Top Rated Documentary Movies on Kanopy - Page 136

Althea

2014

Althea

2014
7
Althea Gibson’s life and achievements transcend sports. A truant from the rough streets of Harlem, Althea emerged as a most unlikely queen of the highly segregated tennis world in the 1950s. Her roots as a sharecropper’s daughter, her family’s migration north to Harlem in the 1930s, mentoring from Sugar Ray Robinson, David Dinkins and others, and fame that thrust her unwillingly into the glare of the early Civil Rights movement, all bring her story into a much broader realm of the American story.
Turned Towards the Sun

2012

Turned Towards the Sun

2012
7
The astonishing life story of British writer and poet Micky Burn MC.
Mom and Me

2015

Mom and Me

2015
5.7
Mom and Me takes a look at tough guys and the even tougher women who raise them. Set in Oklahoma City, apparently voted the manliest city in the United States, this creative documentary from Irish director Ken Wardrop ("His & Hers") chronicles the relationships between ten sons and their mothers.
Horizons

2015

Horizons

2015
6.3
By following the career of two dancers of the National Cuban Ballet, Amanda, young ballerina and Viengsay Valdez, star dancer, Horizons revisits the extraordinary destiny of Alicia Alonso, prima ballerina assoluta, with a steel temperament who is now in the twilight of her life.
Homme Less

2015

Homme Less

2015
6.3
HOMME LESS is about the underbelly of the American Dream, the hidden backyard of our society.
The Bowery

1994

The Bowery

1994
7.3
Documentary about the history, people, and culture of New Yorks' Bowery Street and neighborhood.
Mission Control Texas

2015

Mission Control Texas

2015
7
"The Atheist Experience," produced in Austin, Texas, is the only atheist TV show in the United States. Every Sunday afternoon, two atheists debate callers for one hour, on camera. "Mission Control Texas" portrays the show, its protagonists, and the discussions between the hosts and callers. The debates between believers and skeptics are funny, touching, and shocking in turn, and they're interspersed with footage of the very public religious displays common in the state of Texas. The film is an intimate, concentrated, and entertaining insight into the culture wars, and is sure to provoke inspiration as well as frustration, no matter which side of the divide you fall on.
Angel Azul

2014

Angel Azul

2014
7
Through the hauntingly beautiful lure of Jason deCaire's Taylor's underwater, life-like statues we witness the birth of an artificial coral reef, learn how we are inextricably connected to the ocean and everything in it, and are left to consider how our choices will determine what we leave to future generations.
Between a Frock and a Hard Place

2015

Between a Frock and a Hard Place

2015
7.8
This is the story behind one of the world’s most loved films; about three unlikely Australian hero-(ine)s daring to step up from the shadows in their shimmering sequined glory and be counted. It’s the story of how a low-budget Australian film about three drag queens changed the course of history and loudly and proudly brought a celebration of gay culture to the world that continues to resonate twenty years on.
3-D Rarities

2015

3-D Rarities

2015
6
Selections include Kelley's Plasticon Pictures, the earliest extant 3-D demonstration film from 1922 with incredible footage of Washington and New York City; New Dimensions, the first domestic full color 3-D film originally shown at the World’s Fair in 1940; Thrills for You, a promotional film for the Pennsylvania Railroad; Stardust in Your Eyes, a hilarious standup routine by Slick Slavin; trailer for The Maze, with fantastic production design by William Cameron Menzies; Doom Town, a controversial anti-atomic testing film mysteriously pulled from release; puppet cartoon The Adventures of Sam Space, presented in widescreen; I’ll Sell My Shirt, a burlesque comedy unseen in 3-D for over 60 years; Boo Moon, an excellent example of color stereoscopic animation…and more!
Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

2011

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

2011
5.7
When she was 9, Zainab’s parents made the heartbreaking decision to leave their home in northern Afghanistan. They set out on a journey across the globe, putting the fate of their family in the hands of strangers. Across borders, behind bars and onto a smuggler’s boat – the family chased freedom. ‘Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea’ tells Zainab’s story, and the story of many others who have trodden the same path. Jessie Taylor and Ali Reza Sadiqi travelled across Indonesia and met with 250 asylum seekers in jails, detention centres and hostels. Through candid interviews, hidden camera footage and in the words of asylum seekers themselves, the story of the ‘refugee’ is told. What pushes people to leave home? What do they leave behind? What do they fear? Why did they choose this path? And what does it take to turn someone into a ‘boat person’? Meet the human faces behind the most controversial issue of our time.
Look at this City

1962

Look at this City

1962
5
Started in the summer of 1961, even before the Wall was built, the film becomes an explanation after this historical event as to why things can no longer go on as they were before. Unmistakably, as in almost all of Karl Gass' films, the passion with which he treats his subject is unmistakable. If you want to get to know the zeitgeist of the historically significant year 1961, which on both sides knew more the Cold War vocabulary than factual arguments, you can see the Eastern variant in this propaganda film.
Cooking up a Tribute

2015

Cooking up a Tribute

2015
6.3
The Roca brothers, co-owners of one of the world's best restaurants, made the decision to close their restaurant for five weeks to tour six cities in four different countries with the entire kitchen and dining room staff.
The Impressionists: And the Man Who Made Them

2015

The Impressionists: And the Man Who Made Them

2015
8
Monet, Cezanne, Degas, Renoir: some of the world’s most popular artists. Their works, and that of their contemporaries, fetch tens of millions of dollars around the globe. But who were they really? Why & how exactly did they paint? What lies behind their enduring appeal? To help answer these questions, this unique film secured unparalleled access to a major exhibition focussing on the man credited with inventing impressionism as we know it: 19th-century Parisian art collector Paul Durand-Ruel. This eagerly anticipated international exhibition is possibly the most comprehensive exploration of the Impressionists in history.
From the Ikpeng Children to the World

2001

From the Ikpeng Children to the World

2001
2.7
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.
Bastards of Utopia

2010

Bastards of Utopia

2010
7
Three Croatian activists struggle to change the world. As children, they lived through the violent collapse of Yugoslavia. But now, amid the aftershocks of socialism's failure, they fight in their own way for a new leftism. In the middle of the struggle, a skeptical American is won over by their cause and even goes to jail with them. The activists, whether clashing with police or squatting in an old factory, risk everything to live their politics. But as the setbacks mount, will they give up the fight? The film, shot during years of fieldwork with a Croatian anarchist collective, applies EnMasseFilm's unique blend of observation, direct participation and critical reflection to this misunderstood political movement. Its portrayal of activism is both empathetic and unflinching -- an engaged, elegant meditation on the struggle to re-imagine leftist politics and the power of a country's youth.
The Milky Way

2014

The Milky Way

2014
7
What 'Food, Inc.' did for the food industry in America, this film will do for breastfeeding in our country. It will make every viewer rethink motherhood and how we treat mothers. It is a film that will empower each woman to trust her body, her baby, and herself in her journey as a mother. It will make her laugh, cry, nod fiercely in agreement, get angry, and then get so inspired it will be impossible not to take action.
The Last Tasmanian

1978

The Last Tasmanian

1978
6.3
The story of the genocide of the Tasmanian aborigine population by British settlers. Specifically Truganini, the last living full-blood aborigine.
Princes of the Yen

2014

Princes of the Yen

2014
7.3
Set in 20th Century Japan the documentary explores the role and power of Central Banks and how they can be used to change a country's economic political and social structures A documentary adaption off the book by Professor Richard Werner.
The Last Colony

2015

The Last Colony

2015
7
A close look at Puerto Rico's unique relationship with the United States.