Popular Documentary Movies on Kanopy - Page 248

Animals and More Animals

1994

Animals and More Animals

1994
5.5
This fascinating French documentary chronicles the reopening of the Zoology Hall in the Paris Museum of Natural History in 1993. It had been closed for almost thirty years and it took three years of hard work to restore it and the stuffed creatures within.
The Worm Hunters

2011

The Worm Hunters

2011
5
An epic adventure into an underground science and an unstoppable passion. Earthworm scientists concoct a plan to find and name their ultimate discovery...the world's first Super Worm. Nothing will stop them as they travel to all corners of the world with spades, GPS worm locators and secret worm outing fluids to unearth their prize.
The Nuclear Requiem: The Nuclear World Project

2016

The Nuclear Requiem: The Nuclear World Project

2016
For over seven decades the nuclear bomb has been a presence in our lives. The Nuclear Requiem is a meditation, based on a journey taken during the 70th anniversary, with voices representing different views on the continuing struggle of dealing with the most lethal weapon ever created, the nuclear weapon.
U.N. Fever

2008

U.N. Fever

2008
5
U.N. Fever follows three teams of college students as they prepare to compete in the international Model U.N. competition held annually in New York City. These passionate young people are among our future world leaders. They seek real-life solutions to today's global crises. The film peers into their lives as they undergo the dramas, breakdowns and triumphs of this challenging, life-altering experience. This is a real-life story leaving audiences feeling hopeful about the next generation and its commitment to world peace, human rights and justice.
Rivers of Sand

1974

Rivers of Sand

1974
6
The people portrayed in this film are called Hamar. They dwell in the thorny scrubland of southwestern Ethiopia, about one hundred miles north of Lake Rudolph, Africa's great inland sea. They are isolated by some distant choice that now limits their movement and defines their condition. At least until recently, it has resulted in their retaining a highly traditional way of life. Hamar women eagerly accept their ritual whipping when boys come of age. Part of that tradition was the open, even flamboyant, observance of male supremacy. In their isolation, they seemed to have refined this not uncommon principle of social organization into a remarkably pure state. Hamar men are masters and their women are slaves. The film tries to disclose the effect on mood and behavior of lives governed by the idea of sexual inequality.
All the Flowers

2022

All the Flowers

2022
Brothels are rarely seen as safe or dignifying. Yet, in a red light district of Colombia, a country torn by decades of war, there's a tiny brothel named "Tabaco y Ron," which acts as a shelter and shield for trans sex workers that work there. Through a choral portrait of the trans community that inhabits the brothel, this documentary constructs an intimate vignette of this remarkable space. Located in Santafé, Bogotá, the brothel operates in a zone that concentrates all the miseries of a bloodstained region but is also an oasis for all people desperately fleeing war.
Magic in the Mountains

2021

Magic in the Mountains

2021
Magic in the Mountains tells the remarkable underdog story of how Squaw Valley, a little-known ski area in California, won the bid for the 1960 Winter Olympics and, with the help of Walt Disney, changed forever the ways in which the Games were presented. The documentary features never-before-seen archival footage from the 1960 Olympic Games and revealing interviews with participating athletes and attendees. The 1960 edition of the Olympics introduced a substantial array of “firsts,” including such innovations as live broadcast, instant replay, sponsorships, and an official Olympic Village for the athletes. Perhaps most importantly, thanks to Disney’s involvement in producing the Games, Squaw Valley featured an unprecedented — but soon to be standard — level of pageantry for the opening and closing ceremonies.
Enemies of Happiness

2006

Enemies of Happiness

2006
5.9
In September 2005, Afghanistan held its first parliamentary elections in 35 years. Among the candidates for 249 assembly seats was Malalai Joya, a courageous, controversial 27-year-old woman who had ignited outrage among hard-liners when she spoke out against corrupt warlords at the Grand Council of tribal elders in 2003. Enemies of Happiness is a revelatory portrait of this extraordinary freedom fighter and the way she won the hearts of voters, as well as a snapshot of life and politics in war-torn Afghanistan.
After Antarctica

2021

After Antarctica

2021
In a dramatic attempt to bring attention to climate change, an international expedition led by renowned explorer Will Steger embarked on the first-ever coast-to-coast expedition across Antarctica in 1989. Six men and their sled dogs braved howling storms, sub-zero temperatures, snow crevasses, and other perils as they traversed the icy terrain. Tasha Van Zandt’s enthralling feature debut catches up with Steger 30 years later as he revisits the frigid continent, deftly weaving his contemporary journey with rare, dynamic footage of his original, treacherous seven-month odyssey.
A Balinese Trance Seance

1981

A Balinese Trance Seance

1981
Bringing offerings of rice, flowers, and woven coconut leaves, clients visit Jero in her household shrine to determine the cause of their son's death. Jero lights an incense brazier, sprinkles holy water, and recites mantras as preliminaries to trance. Several ancestors and finally the young son speak through her voice, revealing the nature of his premature death (witchcraft) and his wishes for cremation. In contrast to other films about Balinese trance which focus on spectacular, community performances, this film provides an intimate view of a fascinating process of communication between Jero, the spirits, and her clients who are at one point moved to tears. (der.org)
Sissy

2000

Sissy

2000
9
SISSY takes you behind the scenes to give a rare insight into a subculture that has created its own space within the gay culture, and it explores the bond that sets the black 'sisterhood' apart from white gays. SISSY is an expression of gay black identity: 'We are glamorous, we are here and we are queer.'
Cynara

2023

Cynara

2023
2
After a break-in, a mother calls 911 seeking help for her disabled daughter, Cynara. Hours later, Cynara is dead, and her mother is the prime suspect in this gripping story of Canada's justice system on trial.
American Yogi

2014

American Yogi

2014
When an ex-hippie-turned-businessman hears about a miracle-making saint, he goes to India to find him to keep from living an empty life. A world music soundtrack by Grammy nominee Jai Uttal, exclusive interviews with Ram Dass and Krishna Das, rare footage of Neem Karoli Baba, and a new perspective on Eastern philosophy make this documentary unique.
The Scent of Fear

2021

The Scent of Fear

2021
The film is a journey around the world where we meet people who are frozen in fear, people who search for them, who find them, who love them. Along the way we meet experts in neuroscience, psychology and politics who show us how society is controlled by messages of fear. The film analyzes the universal question of what fear is and why we are so afraid of it.
One Word

2020

One Word

2020
A documentary about the impacts of climate change on the Republic of the Marshall Islands and its people. Most parts of the Marshall Islands are less than 5.9 feet above sea level. Forecasts predict the uninhabitability of the country by 2050.
Racing the Rez

2012

Racing the Rez

2012
Racing the Rez reveals the transformative potential of cross-country running at the team level. The story follows two rival high school teams focusing on five teens growing up on the Navajo and Hopi reservations — two distinct cultures but both richly steeped in the legacy of running as a powerful cultural tradition and a sport. Unfolding over two years of careful, patient observation, this documentary offers a rare view into the surprising complexity and diversity of contemporary reservation life, from the point of view of the young runners.
Alex's Wedding

2003

Alex's Wedding

2003
5.5
Chronicle of a rather particular afternoon during which the lives of three people change dramatically: Alex, the husband, goes to his in-laws' to bring home his second wife. Elise, Alex's childhood sweetheart and first wife, accompanies him--as she must, according to tradition. And Josephine, the young bride, leaves her parents to begin a new life.
Abused

2006

Abused

2006
The emotionally charged story of Susan Greenberg who, at 19, killed her abusive boyfriend. After 19 years in prison, she seeks to have her sentence overturned based on a California state law that allows women convicted of murder to ask a judge for release based on evidence of "Battered Woman Syndrome."
First Leipzig Autumn Salon

2008

First Leipzig Autumn Salon

2008
In 1984, the “First Leipzig Autumn Salon” took place – a risk and a caesura for Dammbeck. Bypassing every state institution, six painters, sculptors and filmmakers organised an art exhibition. It was the first and last of its kind. This recapture of public space through art challenged the government’s monopoly on power and triggered similar activities by other artists in the art centres of the GDR. A brave signal to the SED who saw this exhibition as a “counter-revolutionary development”. After that, there were only two options: regress or leave.
Eat Up

2019

Eat Up

2019
An entrepreneur sets out to reinvent school food — to challenge the way Boston's public school students eat lunch. Over a yearlong journey, she wrangles with bureaucracy, unwieldy regulations and a team of stalwart lunch ladies, to navigate a path to replace plastic-wrapped vended meals with fresh, healthy food cooked from scratch that changes the way kids both eat and learn.