Top Rated Documentary Movies on Kanopy - Page 142

Every Family's Nightmare

2009

Every Family's Nightmare

2009
10
This is the shocking inside story of a family’s fight to free their 15-year-old son after he is wrongly accused of rape. A horrifying tale of lies, deception and the high cost of justice, Every Family’s Nightmare raises questions about systemic, procedural and cultural flaws in Australia’s criminal justice system by investigating the case of Perth schoolboy Patrick Waring. Patrick was jailed for a year while his family battled to prove his innocence. From the time he was accused of raping a teenage girl on 30 March 2006, the Western Australian police were convinced Patrick Waring was guilty. His family knew they were wrong. Over the next year, the Waring family assembled an international team of experts to help defend their son, exposing deep flaws in the police investigation and the legal battle that followed. Alarmingly, experts say that the same situation could arise at any time, involving any family, in any Australian state.
Our Brother James

2001

Our Brother James

2001
10
Australia has one of the highest youth suicide rates in the world. The suicide rate in men under 25 has tripled in the last 30 years, and young men in rural and remote communities are particularly vulnerable. This reality has disturbing implications for society. When it affects you directly, it's shattering. In this very personal film, director Jessica Douglas-Henry and her sister Alix explore the impact of their brother’s suicide. In 1996 James Dalmann killed himself. He was found dead in the bathroom of his housing commission unit in Geraldton, Western Australia. James was only twenty. Although this film is about James, it's really Alix's story. It's about the people left behind, whose lives have been changed forever by the suicide of someone they loved. Although Our Brother James focuses on a personal tragedy, it is ultimately a film about survival and growth, about love, strength and hope for the future.
A Closer Walk

2003

A Closer Walk

2003
6
This documentary examines the world AIDS crisis. The camera travels to Africa, where infections overwhelm the public health system and orphans face their own deaths, central Europe, where drug users spread the disease via shared needles, India, where husbands infect wives, and to the U.S., where grass-roots efforts in places like Kansas City confront cultural stereotypes. Interviews include patients, doctors, nurses, the Dalai Lama, and Kofi Annan. The film's tone is compassionate and urgent, and the statistics overwhelming.
Life and Death in the Valley of the Kings

2013

Life and Death in the Valley of the Kings

2013
5
Dr. Joann Fletcher investigates in this set of two documentaries, what life and death were like for the normal person 3500 years ago in Egypt.
A Squirrel's Guide to Success

2018

A Squirrel's Guide to Success

2018
9
A look at the extraordinary abilities of squirrels, from the brainy fox squirrel to the acrobatic gray squirrel to the problem-solving ground squirrel.
American Reckoning

2022

American Reckoning

2022
8
In this feature-length documentary from FRONTLINE and Retro Report, an unsolved 1960s murder reveals an untold story of the civil rights movement and Black resistance. “American Reckoning” examines Black opposition to racist violence in Mississippi, spotlighting a little-known armed resistance group called the Deacons for Defense and Justice, woven alongside the Jackson family’s decades-long search for justice amid a federal effort to investigate civil rights era cold cases.
The American Diplomat

2022

The American Diplomat

2022
8
The American Diplomat explores the lives and legacies of three African American ambassadors — Edward Dudley, Terence Todman and Carl Rowan — who pushed past historical and institutional racial barriers to reach high-ranking appointments in the Truman, Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations. At the height of the civil rights movement in the United States, the three men were asked to represent the best of American ideals abroad while facing discrimination at home. Oft reputed as “pale, male and Yale,” the U.S. State Department fiercely maintained and cultivated the Foreign Service’s elitist character and was one of the last federal agencies to desegregate. Through rare archival footage, in-depth oral histories and interviews with family members, colleagues and diplomats, the film paints a portrait of three men who left a lasting impact on the content and character of the Foreign Service and changed American diplomacy forever.
The Unmaking of a College

2022

The Unmaking of a College

2022
8
In THE UNMAKING OF A COLLEGE, students at Hampshire College confront a new president's underhanded attempt to shut down their school and discover that a powerful institution is bullying an inexperienced administration into giving up the independence of one of the most experimenting colleges in the United States. A raucous ode to democracy in action, this film evokes the courage required to stand up to power at a time when many liberal arts colleges are failing.
Butterfly Blueprints

2022

Butterfly Blueprints

2022
10
The hidden scientific secrets of butterflies reveal them to be more inventive and resilient than we ever imagined. Follow their extraordinary life cycle and migrations to tropical rainforests, windswept prairies, and even inside a chrysalis as it’s being spun.
Use of Force: The Policing of Black America

2022

Use of Force: The Policing of Black America

2022
2
As reports of fatal police violence continue to flood the headlines, this film shines a light on not only the circumstances of these cases but how to improve the system as a whole and heal the communities they impact.
The Holy Game

2021

The Holy Game

2021
1
Seminarians compete in the Vatican's football tournament known as the Clericus Cup. A film about religion, sport, and why young men choose to become priests.
Ten Million Throwaways

2021

Ten Million Throwaways

2021
2
A growing consumer appetite for underage performers and violent sex dominates today's porn. Ten Million Throwaways uncovers the dramatic and illegal operating practices of this multi-billion-dollar industry.
Sex, Lies and Butterflies

2018

Sex, Lies and Butterflies

2018
8
An exploration of the diversity of moths and butterflies from caterpillars to larvae to chrysalis to winged flight. The documentary covers camouflage and other anti-predatory tactics along with uniqueness of different species and amazing feats and colors.
World's Fastest Animal

2018

World's Fastest Animal

2018
9
See the world through the eyes of nature’s fastest animal: the peregrine falcon. Though once perilously endangered in the U.S., this spectacular predator is now thriving again in American cities and on every continent but Antarctica. What is the secret to its predatory prowess? Join expert falconer Lloyd Buck as he trains a captive peregrine and puts its hunting skills to the test.
Black and Blue

2017

Black and Blue

2017
2
A documentary about police brutality that follows a DJ beat up by off duty DEA agents, a man arrested for filming a police officer, and many others as they fight for justice for their loved ones.
Shots Fired

2021

Shots Fired

2021
7
Amid record police shootings in Utah, an investigation into the use of deadly force in the state with Frontline's local journalism partner The Salt Lake Tribune.
The Diabetes Solution

2021

The Diabetes Solution

2021
10
The diabetes community has been filled with deception for the past 50 years. The typical guidelines for managing diabetes have ultimately caused suffering for millions of people with the disease. Follow a group of families and doctors as they present a solution to managing diabetes that could spare many patients from devastating complications in this seminal documentary about diabetes.
Sunken Roads: Three Generations After D-Day

2020

Sunken Roads: Three Generations After D-Day

2020
7.5
A young filmmaker joins a tour of WWII veterans from the 29th Infantry through celebrations surrounding the 70th anniversary of D-Day in a quest to better know her late grandfather.
The Business of Birth Control

2021

The Business of Birth Control

2021
2
There can be no real gender justice without an unpacking of the power structures surrounding the reproductive health industry complex—and of the choices that the market pushes on women. Abby Epstein’s latest documentary highlights the dark history of eugenics and underfunded research that the birth control pill, often heralded as a feminist turning point in the history of reproductive rights, hides within itself.
Climate Exodus

2020

Climate Exodus

2020
7