Top Rated Documentary Movies on Kanopy - Page 161

Dick Cavett's Vietnam

2015

Dick Cavett's Vietnam

2015
7
Examine the Vietnam War and its impact on America through the prism of interviews conducted by the iconic host of “The Dick Cavett Show.” This program combines interviews from Cavett's shows with archival footage, network news broadcasts and audio/visual material from the National Archives to provide insight and perspective on this controversial chapter of American history.
The Legend of Swee' Pea

2015

The Legend of Swee' Pea

2015
7
Lloyd Daniels was one of the most gifted basketball players ever to emerge from New York City. He was born in Brooklyn in 1967 and grew up in the poorest neighborhoods of Brooklyn and Queens. His mother died when he was three, and his father deserted the family, leaving Lloyd an orphan to be raised by his two grandmothers. Virtually unsupervised, Lloyd learned early-on how to hustle to survive. Hustling came easy for him because he was a charming and likable kid. He still hustles to this day.
Jim Morrison His Final Hours

2010

Jim Morrison His Final Hours

2010
10
This compelling documentary series unlocks the hidden secrets, psychological flaws and events that result in the tragic deaths of famed notorious and the iconic. Every episode maps out the final 24 hours of a different famous person's life. The series weaves the star's back-story with events from their last day, which lays bare the threads of fate that led inextricably from childhood to the moment of death. These are no ordinary biographies. They're psychological detective stories attempting to uncover the mystery of why the celebrity died. July 2, 1971. Jim Morrison is one of the most famous rock singers in the world. He's also the ultimate sex symbol, but Morrison is at war with his own dark demons. In 24 hours his darkness will consume him and he'll be dead. Using archive footage, dramatic reenactment and interviews with his closest companions, we detail the last hours of Morrison's life and the gripping events that led to his tragic death in Paris.
Actors of Sound

2016

Actors of Sound

2016
6
Since the 1930’s, sound gurus referred to as Foley artists have recreated the sounds that infuse a film with life. During a film’s post-production, Foley artists recreate sound that will match the moving image on-screen, using whatever objects are at their fingertips, from hundreds of pairs of old shoes to clunky old tools and squeaky mattresses. But how will Hollywood’s low-tech sound artists survive as digital technology consumes modern movie-making?
What Tomorrow Brings

2016

What Tomorrow Brings

2016
7
Inside the very first girls' school in a small Afghan village, education goes far beyond the classroom as the students discover the differences between the lives they were born into and the lives they dream of leading.
Silent Storm

2004

Silent Storm

2004
6
From 1957 to 1978, scientists secretly removed bone samples from over 21,000 dead Australians as they searched for evidence of the deadly poison, Strontium 90 - a by-product of nuclear testing. Silent Storm reveals the story behind this astonishing case of officially sanctioned "body-snatching". Set against a backdrop of the Cold War, the saga follows celebrated scientist, Hedley Marston, as he attempts to blow the whistle on radioactive contamination and challenge official claims that British atomic tests posed no threat to the Australian people. Marston's findings are not only disputed, he is targeted as "a scientist of counter-espionage interest". Now, questions are being raised about the health repercussions for generations of Australians.
Original Schtick

1999

Original Schtick

1999
8
Explores the bittersweet process of an American artist's frenzied attempt to achieve fame and recognition through manufacturing his own hype and manipulating public perceptions of his constructed persona.
SELANDIA: The ship That Changed the World

2012

SELANDIA: The ship That Changed the World

2012
8
The Ship that Changed the World is a historical drama about the birth of the world's first ocean-going diesel-powered ship Selandia. A groundbreaking invention that changed the world forever. The film shows Selandia and the creators receiving worldwide acclaim. But for two of them success was short-lived. They died under mysterious circumstances shortly after the maiden voyage of Selandia. On the brink of the World War, and with Germany and England showing great interest in this invention, is it too farfetched to believe that these deaths were more than coincidental. - Written by Michael Schmidt-Olsen
Okinawa: The Afterburn

2015

Okinawa: The Afterburn

2015
1
On April 1, 1945, the United States military launched its invasion of the main island of Okinawa, the start of a battle that was to last 12 weeks and claim the lives of some 240,000 people. This film depicts the Battle through the eyes of Japanese and American soldiers who fought each other on the same battlefield, along with Okinawa civilians who were swept up in the fighting. The film also depicts the history of discrimination and oppression forced upon Okinawa by the American and Japanese governments. Carrying up to the current controversy over the construction of a new base at Henoko, the film explores the root causes of the widespread disillusionment and anger expressed by many Okinawans. This ambitious documentary was directed by the American John Junkerman, long-term resident of Japan and Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker. Okinawa: The Afterburn is a heartfelt plea for peace and an expression of deep respect for the unyielding spirit of the Okinawa people.
Max & James & Danielle

2015

Max & James & Danielle

2015
6
Max Ophuls is the legendary director and two of his favorite actors are James Mason and Danielle Darrieux. Mason and Darrieux were each in several Ophuls projects but were never together in an Ophuls movie, although they should have been. What might that movie have been like? It's anybody's guess (but cinephiles can dream, can't they?). Somewhere between a historical essay and a speculative one.
California High

2015

California High

2015
8
California has been arguing over whether or not marijuana should be legal for over 100 years. Now there's a new judge in this trial - you.
I Was a Winner

2016

I Was a Winner

2016
5
Two men and one woman addicted to videogames are interviewed to tell their stories. In this documentary, they are animated characters resembling the ones on computer games.
Breathin': The Eddy Zheng Story

2016

Breathin': The Eddy Zheng Story

2016
8
Arrested at 16 and tried as an adult for kidnapping and robbery, Eddy Zheng served over 20 years in California prisons and jails. Ben Wang’s BREATHIN’: THE EDDY ZHENG STORY paints an intimate portrait of Eddy—the prisoner, the immigrant, the son, the activist—on his journey to freedom, rehabilitation and redemption. BREATHIN’ moves with a deep, critical love, unafraid in confronting the hard truths of Eddy’s crime, the harsh realities of mass incarceration and the intertwined emotional hardships experienced by all involved. The film finds Eddy at many crossroads — in and out of parole hearings, organizing in the community, othered and at risk of deportation — his resilience and astounding compassion resounding throughout. In chronicling Eddy’s decades-long struggle for freedom, the film interrogates the complexities and hypocrisies of crime and punishment in the United States, raising the greater question: For whom are prisons for?
Marc and Ann

1991

Marc and Ann

1991
4
Legendary filmmaker Les Blank's toe-tapping film treats us to a portrait of a musical Louisiana couple committed to celebrating and preserving Cajun culture.
Puccini

1984

Puccini

1984
1
In Torre del Lago, by Lake Massaciuccoli, Puccini is writing "The Girl of the Golden West" when his wife Elvira accuses him of a dalliance with their maid, Doria Manfredi, a young women from town. Although the maestro is frequently unfaithful, he denies the affair; Elvira insists she's right and publicly hounds Doria. Between scenes in this domestic drama that turns tragic, we watch a Scottish company rehearse and stage "Turandot," Puccini's last opera. The film finds parallels between the two stories and suggests that in the opera, Puccini expresses love for his wife and guilt in Doria's fate. Three local gentlemen provide a spoken chorus as Puccini's score plays throughout.
Un vrai faussaire

2016

Un vrai faussaire

2016
6
Straightlaced: How Gender's Got Us All Tied Up

2009

Straightlaced: How Gender's Got Us All Tied Up

2009
1
A powerful documentary about the lives of teens and young adults as seen through the gender lens. Approaching society's ideas and ideals of gender through clothes, sexuality, sports, dance, safety, consumerism and emotion, the film addresses the complexities of conceptions of masculinity and femininity for Generation Z.
Arlit: The Second Paris

2008

Arlit: The Second Paris

2008
8
Documentary on the lives and hopes of the people living in Arlit, Niger and working in its uranium mine.
Link-Up Diary

1987

Link-Up Diary

1987
2.5
An extraordinary personal journey into the experience of being black in a powerful white society. "Link-up Diary" is a film about the consequences of New South Wales long term practice of taking Aboriginal children away from their parents and raising them in "white" environments. In following the reunification, after many years, of several families in Sydney, during one week of 1986, the filmmaker adopts a diary format which does not attempt to disguise awareness of the camera's presence. This awareness becomes part of the film's subject.
Ningla A-Na

1972

Ningla A-Na

1972
7
Ningla A-Na documents the activism of the Black movement in south-east Australia in the 1970s and shows how the activists changed the direction of the movement both nationally and internationally.