Top Rated Documentary Movies on Kanopy - Page 113

The State of Texas vs. Melissa

2021

The State of Texas vs. Melissa

2021
5.4
Melissa Lucio was the first Hispanic woman sentenced to death in Texas. For ten years she has been awaiting her fate, and now faces her last appeal.
Love It Was Not

2022

Love It Was Not

2022
5.1
A young Jewish woman named Helena Citron is taken to Auschwitz, where she develops an unlikely romantic relationship with Franz Wunsch, a high-ranking SS officer. Thirty years later, a letter arrives from Wunsch's wife asking Helena to testify on Wunsch's behalf. Faced with an impossible decision, Helena must choose. Will she help the man who brutalized so many lives but saved hers?
American Rapstar

2020

American Rapstar

2020
6.5
A new scene of troubled, lo-fi young rappers have emerged from Trump’s America, utilizing the SoundCloud streaming platform to quickly become the most culturally disruptive force in hip hop, shocking the world with their rambunctious antics, prescription drug use, facial tattoos, and rebellious punk energy. What do these newly minted millionaire artists say about the state of youth culture today and the future of the music streaming economy? We examine the SoundCloud rap scene’s biggest stars from within the culture as well placing them in the broader musical context in an attempt to understand how we arrived here and where we are headed.
Something in the Air

2019

Something in the Air

2019
7
Something in the Air is a one hour documentary that shows new risks in the most essential element for survival – air – that affect our brains, our DNA, and how new technology is changing the equation for the better.
Once Upon a Time in Uganda

2023

Once Upon a Time in Uganda

2023
6.2
In the slums of Kampala, two men from opposite sides of the world come together over a shared love for America’s greatest hero: Rambo. Against all odds, the two make their own action movies with no money — and bring joy to millions of people on the internet. Welcome to “Wakaliwood.” Through comedy and kung-fu, "Once Upon a Time in Uganda" chronicles the unlikely friendship between Isaac Nabwana, a director hailed as “Africa’s Tarantino,” and Alan Hofmanis, a film programmer from New York. While Isaac tirelessly makes feature after feature, Alan brings his films to international audiences. But tensions flare as Isaac’s star rises — threatening their partnership and all of Wakaliwood.
Chained (Agora II)

2020

Chained (Agora II)

2020
7.2
For four and a half years, between 2015 – 2019, acclaimed filmmaker Yorgos Avgeropoulos observed Greek society on multiple levels. As well as having exclusive access to Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, he followed others, including a refugee couple from Syria and a mother whose child was murdered by Golden Dawn. The result is a unique and multiple story-lined film: a tale which evolves and unfolds with the characters over time as they face difficult decisions, even to partially achieve their goals.
Searching for Mr. Rugoff

2019

Searching for Mr. Rugoff

2019
7
The feature documentary Searching for Mr. Rugoff is the story of Donald Rugoff, who was the crazy genius behind Cinema 5, the mid-century theater chain and film distribution company. Rugoff was a difficult (some would say impossible) person but was also the man who kicked art films into the mainstream with outrageous marketing schemes and pure bluster. Rugoff's impact on cinema culture in the United States is inestimable, and his influence on the art film business-from the studio classics divisions to the independent film movement to the rise of the Weinsteins-is undeniable. Yet, mysteriously, Rugoff has become a virtually forgotten figure. The story is told through the eyes of former employee Ira Deutchman, who sets out to find the truth about the man who had such a major impact on his life, and to understand how such an important figure could have disappeared so completely.
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.
Objector

2019

Objector

2019
8.5
Like all Israeli youth, Atalya is obligated to become a soldier. Unlike most, she questions the practices of her country's military, and becomes determined to challenge this rite of passage. Despite her family's political disagreements and personal concerns, she refuses military duty and is imprisoned for her dissent. Her courage moves those around her to reconsider their own moral positions and personal power. OBJECTOR follows Atalya to prison and beyond, offering a unique window into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from the perspective of a young woman who seeks truth and takes a stand for justice.
Alan Pakula: Going for Truth

2019

Alan Pakula: Going for Truth

2019
6.5
"Alan Pakula: Going for Truth" encompasses the personal and professional life of Alan J. Pakula, a lauded filmmaker and extremely private man, who was unflinching in his commitment to bringing some of the most memorable movies of the last half of the 20th century to the big screen.
To Be of Service

2019

To Be of Service

2019
6
A documentary film about veterans with PTSD who find that, after other treatments fall short, a service dog helps them return to an independent feeling life.
Shaka

2018

Shaka

2018
5.2
Showcasing breathtaking footage of mountains and waves around the world, Shaka follows snowboarding world champion and renowned athlete Mathieu Crepel as he faces the biggest challenge of his life: to surf the legendary waves of Jaws Beach, Hawaii.
Public Figure

2019

Public Figure

2019
3.2
A documentary that investigates the psychological effects of everyday social media use while exploring how our influencers deal with the fame, money, hate and obsession that comes with it.
An American Satan

2019

An American Satan

2019
7.1
Founded in 1966 in California by a former organist and lion tamer named Anton Szandor LaVey, the Church of Satan has often been surrounded by mysteries, scandals and moral panics. An immersive journey into one the most fascinating phenomena of American religious pluralism.
Born to Be

2019

Born to Be

2019
3
Soon after New York state passed a 2015 law that health insurance should cover transgender-related care and services, director Tania Cypriano and producer Michelle Hayashi began bringing their cameras behind the scenes at New York’s Mount Sinai Hospital, where this remarkable documentary captures the emotional and physical journey of surgical transitioning. Lending equal narrative weight to the experiences of the center’s groundbreaking surgeon Dr. Jess Ting and those of his diverse group of patients, BORN TO BE perfectly balances compassionate personal storytelling and fly-on-the-wall vérité. It’s a film of astonishing access—most importantly into the lives, joys, and fears of the people at its center.
Immortal

2019

Immortal

2019
6.2
Apatity, a far-north industrial town in Russia, first came into being as a USSR concentration camp. Although its environment is at the brink of ecological disaster, the people here still believe in the state’s promise of immortality that can be gained through sacrificial service to the fatherland. This is how the elite in a totalitarian state buy a person’s will, strength, talent and, indeed, life, turning the human being into another resource that is as faceless as a grey lump of ore. ‘I cannot fight big corporations or state structures with a film. But I hope that there is someone in the darkness of the cinema whose heart will get a bit warmer after seeing it,’ says the director. The larger part of the film was shot during the polar night.
Pluto and Beyond

2019

Pluto and Beyond

2019
8.2
Since it explored Pluto in 2015, the New Horizons spacecraft has been zooming toward NASA's most distant target yet. Join the mission team as the probe attempts to fly by Ultima Thule, an object 4 billion miles from Earth.
Sorokin Trip

2019

Sorokin Trip

2019
5.8
Documentary about Vladimir Sorokin, one of the most prominent Russian writers.
Queer Japan

2020

Queer Japan

2020
4.2
Trailblazing artists, activists, and everyday people from across the spectrum of gender and sexuality defy social norms and dare to live unconventional lives in this kaleidoscopic view of LGBTQ+ culture in contemporary Japan.
Are You Proud?

2019

Are You Proud?

2019
2.1
Are You Proud? is a vivid and engaged docu-celebration of the LGBT rights movement from the partial victory of the 1967 Sexual Offences Act to Stonewall, the Gay Liberation Front , the AIDS crisis, Legal Marriage and finally the 2016 Pulse night club shooting. The film gives an extensive history of the course of LGBT rights campaigning, but it also shows how much more work there is to be done.