Popular Documentary Movies on Kanopy - Page 114

Art of the Game: Ukiyo-e Heroes

2017

Art of the Game: Ukiyo-e Heroes

2017
7
A Canadian craftsman and an American designer with a father and son generation gap collaborate to revive the ancient Japanese woodcut using pop-culture icons: Mario and Pokémon.
The Fight

2020

The Fight

2020
5.2
Inside the ACLU, five scrappy lawyers battle against the Trump administration’s historic assault on civil liberties - from separating families at the border, to rolling back transgender, reproductive, and voting rights.
Space Station 3D

2002

Space Station 3D

2002
6.4
Some 220 miles above Earth lies the International Space Station, a one-of-a-kind outer space laboratory that 16 nations came together to build. Get a behind-the-scenes look at the making of this extraordinary structure in this spectacular IMAX film. Viewers will blast off from Florida's Kennedy Space Center and the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Russia for this incredible journey -- IMAX's first-ever space film. Tom Cruise narrates.
Conversion

2021

Conversion

2021
1
A psychologist practicing conversion therapy has a chance encounter with a young gay activist, resulting in his own epiphany concerning the very practice he was conducting.
Blood Sugar Rising

2020

Blood Sugar Rising

2020
Blood Sugar Rising follows the diabetes epidemic in the U.S. Diabetes and pre-diabetes affect over 100 million people in the US, costing more than $325 billion each year. Blood Sugar Rising puts human faces to these statistics, exploring the history and science of the illness through portraits of Americans whose stories shape the film.
10 Questions for the Dalai Lama

2006

10 Questions for the Dalai Lama

2006
7.2
How do you reconcile a commitment to non-violence when faced with violence? Why do the poor often seem happier than the rich? Must a society lose its traditions in order to move into the future? These are some of the questions posed to His Holiness the Dalai Lama by filmmaker and explorer Rick Ray. Ray examines some of the fundamental questions of our time by weaving together observations from his own journeys throughout India and the Middle East, and the wisdom of an extraordinary spiritual leader. This is his story, as told and filmed by Rick Ray during a private visit to his monastery in Dharamsala, India over the course of several months. Also included is rare historical footage as well as footage supplied by individuals who at great personal risk, filmed with hidden cameras within Tibet.
The Poison Squad

2020

The Poison Squad

2020
8
The story of government chemist Dr. Harvey Wiley who, determined to banish dangerous substances from dinner tables, took on the powerful food manufacturers and their allies.
How to Eat Your Watermelon in White Company (and Enjoy It)

2005

How to Eat Your Watermelon in White Company (and Enjoy It)

2005
7
Melvin Van Peebles was one of the first black directors to challenge the white establishment in his films, which include "Watermelon Man" and "Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song." In this documentary, the life of Van Peebles is discussed, including his work not only in film, but also as a novelist, actor, musician, stock trader and even Air Force pilot. Interview subjects include Gil Scott-Heron, Spike Lee and Melvin's son and fellow filmmaker, Mario Van Peebles.
New York Dance States of Performance

2010

New York Dance States of Performance

2010
Seven choreographers work tirelessly to both question and embrace their chosen form, producing work that celebrates the strange, startling and poetic beauty of dance and performance. Curated by Gia Kourlas. Narrated by the choreographers.
Harriet Tubman: Visions of Freedom

2021

Harriet Tubman: Visions of Freedom

2021
8.5
This powerful, nuanced portrait arrives just in time celebrate the bicentennial of American abolitionist and political activist Harriet Tubman. Parts of her story are well known; born into slavery, Tubman escaped and subsequently made some 13 missions to rescue approximately 70 enslaved people, including family and friends, using the network of anti-slavery activists and safe houses known as the Underground Railroad. But the film delves deeper, illuminating her spirit and strength through exploits as a union scout and spy during the Civil War, an activist for women's suffrage and a singular figure who defied categorization at every turn. The foremost chronicler of the Black experience working in nonfiction film today, Stanley Nelson, alongside co-director Nicole London, brings rich, deeply researched historical detail to the story of this remarkable woman.
Boris Karloff: The Man Behind the Monster

2021

Boris Karloff: The Man Behind the Monster

2021
7
Beginning just before his debut as Frankenstein’s creation, this documentary compellingly explores the life and legacy of a cinema legend, presenting a perceptive history of the genre he personified. Karloff's films were long derided as hokum and attacked by censors, but his phenomenal popularity and pervasive influence endures, inspiring some of our greatest actors and directors into the 21st Century – among them Guillermo Del Toro, Ron Perlman, Roger Corman, and John Landis, all of whom and many more contribute their personal insights and anecdotes.
Top Spin

2014

Top Spin

2014
7
Three teenagers battle their way through the world of competitive ping pong with their hearts set on the Olympics.
Double Headed Eagle: Hitler's Rise to Power 1918-1933

1973

Double Headed Eagle: Hitler's Rise to Power 1918-1933

1973
8
Presents a unique and disturbing look at the rise of the Nazi party. The documentary, directed by Lutz Becker, attempts to remain as objective as possible, serving as a neutral observer of the years 1918 through 1933 in Germany. Via newsreel footage and clips of features from the era, the film offers a kaleidoscopic view of the many elements that fueled the rise of the Socialist Nationalist Party, including post-WWI poverty. Hitler occupies a central place in the documentary.
Building Bombs

1989

Building Bombs

1989
6
This Oscar-nominated documentary chronicles everyday life in Aiken, S.C. -- ground zero for America's hydrogen bomb-making facility, the Savannah River Plant. Through interviews with residents, politicians, activists and factory workers, the incisive film looks at the consequences of living in the shadow of nuclear weapons and the illegal dumping of radioactive waste. Actress Jane Alexander narrates.
Smash and Grab: The Story of the Pink Panthers

2013

Smash and Grab: The Story of the Pink Panthers

2013
5.6
The Pink Panthers have stolen over £270m in diamonds in more than 241 robberies in cities from Paris to Tokyo. The film explores the rise of the group during the 1990s Balkan conflict when economic sanctions imposed on Serbia fueled illegal activities. The criminals reveal an underworld driven by fast wealth and paranoia, while the detectives and inspectors, who are working with Interpol, are on a mission to stop their crime spree with growing success.
Kiribati? Here We Are

1980

Kiribati? Here We Are

1980
On 12 July 1979 the Gilbert Islands in the central Pacific became independent from British rule. The country then became known as Kiribati. This film shows the lifestyle of the people of these 33 islands, their history and culture, the natural resources and the effects of colonialism, World War Two, nuclear testing and foreign industry. It also records the celebrations that took place at this important moment in the country's history and looks to the nation's future.
Robert Rauschenberg: Man at Work

1997

Robert Rauschenberg: Man at Work

1997
From the 1950s until his death in 2008, Robert Rauschenberg's groundbreaking mixed-media pieces mesmerized the art world. This 1998 documentary takes viewers inside Rauschenberg's Florida studio to explore his remarkable life and work. The film examines Rauschenberg's use of unique materials and includes a behind-the-scenes look at The 1/4 Mile or 2 Furlong Piece, a massive autobiographical undertaking that Rauschenberg began work on in 1981.
Style and Substance: Norman Jewison and Hal Ashby

2019

Style and Substance: Norman Jewison and Hal Ashby

2019
Documentary about The Landlord.
A Murder in the Park

2015

A Murder in the Park

2015
7.2
Documentary filmmakers assert that Anthony Porter - a former death-row inmate who was spared the death penalty thanks to the efforts of a college journalism program - was actually guilty, and an innocent man was sent to prison.
Man on the Bus

2019

Man on the Bus

2019
Can a secret change who you are? Mysterious events unfold and reveal how Martha, a Polish holocaust survivor, managed to lead a double life in Australia. The vivacious Jewish artist and doting mother, died without ever revealing her secret. The film follows Martha’s daughter Eve, over a decade, as she unlocks the mystery behind the streets named Eve and Martha. Clues are found in old recordings and Martha’s home movies revealing a mystery man gazing into the lens. Eve’s investigation leads her to the Sobieski castle in the Ukraine, the site of a massacre where her grandmother died, and the Eichmann trial as she explores her parents’ holocaust survival and her father’s heroic escape from a concentration camp. When a ‘doppelgänger’ contacts Eve, her life is forever altered, as she uncovers lies, tracks down her mother’s young lover and reveals the family secret that led her to rewrite her entire life.