Top Rated Documentary Movies on Kanopy - Page 114

No Secret Anymore: The Times of Del Martin & Phyllis Lyon

2003

No Secret Anymore: The Times of Del Martin & Phyllis Lyon

2003
1.9
Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon have been partners in love and political struggle for fifty years. With incisive interviews, rare archival images and warmhearted humor, Joan Biren's 2003 film reveals their inspiring public work, as well as their charming private relationship. When they courageously launched the Daughters of Bilitis in 1955, it became the first public organization for lesbians in America. Today, these tireless activists are educating both the LGBT and aging movements on the needs of older lesbians.
The Museum

2017

The Museum

2017
8.2
The Museum is a film that observes, examines and ponders Israel's most important cultural institution, the Israel Museum. The film follows the visitors, observes the observers, listens to the speakers and descends to the storerooms, labs and conference rooms. The American museum director, the singing security guard, the Jerusalemite curator, the Haredi kashrut inspector, the Palestinian guide and the visitor who lost her vision are some of the characters that take part in a chain of activities which add up to the museum. For about 18 months director Ran Tal collected footage of the daily routine of the museum that seeks to both reflect and mold the Israeli legacy and culture.
Lorraine Hansberry: Sighted Eyes / Feeling Heart

2017

Lorraine Hansberry: Sighted Eyes / Feeling Heart

2017
6.2
On March 11, 1959, Lorraine Hansberry’s 'A Raisin in the Sun' opened on Broadway and changed the face of American theater forever. As the first-ever black woman to author a play performed on Broadway, she did not shy away from richly drawn characters and unprecedented subject matter. The play attracted record crowds and earned the coveted top prize from the New York Drama Critics’ Circle. While the play is seen as a groundbreaking work of art, the timely story of Hansberry’s life is far less known.
Alalá

2016

Alalá

2016
8.3
A children's arts center in a multicultural Seville neighborhood uses the power of flamenco to generate opportunities and encourage social change.
The Chinese Exclusion Act

2017

The Chinese Exclusion Act

2017
8
A sweeping chronicle of the entire exclusion era - the latter part of the 1800s, when anti-Chinese agitation led to federal laws targeting Chinese abroad and those already in the country. Go far beyond the legislation with the survival and growth of Chinese American communities in the face of prejudice and outright violence, the “paper” sons and daughters who emigrated despite the seemingly impassable barriers, and the legal challenges that produced some of the most momentous decisions in Supreme Court history.
Cinecittà Babilonia: Sex, Drugs and Black Shirts

2017

Cinecittà Babilonia: Sex, Drugs and Black Shirts

2017
6.5
The story of Italian cinema under Fascism, a sophisticated film industry built around the founding of the Cinecittà studios and the successful birth of a domestic star system, populated by very peculiar artists among whom stood out several beautiful, magnetic, special actresses; a dark story of war, drugs, sex, censorship and tragedy.
Upon the Shadow

2017

Upon the Shadow

2017
4.9
The documentary follows the life of former Femen member Amina Sboui and the community of LGBTQ+ friends she houses in her Tunisian home. Offering unparalleled insight into life following the Arab Spring, social persecution, and political struggle, from a queer perspective. Dive into the stories of Amina's strong and enchanting group of LGBTQ+ loves and comrades: Sandra, Ramy, Ayoub, and Atef, as they bond and build a queer community against a backdrop of global trauma and struggle.
A Trip to the Country

2000

A Trip to the Country

2000
6.5
Cameroonian filmmaker Jean-Marie Teno directs this impassioned documentary about the slow crumbling of traditional morals and values caused by colonialism and globalization. The film traces Teno's journey from his base in France to Cameroon's capital Yaounde to his hometown of Mbieng. In the process, he captures images of corroding infrastructures and corrupt officials.
Pressing On: The Letterpress Film

2017

Pressing On: The Letterpress Film

2017
6.8
Why has letterpress printing survived? Irreplaceable knowledge of the historic craft is in danger of being lost as its caretakers age. Fascinating personalities intermix with wood, metal, and type as young printers save a traditional process in Pressing On, a 4K feature-length documentary exploring the remarkable community keeping letterpress alive.
Extraordinary Ordinary People

2017

Extraordinary Ordinary People

2017
5.5
Alan Govenar's doc introduces a little-known NEA program honoring masters of folk arts and music.
Red Trees

2017

Red Trees

2017
7
Award-winning filmmaker, Marina Willer (Cartas da Mãe), creates an impressionistic visual essay as she traces her father’s family journey as one of only twelve Jewish families to survive the Nazi occupation of Prague during World War II. Photographed by Academy Award® nominee César Charlone (City of God), the film travels from war-torn Eastern Europe to the color and light of South America and is told through the voice of Willer’s father Alfred (as narrated by Tim Pigott-Smith, Quantum of Solace), who witnessed bureaucratic nightmares, transportations and suicides but survived to build a post-war life as an architect in Brazil. As the world struggles with the current refugee crisis, RED TREES is a timely look at a family besieged by war who finds peace across an ocean.
A Mother Brings Her Son to Be Shot

2017

A Mother Brings Her Son to Be Shot

2017
6.2
Five years in the making, this brave and level-headed documentary exposes paramilitary activity in present day Northern Ireland during a supposed time of peace.
All the Rage (Saved by Sarno)

2016

All the Rage (Saved by Sarno)

2016
8
America is experiencing an epidemic of pain. One man has the answer to the problem yet the medical establishment has ignored him. For nearly 50 years, Dr. John Sarno has been single-handedly battling the pain epidemic by focusing on the mind-body connection and the nature of stress and the manifestation of physical ailments. With a renowned practice in rehabilitative medicine at NYU he is also a bestselling author of numerous books that deal with psychosomatic disorders. Filmmaker Michael Galinsky's family has a long history with Dr. Sarno and their experience will be woven into the fabric of the film, alongside well known patients, including Howard Stern, John Stossel, Jonathan Ames, Larry David, and many others.
The Gardener

2018

The Gardener

2018
7.2
Created over 75 years and three generations, Les Quatre Vents stands as an enchanted place of beauty and surprise, a horticultural masterpiece of the 21st century. See how Frank Cabot gave birth to one of the greatest gardens in the world.
Abu

2017

Abu

2017
4.8
As a gay man, filmmaker Arshad Khan examines his troubled relationship with his devout, Muslim father Abu. Using family archives and movies, Khan explores his struggle with his identity and compares it to his parents attempts to fit into Canada.
Spirit Game: Pride of a Nation

2017

Spirit Game: Pride of a Nation

2017
8.5
The documentary follows The Iroquois Nationals Lacrosse Team on the road as they compete in the 2015 World Box Lacrosse Championships. For the first time ever, the Championship Games were held on an Indian Reservation, in Onondaga in upstate New York, the Capitol of the Iroquois Confederacy.
Workplace

2016

Workplace

2016
6
Workplace is a documentary made by Gary Hustwit, in association with R/GA, for the 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale.Workplace is about the past, present, and future of the office. It looks at the thinking, innovation, and experimentation involved in trying to create the next evolution of what the office could be. The film follows the design and construction of the New York headquarters of digital agency R/GA (in collaboration with architects Foster + Partners) who have been experimenting with how physical and digital space can better interact. Digital technology has radically changed how and where most of us work, but the physical spaces we work in haven’t kept up with that transformation.
L.A. Burning: The Riots 25 Years Later

2017

L.A. Burning: The Riots 25 Years Later

2017
7.5
Documentary film exploring the lives of the people at the flashpoint of the LA riots, 25 years after the uprising made national headlines and highlighted the racial divide in America.
To the Moon and Back

2018

To the Moon and Back

2018
5.3
The political murder of a Moscow lawyer and the cancellation of 259 pending American adoptions of Russian orphans are seemingly disparate events found to have a deep and insidious connection. Connecting the dots from Russia’s warehousing of abandoned and special needs children to the cross-borders dealings of a billionaire investment banker to one American family’s tragedy, the film explores how Russian political corruption is linked to a single adopted child, whose accidental death becomes the declared reason behind Putin’s Russian Adoption Ban.
Elián

2017

Elián

2017
6.5
The story of Elián Gonzalez, a five-year-old Cuban boy plucked from the Florida Straits, and how the fight for his future changed the course of U.S.-Cuba relations. Featuring personal testimony, interviews, and a news archive, this documentary recounts Elián’s remarkable rescue on Thanksgiving Day in 1999, after his mother and 10 others fleeing Cuba perished at sea, and the custody battle between the boy’s Cuban father and his Miami-based relatives.