Popular Documentary Movies on Kanopy - Page 44

Strike a Pose

2016

Strike a Pose

2016
6.7
In 1990, seven young male dancers joined Madonna on her most controversial world tour. Their journey was captured in Truth or Dare. As a self-proclaimed 'mother' to her six gay dancers plus straight Oliver, Madonna used the film to make a stand on gay rights and freedom of expression. The dancers became paragons of pride, inspiring people all over the world to dare to be who you are. 25 years later, the dancers share their own stories about life during and after the tour. What does it really take to express yourself?
Burden

2016

Burden

2016
5.8
A probing portrait of Chris Burden, an artist who took creative expression to the limits and risked his life in the name of art.
Until the Light Takes Us

2008

Until the Light Takes Us

2008
6.7
Chronicles the history, ideology and aesthetic of Norwegian black metal, a musical subculture infamous as much for a series of murders and church arsons as it is for its unique musical and visual aesthetics. This is the first film to truly shed light on a movement that has heretofore been shrouded by rumor and obscured by inaccurate and shallow depictions. Featuring exclusive interviews with the musicians themselves, Until the Light Takes Us explores every aspect of the controversial movement that has captured the attention of the world.
Mystic Mass

2014

Mystic Mass

2014
Every year, thousands of Shia Muslims meet in the village of Nabatiyyeh in Lebanon to commemorate the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, assassinated in 680 A.D. It is by far the most important religious event in the Shia cult, and leads to the formation of immense mass movements all around the world. Mystic Mass describes extensively this 24h ceremony, and deconstructs its indivisible, ever united, mystic mass, since its formation early in the morning of Ashoura, up to its dissolution in the afternoon of the same day.
Inside the Iranian Uprising

2023

Inside the Iranian Uprising

2023
In September 2022, a 22-year-old Iranian woman, Mahsa Amini, died in police custody. She had been arrested by Iran’s religious police, accused of not wearing her hijab properly. The authorities said she had died of a heart attack, but rumors spread that she had been beaten on arrest. Citizens took to the streets in their thousands in fury. This is an extraordinary and shocking insight into what has been happening across Iran, revealing a regime under huge pressure and resorting to extreme cruelty to control its citizens.
Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media

1992

Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media

1992
7.6
A film about the noted American linguist/political dissident and his warning about corporate media's role in modern propaganda.
Flesh

2019

Flesh

2019
7.2
Rare, medium rare, medium, medium well and well done. Through intimate and personal stories, five women share their experiences in relation to the body, from childhood to old age.
Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work

2010

Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work

2010
6.9
A documentary on the life and career of Joan Rivers, made as the comedienne turns 75 years old.
Genesis 2.0

2018

Genesis 2.0

2018
6.4
A well-preserved mammoth carcass is found in the remote New Siberian Islands in the Arctic Ocean, opening up the possibility of a world-changing “Jurassic Park” moment in genetics.
Steve McQueen: Man on the Edge

1990

Steve McQueen: Man on the Edge

1990
Abandoned by his father, he was a reform school kid with nothing going for him and a giant chip on his shoulder. He joined the Marines but never stayed far from trouble. Then he discovered acting — and the woman who would be with him for most of his meteoric career. He was Steve McQueen, one of Hollywood's highest paid stars — and one of its most difficult, most rebellious and, when he wished, most charming.
More Than Honey

2012

More Than Honey

2012
7.2
With dazzling nature photography, Academy Award®–nominated director Markus Imhoof (The Boat Is Full) takes a global examination of endangered honeybees — spanning California, Switzerland, China and Australia — more ambitious than any previous work on the topic.
Fannie Lou Hamer’s America

2022

Fannie Lou Hamer’s America

2022
The film explores and celebrates the lesser-known life of a Mississippi sharecropper-turned-human-rights-activist and one of the Civil Rights Movement’s greatest leaders. Throughout the 1960s, Fannie Lou Hamer established a legacy of civil rights and human rights activism that remains relevant to this day – especially among Black youth.
A Run for More

2022

A Run for More

2022
1
As a transgender woman in Texas, Frankie Gonzales-Wolfe expected to encounter resistance to her campaign for city council. She did not anticipate questioning her relationship to identity, activism and civic engagement. On the campaign trail, she finds herself on an unexpected journey of self-discovery and healing.
No One Asked You

2023

No One Asked You

2023
Comedian and disrupter extraordinaire Lizz Winstead (co-creator of The Daily Show) and her team of activists crisscross the U.S. to support abortion clinic staff and bust stigma. Pop culture icons and next-gen comics fuel this six-year road film activating small-town folks to rebuild vandalized clinics, exposing wrongdoer politicians, domestic terrorists, and media neglect as the race to the bottom ensues.
The Last Laugh

2016

The Last Laugh

2016
6.9
Feature documentary about humor and the Holocaust, examining whether it is ever acceptable to use humor in connection with a tragedy of that scale, and the implications for other seemingly off-limits topics in a society that prizes free speech.
The Falconer

2020

The Falconer

2020
This intimate portrait film follows master falconer Rodney Stotts on his mission to build a bird sanctuary and to provide access to nature for his stressed community. The Falconer weaves his present-day mission with the story of his past, both of which are deeply rooted in issues of social and environmental injustice. Stotts’s worldview in a nutshell: nature heals. In a forgotten corner of our nation’s capital, he takes the time to break through to those too often dismissed as “hard to reach.” This is a story of second chances: for injured birds of prey, for an abandoned plot of land, for a group of teenagers who have dropped out of high school, and for the falconer himself.
The Hummingbird Effect

2023

The Hummingbird Effect

2023
Costa Rica's motto is Pura Vida - Pure Life - and this deceptively small country is bursting with some of the most spectacular wildlife and pristine ecosystems in the world. All this diversity thrives, in part, thanks to one surprising little creature: hummingbirds. Venture across Costa Rica's wild and rugged landscapes, from volcanic peaks to coastal jungle to misty cloud forests and discover the nation's dazzling diversity of hummingbirds. Watch how these tiny birds play an outsize role in maintaining some of the richest and wildest environments on Earth, where a whole community of creatures, such as macaws and monkeys, enjoys The Hummingbird Effect.
The People vs. Agent Orange

2020

The People vs. Agent Orange

2020
8.8
Two women fight to hold the manufacturers accountable for the Agent Orange catastrophe. Incriminating documents disappear. Activists are threatened. A helicopter technician secretly films the contamination exposing a massive cover-up.
Pandemic19

2020

Pandemic19

2020
Three brave doctors work to save lives during the first wave of the outbreak told through their own intimate video diaries, encapsulating the historic times in which we live.
Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief

2015

Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief

2015
7.6
GOING CLEAR intimately profiles eight former members of the Church of Scientology, shining a light on how they attract true believers and the things they do in the name of religion.