Top Rated Documentary Movies on Kanopy - Page 134

Girl with a Pearl Earring: And Other Treasures from the Mauritshuis

2015

Girl with a Pearl Earring: And Other Treasures from the Mauritshuis

2015
7.8
The Girl with a Pearl Earring' by Johannes Vermeer is one of the most enduring paintings in the history of art. This beautifully filmed documentary goes in pursuit of answers to the unresolved riddles surrounding this extraordinary piece.
In Their Own Words: Jim Henson

2015

In Their Own Words: Jim Henson

2015
7
The film follows Henson’s career from his first work with his Muppets in the early 1950’s during television’s Golden Age up to his sudden and shocking death in 1990, as he transcended puppetry to become one of the most creative, prolific and influential artists of his time. Key events include his early television work with the Muppets while still a student at the University of Maryland, his commercial work and network appearances in the late 1950s and early 1960’s, his breakthrough with Sesame Street, The Muppet Show, Fraggle Rock, and his groundbreaking fantasy films, Dark Crystal and Labyrinth. Among those interviewed for the Jim Henson episode are his children, Lisa, Cheryl, Brian and Heather Henson, actors Neil Patrick Harris and Candice Bergen, Willard Scott, director John Landis, former Disney CEO Michael Eisner, and Sesame Street cast members Bob McGrath and Carroll Spinney.
Beat Generation

2014

Beat Generation

2014
9.2
Tells the story of the wonderful and long-lasting friendship between Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg and William Burroughs that gave birth to the Beat Generation movement.
Joan Crawford: Always the Star

1996

Joan Crawford: Always the Star

1996
7.5
Glamorous and hugely popular Joan Crawford raised herself from brutal poverty to Academy Award-winning stardom by guts, determination and hard work. During her 50-year career, she made over 80 films. But her obsessive perfectionism led to the later caricature of coat-hanger-wielding harridan that even the adoration of fans could not counter. Still, she has endured as one of the most popular icons of the movies, an early role model to a million young women who aspired to her image of stylish magnetic power and unquestioned independence.
The Nuer

1970

The Nuer

1970
5.5
Portrays the Nuer, Nilotic herdsmen of the Nile basin. Shows how their daily lives revolve about their cattle, and depicts the psychological bonds between them. Includes extensive use of Nuer music and poetry.
A Midwife's Tale

1998

A Midwife's Tale

1998
7.8
To understand eighteenth-century America through a woman's eyes, historian and author Laurel Thatcher Ulrich spent eight years working through Martha Ballard's massive but cryptic diary. "A Midwife's Tale" chronicles the interwoven stories of two remarkable women: an eighteenth-century midwife and healer and the twentieth-century historian who brought her words to light.
Bing Crosby: Rediscovered

2014

Bing Crosby: Rediscovered

2014
7
Bing Crosby was, without a doubt, the most popular and influential multi-media star of the first half of the twentieth century, pulling audiences in with his intimate, laid-back voice and innate charm. Narrated by Stanley Tucci and directed by Robert Trachtenberg, this film explores the life and legend of this iconic performer, revealing a personality far more complex than the image the public had only thought they'd known.
The Black Kung Fu Experience

2012

The Black Kung Fu Experience

2012
4.8
This film focuses on how a group of African American pioneers became respected masters in a subculture dominated by Chinese and white men.
From the Ikpeng Children to the World

2001

From the Ikpeng Children to the World

2001
3.5
Four Ikpeng children introduce us to life in their village. They show their families, their toys, and their celebrations with grace and lightheartedness. We meet the characters that make up their everyday world - from baby chickens to the village chief - and we see the children helping with chores, learning to hunt, going to school and playing games. Often comparing and contrasting themselves to earlier generations, they are aware of their cultural heritage and how it has changed since their grandparents' time. Engaging and candid, the Ikpeng children are full of curiosity and ask that people of other cultures send their own video-letters.
Captured on Film: The True Story of Marion Davies

2001

Captured on Film: The True Story of Marion Davies

2001
5.5
Blonde, beautiful and talented, Marion Davies was the first and funniest screwball comedienne. As star of two of the best comedies ever made, Show People and The Patsy, she combined zany slapstick and exuberant mimicry. Glamorous, witty and kind, both on screen and off, Davies was also famous for her 35-year-long love affair with William Randolph Hearst.
Lousy Little Sixpence

1983

Lousy Little Sixpence

1983
6
Tells of Aborigines' removal from their families to be sent to work as servants for white people and the rise of the first Aboriginal organisations in the 1930's, in particular the Aborigines Progressive Association.
Mimi and Dona

2014

Mimi and Dona

2014
6.5
What happens when love runs out of time? For a 92-year-old mother, Mimi, who has cared 64 years for her daughter, Dona, who has an intellectual disability, it means facing the inevitable -- she will not outlive her daughter -- and finding her daughter a home. This poignant, heartbreaking and, at times, humorous documentary traces this process through the story of a wonderfully quirky and deeply connected mother-daughter duo. The film spotlights the challenges of aging caregivers of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities -- some 4.6 million Americans, 75 percent of whom live at home with family -- and details the ripple effects of Dona's disability on three generations of a Texas family.
Every Face Has a Name

2015

Every Face Has a Name

2015
7.8
Recalls the day when Holocaust survivors took their first steps into freedom, unaware of their future. Every Face Has a Name puts a name on those nameless faces and lets them recount their feelings of that day, the 28th of April, 1945.
Banished: How Whites Drove Blacks Out of Town in America

2006

Banished: How Whites Drove Blacks Out of Town in America

2006
7.5
A look at three U.S. cities, which were part of many communities that violently forced African American families to flee in post-reconstruction America.
Disaster Playground

2015

Disaster Playground

2015
5.5
Disaster Playground investigates future outer space catastrophes and the procedures to manage and assess the risks. The film follows the scientists planning the monitoring and deflection of hazardous Near Earth Objects and the real-life procedures in place in the event of an asteroid collision with the earth. Follow the chain of command that runs from the SETI Institute and NASA to the White House and United Nations and meet the people who are responsible from protecting us from a potentially devastating asteroid impact.
Sweaty Betty

2015

Sweaty Betty

2015
6
On the border of Washington DC, two stories of big dreams take place – a family is determined to turn their 1000 pound pig into the Redskins’ football team mascot, and two teenage fathers scheme a better life for themselves and their children.
Heavy Water: A Film for Chernobyl

2007

Heavy Water: A Film for Chernobyl

2007
6
On April 26th, 1986, reactor four at Chernobyl nuclear power station explodes, sending an enormous radioactive cloud over Northern Ukraine and neighbouring Belarus. The danger is kept a secret from the rest of the world and the nearby population who go about their business as usual. May Day celebrations begin, children play and the residents of Pripyat marvel at the spectacular fire raging at the reactor. After three days, an area the size of England becomes contaminated with radioactive dust, creating a 'zone' of poisoned land. Based on Mario Petrucci's award-winning book-length poem (split over two books), 'Heavy Water: a film for Chernobyl', and the shorter version 'Half Life: a Journey to Chernobyl", tells the story of the people who dealt with the disaster at ground-level: the fire-fighters, soldiers, 'liquidators', and their families.
CERN

2013

CERN

2013
5.5
CERN in Switzerland is a research center where they try to recreate the big bang. Nikolaus Geyrhalter follows the center's infrastructure and meets the people who created the "Large Hadron Collider".
Loose Lips - Her Last Interview

2013

Loose Lips - Her Last Interview

2013
4.5
Before Linda Lovelace's untimely death in 2002, the sex superstar sat for a no-holds barred interview with pop-culture historian Legs McNeil for his book, The Other Hollywood: The Uncensored Oral History of the Porn Film Industry. Fortunately McNeil hired a film crew to record the historic event as Linda recounted the making of ""Deep Throat,"" the most successful X-rated film in history, how she introduced oral sex to America, her turbulent relationship with manager/husband Chuck Traynor, her role (and exploitation by) the anti-porn movement that she helped launch with her bestselling book, Ordeal, in 1980, and her subsequent return to pornography in 2001. With additional comments by Marilyn Chambers, FBI Agent Bill Kelly, Chuck Traynor.
Sigmund Freud: Analysis of a Mind

1996

Sigmund Freud: Analysis of a Mind

1996
7.8
Sigmund Freud's revolutionary ideas transformed our conception of the mind. Yet, fears and obsessions wracked the father of psychoanalysis. His theories continue to inspire debate, even as the discipline he invented drifts farther from his work. Through personal letters, diaries and interviews with biographers, psychiatrists and Freud's grandchildren, this documentary explores the life of the man who was once derided as the doctor of love.