Popular Documentary Movies on Kanopy - Page 229

The Ax Fight

1975

The Ax Fight

1975
5.7
The Ax Fight (1975) is an ethnographic film by anthropologist and filmmaker Tim Asch and anthropologist Napoleon Chagnon about a conflict in a Yanomami village called Mishimishimabowei-teri, in southern Venezuela. It is best known as an iconic and idiosyncratic ethnographic film about the Yanomamo and is frequently shown in classroom settings.
The Hidden Angels of Luchino Visconti

2008

The Hidden Angels of Luchino Visconti

2008
6
“The Hidden Angels of Luchino Visconti” This is the title. It tells of the man, the great man and director that he was, through the eyes of his closest collaborators, through never-before-seen images of Mario Tursi’s personal photographic archives. He was the photographer who followed Visconti his entire life. In this documentary Visconti’s camera operators who have given back to us the vision of his genius and contributed to his greatness: in silence, without fanaticism or exaltation, and for this reason they are his “Hidden Angels”.
H Is for Harry

2018

H Is for Harry

2018
5.7
A coming of age story about Harry, a charismatic 11-year old boy, who arrives at secondary school in suburban London unable to read or write. With the help of Sophie, his extremely dedicated teacher, can he overcome the illiteracy ingrained across generations of his family? Against the backdrop of a Britain riven with debates around class, identity and social mobility, the film follows Harry over two years as he fights not only to improve academically but also to believe in a different future for himself.
Reassemblage: From the Firelight to the Screen

1983

Reassemblage: From the Firelight to the Screen

1983
5.6
A complex visual study of the women of rural Senegal. Through a complicity of interaction between film and spectator, Reassemblage reflects on documentary filmmaking and the ethnographic representation of cultures.
The American Nurse

2014

The American Nurse

2014
6
THE AMERICAN NURSE is a heart-warming film that explores some of the biggest issues facing America - aging, war, poverty, prisons - through the work and lives of nurses. It is an examination of real people that will change how we think about nurses and how we wrestle with the challenges of healing America. THE AMERICAN NURSE is an important contribution to America's ongoing conversation about what it means to care. The film follows the paths of five nurses in various practice specialties including Jason Short as he drives up a rugged creek to reach a home-bound cancer patient in Appalachia. Tonia Faust, who runs a prison hospice program where inmates serving life sentences care for their fellow inmates as they're dying. Naomi Cross, as she coaches an ovarian cancer survivor through the Caesarean delivery of her son. Sister Stephen, a nun who runs a nursing home filled with goats, sheep, llamas and chickens, where the entire nursing staff comes together to sing for a dying resident.
$100 and a T-Shirt: A Documentary About Zines in the Northwest

2004

$100 and a T-Shirt: A Documentary About Zines in the Northwest

2004
A cultural analysis of what causes zine makers to tick; what the hell zines are, why people make zines, the origin of zines, the resources and community available for zine makers, and the future of zines. Interviews with about 70 zine makers, ex-zine makers, and readers from the northwest. Featuring footage of the Portland Zine Symposium, a zine bicycle tour of Portland, and activities bringing zine culture to life. Music by J Church and Defiance, Ohio.
Free the Mind

2013

Free the Mind

2013
6.4
Brain scientist Professor Richard Davidson sets up his mind to conduct an unusual experiment: He will teach American war veterans and children meditation and yoga. Can veterans through meditation and yoga ease their pain and nervous system, find happiness and be more peaceful and get back to a life more like the one they had before the war?
The Other Kids

2016

The Other Kids

2016
10
Mubiru Reagan's life depends on a football scholarship. His dream is to emulate his idol, Fernando Torres, and be able to score a goal that will take his country, Uganda, to their first African Nations Cup. But above all he wants to study. Featuring Fernando Torres, Sergio Ramos, Yaya Touré and Vincente Del Bosque, this inspiring story reveals the power of football to change the lives of some of the poorest children in the world.
Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People

2006

Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People

2006
5.8
This documentary dissects a slanderous aspect of cinematic history that has run virtually unchallenged form the earliest days of silent film to today's biggest Hollywood blockbusters. The film explores a long line of degrading images of Arabs--from Bedouin bandits and submissive maidens to sinister sheikhs and gun-wielding "terrorists"--along the way offering devastating insights into the origin of these stereotypic images, their development at key points in US history, and why they matter so much today.
Back to the Drive-in

2022

Back to the Drive-in

2022
5
A feature-length documentary that goes behind the scenes to get to know the families who own and operate drive-in theaters.
Forgotten Hero: Walter White and the NAACP

2025

Forgotten Hero: Walter White and the NAACP

2025
10
While many consider the birth of the civil rights movement to be 1955, when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on an Alabama bus, the stage had been set decades before by activists of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Some of the NAACP leaders are familiar, including W.E.B. Du Bois and Thurgood Marshall, but Walter White, head of the NAACP from 1929 to 1955, has been all but forgotten. With his blond hair and blue eyes, Walter White looked white; he described himself as “an enigma, a Black man occupying a white body.” Like virtually all light-skinned African Americans of his day, White was descended from enslaved Black women and powerful white men. But he was Black — by law, identity, and conviction and spent his entire life fighting for Black civil rights. Forgotten Hero: Walter White and the NAACP traces the life of this neglected civil rights hero and seeks to explain his disappearance from our history.
The Superfood Chain

2018

The Superfood Chain

2018
7
Every year, the western world is introduced to a new 'superfood' that boasts extraordinary nutritional features, and year after year we buy them. The Superfood Chain is a feature documentary that explores the facts and myths behind superfoods, and reveals the ripple effect of the 'Superfood' industry on farming and fishing families around the world.
The Dying of the Light

2015

The Dying of the Light

2015
7.5
Loving documentary about the invisible hand that brings light in the cinema: the projectionist. Momentarily, his booth is at the centre of this film, which primarily looks back on the time when you could still touch film images. "Do pay attention to that man behind the curtain!"
Behind the Screen

1915

Behind the Screen

1915
6
A look behind the scenes at Universal Studios in 1915.
Sons of Perdition

2010

Sons of Perdition

2010
6.8
An inside look at polygamist teens who have become religious refugees in mainstream America.
Our Brother James

2001

Our Brother James

2001
10
Australia has one of the highest youth suicide rates in the world. The suicide rate in men under 25 has tripled in the last 30 years, and young men in rural and remote communities are particularly vulnerable. This reality has disturbing implications for society. When it affects you directly, it's shattering. In this very personal film, director Jessica Douglas-Henry and her sister Alix explore the impact of their brother’s suicide. In 1996 James Dalmann killed himself. He was found dead in the bathroom of his housing commission unit in Geraldton, Western Australia. James was only twenty. Although this film is about James, it's really Alix's story. It's about the people left behind, whose lives have been changed forever by the suicide of someone they loved. Although Our Brother James focuses on a personal tragedy, it is ultimately a film about survival and growth, about love, strength and hope for the future.
You're Looking At Me Like I Live Here and I Don't

2012

You're Looking At Me Like I Live Here and I Don't

2012
In Danville, California, Lee Gorewitz wanders on a soul-searching odyssey through her Alzheimer’s & Dementia care unit. Confined by the limits of her physical boundaries, she scavenges for reminders of her life in the outside world. Yet her search is for more than a word, or a memory, or a familiar face. It is a quest for understanding.
WITCH: We Intend to Cause Havoc

2019

WITCH: We Intend to Cause Havoc

2019
The film follows the 21st Century formation of WITCH (We Intend To Cause Havoc), Zambia's most popular rock band of the 1970s, and documents the life of its lead singer, Jagari, whose name is an Africanisation of Mick Jagger's. Through the resurrection of a music that was forgotten by many and unheard by most, the film explores the life of a former African rock-star, and the excitement around the rediscovery of his music by Western fans, many of whom had yet to be born when his last album was released.
It's Criminal

2017

It's Criminal

2017
8
A documentary about privilege, economics, justice and injustice via a class taught at Dartmouth College that mixes students and incarcerated women.
The Land Beneath Our Feet

2016

The Land Beneath Our Feet

2016
The Land Beneath Our Feet follows a young Liberian man, uprooted by war, who returns from the USA with never-before-seen footage of Liberia’s past. The uncovered footage is embraced as a national treasure. Depicting a 1926 corporate land grab, it is also an explosive reminder of eroding land rights.