Top Rated Documentary Movies on Kanopy - Page 159

Playing God

2017

Playing God

2017
7
Witness firsthand the struggle of the charismatic and controversial US attorney who, since 9/11, has been charged with the impossible task of assigning a dollar value to life when compensating victims of America’s most tragic events.
Jane: An Abortion Service

1995

Jane: An Abortion Service

1995
1
This fascinating political look at a little-known chapter in women's history tells the story of "Jane", the Chicago-based women's health group who performed nearly 12,000 safe illegal abortions between 1969 and 1973 with no formal medical training. As Jane members describe finding feminism and clients describe finding Jane, archival footage and recreations mingle to depict how the repression of the early sixties and social movements of the late sixties influenced this unique group. Both vital knowledge and meditation on the process of empowerment, Jane: An Abortion Service showcases the importance of preserving women's knowledge in the face of revisionist history. JANE: AN ABORTION SERVICE was funded by the Independent Television Service (ITVS) with funds provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Refugee

2016

Refugee

2016
5.5
Five acclaimed photographers travel the world to provide detailed insight into the difficult conditions faced by refugees who dream of a better life.
A Crushing Love

2009

A Crushing Love

2009
1
Sequel to Sylvia Morales' film, "Chicana," which documents how five Chicanas balance their family and work.
Art of the Game: Ukiyo-e Heroes

2017

Art of the Game: Ukiyo-e Heroes

2017
7
A Canadian craftsman and an American designer with a father and son generation gap collaborate to revive the ancient Japanese woodcut using pop-culture icons: Mario and Pokémon.
Einstein's Universe

1979

Einstein's Universe

1979
8
A documentary produced in 1979 to celebrate the centenary of the birth of Albert Einstein. Narrated and hosted by Peter Ustinov and written by Nigel Calder.
Cree Hunters of Mistassini

1974

Cree Hunters of Mistassini

1974
7
An NFB crew filmed a group of three families, Cree hunters from Mistassini. Since times predating agriculture, this First Nations people have gone to the bush of the James Bay and Ungava Bay area to hunt. We see the building of the winter camp, the hunting and the rhythms of Cree family life.
The Forgotten Force

1994

The Forgotten Force

1994
6
After the atomic obliteration of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, over 36,000 Australian men and women, part of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force (BCOF), marched onto Japanese soil. They were assigned the toughest and most dangerous area of Japan: Hiroshima Prefecture, which included the atom-bombed city. The Forgotten Force tells for the first time the story of Australia's role in Japan. Rare archival and private footage, photographs and eyewitness accounts from both sides vividly recreate the atmosphere of post-war Japan - the horror of Hiroshima and its aftermath; the struggle to build a new "democratic" society while under the heel of military rule; the growth from suspicion and fear to friendship and trust between foes.
Bee Nation

2017

Bee Nation

2017
5
Through the first province-wide First Nations Spelling Bee in Saskatchewan, a group of students have an opportunity to compete against the nation’s best at the Toronto finals.
Manet: Portraying Life

2013

Manet: Portraying Life

2013
5
Manet’s portraits are rarely afforded such close attention as they are given in this exquisitely crafted and insightful film presented by art expert Tim Marlow. Manet’s portraiture comprised about half his work, giving life on canvas to family, friends and the literary, political and artistic figures of the day.
Men in the Arena

2017

Men in the Arena

2017
8
A touching story of friendship, struggle and triumph, the film follows the journey of two Somali national soccer team friends chasing their dreams in the face of impossible odds. After surviving two decades of war, Saadiq, 17, and Sa’ad, 19, the team’s most promising stars, enter the only televised match of the year hoping scouts will be watching. With passports of no value on the world stage, soccer may be their only shot to escape a growing terror threat, persecution and poverty. Against the backdrop of fear and shared sacrifice, they embark on separate but equally improbable journeys. In the opportunity of a lifetime, Saadiq sets off for America with dreams of an education and a soccer career. Sa’ad continues his career in Mogadishu with the hopes of someday being reunited with his friend. Their biggest dream is shared – to be symbols of hope to generations who have only known war.
The Jewish Journey: America

2015

The Jewish Journey: America

2015
1
Jewish-American history has been rooted in an ever-changing “Old Country”. Interviews with top scholars in Jewish history, notable Jewish-American writers, and many immigrants themselves detail the varied stories of migration through the last five centuries, with a rarely explored look at the actual journeys to get here.
By Blood

2014

By Blood

2014
5
American Indians of African descent, or Freedmen, battle their own tribes and the federal government to regain their tribal citizenship. Witness how indigenous American Indian tribes, their minority members, and surrounding communities are confronting racism and intolerance.
David Hockney: A Bigger Picture

2009

David Hockney: A Bigger Picture

2009
7
Filmed over three years, the documentary is an unprecedented record of a major artist at work. It captures David Hockney's return to England after 25 years in California. As he approaches the age of 70, he decides to re-invent his painting from scratch, working through the seasons and in all weathers out in the Yorkshire countryside - ending up with the largest picture ever made outdoors. It is at once the story of a homecoming and an intimate portrait of what inspires and motivates today's greatest living British-born artist as time runs out. Winner of Best Essay award at the International Festival for Films on Art in Montreal and nominated Best Arts Documentary by the Grierson and International Emmy Awards. Premiered on BBC1, the documentary appears in a special extended 60' version.
The Talk: Race in America

2017

The Talk: Race in America

2017
8
Documentary about the increasingly necessary conversation taking place in homes and communities across the country between parents of color and their children, especially sons, about how to behave if they are ever stopped by the police.
Pencils Down! The 100 Days of the Writers Guild Strike

2014

Pencils Down! The 100 Days of the Writers Guild Strike

2014
7
In 2007, the Writers Guild of America, the Screenwriters Union, hit an impasse in their contract negotiations with the Studios. At the center of the dispute was jurisdiction over the internet. Unable to make progress, the WGA called a strike which brought Hollywood to a halt for 100 days.
Dateline: Saigon

2017

Dateline: Saigon

2017
8
How does a nation slip into war? Dateline-Saigon profiles the controversial reporting of five Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists -The New York Times' David Halberstam, the Associated Press' Malcolm Browne, Peter Arnett, and legendary photojournalist Horst Faas, and UPI's Neil Sheehan -- during the early years of the Vietnam War as President John F. Kennedy is secretly committing US troops to what is initially dismissed by some as 'a nice little war in a land of tigers and elephants.' 'When the government is telling the truth, reporters become a relatively unimportant conduit to what is happening,' Halberstam tells us. 'But when the government doesn't tell the truth, begins to twist the truth, hide the truth, then the journalist becomes involuntarily infinitely more important.'
Passing

2015

Passing

2015
7
A documentary short about the lives of three Black trans men.
Whose Country?

2016

Whose Country?

2016
9
A young Egyptian filmmaker recounts his interaction with a group of plainclothes policemen while grappling with issues of guilt and morality.
Frantz Fanon: His Life, His Struggle, His Work

2001

Frantz Fanon: His Life, His Struggle, His Work

2001
10
It is the evocation of a life as brief as it is dense. An encounter with a dazzling thought, that of Frantz Fanon, a psychiatrist of West Indian origin, who will reflect on the alienation of black people. It is the evocation of a man of reflection who refuses to close his eyes, of the man of action who devoted himself body and soul to the liberation struggle of the Algerian people and who will become, through his political commitment, his fight, and his writings, one of the figures of the anti-colonialist struggle. Before being killed at the age of 36 by leukemia, on December 6, 1961. His body was buried by Chadli Bendjedid, who later became Algerian president, in Algeria, at the Chouhadas cemetery (cemetery of war martyrs ). With him, three of his works are buried: “Black Skin, White Masks”, “L’An V De La Révolution Algérien” and “The Wretched of the Earth”.