Popular Documentary Movies on Kanopy - Page 6

The Anthropologist

2016

The Anthropologist

2016
10
Margaret Mead is the best known anthropologist of all time. How can her legacy guide a species that today faces unprecedented changes to its environment? THE ANTHROPOLOGIST is a follow up to the Sundance hit and Emmy nominee THE LINGUISTS.
Double Take

2009

Double Take

2009
5.8
Director Johan Grimonprez casts Alfred Hitchcock as a paranoid history professor, unwittingly caught up in a double take on the cold war period. Subverting a meticulous array of TV footage and using 'The Birds' as an essential metaphor, DOUBLE TAKE traces catastrophe culture's relentless assault on the home, from moving images' inception to the present day.
Picture of Light

1994

Picture of Light

1994
6.7
A documentary of an expedition to Churchill, Manitoba to film the Northern Lights.
The Cockettes

2002

The Cockettes

2002
6.5
Documentary about the gender-bending San Francisco performance group who became a pop culture phenomenon in the early 1970s.
Chavela

2017

Chavela

2017
6.9
Inspired by an exclusive interview and performance footage of Chavela Vargas shot in 1991 and guided by her unique voice, the film weaves an arresting portrait of a woman who dared to dress, speak, sing, and dream her unique life into being.
Political Animals

2016

Political Animals

2016
5.5
The story of four pioneering lesbian politicians and the battles they fought to pass a wide range of anti-discrimination laws.
Before Stonewall

1984

Before Stonewall

1984
6.5
New York City's Stonewall Inn is regarded by many as the site of gay and lesbian liberation since it was at this bar that drag queens fought back against police June 27-28, 1969. This documentary uses extensive archival film, movie clips and personal recollections to construct an audiovisual history of the gay community before the Stonewall riots.
Mavis!

2015

Mavis!

2015
6.9
A look at the life and music of legendary singer and civil rights activist, Mavis Staples.
Chulas Fronteras

1976

Chulas Fronteras

1976
6.6
A complex, insightful look at the Chicano experience as mirrored in the lives and music of the most acclaimed Norteño musicians of the Texas-Mexican border, including Flaco Jimenez and Lydia Mendoza. Video includes bonus feature, Del Mero Corazon.
Top Spin

2014

Top Spin

2014
6.9
Three teenagers battle their way through the world of competitive ping pong with their hearts set on the Olympics.
Ten Meter Tower

2016

Ten Meter Tower

2016
7.1
10 Meter Tower is a short film taking place in a swimming pool with 6 cameras aimed at the tallest diving tower. All focus is on the 43 people between 9 and 78 years old. They have one thing in common, this is the first time in their lives they climb up to the platform to make the decision whether to jump or not. The situation itself highlights a dilemma: to weigh the instinctive fear of taking the step out against the humiliation of having to climb down.
Secrets & Deals

2022

Secrets & Deals

2022
In 1971, Bahrain, Qatar and the UAE ceased to be part of Britain’s empire in the Middle East and became fully independent states. BBC News Persia and BBC Arabic collaborate in this gripping film, to uncover the secrets and shady deals that underpinned the decolonization process. From eye-witness accounts of a British-organised coup to Iran being left in control of disputed islands, it's a fascinating insight to a murky history.
Freakonomics

2010

Freakonomics

2010
6.1
Some of the world's most innovative documentary filmmakers will explore the hidden side of everything.
Derek

2008

Derek

2008
5.3
Derek, in chronological order, records the work and life that stands at the foot of Derek Jarman's humour and spirit of being an artist. The filmmaker and actress, Isaac Julien and Tilda Swinton respectively, have produced and narrated a film on his life whereby the use of language is perpetuated to give some type of palpable meaning to British audiences alone, and to their own personal relationship with him.
CoroNation

2020

CoroNation

2020
6.6
As the first city hit in the global pandemic, Wuhan, with a population of 11 million, was placed under an unprecedented lockdown. The film showcases the incredible speed and power of China’s state machinery in its fight against the virus. On the other side of the scale is the crushing bureaucracy of that same machine.
Room 237

2012

Room 237

2012
6.1
A subjective documentary that explores various theories about hidden meanings in Stanley Kubrick's classic film The Shining. Five very different points of view are illuminated through voice over, film clips, animation and dramatic reenactments.
Fatal Distraction

2021

Fatal Distraction

2021
8
The untold story of the high-profile murder trial of Justin Ross Harris following the death of his toddler son in the hot summer of 2014.
Motherland

2017

Motherland

2017
6.4
The planet’s busiest maternity hospital is located in one of its poorest and most populous countries: the Philippines. There, poor women face devastating consequences as their country struggles with reproductive health policy and the politics of conservative Catholic ideologies.
Apart

2021

Apart

2021
10
In the US Midwest, plagued with opioid abuse and rising incarceration rates for women, three unforgettable mothers return home from prison to rebuild their lives after years of separation from their children.
Bobbi Jene

2017

Bobbi Jene

2017
5.5
A love story, portraying the dilemmas and inevitable consequences of ambition. It is a film about a woman's fight for independence, a woman trying to succeed with her own art in the extremely competitive world of dance.