Popular Documentary Movies on Kanopy - Page 20

What Is Cinema?

2013

What Is Cinema?

2013
6.4
Using the words and ideas of great filmmakers, from archival interviews with Alfred Hitchcock and Robert Bresson to new interviews with Mike Leigh, David Lynch, and Jonas Mekas, Oscar-winning filmmaker Chuck Workman shows what these filmmakers and others do that can't be expressed in words - but only in cinema.
Generation Wealth

2018

Generation Wealth

2018
6.4
Over the past 25 years, Lauren Greenfield's documentary photography and film projects have explored youth culture, gender, body image, and affluence. Underscoring the ever-increasing gap between the haves and the have-nots, portraits reveal a focus on cultivating image over substance, where subjects unable to attain actual wealth instead settle for its trappings, no matter their ability to pay for it.
1971

2014

1971

2014
6.7
Forty years before WikiLeaks and the NSA scandal, there was Media, Pennsylvania. In 1971, eight activists plotted an intricate break-in to the local FBI offices to leak stolen documents and expose the illegal surveillance of ordinary Americans in an era of anti-war activism. In this riveting heist story, the perpetrators reveal themselves for the first time, reflecting on their actions and raising broader questions surrounding security leaks in activism today.
COIN

2022

COIN

2022
3.8
COIN chronicles the rise of a visionary founder in crypto who harnesses the power of this emerging technology to promote a mission of global economic freedom.
The Drawings of Yves Saint Laurent

2017

The Drawings of Yves Saint Laurent

2017
6
The sketches and drawings of iconic designer Yves Saint Laurent come to life in this documentary. Past colleagues and friends discuss his life and work while poring over some of the thousands of sketches the designer created in his lifetime.
Geoff McFetridge: Drawing a Life

2023

Geoff McFetridge: Drawing a Life

2023
5
Deeply thoughtful and illuminating, DRAWING A LIFE reveals the details of artist Geoff McFetridge’s life and work while delving further into the universal questions of what makes a fulfilling life and how to live with intention in the limited time we all have.
The Road Forward

2017

The Road Forward

2017
9
The Road Forward is an electrifying musical documentary that connects a pivotal moment in Canada’s civil rights history—the beginnings of Indian Nationalism in the 1930s—with the powerful momentum of First Nations activism today. Interviews and musical sequences describe how a tiny movement, the Native Brotherhood and Sisterhood, grew to become a successful voice for change across the country. Visually stunning, The Road Forward seamlessly connects past and present through superbly produced story-songs with soaring vocals, blues, rock, and traditional beats.
Shut Up and Play the Piano

2018

Shut Up and Play the Piano

2018
7.2
The documentary follows Chilly Gonzales from his native Canada to late '90s underground Berlin, and via Paris to the world's great philharmonic halls. Diving deep into the dichotomy of Gonzales' stage persona, where self-doubt and megalomania are just two sides of the same coin.
Fahrenheit 9/11

2004

Fahrenheit 9/11

2004
7.1
Michael Moore's view on how the Bush administration allegedly used the tragic events on 9/11 to push forward its agenda for unjust wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Marina Abramović: The Artist Is Present

2012

Marina Abramović: The Artist Is Present

2012
7.3
Performance artist Marina Abramovic prepares for a major retrospective of her work at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Umberto Eco: A Library of the World

2023

Umberto Eco: A Library of the World

2023
7.2
A walk through the immense private library of Italian writer and thinker Umberto Eco (1932-2016).
Women Behind the Camera

2007

Women Behind the Camera

2007
3
Reveals the courageous lives of pioneer camerawomen from Hollywood to Bollywood, from war zones to children’s laughter, in a way that has never been seen before. Based on a book by Alexis Krasilovsky, the film tells the stories of camerawomen surviving the odds in Afghanistan, Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Iran, Mexico, the U.S. and other countries, as well as exploring their individual visions.
Citizen K

2019

Citizen K

2019
6.6
The strange case of Mikhail Khodorkovsky — once believed to be the wealthiest man in Russia — who rocketed to prosperity and prominence in the 1990s, served a decade in prison, and became an unlikely martyr for the anti-Putin movement.
The Thin Blue Line

1988

The Thin Blue Line

1988
7.6
Errol Morris's unique documentary dramatically re-enacts the crime scene and investigation of a police officer's murder in Dallas.
Empathy

2017

Empathy

2017
6.6
Ed is commissioned to make a documentary intending to change those habits of society that are harmful to animals. But completely alien to the animal protection movement, he will realize that to carry out the project, he must first convince himself.
South

1919

South

1919
7.2
The story of the 1914-1916 Antarctic exploration mission of Sir Ernest Shackleton.
House of Cardin

2019

House of Cardin

2019
6.6
The life and design of Pierre Cardin, including exclusive access to his archives and unprecedented interviews from Mr. Cardin.
National Bird

2016

National Bird

2016
6.8
Sonia Kennebeck takes on the controversial tactic of drone warfare, and demands accountability through the personal accounts—recollections, traumas, and responses—of three American military veterans whose lives have been shaken by the roles they played in this controversial method of attack.
Erasing Family

2020

Erasing Family

2020
This documentary exposes the failure of family courts to keep children from being used as a weapon after separation. Courts decision ends up completely erasing one parent, causing severe emotional trauma to children. Psychologist refer to extreme cases as parental alienation, which is a form of Child Psychological Abuse. Essentially brainwashing and manipulating children by one parent to hate or despise the other parent. This results in severe psychological damage based on scientific findings, including depression, low self esteem, drug abuse, being alienated from own children and suicide. Family court reform is badly needed, as this is preventable pandemic affecting over 20 million children in the United States (Harman et al).
Of Men and War

2014

Of Men and War

2014
6.9
Filmed over five years, this documentary charts the progress of several veterans dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder at a California clinic.