Popular History Movies on Kanopy - Page 39

The Adventures of Werner Holt

1965

The Adventures of Werner Holt

1965
7.8
Two 17-year-olds, Werner Holt and Gilbert Wolzow, are pulled out of school and into Hitler's army. Gilbert becomes a fanatical soldier; but at the front, Werner begins to understand the senselessness of war.
The Hornet's Nest

2014

The Hornet's Nest

2014
6.3
Armed only with their cameras, Peabody and Emmy Award-winning conflict Journalist Mike Boettcher, and his son, Carlos, provide unprecedented access into the longest war in U.S. history: they are embed with U.S. troops during nine days of intense combat in Afghanistan.
THE QUEST: Nepal

2022

THE QUEST: Nepal

2022
8.3
'THE QUEST: Nepal' is an epic journey to deeper understand and climb the most iconic mountain on earth, Everest, and to unveil the fascinating culture, history and nature of Nepal. From experiencing Mt. Everest like never before to witnessing remarkable rarely seen stories from one of the most unique countries in the world, 'THE QUEST: Nepal' is truly a one-of-a-kind cinematic journey like no other, and one which embodies the incredible human spirit of adventure that lives inside us all!
Haymarket: The Bomb, the Anarchists, the Labor Struggle

2021

Haymarket: The Bomb, the Anarchists, the Labor Struggle

2021
The Chicago Haymarket tragedy, where a bomb thrown into the ranks of Police was followed by an eruption of panic and violence resulting in a trial and execution of presumably innocent workers' rights activists, is examined in this feature documentary film. Expert historians and professors present the history of the bomb, the anarchist movement of the 19th century, and the labor struggle of working people fighting for a shorter work day during the industrial might of America's Gilded Age.
Zora Neale Hurston: Claiming a Space

2023

Zora Neale Hurston: Claiming a Space

2023
5
Raised in the small all-Black Florida town of Eatonville, Zora Neale Hurston studied at Howard University before arriving in New York in 1925. She would soon become a key figure of the Harlem Renaissance, best remembered for her novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God. But even as she gained renown in the Harlem literary circles, Hurston was also discovering anthropology at Barnard College with the renowned Franz Boas. She would make several trips to the American South and the Caribbean, documenting the lives of rural Black people and collecting their stories. She studied her own people, an unusual practice at the time, and during her lifetime became known as the foremost authority on Black folklore.
Hopi: Songs of the Fourth World

1983

Hopi: Songs of the Fourth World

1983
A compelling study of the Hopi that captures their deep spirituality and reveals their integration of art and daily life. Amidst beautiful images of Hopi land and life, a variety of Hopi — a farmer, a religious elder, a grandmother, a painter, a potter, and a weaver — speak about the preservation of the Hopi way. Their philosophy of living in balance and harmony with nature is a model to the Western world of an environmental ethic in action.
JFK: A President Betrayed

2013

JFK: A President Betrayed

2013
7.4
Narrated by Academy Award winner Morgan Freeman, "JFK: A President Betrayed" uncovers new evidence that reveals how JFK embarked on secret back channel peace efforts with Nikita Khrushchev and Fidel Castro and was determined to get out of Vietnam despite intense opposition inside his own government.
Rebel

2013

Rebel

2013
Shrouded in mystery and long the subject of debate, the amazing story of Loreta Velazquez is one of the Civil War’s most gripping forgotten narratives. While the U.S. military may have recently lifted the ban on women in combat, Loreta Janeta Velazquez, a Cuban immigrant from New Orleans, was fighting in battle 150 years ago — one of an estimated 1,000 women who secretly served as soldiers during the American Civil War. Who was she? Why did she fight? And what made her so dangerous she has been virtually erased from history?
Journey to Royal: A WWII Rescue Mission

2021

Journey to Royal: A WWII Rescue Mission

2021
9
WWII hero with the 4th Emergency Rescue Squadron, Lt. Royal Stratton, leads a deadly mission to save the lives of nine downed airmen adrift in enemy waters of a war-torn South Pacific. Immersive cinematography and gripping action, mixed with firsthand accounts and historical images, showcase the valor of this squadron who faced overwhelming odds to bring their brothers home.
A Film Unfinished

2010

A Film Unfinished

2010
6.4
Yael Hersonski's powerful documentary achieves a remarkable feat through its penetrating look at another film-the now-infamous Nazi-produced film about the Warsaw Ghetto. Discovered after the war, the unfinished work, with no soundtrack, quickly became a resource for historians seeking an authentic record, despite its elaborate propagandistic construction. The later discovery of a long-missing reel complicated earlier readings, showing the manipulations of camera crews in these "everyday" scenes. Well-heeled Jews attending elegant dinners and theatricals (while callously stepping over the dead bodies of compatriots) now appeared as unwilling, but complicit, actors, alternately fearful and in denial of their looming fate.
The Ornament of the World

2019

The Ornament of the World

2019
7.8
Filmed in Cordoba, Granada, Seville, and Toledo, this documentary retraces the 800-year period in medieval Spain when Muslims, Christians, and Jews forged a common cultural identity that frequently transcended their religious differences, revealing what made this rare and fruitful collaboration possible, and what ultimately tore it apart.
Secrets of the Dead: The Real Trojan Horse

2015

Secrets of the Dead: The Real Trojan Horse

2015
The Trojan Horse… It was the ultimate sneak attack, bringing a city that would withstood nine years of battle to its knees. But was it simply a work of fiction? Or did the Greeks really trick the Trojans into defeat with a giant wooden horse that concealed enough soldiers to reduce the powerful city to rubble? Are the city of Troy and the familiar story of the Trojan War as recounted in Homer’s ancient Greek epic poem, the Iliad, fact or fiction?
The Black Book

2018

The Black Book

2018
5.4
The story of the adventures, in the twilight of the eighteenth century, of a singular couple formed by a little orphan with mysterious origins and his young Italian nurse of a similarly uncertain birth. They lead us in their wake, from Rome to Paris, from Lisbon to London, from Parma to Venice. Always followed in the shadows, for obscure reasons, by a suspicious-looking Calabrian and a troubling cardinal, they make us explore the dark intrigues of the Vatican, the pangs of a fatal passion, a gruesome duel, banter at the court of Versailles and the convulsions of the French Revolution.
Granito: How to Nail a Dictator

2011

Granito: How to Nail a Dictator

2011
4.5
A story of destinies joined by Guatemala's past, and how a documentary film intertwined with a nation's turbulent history emerges as an active player in the present.
The Village Detective: A Song Cycle

2021

The Village Detective: A Song Cycle

2021
4
Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Iceland, July 9, 2016. The surprising discovery of a canister —containing four reels of The Village Detective (Деревенский детектив), a 1969 Soviet film—, caught in the nets of an Icelandic trawler, is the first step in a fascinating journey through the artistic life of film and stage actor Mikhail Ivanovich Zharov (1899-1981), icon and star of an entire era of Russian cinema.
Ralph Ellison: Invisible Man, Celebrated Writer

2005

Ralph Ellison: Invisible Man, Celebrated Writer

2005
3.2
Ralph Ellison was an African-American writer and essayist, who's only novel Invisible Man (1953) gained a wide critical success. Ellison's ambitious journey from a childhood of hardship and poverty to celebrated African American writer is chronicled in this inspiring program through exclusive interviews and personal recollection.
Sorolla: Journeys of Light

2017

Sorolla: Journeys of Light

2017
4
A journey through the life and work of the Spanish painter Joaquín Sorolla (1863-1923), master of Nature, creator of light.
1618

2023

1618

2023
5.9
The Inquisition continues the persecution of Portuguese Jews, sending Visitador Sebastião Noronha to the city of Oporto. With his family and community in danger, António Álvares, decides to outline an escape plan.
Return to Hardwick

2019

Return to Hardwick

2019
Sons, daughters and grandchildren of the greatest generation travel to England to uncover the history of a disappearing World War II air base.
The Girls in the Band

2011

The Girls in the Band

2011
6.2
THE GIRLS IN THE BAND tells the poignant, untold stories of female jazz and big band instrumentalists and their fascinating, groundbreaking journeys from the late 1930s to the present day.