Popular Documentary Movies on Kanopy - Page 26

Over the Limit

2018

Over the Limit

2018
7.1
Margarita Mamun, an elite Russian rhythmic gymnast, is struggling to become an Olympic champion. It is the most important year of her career and her last chance to achieve the ultimate goal, the gold Olympic medal. The film creates a captivating portrait of a young woman who is desperately trying to handle her own ambitions and meet the expectations of the official Russian training system.
Fittest on Earth: A Decade of Fitness

2017

Fittest on Earth: A Decade of Fitness

2017
6.8
The 2016 Reebok CrossFit Games were a grueling five-day, 15-event test to find the fittest man and woman on Earth. "Fittest on Earth: A Decade of Fitness" follows the dramatic story of the top athletes who qualified and competed and offers an inside look at what it takes to be among the world's elite athletes, both in training and on the competition floor. The CrossFit Games challenge competitors to perform intense physical tasks, but the hardest part is sometimes mental. Athletes often learn the details of the events only minutes before they begin, and everyone handles the pressure differently. Which of these fierce competitors will rise to the top and earn the title of Fittest on Earth?
Accidental Courtesy: Daryl Davis, Race & America

2016

Accidental Courtesy: Daryl Davis, Race & America

2016
7.5
Daryl Davis has an unusual hobby. As a musician he has played with legends like Chuck Berry and Little Richard, but in his spare time he likes to meet and befriend members of the Ku Klux Klan. Join Daryl on his personal quest to understand racism.
Creature Designers: The Frankenstein Complex

2015

Creature Designers: The Frankenstein Complex

2015
7.2
The Frankenstein Complex takes a historical as well as a creative perspective, with a mix of fascinating scenes behind the camera, film clips, and dozens of interviews with all the big names in the industry. In addition to the many wonderful anecdotes, the film also offers a wealth of beautiful test material, while along the way showing how the art of filmmaking has changed over the years. An affectionate ode to monster makers throughout history.
Sneakerheadz

2015

Sneakerheadz

2015
6.1
To Rock or Stock? That is the question. Sneakerheads will do almost anything to get their hands on a unique pair of kicks, going to such extreme lengths as hiding in trash cans to score a pair of Retro Jordan 11s to camping for days in sub zero temperatures for the latest Nike Foamposites. How did sneakers become as prized as collectable art? From the shores of Cali to the congested streets of Tokyo, Sneakerheadz examines the cultural influence of sneaker collecting around the world and delves into a subculture whose proud members don’t just want to admire art, they want to wear it.
Fresh Dressed

2015

Fresh Dressed

2015
6.4
The history of Hip-Hop / Urban fashion and its rise from southern cotton plantations to the gangs of 1970s in the South Bronx, to corporate America, and everywhere in-between. Supported by rich archival materials and in-depth interviews with individuals crucial to the evolution of a way of life--and the outsiders who studied and admired them – Fresh Dressed goes to the core of where style was born on the black and brown side of town.
At Berkeley

2013

At Berkeley

2013
6.8
Direct cinema pioneer Frederick Wiseman takes an in-depth look at the preeminent American university during a fall semester that saw a vigorous debate taking place over tuition hikes, budget cuts, and the future of higher education in the United States.
Approved for Adoption

2012

Approved for Adoption

2012
7.3
This remarkable animated documentary traces the unconventional upbringing of the filmmaker Jung Henin, one of thousands of Korean children adopted by Western families after the end of the Korean War. It is the story of a boy stranded between two cultures. Animated vignettes – some humorous and some poetic – track Jung from the day he first meet his new blond siblings, through elementary school, and into his teenage years, when his emerging sense of identity begins to create fissures at home and ignite the latent biases of his adoptive parents. The filmmaker tells his story using his own animation intercut with snippets of super-8 family footage and archival film. The result is an animated memoir like no other: clear-eyed and unflinching, humorous, and above all, inspiring in the capacity of the human heart.
No Place on Earth

2012

No Place on Earth

2012
6.7
This extraordinary testament to survival from Emmy-winning producer/director Janet Tobias brings to light a story that remained untold for decades: that of thirty-eight Ukrainian Jews who survived World War II by living in caves for eighteen months. (TIFF)
Last Days Here

2011

Last Days Here

2011
7.4
Documentary follows Bobby Liebling, lead singer of seminal hard rock/heavy metal band Pentagram, as he battles decades of hard drug addiction and personal demons to try and get his life back.
The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu

2010

The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu

2010
7.8
The three-hour-long documentary covers 25 years in the life of Nicolae Ceaușescu and was made using 1,000 hours of original footage from the National Archives of Romania.
The Red Chapel

2010

The Red Chapel

2010
7.2
Two Danish comedians join the director on a trip to North Korea, where they have been allowed access under the pretext of wanting to perform a vaudeville act.
Trouble the Water

2008

Trouble the Water

2008
6.8
"Trouble the Water" takes you inside Hurricane Katrina in a way never before seen on screen. The film opens the day before the storm makes landfall--just blocks away from the French Quarter but far from the New Orleans that most tourists knew. Kimberly Rivers Roberts, an aspiring rap artist, is turning her new video camera on herself and her Ninth Ward neighbors trapped in the city. Weaving an insider's view of Katrina with a mix of verité and in-your-face filmmaking, it is a redemptive tale of self-described street hustlers who become heroes--two unforgettable people who survive the storm and then seize a chance for a new beginning.
Grass: A Nation's Battle for Life

1925

Grass: A Nation's Battle for Life

1925
7.6
A silent documentary which follows a branch of the Bakhtiari tribe of Persia as they and their herds make their epic seasonal journey to better pastures.
Why We Fight: The Nazis Strike

1943

Why We Fight: The Nazis Strike

1943
6.3
The second film of Frank Capra's Why We Fight propaganda film series. It introduces Germany as a nation whose aggressive ambitions began in 1863 with Otto von Bismarck and the Nazis as its latest incarnation.
The Trials of Henry Kissinger

2002

The Trials of Henry Kissinger

2002
7
This riveting documentary depicts former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger as a warmonger responsible for military cover-ups in Vietnam, Cambodia and East Timor, as well as the assassination of a Chilean leader in 1970. Based on a book by journalist Christopher Hitchens, the film includes interviews with historians, political analysts and such journalists as New York Times writer William Safire, a former Nixon speechwriter.
Hannibal Hopkins & Sir Anthony

2021

Hannibal Hopkins & Sir Anthony

2021
4.5
Hopkins’ career has spanned several decades, which is why we will also use many interviews that he gave throughout his life, allowing us to put him back into the context of each period and will be helpful in understanding his role in the history of cinema, because he was far from following the trends. He never belonged to any film movement; he is a chameleon that has always preferred natural acting, ‘non-acting’ when method acting was the fashion.
Wojnarowicz: Fuck You Faggot Fucker

2020

Wojnarowicz: Fuck You Faggot Fucker

2020
7.2
A collage-like, incisive look at the life of writer, painter and thinker David Wojnarowicz, whose powerful, unapologetic way of seeing the world gave voice to queer rights at a critical time in US history.
#Female Pleasure

2018

#Female Pleasure

2018
7.7
A plea for the liberation of female sexuality in the 21st century. The film questions millennial patriarchal structures, as well as todays omnipresent porn culture. It accompanies five extraordinary women around the globe, reveals universal contexts and shows the successful fight of these courageous women for a self-determined female sexuality and an equal, passionate relationship between the sexes.
The Magic Pill

2017

The Magic Pill

2017
6.8
Doctors, scientists and chefs around the globe combat illness with dietary changes, believing fat should be embraced as a source of fuel.