Popular Documentary Movies on Kanopy - Page 276

Tongues of Heaven

2013

Tongues of Heaven

2013
Set in Taiwan and Hawaiʻi, territories where languages of the Austronesian family are spoken, this documentary focuses on the questions, desires and challenges of young indigenous peoples to learn the languages of their forebears— languages that are endangered or facing extinction.
Believe: The True Story of Bearded Santas

2017

Believe: The True Story of Bearded Santas

2017
A cinematic sleigh ride deep into the strange but true world of the Fraternal Order of Real Bearded Santas, the most exclusive and elite collection of Santas in the world. Anyone can don a red suit and fake beard to play Santa for a day. These men are Santa - all year, every day, and especially on Christmas. Young or old, naughty or nice, this documentary will make you believe all over again!
Naim and Jabar

1974

Naim and Jabar

1974
The hopes, fears, and aspirations of adolescence are expressed in the close friendship of two Afghan boys. As their acceptance of the filmmakers leads them to express their feelings more and more openly, the film grows rich in fact and themes of universal concern. Filmed in the Balkh Province, an area inhabited by Tajik and other Central Asian peoples. The town of Aq Kupruk is approximately 320 miles northwest of Kabul.
The Phans of Jersey City

1980

The Phans of Jersey City

1980
A South Vietnamese refugee family learns to live in the USA
Putin's Way

2015

Putin's Way

2015
9
FRONTLINE investigates the accusations of criminality and corruption that have surrounded Vladimir Putin’s reign in Russia.
Savage Memory

2011

Savage Memory

2011
Founding father of Anthropology, Bronislaw Malinowski's work raises powerful and disturbing questions today. This is a look at his legacy and the imprints it has made on the generations that followed.
The Edge of the Possible

1998

The Edge of the Possible

1998
8
Jørn Utzon, acclaimed architect of the Sydney Opera House, tells the story of the design and construction of his masterpiece.
James McNeill Whistler and the Case for Beauty

2014

James McNeill Whistler and the Case for Beauty

2014
Caustic wit, man about town, James McNeill Whistler was the original art star. Famous for his patent leather shoes, monocle, and uptown swagger, Whistler's theatrics attracted the curiosity of buyers and the attention of the critics. But beneath the high gloss and mannered style, the struggle of this pioneering genius to find his own voice resulted in a breakaway style that moved painting towards abstraction and would revolutionize the art world in his time-and beyond. Best known for the groundbreaking portrait of his mother, Whistler had become one of the most recognized artists in Europe by the time of his death. He is now placed in the first rank of modern painters, his work compared to that of Velazquez and Rembrandt. Dramatic re-creations, art, graphics, and interviews combine to profile this fascinating character.
Dear Uncle Adolf: The Germans and Their Führer

2010

Dear Uncle Adolf: The Germans and Their Führer

2010
More than any other historical documents, It is the personal private letters written by a people to "their" dictator that provide the most intimate glimpses of the history of the Third Reich. A treasure of more than 100,000 such letters were recently found, hidden in a secret Russian archive. The uncensored letters reveal the true feelings of the German people - their hopes, longings and fears; also love letters, declarations of loyalty, birthday wishes and the occasional word of protest. Like a seismograph, it mirrors the change in mood in Nazi Germany, providing a reflection of the German spirit in the years from 1932 to 1945. A.K.A. Dear Uncle Adolf.
The War Around Us

2014

The War Around Us

2014
7
In 2008 two best friends found themselves trapped in one of the most dangerous places on earth - the only western journalists in the Gaza Strip on what was supposed to be a 24-hour assignment. The War Around Us captures the collision of veteran war correspondent and one of TIME's most 100 influential people, Ayman Mohyeldin, with rookie reporter Sherine Tadros. As missiles shower the city and unspeakable atrocities emerge, the pair is torn by fierce professional rivalry, private terror and grim humor - with no way out and the whole world watching.
The Anonymous People

2013

The Anonymous People

2013
3.5
An independent feature documentary about the over 23 million Americans living in long-term recovery from alcohol and other drug addictions.
Emergency Calls

2013

Emergency Calls

2013
6.3
Being human is a fragile and fleeting opportunity to experience life and the universe around us. In the face of overwhelming darkness all we can do is to rely on and find solace in one another. The film is based on authentic emergency calls and radio traffic.
The Amish: A People of Preservation

1975

The Amish: A People of Preservation

1975
The Amish continue to intrigue their technology-current neighbors by keeping alive ways and beliefs that many modern Americans regard as irretrievably lost to progress. In this colorful, award-winning documentary, newly revised and augmented, Mennonite historian John L. Ruth takes us sympathetically into the Amish mindset. Appreciative neighbors, a well-known physician, an artist, and respected scholar John A. Hostetler, author of Amish Society, provide insightful commentary on the survival of an alternative to the kind of world we have made. As the Amish increase exponentially in numbers, some migrate toward more open farmland. Those staying in centuries-old communities where the land is too crowded to farm have developed an amazing variety of cottage industries. But all changes are made very carefully, in order not to undermine the spiritual covenant and community.
Bible Quiz

2013

Bible Quiz

2013
6.8
Mikayla hopes to win the National Bible Quiz championship and the heart of her team captain.
Moving Midway

2007

Moving Midway

2007
6.5
When New York film critic Godfrey Cheshire returns home to North Carolina in early 2004 and hears that his cousin Charlie Silver plans to uproot and move the buildings of Midway Plantation, their family’s ancestral home, an extraordinary, emotional journey begins.
Inventing Our Life: The Kibbutz Experiment

2012

Inventing Our Life: The Kibbutz Experiment

2012
5
Inventing Our Life examines the 100 year history of Israel's kibbutz movement, one of the world's longest running and most successful experiments in pure communism. Recreating its glorious past and chronicling its recent decline, Inventing Our Life focuses on the heartbreak and hope of the modern kibbutz, as a new generation struggles to insure its survival. Can a radically socialist institution survive a new market-driven reality with its ideological integrity intact? How will this affect the lives of the tens of thousands of people who still believe in the kibbutz experiment and continue to call it home? As the film progresses, the drama shifts from Can it survive? to Yes, but at what price?
Tulare, The Phantom Lake

2014

Tulare, The Phantom Lake

2014
Tulare, The Phantom Lake explores the landscape of what was once the largest lake in America west of the Mississippi River, a lake that disappeared by the year 1900 due to water diversion and land reclamation for agriculture. The Tulare region in California's Central Valley is home to the most productive agricultural region the world has ever known. The same landscape also harbors less than five percent of the original natural landscape and the poorest Congressional region in the United States. In an age of climate change, we journey through this landscape guided by a series of individuals who never meet: an agricultural consultant; a Native American basket weaver; a journalist; a writer; a biologist; and an archaeologist.
The Air We Breathe

2023

The Air We Breathe

2023
The Air We Breathe is an experimental documentary that thinks through the complexities of air pollution by weaving together themes of environmental catastrophe, environmental racism, cultural and political shifts, and conspiracy. Combining research into air pollution along with personal storytelling and speculative imaginings, this project deeply considers the complicated ways in which our air impacts us: from the way that smells travel through it and the memories they evoke; to the physical impacts of pollutants through shared inhalation; to the ways in which the air serves as a metaphor of connection in a cultural sense.
Kamala and Raji

1989

Kamala and Raji

1989
The textures and complexities of everyday life in India unfold in Michael Camerini's richly observed story of two poor women and their efforts to improve their lives.
Sunken Roads: Three Generations After D-Day

2020

Sunken Roads: Three Generations After D-Day

2020
7.5
A young filmmaker joins a tour of WWII veterans from the 29th Infantry through celebrations surrounding the 70th anniversary of D-Day in a quest to better know her late grandfather.