Top Rated Documentary Movies on Kanopy - Page 165

Who Does She Think She Is

2008

Who Does She Think She Is

2008
1
"Who Does She Think She Is?," a documentary by Academy Award winning filmmaker Pamela Tanner Boll, features five fierce women who refuse to choose. Through their lives, we explore some of the most problematic intersections of our time: mothering and creativity, partnering and independence, economics and art.
From Jesus to Christ: The First Christians

1998

From Jesus to Christ: The First Christians

1998
9.5
This series tells the epic story of the rise of Christianity. The series explore the life and death of Jesus, and the men and women whose belief, conviction, and martyrdom created the religion we now know as Christianity. Drawing upon historical evidence, the series challenges familiar assumptions and conventional notions about Christian origins. Archaeological finds have yielded new understandings of Jesus' class and social status; fresh interpretations have transformed earlier ideas about the identity of the early Christians and their communities. Interviews with twelve scholars New Testament theologians, archaeologists, and historians. The scholars together represent a range of viewpoints and diversity of faiths and a shared commitment to bring new ways of thinking about Christianity to a public audience. They discuss the value in a historical approach to Jesus and the Bible and whether Christian faith can be reconciled with such an approach.
Through Deaf Eyes

2007

Through Deaf Eyes

2007
7
A look at deaf culture from the 19th century to the present.
The First Rasta

2011

The First Rasta

2011
4
Going far beyond the standard imagery of Rasta—ganja, reggae, and dreadlocks—this cultural history offers an uncensored vision of a movement with complex roots and the exceptional journey of a man who taught an enslaved people how to be proud and impose their culture on the world. In the 1920s Leonard Percival Howell and the First Rastas had a revelation concerning the divinity of Haile Selassie, king of Ethiopia, that established the vision for the most popular mystical movement of the 20th century, Rastafarianism. Although jailed, ridiculed, and treated as insane, Howell, also known as the Gong, established a Rasta community of 4,500 members, the first agro-industrial enterprise devoted to producing marijuana. In the late 1950s the community was dispersed, disseminating Rasta teachings throughout the ghettos of the island. A young singer named Bob Marley adopted Howell's message, and through Marley's visions, reggae made its explosion in the music world.
Sex Slaves Frontline

2006

Sex Slaves Frontline

2006
8.5
A documentary exposé inside the global sex trade in women from the former Soviet Bloc. The film takes viewers into the shadowy, multi-billion dollar world of sex trafficking. Part cinema verité, part investigation, Sex Slaves puts a human face on this most inhuman of contemporary issues. From the villages of Moldova and Ukraine to underground brothels and discotheques in Turkey where many women are trafficked and forced into prostitution, we witness first-hand the brutal world of white sex slavery.
The Price of Sugar

2007

The Price of Sugar

2007
5
On the Caribbean island of the Dominican Republic, tourists flock to pristine beaches, with little knowledge that a few miles away thousands of dispossessed Haitians are under armed guard on plantations harvesting sugarcane, most of which ends up in US kitchens. Cutting cane by machete, they work 14 hour days, 7 days a week, frequently without access to decent housing, electricity, clean water, education, healthcare or adequate nutrition. The Price of Sugar follows a charismatic Spanish priest, Father Christopher Hartley, as he organizes some of this hemisphere's poorest people, challenging the powerful interests profiting from their work. This film raises key questions about where the products we consume originate, at what human cost they are produced and ultimately, where our responsibility lies.
Inside Hana's Suitcase

2009

Inside Hana's Suitcase

2009
8.5
A Theatrical Documentary Synopsis "Inside Hana's Suitcase", is the poignant story of two young children who grew up in pre-WWII Czechoslovakia and the terrible events that they endured just because they happened to be born Jewish. Based on the internationally acclaimed book "Hana's Suitcase" which has been translated into 40 languages
Off the Straight & Narrow

1999

Off the Straight & Narrow

1999
1
A look at TV since the 1960's shows that Gays and Lesbians have come a long way but still have a long ways to go to a balanced and realistic depiction on television.
Choppertown: The Sinners

2005

Choppertown: The Sinners

2005
7
Choppertown is the world’s first motorcycle documentary about the renowned hot rod and motorcycle club, the Sinners. Modern day greasers, the Sinners are all about the old school. None of them is old enough to have experienced the hot rod heydays of the ‘50s and ‘60s, but still they live on the edge of society chopping cars and bikes and searching for vintage parts to make their “Rat Rods”, “Trumps”, “Mercs”, and “Bobbers” into rolling works of art.
The Hidden History of Egypt

2002

The Hidden History of Egypt

2002
5.5
Egyptians were famed for their extravagant building techniques and extraordinary gods, but what about the ordinary citizens? How did they lead their day to day lives? What did they do for entertainment? Did they believe in their gods? Discover astonishing facts that throw new light on our understanding of the Ancient Egyptians.
Crossing Arizona

2006

Crossing Arizona

2006
8
A collection of personal accounts stemming from Arizona's illegal immigration crisis.
A Life Apart: Hasidism in America

1998

A Life Apart: Hasidism in America

1998
4.5
A Life Apart: Hasidism in America, is the first in-depth documentary about a distinctive, traditional Eastern European religious community. In an historic migration after World War II, Hasidism found it's most vital center in America. Both challenging and embracing American values, Hasidim seek those things which many Americans find most precious: family, community, and a close relationship to God. Integrating critical and analytical scholarship with a portrait of the daily life, beliefs, and history of contemporary Hasidic Jews in New York City, the film focuses on the conflicts, burdens, and rewards of the Hasidic way of life.
Futureproof

2005

Futureproof

2005
5
Big jumps are sick... and once again we have that category well covered. But there will always be a bigger jump or that extra one eighty added to the rotation that will dethrone last year's golden moment. So... what aspects of snowboarding can withstand the test of time? We spent the winter examining this question and came up with some answers that will have you waxing your board and watching the Weather Channel in September. You will see.
Call Me Waya

2025

Call Me Waya

2025
6
CALL ME WAYA follows a Cuban octogenarian “Outsider” artist’s work and tumultuous life trajectory, inviting friends and family to reflect on the consequences and wonders of his bohemian lifestyle.
Papers: Stories of Undocumented Youth

2010

Papers: Stories of Undocumented Youth

2010
1
The story of undocumented youth and the challenges they face as they turn 18 without legal status.
Syria After Assad

2025

Syria After Assad

2025
10
Frontline examines Syria’s uncertain future under jihadist-turned-statesman Ahmad al-Sharaa. After the fall of Bashar al-Assad, correspondent Martin Smith travels the country tracing al-Sharaa’s rise to power and the emerging threats to the country’s stability.
Dancing in A-Yard

2023

Dancing in A-Yard

2023
8
In prisons ruled by toxic masculinity, dancing is an absolute taboo. But at Lancaster’s A-Yard, near Los Angeles, a group of young men, willing to take a chance to be mocked in the yard, start a dance class led by French choreographer Dimitri Chamblas. This class quickly becomes an intoxicating escape from their grim reality so they decide to create a dance show. In this exceptional context, the inmates engage with overwhelming sincerity, evoking their childhood, ganglife, the crimes, the prison, and their desire for transformation. Beyond damaged lives and a prison system on the edge of the abyss, DANCING IN A-YARD explores redemption and the capacity of human beings to reinvent themselves, when given a chance. And more importantly, how art and introspection can help see the light.
Something of the Times

1985

Something of the Times

1985
8
Archival photographs help reconstruct the life of white buffalo hunters, and the Aboriginal labour that supported them, in the remote wetlands of the NT in the 1930s. Former hunter Tom Cole visits hunting camps and discusses the trade.
Mr. Polaroid

2025

Mr. Polaroid

2025
8
Before the iPhone, the Polaroid camera let people instantly chronicle their lives. Along with instant photo mania, its company culture became the model for Silicon Valley. Mr. Polaroid is the story of Edwin Land, the man behind the camera.
Once Upon a Time in Iraq

2020

Once Upon a Time in Iraq

2020
8
Civilians, journalists and soldiers from both sides of the conflict explain their experience during the Iraq War, from the 2003 invasion through the 17 years that followed. Edited version from "Once Upon a Time in Iraq" (2020)