Popular Documentary Movies on Kanopy - Page 76

Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin

2003

Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin

2003
5.6
Documentary on Bayard Rustin, best-remembered as the organizer of the 1963 March on Washington.
Mickey Mouse Monopoly: Disney, Childhood & Corporate Power

2002

Mickey Mouse Monopoly: Disney, Childhood & Corporate Power

2002
7.6
Mickey Mouse Monopoly takes a close and critical look at the world these films create and the stories they tell about race, gender and class and reaches disturbing conclusions about the values propagated under the guise of innocence and fun. This daring new video insightfully analyzes Disney's cultural pedagogy, examines its corporate power, and explores its vast influence on our global culture. Including interviews with cultural critics, media scholars, child psychologists, kindergarten teachers, multicultural educators, college students and children, Mickey Mouse Monopoly will provoke audiences to confront comfortable assumptions about an American institution that is virtually synonymous with childhood pleasure.
Tales of the Rat Fink

2006

Tales of the Rat Fink

2006
5.3
This is an interesting look at the Life and Times of car customizer/cartoonist Ed "Big Daddy" Roth. Through the use of many graphically enhanced photographs and "talking" cars, it is a loving look at the car culture in Southern California from the Early 50's to Ed's Passing in 2001.
The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till

2005

The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till

2005
6.4
Never-before-seen testimony is included in this documentary on Emmett Louis Till, who, in 1955, was brutally murdered after he whistled at a white woman.
Horns and Halos

2002

Horns and Halos

2002
6.2
"What if someone wrote your biography? Would there be horns and halos involved?"
Boatman

1994

Boatman

1994
6.7
In a series of small portraits, Gianfranco Rosi depicts life on and along the banks of the Ganges River. The director’s first film documents the boat trip he took along India’s sacred river with his helmsman, Gopal. They pass tourists and locals, witnessing them bathe, work, or meditate. The film captures the imagination of the endless circle of life and death, which is rooted in the lives of the Indian people, and is convincingly manifested in the way they bid farewell to the dead.
Abolition

1988

Abolition

1988
6.7
In 1988, the centenary of abolition of slavery in Brazil, Zózimo Bulbul made this powerful historical analysis of racial issues in his country. This documentary provides an in-depth look through extensive archival researching and interviews of key figures who were involved in preserving black culture. Aside from historical testimony, this epic documentary also points to the current relevance of facing the racism that still confronts the black population in Brazil.
Ballet

1995

Ballet

1995
7.6
Ballet portrays rehearsals, choreography, performances, business transactions, and other day-to-day life of the American Ballet Theatre. Much of the footage dates from the 1992 season. It also includes scenes from the company's European tour, namely in Greece and Copenhagen.
Women with Eyes Open

1994

Women with Eyes Open

1994
5.9
Portraits of contemporary African women from four West African nations: Burkina Faso, Mali, Senegal and Benin.
Bukowski at Bellevue

1970

Bukowski at Bellevue

1970
7.7
In the spring of 1970 Charles Bukowski took his first plane trip for a poetry reading at Bellevue Community College in Washington state. That he was videotaped by two students apparently was later forgotten, but the tapes were recently rediscovered and have been released by Black Sparrow press. "Bukowski at Bellevue" gives us a fascinating glimpse of the man before he had to be concerned with how celebrity and financial security were affecting him. (It is said that this was only his fourth public reading.) This is Bukowski, then about 50, taken straight. No games, no irony, no self-consciousness--just an ordinary-looking guy, maybe hung over, sitting before a small group of students reading his work with gusto, humor and sensitivity. A man who clearly had lived the marginal life he wrote about with passion and at times a lyrical, even mystical beauty.
In Search of Dracula

1975

In Search of Dracula

1975
7.6
A documentary exploring the legends of vampires, using books, paintings and early films on the subject.
A Perfect Candidate

1996

A Perfect Candidate

1996
5.6
The filmmakers follow Oliver North's unsuccessful 1994 bid for a Virginia Senate seat, focusing on North's campaign strategist, Mark Goodin, and a Washington Post reporter. Mudslinging ensues.
Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio

1991

Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio

1991
7.4
For 50 years radio dominated the airwaves and the American consciousness as the first “mass medium.” In Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio, Ken Burns examines the lives of three extraordinary men who shared the primary responsibility for this invention and its early success, and whose genius, friendship, rivalry and enmity interacted in tragic ways. This is the story of Lee de Forest, a clergyman’s flamboyant son, who invented the audion tube; Edwin Howard Armstrong, a brilliant, withdrawn inventor who pioneered FM technology; and David Sarnoff, a hard-driving Russian immigrant who created the most powerful communications company on earth.
Robinson in Space

1997

Robinson in Space

1997
6.9
Robinson is commissioned to investigate the unspecified "problem of England." The narrator describes his seven excursions, with the unseen Robinson, around the country. They mainly concentrate on ports, power stations, prisons, and manufacturing plants, but they also bring in various literary connections, as well as a few conventional landscapes.
Africa, I Will Fleece You

1992

Africa, I Will Fleece You

1992
5.8
This documentary of repressive political realities in Cameroon begins with the 1990 publication of an open letter to President Biya calling for a national conference - and the immediate arrest of the letter's author and publisher. The narration then examines the nation's colonial history, beginning with the first German missionary in 1901, the establishment of schools, French occupation following World War I, the paucity of books written by and published by Cameroonians, and the repression of the CPU, a leftist organization of the 1950s and 1960s. Cameroon and its people are the lark, its feathers plucked first by colonialism and then by native strongmen: 'Alouette, je te plumerai.'
Three Minutes: A Lengthening

2022

Three Minutes: A Lengthening

2022
7.2
The story of the only three minutes of footage —a home movie shot by David Kurtz in 1938— showing images of the Jewish inhabitants of Nasielsk (Poland) before the beginning of the Shoah.
Inside Belarus: Putin's Puppet Regime

2022

Inside Belarus: Putin's Puppet Regime

2022
5.7
They share a common ideology and vision of totalitarian power yet reportedly, Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko hate each other. As popular opposition in Belarus and the war in Ukraine force them closer and closer together, we examine the relationship between these two men. We also look back at Lukashenko’s rise to power and hear from some of the protestors brave enough to oppose him. Filmed undercover in Belarus in the weeks up to and just after the invasion of Ukraine.
Blind Ambition

2022

Blind Ambition

2022
7
The inspiring story of four Zimbabwean men who form their country’s first Wine Tasting Olympics team and the mission that drives them to compete.
Theaters of War

2022

Theaters of War

2022
7
If you’ve seen Top Gun or Transformers, you may have wondered: Does all of that military machinery on screen come with strings attached? Does the military actually get a crack at the script? With the release of a vast new trove of internal government documents, the answers have come into sharp focus: the US military has exercised editorial control over thousands of films and television programs. As these activities gain new public scrutiny, new questions arise: How have they managed to fly under the radar for so long? And where do we go from here?
Dear Future Children

2021

Dear Future Children

2021
7.5
Three young female activists in Uganda, Hong Kong and Chile in a united front for the future, in an inflamed film by a merely 21-year-old filmmaker.