Popular Documentary Movies on Kanopy - Page 255

Sol LeWitt: 4 Decades

2001

Sol LeWitt: 4 Decades

2001
"Sol LeWitt: 4 Decades" presents an opportunity to accompany one of the great artists of our time on a tour of his work, from his formative years to the present. Joined by curator Gary Garrels, LeWitt offers context and motive behind his 2000 retrospective exhibition at Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art. A heavy emphasis is placed on LeWitt's spectacularly large scale wall drawings, for which he is best known. Garrels, who with LeWitt, spent three years on the creation of the exhibition, leads the artist through his breakthroughs of four decades, from the 1960s to the present.
Nightingale, Not the Only Voice

2000

Nightingale, Not the Only Voice

2000
Nightingale, Not the Only Voice follows the lives of three artists, including the film’s director, on their shared journey through real and psychological oppression to self-discovery. Tang Danhong examines her past—particularly her relationship with her parents—and looks at the painful, formative moments that inform her current psychological state, her life, and her art.
Driving the Dream

1997

Driving the Dream

1997
Harrod Blank, who took us into the world of art cars with his epic first film, Wild Wheels, now focuses more in-depth on a few select art vehicles, the Grass Bus, the Hamburger Harley, and the Camera Van. As with his previous film, and the following one (Automorphosis) Blank takes a dauntless look at American car culture.
Good-bye Old Man

1977

Good-bye Old Man

1977
At the request of a dying Tiwi man and his family on Melville Island, this film was made of the pukumani (bereavement) ceremony to follow his death. The film observes the family through the long period of preparation for the ceremony, following age-old traditions. Dancing and face-painting are rehearsed, to the family’s satisfaction, and because “things should be right for this film”. For the two days of ceremony, the community moves to Carslake Beach where a smoking ritual is held to protect the participants from spirits. The cemetery poles are erected, traditional dances are performed along with personal dances by family members. Facial and body decoration is elaborate and spectacular. After saying a final farewell to the old man, the community and the family leave the Beach and return to the village where routine life resumes.
Nisei Soldier: Standard Bearer for an Exiled People

1984

Nisei Soldier: Standard Bearer for an Exiled People

1984
Nisei Soldier focuses on the heroism of American men of Japanese ancestry who fought bravely during World War II, despite the intense moral dilemmas they faced. Leaving their families imprisoned in "relocation centers", many young Nisei (second generation American-born Japanese) proved their loyalty in WWII by enlisting in the all-Japanese American 442nd Infantry Regiment which fought in Europe. Because of the Regiment's incredible bravery in battle, liberation of French towns, and high casualty rate, it became the most decorated unit in U.S. military history. The film asks: What sustained these young men forced to battle on two fronts at once -- against fascism abroad and intense prejudice at home? More than a war story, Nisei Soldier is a tale about personal honor, family loyalty and love of country -- and what it means to be an American.
Broadway Express

1961

Broadway Express

1961
Shot in 1959, Michael Blackwood’s first film Broadway Express is a portrait of New York City’s diverse population, as captured in the city’s subways during the evening rush hour and late at night. The film is a portrait of the city through the faces of the passengers held captive for the ride.
Yell Once a Week

1982

Yell Once a Week

1982
The film’s title is taken from a song, used here as a leitmotif, written by Günter Jordan and the East German rock group Pankow. This sensitive report about rebellious teenagers in Berlin’s “wild East” was banned before its first screening.
Dubrovnik

1952

Dubrovnik

1952
A film describing the political history of Dubrovnik and the history of its architecture, painting, literature and science until the end of Republic of Ragusa.
Sticks and Stones

2001

Sticks and Stones

2001
This short documentary features children aged 5 to 12 talking about their experiences with bullying and discrimination because they or their families do not fit into traditional gender and family roles. This film explores the contemporary diversity of families from kids' points of view, while featuring short animated sequences about the history of derogatory slang.
Louisiana Boys: Raised on Politics

1992

Louisiana Boys: Raised on Politics

1992
A hilarious, unorthodox look at the colorful, Byzantine political culture of Louisiana, home to Huey and Earl Long, David Duke, and Edwin Edwards, where politics is a long-running spectator sport. Winner of the duPont-Columbia Journalism Award.
Terra de Cegos

2005

Terra de Cegos

2005
What characterizes the spaces, differentiating the fields of the cities, the suburbs of the centers is, in large part, the speed of their modification. The circulation experience will have allowed us to compare the looks of foreign artists with the looks of local children, to measure resistance and change capacities.
New York Composers: Searching for a New Music

1996

New York Composers: Searching for a New Music

1996
A look at six young virtuoso composers at the forefront of contemporary music. Featuring: Tan Dun, Michael Gordon, Phil Kline, David Lang, Julia Wolfe, Lois V Vierk, Philip Glass, and Steve Reich. With the participation of the Kronos Quartet, Bang on a Can All Stars, Reigakusha, and others. Filmed in the composers’ studios and at rehearsals and performances.
The Painter Came From a Foreign Land

1988

The Painter Came From a Foreign Land

1988
In this film, Dammbeck explores his own decision to relocate to Hamburg, West Germany, and tries to sort out his past as an artist. In the process, he interviews artists Cornelia Schleime, Hans-Hendrik Grimmling, and Hans Scheib, who had been core members of the alternative art scene in East Germany. They had all worked together in the 8mm scene and organized or planned multimedia and crossover exhibitions, including Tangents I in 1976-77 and the First Leipzig Autumn Salon in 1984. Each left for West Germany in the mid-1980s. What has become of their former artistic strategies and positions? How do they deal with their past? What is the force behind their art now? And how do they cope with the western art market?
The Cave of Hercules

1990

The Cave of Hercules

1990
Despite seeing his film project HERCULES rejected by DEFA Studios in 1983-84, Dammbeck remained fascinated by the Hercules story. He started experimenting with different media combinations, using overpainting, photography, film clips, collage, painting, and movement. These experiments resulted in groundbreaking multimedia collaborations, as well as the film THE CAVE OF HERCULES, in which Dammbeck explores a series of questions inspired by this classical figure. Who was the legendary hero Hercules? Is there a new Hercules today? How are heroes created in a totalitarian society? What are the virtues of heroes? This multi-layered experimental film combines projections of collected film clips, quotations from “The Willful Child” by the Brothers Grimm, and “Hercules 2 or the Hydra” by Heiner Müller, as well as dance scenes with Eva Schmale that were performed – at Kampnagel in Hamburg – specifically for the film.
Daughters of Anatolia: Portrait of a Nomadic Goat Herding Family

2015

Daughters of Anatolia: Portrait of a Nomadic Goat Herding Family

2015
Daughters of Anatolia follows the Gök family, a group of nomadic goat herders, as they travel on the “Göҫ,” or seasonal migration, from the temperate winters along the Mediterranean Sea to the cool summers in the Taurus Mountains, and back again. It is a route their ancestors pursued for a thousand years in order to provide forage for the animals throughout the year. The family relies on their 350 goats for their sustenance and livelihood.
Dream Walking

2005

Dream Walking

2005
This film follows four artists living on the margins of society whose passionate discussions belie their stark and impoverished living conditions. The subjects are performance artist Li Wake, painters Wang Yongping and Ding Defu, and poet Motou Beibei, who is hailed online as a genius despite working as a security guard. Overcome by ennui, and lost in the uncertainties of their everyday lives and their artistic identities, the artists express certain hopelessness.
The Real Rembrandt

1991

The Real Rembrandt

1991
Scientific methods of verifying works of art have drastically reduced the number of paintings attributed to Rembrandt (1606-1669). Many canvases, hitherto believed to be by the hand of the Master, are now thought to be the work of artists who learnt their craft in his studio by copying his style. The film is a fascinating study of modern scientific techniques, a comprehensive art historical view of Rembrandt’s work over the centuries and a reaffirmation of his genius.
Cochengo Miranda

1975

Cochengo Miranda

1975
COCHENGO MIRANDA is a portrait of a farmer and his family living in the Pampas region of Central Argentina. Made by Jorge Preloran, Argentina's best-known documentary filmmaker, the film is an example of his unique genre of ethnobiography, in which the story of an individual reveals larger truths about a culture and way of life.
Family of Fear

2018

Family of Fear

2018
Family of Fear follows an eclectic group of artists, actors, and all around spooks as they come together to make Arx Mortis in Killen, Alabama one of the scariest attractions in the country. They don't do it for money, they do it for scares, and for support and love. Many of the spooks have suffered from bullying, depression, dysfunctional family, and being treated as outcasts. The haunt is their home and the other spooks are their family. Rather than do other "bad things" they take out their aggressions scaring patrons every Halloween and they build each other upper, laugh, cry, and scare as a haunt family. It's scary, funny, and shocking. Join the family of fear.
John Szarkowski: A Life in Photography

1998

John Szarkowski: A Life in Photography

1998
Examining his double life as both curator and photographer, a career he abandoned and recently returned to with the publication of Mr. Bristol's Barn, this is a documentary on the man who helped establish photography for the first time as a true and different kind of art.