Top Rated Documentary Movies on Kanopy - Page 163

Las Marthas

2014

Las Marthas

2014
7
Marthas is a PBS documentary about an extraordinary rite of passage in Laredo, Texas where teenage Mexican-American girls debut in a grand Colonial Ball dressed as American revolutionaries - a tradition that goes back 114 years.
Don't Tell Anyone (No Le Digas A Nadie)

2015

Don't Tell Anyone (No Le Digas A Nadie)

2015
7
In a community where silence is seen as necessary for survival, undocumented immigrant activist Angy Rivera joins a generation of Dreamers in a quest to come out of the shadows and claim her place in the only home she's ever known.
Shout Gladi Gladi

2015

Shout Gladi Gladi

2015
5
Shout Gladi Gladi is a documentary about hope. It tells the story of one woman's quest to cure fistula and save mother's lives in Africa. Shot in Malawi and Sierra Leone (just prior to the Ebola crisis) this is an intense portrait of the people suffering from fistula and the struggle of those who are not only trying to fix this condition but curtail it through better maternal health care. In addition, it is about women's empowerment, specifically through a radical device from BBOXX, a solar powered generator that provides the women not only with electricity in a region where there is none but also as a means to make money by charging cell phones.
Reel in the Closet

2015

Reel in the Closet

2015
8
Never before seen home movies made by queer people dating back to the 1930s and the struggle to save them before they are lost forever.
Sons of Namatjira

1975

Sons of Namatjira

1975
9
One of Curtis Levy’s finest documentaries, Sons of Namatjira, follows Keith and his wife, Isabel, and other relatives, in their interactions with the wider world including art galleries in town and bus-loads of middle-aged tourists from the big cities. The film highlights communication difficulties between black and white, and in Levy’s terms, becomes “a parable of black-white relations in Australia”.
Karski & The Lords of Humanity

2015

Karski & The Lords of Humanity

2015
6
Karski & The Lords of Humanity is a feature-length partially animated documentary project. The film tells the story of a member of the Polish underground who acted as a courier during World War II and whose most prominent mission was to inform the Allied powers of Nazi crimes against the Jews of Europe in an effort to prevent the Holocaust.
We Are the Ones

2015

We Are the Ones

2015
6
When tribal feuds ignite a firestorm of violence, three surgeons unite for peace. Francis grew up with little schooling during the Sudanese Civil War. Ajak is a Lost Boy who has returned to the tribe he fled as a child. Both men are proteges of Glenn, a grizzled, but brilliant American surgeon.
Our Stars

2015

Our Stars

2015
4
Stars of the 1940s and 1950s, were they cast for their mutual affinities or for their commercial appeal? If and when they were re-starred years later, did the magic still work? Did sparks still fly? The movie business, a machine that manufactured romance and desire at the same time that it documented the process of aging. A meditation on youth and beauty, aging and box office.
Becoming Anita Ekberg

2014

Becoming Anita Ekberg

2014
6
BECOMING ANITA EKBERG is an exploration of how the construct of "Anita Ekberg" became an internationally famous sex goddess as a result of the careful cultivation of her image in various movies, both in Hollywood, by Frank Tashlin, and in Europe, by Federico Fellini. It's an exploration of the texts and subtexts of commercial films and the subterranean and complicated ways that they affect us and can be read.
Help Us Find Sunil Tripathi

2015

Help Us Find Sunil Tripathi

2015
7.5
A fragile and depressed university student disappears from his apartment in the middle of a cold winter's night. Four weeks later his name and photo explode across social media and into the mainstream media as 'suspect 2' in the Boston Marathon bombings. The search for truth by citizen journalists, mainstream journalists and members of social media Web sites derails with tragic consequences as collective fear and suspicion rule the day and rain down upon a vulnerable family. Exclusive access and never released footage reveal the enduring love of a family in crisis.
State of Fear

2006

State of Fear

2006
8
STATE OF FEAR takes place in Peru, yet serves as a cautionary tale for a world engaged in a "global war on terror." It dramatizes the human and societal costs a democracy faces when it embarks on a "war" against terror, a "war" potentially without end, all too easily exploited by unscrupulous leaders seeking personal political gain.
Young Lakota

2013

Young Lakota

2013
8
Three young people living in South Dakota's Pine Ridge Reservation are faced with difficult challenges.
Touch the Light

2015

Touch the Light

2015
8
This documentary weaves three stories – all set in the blind community of Havana, Cuba – into a tale of personal independence. As Lis, Mily, and Margarita each face family problems and heartbreak, their dependence on others turns out to be a double-edged sword. From the music halls of Havana to a cinema club for the blind, their stories reveal both the pain and the joys of fighting for yourself.
Curious Worlds: The Art & Imagination of David Beck

2015

Curious Worlds: The Art & Imagination of David Beck

2015
2
David Becks highly original, intricate and kinetic artwork combines sculpture, painting, textiles, and mechanics on a scale that creates a genre all its own. Curious Worlds takes us into David Becks magical universe, to watch as he creates minutely detailed and often humorous animals, people and entire scenes that inspire profound wonder, delight and awe. A skilled woodworker, sculptor, painter and craftsman, Beck is recognized as a genuine American original. He is the only living artist to have three solo exhibits at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and his work is sought after by private art collectors across the country.
In the Matter of Cha Jung Hee

2010

In the Matter of Cha Jung Hee

2010
6
Her passport said she was Cha Jung Hee. She knew she was not. So began a 40-year deception for a Korean adoptee who came to the United States in 1966. Told to keep her true identity secret from her new American family, the 8-year-old girl quickly forgot she had ever been anyone else. But why had her identity been switched? And who was the real Cha Jung Hee? In the Matter of Cha Jung Hee is the search to find the answers, as acclaimed filmmaker Deann Borshay Liem ("First Person Plural," POV 2000) returns to her native Korea to find her "double," the mysterious girl whose place she took in America. A co-production of ITVS in association with the Center for Asian American Media and American Documentary/POV.
A Courtship

2015

A Courtship

2015
10
Amy Kohn’s fascinating documentary offers a peek into the practice of Christian courtship, wherein a woman hands over the responsibility of finding a husband to her parents and the will of God. Such is the path for Kelly, who after growing up happily in a secular family is prompted to alter the course of her own life after her parents’ divorce. Enter Ron and Dawn Wright, a Christian couple who offer to serve as Kelly’s adopted spiritual-family through the courtship process. Now in her 30s, Kelly lives with the Wrights, relying on them to scout and vet all of her prospective partners, as she vows to save her next kiss for the altar.
Laramie Inside Out

2004

Laramie Inside Out

2004
1
A Laramie local travels back home to document how the Matthew Shepard tragedy has changed her home town.
Frida Kahlo

1982

Frida Kahlo

1982
1
Frida Kahlo: declared a symbol of Mexican national heritage, made into a cult figure by the women's movement, praised by the likes of Picasso and Breton, this film uses images and music to reveal the soul of an icon.
An American Ascent

2014

An American Ascent

2014
10
An American Ascent documents the first African American expedition to tackle Denali, North America's highest peak and explores the complex relationship many African-Americans have with the outdoors. As the United States transitions to a 'minority majority' nation, a staggering number of people of color do not identify with America's wild places. By embarking on the grueling multi-week climb of the 20,327ft Denali, nine African-American climbers set out to bridge this 'adventure gap' - challenging outdated notions of what adventure looks like by changing the face of America's biggest and baddest mountain on the 100th anniversary of its first summit.
Songs of War: Music as a Weapon

2010

Songs of War: Music as a Weapon

2010
7.5
Music elates, touches the soul and bypasses reason. Music is magic. But precisely this magic can turn it into an insidious weapon for music and violence belong together. The brutal power of African war dances, the ferocity of Maori Hakas, the earth-shattering roar of US sound guns blasting Metallica at Taliban hideouts the principle is always the same: Aggressive sounds demoralise the enemy and whip the allies into a frenzy. In Songs of War, director Tristan Chytroschek explores the extraordinary harmony between music and violence. Sesame Street composer, Christopher Cerf, always wanted his music to be fun and entertaining. But then he learned that his songs had been used to torture prisoners in Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib. He is stunned by this abuse of his work and wants to find out how this could happen.