Popular Documentary Movies on Kanopy - Page 115

Facing the Music

2001

Facing the Music

2001
6.8
Anne Boyd, one of Australia's leading contemporary composers, teaches music at the publicly funded University of Sydney. This documentary chronicles a year in the life of an academic department that's under the financial gun.
Lost Angels: Skid Row Is My Home

2012

Lost Angels: Skid Row Is My Home

2012
6.4
Los Angeles' Skid Row is home to one of the largest homeless populations in the United States. And we found, inside that community, the remarkable and enormously moving stories of Olympic athletes, Harvard attorneys, accomplished musicians, scholars. We found poverty, drugs and mental illness, of course - but more importantly we found life, hope and incredibly powerful human journeys.
The Fish Thief: A Great Lakes Mystery

2025

The Fish Thief: A Great Lakes Mystery

2025
5.5
In the early twentieth century, a mysterious ecological crisis nearly wiped out the fish that most people cared about in the largest freshwater ecosystem on earth—the Great Lakes. The impact reverberated across the region, ruining local industries, damaging small town economies and indigenous communities, and destroying the livelihoods of people in the United States and Canada. With little reason for hope, a dedicated group of scientists, policymakers, and conservationists tackled the mystery.
Reclaiming the Blade

2009

Reclaiming the Blade

2009
5.9
The Medieval and Renaissance blade, a profound and beautiful object handcrafted by master artisans of old. An object of great complexity, yet one with a singular use in mind- it is designed to kill. The truth of the sword has been shrouded in antiquity, and the Renaissance martial arts that brought it to being are long forgotten. The ancient practitioners lent us all they knew through their manuscripts. As gunslingers of the Renaissance they were western heroes with swords, and they lived and died by them. Yet today their history remains cloaked under a shadow of legend.
Jill Bilcock: Dancing the Invisible

2018

Jill Bilcock: Dancing the Invisible

2018
7.4
With credits including Strictly Ballroom, Muriel’s Wedding, The Dish, Moulin Rouge!, Romeo + Juliet and Road to Perdition Jill Bilcock is regarded as one the world’s great film editors. Axel Grigor’s hugely entertaining documentary traces Bilcock’s journey from Melbourne film student in the 1960s to working as an extra in Bollywood movies and learning her craft when Australia had virtually no feature film industry. Bilcock’s cheeky charm and illuminating appearances by key collaborators make this a must-see for film lovers.
Who Will Burry The Dead?

2016

Who Will Burry The Dead?

2016
This documentary offers a deep, candid, and historical look at the Christian experience of America's largest and best-known tribes: the Dakota and Lakota. Its exploration into Native American history also takes a hard and detailed look at President Ulysses S. Grant's Peace Policy of 1873, which was, in effect, a "convert to Episcopalianism or starve" edict put forth by the American government in direct violation of its Constitution. The devastation it had on the values of the people affected were dramatic and extremely long-lasting. Grant's policy was finally ended over 100 years later by the Freedom of American Indian Religions Act in 1978. Interlaced with extraordinarily candid interviews, this documentary presents an insider's perspective of how the Dakota and Lakota were estranged from their religious beliefs and their long-standing traditions.
Growing Up Trans

2015

Growing Up Trans

2015
3.5
Just a generation ago, it was adults, not kids, who changed genders. But today, many children are transitioning, too—with new medical options, and at younger and younger ages. Told from the perspective of parents, doctors, and, most revealing of all, the kids themselves, the documentary takes a powerful look at this new generation, exploring the medical possibilities, struggles and choices transgender kids and their families face today.
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.
Van Gogh: Of Wheat Fields and Clouded Skies

2018

Van Gogh: Of Wheat Fields and Clouded Skies

2018
8
A new look at Van Gogh, through the legacy of the largest private collector of artworks by the Dutch painter: Helene Kröller-Müller (1869-1939), who, in the early 20th Century, ended up buying nearly 300 of his works, paintings and drawings included.
Davina McCall: Sex, Myths and the Menopause

2021

Davina McCall: Sex, Myths and the Menopause

2021
7.5
Davina was 44 and felt like she was losing it - hot flushes, depression, mental fog. Now she tells her menopause story, busting midlife taboos from sex to hormone treatment.
The Bomb

2017

The Bomb

2017
7
Filmmakers use archival footage and animation to explore the culture surrounding nuclear weapons, the fascination they inspire and the perverse appeal they still exert.
From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China

1981

From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China

1981
5.7
A beautiful expression of two differing cultures brought together by the warmth and dedication of a great musician and humanitarian. In 1979, as China re-opened its doors to the West, virtuoso Isaac Stern received an unprecedented government invitation to tour the country.
Solo

2022

Solo

2022
The Solo documentary reveals six unique stories of individuals who use the art of dancing as their own tool in fighting back difficulties, dealing with pain, incomprehension, and obstacles standing in their way to happiness through creative self-expression. Six young performers who belong to completely different styles - classical ballet, contemporary dance, krump, vogue, experimental hip-hop, pole dance - represent the new generation of Russian artists, free from preconceptions, clichés, and ready to be part of the dance revolution. The documentary format of the project looks at real people in an intimate setting and the behind-the-scenes routine of professional dancers.
The Horror Crowd

2020

The Horror Crowd

2020
5.7
Revealing, intimate documentary spotlighting the Hollywood horror community.
The Salt Mines

1990

The Salt Mines

1990
6
Explores the lives of Sara, Gigi and Giovanna, three Latino transvestites who for years have lived on the streets of Manhattan supporting their drug addictions through prostitution. They made their temporary home inside broken garbage trucks that the Sanitation Department keeps next to the salt deposits used in the winter to melt the snow. The three friends share the place known as "The Salt Mines".
Soros

2019

Soros

2019
5.4
Billionaire activist George Soros is one of the most influential and controversial figures of our time. He is maligned by ideologues on both the left and the right for daring to tackle the world’s problems. With unprecedented access to the man and his inner circle, director Jesse Dylan follows Soros and pulls back the curtain on his personal history, private wealth, and public activism.
Jerry Lewis: The Man Behind the Clown

2016

Jerry Lewis: The Man Behind the Clown

2016
7
Since the early days, Jerry Lewis—in the line of Chaplin, Keaton and Laurel—had the masses laughing with his visual gags, pantomime sketches and signature slapstick humor. Yet Lewis was far more than just a clown. He was also a groundbreaking filmmaker whose unquenchable curiosity led him to write, produce, stage and direct many of the films he appeared in, resulting in such adored classics as The Bellboy, The Ladies Man, The Errand Boy, and The Nutty Professor.
Turn It Around: The Story of East Bay Punk

2017

Turn It Around: The Story of East Bay Punk

2017
7.4
Turn It Around: The Story of East Bay Punk spans over 30 years of the California Bay Area’s punk music history with a central focus on the emergence of the inspiring 924 Gilman Street collective. This diverse group of artists, writers, organizers and musicians created a do-it-yourself petri dish that changed the punk scene... and the world at large.
The Life & Murder of Nicole Brown Simpson

2024

The Life & Murder of Nicole Brown Simpson

2024
5
Nicole Brown Simpson's sisters and friends break their silence about her murder and O.J. Simpson's controversial trial, aiming to shed light on the truth.
The Klezmer Project

2024

The Klezmer Project

2024
8.3
A Jewish wedding cameraman falls in love with a klezmer clarinetist and pretends to be making a documentary in order to spend time with her. His fake project leads to a real journey through Eastern Europe in search of lost klezmer melodies and the remnants of Yiddish culture. A documentary-fiction hybrid. Winner of the Best First Feature Award at the Berlin Film Festival.