chéri

1998

Woubi Chéri

1998
4
This documentary shows a few days in the life of various members of Abdijan, Ivory Coast's gay and transgender community. We get to meet a variety of woubis, yossis, etc. The hero/heroine of the film is a statuesque young man named Barbara who is organising the annual year-end party of the Ivory Coast Tranvestite Association, to be held December 27, 1997.
What Remains

2005

What Remains

2005
4.9
At home at her Virginia farm, photographer Sally Mann reflects on the controversy surrounding her earlier collections while forging ahead with new work in this intimate portrait of an artist. Also offering insights into the photographer's career are Mann's husband and her now-grown offspring.
Voices of Iraq

2004

Voices of Iraq

2004
6.6
Filmed and directed by the Iraqis themselves -- thousands of them, from all walks of life, all over their country. The producers, who distributed more than 150 digital video cameras across the country, condensed more than 400 hours of footage into an unprecedented, and startling, look at life in a war zone. It's a new genre of filmmaking.
The Fourth World War

2003

The Fourth World War

2003
5.5
From the front-lines of conflicts in Mexico, Argentina, South Africa, Palestine, Korea, 'the North' from Seattle to Genova, and the 'War on Terror' in New York, Afghanistan, and Iraq. It is the story of men and women around the world who resist being annihilated in this war. While our airwaves are crowded with talk of a new world war, narrated by generals and filmed from the noses of bombs, the human story of this global conflict remains untold. "The Fourth World War" brings together the images and voices of the war on the ground. It is a story of a war without end and of those who resist. The product of over two years of filming on the inside of movements on five continents, "The Fourth World War" is a film that would have been unimaginable at any other moment in history. Directed by the makers of "This Is What Democracy Looks Like" and "Zapatista", produced through a global network of independent media and activist groups, it is a truly global film from our global movement.
Daddy and Papa

2002

Daddy and Papa

2002
3.9
What if your most controversial act turned out to be the most traditional thing in the world? Daddy & Papa explores the growing phenomenon of gay fatherhood and its impact on American culture. Through the stories of four different families, Daddy & Papa delves into some of the particular challenges facing gay men who decide to become dads. From surrogacy and interracial adoption, to the complexities of gay divorce, to the battle for full legal status as parents, Daddy & Papa presents a revealing look at some of the gay fathers who are breaking new ground in the ever-changing landscape of the American family.