Popular Documentary Movies on Kanopy - Page 259

Friends & Enemies

1987

Friends & Enemies

1987
One thousand power workers went on strike against the South East Queensland Electrical Board (SEQEB)in February 1985 in protest against the introduction of contract worker hire. This documentary details the industrial relations dispute between the ensuing Joh Bjelke Peterson coalition government and the Electrical Trades Union in Queensland, Australia during 1985.
Bread and Dripping

1982

Bread and Dripping

1982
Women's unwritten history is passed down through memories. Shows women talking about their experiences of the Great Depression in Australia. Covers such areas as: aboriginal women; paid and unpaid work; mothering; marriage; women's participation in the political struggles of the 1920's and 30's.
Ancient Egypt

1939

Ancient Egypt

1939
This entry in the TravelTalks series visits the ancient Egypt. starting Valley of the Kings in a remote and desolate part of Egypt, the entrance to tomb of King Tut is shown, though the ts priceless treasure is now in the Cairo museum. A visit to Luxor and the ancient city of Thebes, which date to 1500 BC, follow with subsequent visits to Karnak. The film closes by noting that past and present are in harmony with the water wheel and village well still in wide use in the modern age.
Protected: The Truth About Palm Island

1975

Protected: The Truth About Palm Island

1975
Exposé of the ill-treatment of Aboriginal workers by white men. A dramatised documentary about the June 1957 Aboriginal strike on Palm Island reserve, off the north Queensland coast.
Sunny and the Dark Horse

1987

Sunny and the Dark Horse

1987
The story of an Aboriginal stockman, Sunny Bancroft, and his family at Collum Collum and their growing enthusiasm for "picnic races" on bush tracks in New South Wales.
Hoover Dam: American Construction Epic, 1931-1936

1989

Hoover Dam: American Construction Epic, 1931-1936

1989
A 36-minute overview of one of mankind's greatest achievements. In the early 1930s, America was in the depths of a tragic economic depression. Yet the people of that troubled era constructed Hoover Dam, still one of the great wonders of the world.
Beauty Queens: Helena Rubinstein

1988

Beauty Queens: Helena Rubinstein

1988
Helena Rubinstein is rightly seen as one of the pioneers of a market worth millions - the female beauty market. Born in Krakow, Rubinstein started her career in the early years of the twentieth century in Australia, from where she quickly went on to conquer Europe and the United States. What began with twelve jars of her mother's beauty cream was to develop into a company with 100 branches in 14 countries and a workforce of 30,000 employees.
When You Wore a Tulip and I Wore a Big Red Rose

1983

When You Wore a Tulip and I Wore a Big Red Rose

1983
In the early 1980s, documentary filmmaker Stephen Schaller was instrumental in the rediscovery and restoration of The Lumberjack (1914), the oldest surviving film made in Wisconsin, and produced by a group of itinerant filmmakers who traveled from town to town making "local talent" pictures. Schaller's lovely and sometimes deeply emotional, 63-minute journal/essay film offers a look at the making of the Wausau, Wisconsin classic, including interviews with the one surviving cast member and the relatives of others who appeared in the movie.
Afghanistan Unveiled

2004

Afghanistan Unveiled

2004
Filmed by the first-ever team of women video journalists trained in Afghanistan, this uncompromising film reveals the effects of the Taliban's repressive rule and U.S.-sponsored bombing campaign on Afghan women.
Hello Photo

1995

Hello Photo

1995
Documentarist Nina Davenport turns the conventions of the travelogue inside out. She takes us to India and abandons us there, leaving us to believe what we see through her eyes. Her movie replicates the experience of being a traveller and thus a voyeur, of taking in sights without necessarily understanding their meaning. Davenport seems less interested in cracking the enigma of India than in savoring it...Her hunger makes her unashamed, like the eager children who find the eye of her camera the next best thing to sweets.
Something Like a War

1991

Something Like a War

1991
An examination of India’s family planning program from the point of view of the women who are its primary targets. It traces the history of the family planning program and exposes the cynicism, corruption and brutality which characterizes its implementation. As the women themselves discuss their status, sexuality, fertility control and health, it is clear that their perceptions are in conflict with those of the program.
On the Spring Ice

1975

On the Spring Ice

1975
Walrus as well as whales are hunted by the Eskimos of Gambell on St. Lawrence Island. As the film opens, an old man tells of the dangers of moving ice, how people used to drift on such ice and never return. A cluster of men stand on a snowy rooftop, scanning the sea ice for walrus, when one spots a skin boat in distress far out on the ice. The crew had not come home the night before, and now were drifting toward Siberia. Long ago, there was nothing that could have been done to save them. Today, the men call the Coast Guard. The next day, preparations for another walrus hunt are made. The hunters load the boat and travel fifty miles out to sea, where they spot two walrus sunning themselves on an ice floe. "Don't move," one hunter tells the camera. The walrus are shot, admired, butchered on the ice, and loaded onto the boat. Back in the village, the meat is cut again and hung to dry.
Altar of Fire

1976

Altar of Fire

1976
This film records a 12 day ritual performed by Mambudiri Brahmins in Kerala, southwest India, in April 1975. This event was possibly the last performance of the Agnicayana, a Vedic ritual of sacrifice dating back 3,000 years and probably the oldest surviving human ritual. Long considered extinct and never witnessed by outsiders, the ceremonies require the participation of seventeen priests, involve libations of Soma juice and oblations of other substances, all preceded by several months of preparation and rehearsals. They include the construction, from a thousand bricks, of a fire altar in the shape of a bird.
We Were So Beloved

1986

We Were So Beloved

1986
Filmmaker Manfred Kirchheimer gained the trust of holocaust survivors living in New York's Washington Heights who agreed to talk to his cameras. But what they told him went so far against the grain that it could only be described as controversial.
Gough Whitlam: In His Own Words

2002

Gough Whitlam: In His Own Words

2002
To commemorate the life and time of Australia's twenty-first prime minister, Gough Whitlam, SBS will pay tribute by airing his final ever TV interview. In this documentary, at 86 years of age, Gough shares his revelatory views on 50 years of public life in an in-depth conversation with John Faulkner. Looks at Whitlam's early parliamentary life and his role in the 1960s and the 1970s as Labor's Deputy Leader and then Leader, taking the ALP to power after a record 23 years of Liberal government.
Robert Rauschenberg: Man at Work

1997

Robert Rauschenberg: Man at Work

1997
From the 1950s until his death in 2008, Robert Rauschenberg's groundbreaking mixed-media pieces mesmerized the art world. This 1998 documentary takes viewers inside Rauschenberg's Florida studio to explore his remarkable life and work. The film examines Rauschenberg's use of unique materials and includes a behind-the-scenes look at The 1/4 Mile or 2 Furlong Piece, a massive autobiographical undertaking that Rauschenberg began work on in 1981.
The Secrets of the Dead Sea Scrolls

1999

The Secrets of the Dead Sea Scrolls

1999
Even as scientists work diligently to authenticate the Dead Sea Scrolls, a historical and momentous find for archaeologists, questions surface about their true origin. Who wrote them? Did they truly know Jesus? And what do the scrolls mean for modern-day Christianity? This riveting documentary aims to find the answers to these and many other questions and shares new information about this important archaeological artifact.
Yellowstone: The World's First National Park

2001

Yellowstone: The World's First National Park

2001
Home to some of the most majestic scenery in the United States, Yellowstone National Park contains nearly 9,000 square miles of forests, geysers and other natural wonders. This documentary explores the park's history and its most well-known sites -- including Yellowstone Falls and Old Faithful -- and includes a short film on the wolves that call the park home, as well as clips from the 1930s drama "Yellowstone." This video is part of a DVD set entitled America's National Park Collection and is DVD 3 out of 6.
FDR: Years of Crisis

1994

FDR: Years of Crisis

1994
4.5
Franklin D. Roosevelt's life and political career are examined in this biography. Using rare historical footage and images, it delves into his early days as he entered politics, his battle with polio, his presidency, up to his death in 1945.
Whispers of Angels: A Story of the Underground Railroad

2002

Whispers of Angels: A Story of the Underground Railroad

2002
Combining archival photographs, interviews with historians and dramatic reenactments starring Blair Underwood and Ed Asner, this documentary recounts the gripping story of the Civil War-era Underground Railroad that shepherded slaves to freedom. Harriet Tubman, Thomas Garrett and William Still, whose tireless public efforts and clandestine activities kept the Railroad running, are among the abolitionist personalities highlighted.