Popular Documentary Movies on Kanopy - Page 87

Fiddler's Journey to the Big Screen

2022

Fiddler's Journey to the Big Screen

2022
6
The fall of 2021 marked the 50th anniversary of Fiddler on the Roof, the film Pauline Kael (The New Yorker) called "the most powerful movie musical ever made." Narrated by Jeff Goldblum, FIDDLER'S JOURNEY TO THE BIG SCREEN captures the humor and drama of director Norman Jewison's quest to recreate the lost world of Jewish life in Tsarist Russia and re-envision the beloved stage hit as a wide-screen epic. Oscar-nominated filmmaker Daniel Raim puts us in the director's chair and in Jewison's heart and mind, drawing on behind-the-scenes footage and never-before-seen stills as well as original interviews with Jewison, Topol (Tevye), composer John Williams, production designer Robert F. Boyle, film critic Kenneth Turan, lyricist Sheldon Harnick, and actresses Rosalind Harris, Michele Marsh, and Neva Small (Tevye’s daughters). The film explores how the experience of making Fiddler deepened Jewison as an artist and revived his soul.
The Last Season

2014

The Last Season

2014
5.8
In search of the lucrative matsutake mushroom, two former soldiers discover the means to gradually heal their wounds of war. Roger, a self-described 'fall-down drunk' and sniper in Vietnam, and Kouy, a Cambodian refugee who fought the Khmer Rouge, bonded in the bustling tent-city known as Mushroom Camp, which pops up each autumn in the Oregon woods. Their friendship became an adoptive family; according to a Cambodian custom, if you lose your family like Kouy, you must rebuilt it anew. Now, however, this new family could be lost. Roger's health is declining and trauma flashbacks rack his mind; Kouy gently aids his family before the snow falls and the hunting season ends, signaling his time to leave.
Soul Food Junkies

2012

Soul Food Junkies

2012
8
To many African Americans, soul food is sacrament, ritual, and a key expression of cultural identity. But does this traditional cuisine do more harm to health than it soothes the soul?
The Blinding of Isaac Woodard

2021

The Blinding of Isaac Woodard

2021
In 1946, Isaac Woodard, a Black army sergeant on his way home to South Carolina after serving in WWII, was pulled from a bus for arguing with the driver. The local chief of police savagely beat him, leaving him unconscious and permanently blind. The shocking incident made national headlines and, when the police chief was acquitted by an all-white jury, the blatant injustice would change the course of American history. Based on Richard Gergel’s book Unexampled Courage, the film details how the crime led to the racial awakening of President Harry Truman, who desegregated federal offices and the military two years later. The event also ultimately set the stage for the Supreme Court’s landmark 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision, which finally outlawed segregation in public schools and jumpstarted the modern civil rights movement.
BOOM! A Film About the Sonics

2018

BOOM! A Film About the Sonics

2018
7.8
The untold story of one of rock 'n' roll's wildest and most influential bands, The Sonics. For the first time ever, all five original members of the band tell the story of how it all went down, beginning to end. Explore how a relatively unknown band from the Pacific Northwest became a worldwide phenomenon 50-years after their heyday, and in doing so, shaped music for decades to come.
Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am

2019

Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am

2019
7.5
This artful and intimate meditation on the legendary storyteller examines her life, her works, and the powerful themes she has confronted throughout her literary career. Toni Morrison leads an assembly of her peers, critics, and colleagues on an exploration of race, history, the United States, and the human condition.
The Seven Five

2015

The Seven Five

2015
7.3
Meet the dirtiest cop in NYC history. Michael Dowd stole money and dealt drugs while patrolling the streets of '80s Brooklyn.
Meet the Patels

2014

Meet the Patels

2014
7
Finding love is never easy. For Ravi Patel, a first generation Indian-American, the odds are slim. His ideal bride is beautiful, smart, funny, family-oriented, kind and—in keeping with tradition—Indian (though hopefully raised in the US). Oh, and her last name should be Patel because in India, Patels usually marry other Patels. And so at 30, Ravi decides to break up with his American girlfriend (the one who by all accounts is perfect for him except for her red hair and American name) and embark on a worldwide search for another Patel longing to be loved. He enlists the help of his matchmaker mother, attends a convention of Patels living in the US and travels to wedding season in India. Witty, honest and heartfelt, this comedy explores the questions with which we all struggle: What is love? What is happiness? And how in the world do we go about finding them?
I Am FEMEN

2014

I Am FEMEN

2014
4.6
Oxana is a woman, a fighter, an artist. As a teenager, her passion for iconography almost inspires her to join a convent, but in the end she decides to devote her talents to the Femen movement. With Anna, Inna and Sasha, she founds the famous feminist group which protests against the regime and which will see her leave her homeland, Ukraine, and travel all over Europe. Driven by a creative zeal and a desire to change the world, Oxana allows us a glimpse into her world and her personality, which is as unassuming, mesmerising and vibrant as her passionate artworks.
Shusenjo: The Main Battleground of the Comfort Women Issue

2019

Shusenjo: The Main Battleground of the Comfort Women Issue

2019
7.4
A Japanese-American director digs deep into the controversial 'comfort women' issue to settle the debate on whether the women were paid prostitutes or sex slaves, and reveals the motivations and intentions of the main actors pushing to revise history in Japan.
Amazon Empire: The Rise and Reign of Jeff Bezos

2020

Amazon Empire: The Rise and Reign of Jeff Bezos

2020
7.5
Jeff Bezos is not only one of the richest men in the world, he has built a business empire that is without precedent in the history of American capitalism. His power to shape everything from the future of work to the future of commerce to the future of technology is unrivaled. As politicians and regulators around the world start to consider the global impact of Amazon — and how to rein in Bezos’ power — FRONTLINE investigates how he executed a plan to build one of the most influential economic and cultural forces in the world.
Islanders

2022

Islanders

2022
6
Faced with a rapidly-changing music scene and an uncertain future, electro-pop duo FINKEL leave their home in Los Angeles and embark on a journey to the icy forests of Michigan's famous Mackinac Island. Here Jane returns to her childhood home with partner and bandmate Brian to revisit the people and places from her past. With its longstanding ban on automobiles and the daily onslaught of extreme winter weather, life for the few who live on the island year-round is not easy. FINKEL must embrace this unique lifestyle as they dive headfirst in the creative process once more. Their goal: write an album inspired by this extraordinary place. Navigating the joys and complexities of returning to a place frozen in the past, Jane and Brian immerse themselves in the sonic landscape of Mackinac and find inspiration for their new body of work.
Women Behind the Camera

2007

Women Behind the Camera

2007
3
Reveals the courageous lives of pioneer camerawomen from Hollywood to Bollywood, from war zones to children’s laughter, in a way that has never been seen before. Based on a book by Alexis Krasilovsky, the film tells the stories of camerawomen surviving the odds in Afghanistan, Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Iran, Mexico, the U.S. and other countries, as well as exploring their individual visions.
The Workshop

2007

The Workshop

2007
4.2
A spiritual search for answers leads the filmmaker to a California workshop run by a guru who promotes sexual adventure -- and the existence of aliens.
River of Gold

2016

River of Gold

2016
Narrated by Academy Award winners Sissy Spacek and Herbie Hancock, River of Gold is the disturbing account of a clandestine journey into Peru's Amazon rainforest to uncover the savage unraveling of pristine jungle. What will be the fate of this critical region of priceless biodiversity as these extraordinarily beautiful forests are turned into a hellish wasteland?
Caligula: 1400 Days of Terror

2012

Caligula: 1400 Days of Terror

2012
5.4
This two-hour History Channel special examines controversial new theories about the man who ruled the world's mightiest Empire with sadistic brutality. His reign of terror lasted just 1,400 days. Yet even today everyone knows his name. Most have said he was crazy. But was he? This is the story few know behind one of the most infamous figures of the Ancient World--Caligula.
The Ants and the Grasshopper

2021

The Ants and the Grasshopper

2021
7.3
Anita Chitaya has a gift: she can help bring abundant food from dead soil, she can make men fight for gender equality, and maybe she can end child hunger in her village. Now, to save her home in Malawi from extreme weather, she faces her greatest challenge: persuading Americans that climate change is real. Traveling from Malawi to California to the White House, she meets climate sceptics and despairing farmers. Her journey takes her across all the divisions that shape the USA: from the rural-urban divide, to schisms of race, class and gender, and to the American exceptionalism that remains a part of the culture. It will take all her skill and experience to help Americans recognise, and free themselves from, a logic that is already destroying the Earth.
Happy Valley

2014

Happy Valley

2014
6.9
The children of "Happy Valley" were victimized for years, by a key member of the legendary Penn State college football program. But were Jerry Sandusky’s crimes an open secret? With rare access, director Amir Bar-Lev delves beneath the headlines to tell a modern American parable of guilt, redemption, and identity.
How It Feels to Be Free

2021

How It Feels to Be Free

2021
Tells the inspiring story of how six iconic African American female entertainers – Lena Horne, Abbey Lincoln, Nina Simone, Diahann Carroll, Cicely Tyson and Pam Grier – challenged an entertainment industry deeply complicit in perpetuating racist stereotypes, and transformed themselves and their audiences in the process.
Climbing Blind

2020

Climbing Blind

2020
7
Blind climber Jesse Dufton's ascent of the Old Man of Hoy.