Popular Documentary Movies on Kanopy - Page 231

The Jewish Journey: America

2015

The Jewish Journey: America

2015
1
Jewish-American history has been rooted in an ever-changing “Old Country”. Interviews with top scholars in Jewish history, notable Jewish-American writers, and many immigrants themselves detail the varied stories of migration through the last five centuries, with a rarely explored look at the actual journeys to get here.
The Tree of Knowledge

1982

The Tree of Knowledge

1982
6
Set in Huehuetla, Puebla, a Totonac Indian community in East Central Mexico, this documentary contrasts two systems of education. The public school system uses patriotic symbols to "integrate" Indian pupils into the national culture while teaching them to reject their own identity.
Frank Gehry: The Formative Years

1988

Frank Gehry: The Formative Years

1988
Narrated by the architect himself, Frank Gehry: The Formative Years explores his long standing career and unique eye. The film looks at a number of Gehry's projects from private homes to complex public institutions, all of which echo his experimental style and vision. Works such as The Norton House, The Aerospace Museum and Loyola Law School demonstrate Gehry's eccentric and distinctive touch. The Formative Years is a survey of his beginnings when Gehry experimented with his own house in Santa Monica, giving him notoriety in the architecture scene.
Coach Jake

2018

Coach Jake

2018
8.5
At 70 years old, Martin "Coach Jake" Jacobson is the most winning high school coach in New York City history. Both on the soccer field and off, this season may be his toughest yet. With a rapidly advancing liver disease and age taking its toll, his legacy as a winner is on the line as the clock on his life and career begin to wind down. A documentary by Ian Phillips.
15 to Life: Kenneth's Story

2014

15 to Life: Kenneth's Story

2014
Does sentencing a teenager to life without parole serve our society well? The United States is the only country in the world that routinely condemns children to die in prison. This is the story of one of those children, now a young man, seeking a second chance in Florida. At age 15, Kenneth Young received four consecutive life sentences for a series of armed robberies. Imprisoned for more than a decade, he believed he would die behind bars. Now a U.S. Supreme Court decision could set him free. 15 to Life: Kenneth's Story follows Young's struggle for redemption, revealing a justice system with thousands of young people serving sentences intended for society's most dangerous criminals.
Invoking Justice

2011

Invoking Justice

2011
In Southern India, family disputes are settled by Jamaats—all male bodies which apply Islamic Sharia law to cases without allowing women to be present, even to defend themselves. Recognizing this fundamental inequity, a group of women in 2004 established a women’s Jamaat, which soon became a network of 12,000 members spread over 12 districts. Despite enormous resistance, they have been able to settle more than 8,000 cases to date, ranging from divorce to wife beating to brutal murders and more. Deepa Dhanraj follows several cases, shining a light on how the women’s Jamaat has acquired power through both communal education and the leaders’ persistent, tenacious and compassionate investigation of the crimes. In astonishing scenes we watch the Jamaat meetings, where women often shout over each other about the most difficult facets of their personal lives.
Between the Folds

2008

Between the Folds

2008
7.7
Depicts a cast of fine artists and eccentric scientists (from MIT and NASA) who have devoted their lives to the unlikely medium of modern origami. Through their determination to reinterpret the world in paper, they arouse a fascinating mix of sensibilities towards art, form, expressiveness, creativity and meaning
Use of Force: The Policing of Black America

2022

Use of Force: The Policing of Black America

2022
2
As reports of fatal police violence continue to flood the headlines, this film shines a light on not only the circumstances of these cases but how to improve the system as a whole and heal the communities they impact.
Farewell, Herr Schwarz

2014

Farewell, Herr Schwarz

2014
8.5
A documentary about the outcome of a decision made by a brother and sister in 1945. One missed meeting, two families, and three generations.
The Truth Illusion

2022

The Truth Illusion

2022
5
The Truth Illusion investigates one of the most profound questions that philosophers through the ages have tried to address. From Plato to Immanuel Kant to Gilles Deleuze, thinkers have asked: what can we prove to be the truth? The investigation examines these questions in the context of the United States today. Is it possible, in such a deeply divided society, for people to view different ‘realities’? The documentary by Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit features commentary from philosophers, psychologists, social scientists and political commentators who discuss how the U.S. is now riven by radically differing views on what is real, and what is not. ‘The Truth Illusion’ looks at how those deepening divisions began, and how they have eroded faith in authority – spawning conspiracy theories and creating ‘alternative realities’.
An Act of Worship

2017

An Act of Worship

2017
The week after President Trump was inaugurated and the Muslim Travel ban become an Executive Order, director/cinematographer Nausheen Dadabhoy started documenting the protests breaking out at airports around the country. After making the nonfiction short “An Act of Worship,” filming continued as Dadabhoy and producer Sofian Khan Sprang expanded on their story of a new generation of female Muslim-American activists who emerged as Trump stoked the flames of Islamophobia.
Bastards' Road

2020

Bastards' Road

2020
Walking 5,800 miles around the United States, Veteran Jonathan Hancock uses the solitude of the road and the company of his fellow Marine brothers and the families of their fallen to successfully manage his wounds from war.
My Father is my Mother's Brother

2018

My Father is my Mother's Brother

2018
5.5
Tolik, an openly gay bohemian singer/artist in the Ukrainian underground scene, is raising his niece Katya, a stubborn little girl who has taken to calling him Dad. Her mother, Anya, is both at the heart of the film and almost doomed to the fringes, adrift between solitude and stays in a psychiatric hospital.
Forbidden City, U.S.A.

1989

Forbidden City, U.S.A.

1989
6
A documentary about Forbidden City, a San Francisco Chinese-American nightclub open from the 1930s to the 1960s.
Young & Restless in China

2008

Young & Restless in China

2008
9
Helmed by Sue Williams, this eye-opening documentary follows a cross section of Chinese entrepreneurs, pacesetters and struggling Gen-Xers swept up in a bubbling cauldron of rapid social and economic transition. Profiling a handful of people -- including an activist attorney, a hotelier and a downtrodden rap artist -- the film charts their trajectories over the course of four years and looks at how the sweeping transformations are affecting them.
The Hadza: Last of the First

2014

The Hadza: Last of the First

2014
A look at human origins in the very place of our origins, Africa's Rift Valley
Public Figure

2019

Public Figure

2019
3.2
A documentary that investigates the psychological effects of everyday social media use while exploring how our influencers deal with the fame, money, hate and obsession that comes with it.
The Son of the Olive Merchant

2010

The Son of the Olive Merchant

2010
7
For their honeymoon, Anna and Mathieu went to Turkey. With camera in hand, they traced the footsteps of Garabed, the Armenian grand-father of Mathieu, who escaped the 1915 genocide. In this country where speaking of the Armenian genocide could be dangerous, their name with Turkish intonations serves a purpose to get people talking about their idea of the Turkish involvement during 1915 tragedy. A road trip across the country leads to a sad confirmation - the denial has become institutional.
Memories Of A Dreamer: The Journey Of A Political Prisoner

2010

Memories Of A Dreamer: The Journey Of A Political Prisoner

2010
Memories of a Dreamer is a first person account of the hardship suffered by a political prisoner from Chile's 1973 cruel dictatorship. Felix Mora recounts shocking details of the torture he endured, his escape from the dictatorship and the challenges he has faced as an exile in Italy and Canada. The question is has Felix allowed torture and exile to shatter his dreams of obtaining justice and being able to return to Chile? Or has he used that suffering as a force to accomplish that dream?
Michelangelo: Love and Death

2017

Michelangelo: Love and Death

2017
7.2
The spectacular sculptures and paintings of Michelangelo seem so familiar to us, but what do we really know about this renaissance genius? Who was this ambitious and passionate man?