Top Rated Documentary Movies on Kanopy - Page 171

Mawson: Life and Death in Antarctica

2008

Mawson: Life and Death in Antarctica

2008
4
The Douglas Mawson Antarctic Expedition of 1912 is considered one of the most amazing feats of endurance of all time. Although his two companions perished, Douglas Mawson survived, but how? In a bold historical experiment, scientist and adventurer Tim Jarvis is retracing the gruelling experience, with the same meagre rations, primitive clothing and equipment to uncover what happened to Mawson physically — and mentally — as a man hanging on the precipice of life and death.
The Face of Birth

2012

The Face of Birth

2012
8
An inspiring look at how wonderful birth can be when your right to choose how, where and with whom you give birth is respected & protected. Every woman has the right to be informed about their options in childbirth. Through an exploration of home birth, this 87 min film looks at what natural, physiological childbirth really is. Is birth a medical emergency waiting to happen or a profound, natural and physiological event that women are designed for? The most comprehensive film ever made on home birth and a voice of reason in the debate, The Face of Birth outlines the importance of education in birthing and the right of a woman to choose the best and safest birth method for her and her baby.
The Gods of Times Square

1999

The Gods of Times Square

1999
10
Long before New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani launched his campaign to clean up the city, Times Square was the stage for a slew of religious zealots and fanatics, all preaching their brand of fire and brimstone to anyone who would listen. Filmed between 1993 and 1998, Richard Sandler's documentary gives viewers a glimpse into the not-so-distant past, when 42nd Street was the shared pulpit of the most colorful assortment of ministry imaginable.
Greedy Lying Bastards

2013

Greedy Lying Bastards

2013
5.5
What happens when an industry has too much power? "Greedy Lying Bastards" presents a searing indictment of the influence, deceit and corruption that defines the fossil fuel industry.
How I Became An Elephant

2012

How I Became An Elephant

2012
10
One girl's journey to inspire a movement. Juliette is fourteen years old and she is on a mission to save elephants. After single-handedly raising funds Juliette embarks on a life-altering journey to South East Asia to meet and work with her hero The Elephant Lady. This is the story of two women, one from the East, one from the West, coming together on common ground, saving elephants. It's the coming of age of a passionate emerging woman joining forces with the wise eastern animal advocate on an enlightening journey of compassion, action, and hope that is sure to motivate audiences young and old. The message: no matter what your age, your ethnicity, or disposition, no matter what the cause, you can make a difference.
Bonsai People: The Vision of Muhammad Yunus

2010

Bonsai People: The Vision of Muhammad Yunus

2010
10
Bonsai People is a feature length documentary film that explores the work of Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus and his vision from microcredit to social business
Top Secret Rosies: The Female 'Computers' of WWII

2010

Top Secret Rosies: The Female 'Computers' of WWII

2010
8
In 1942, when computers were human and women were underestimated, a group of female mathematicians helped win a war and usher in the modern computer age. Sixty-five years later their story has finally been told.
Donor Unknown

2011

Donor Unknown

2011
1
All JoEllen Marsh knew about her biological father was that he was Donor 150; but she wanted to know anything and everything she could about her father’s genealogy. Thanks to a social networking website called the Donor Sibling Registry designed specifically for donor offspring, that becomes a possibility. Marsh slowly unravels Donor 150′s side of her family tree; meeting, one-by-one, her new-found siblings and discovering a plethora of uncanny genetic similarities. (Donor 150 must have had some damn strong genes!) Marsh and her siblings would like to meet the man from whom these common genes were inherited. A New York Times article about Marsh caught Donor 150′s eye, and the rest is history…
Listen Up: The Lives of Quincy Jones

1990

Listen Up: The Lives of Quincy Jones

1990
6
The extraordinary life of Quincy Jones -- one of the 20th century's most influential and talented composers, musicians and music producers -- provides the basis of this offbeat, free-form documentary tribute. With little regard for formal timelines and traditional documentary biography methods, the film is an amazing patchwork of personal insights featuring a constellation of music stars including his long-time friend Ray Charles, Miles Davis, Frank Sinatra, Herbie Hancock, Ella Fitzgerald, Michael Jackson, Aretha Franklin, Dizzy Gillespie and rappers Big Daddy Kane and Flavor Flav, as well as politicians, filmmakers and other important people. Some of the most moving scenes involve Jones returning to his childhood home in Chicago and recounting honest and painful memories from his childhood. Jones does not shy from discussing everything -- from his mother's mental illness, to his marital problems, to his serious health conditions. He also looks frankly at his career.
How Smart Are Animals?

2011

How Smart Are Animals?

2011
9
Investigates animal intelligence in dogs, dolphins, and cephalopods. It also profiles Irene Pepperberg and her talking parrot Alex.
Paul Goodman Changed My Life

2011

Paul Goodman Changed My Life

2011
1
Paul Goodman, whose best-selling 'Growing Up Absurd' made him the philosopher of the New Left in the 1960s, was also a brilliant poet, out queer (and family man) in the 1940s, radical pacifist and visionary. His ideas and stubborn integrity helped many find a moral compass in the '60's -- and can do so again today.
Between 2 Worlds

2010

Between 2 Worlds

2010
6
According to the Mayan Prophecies humanity has always stood Between 2 Worlds: The Old World of technology, money, power and control and the New World of peace, love, unity, harmony and balance with nature. These prophecies assign humanity the task of balancing these two worlds before the end of the Mayan cycle in 2012. Between 2 Worlds is a film that reveals the secret of the Gregorian calendar, which was codified after the "Doctrine of Discover", which assume that the Christian Church had the power to take any land owned by non-Christian peoples. So the Doctrine of Discover led right into the codification of the calendar, allowing to the method to control people for economic and political measure of time.
Monash: The Forgotten Anzac

2008

Monash: The Forgotten Anzac

2008
6
The story of how Australia's 'ANZAC myth' was born and the role of General John Monash in this process as soldier and statesman both during and after WW1.
Let It Come Down: The Life of Paul Bowles

1999

Let It Come Down: The Life of Paul Bowles

1999
1
One of the most enigmatic artists of the 20th century, writer, composer and wanderer Paul Bowles (1910-1999) is profiled by a filmmaker who has been obsessed with his genius since age nineteen. Set against the dramatic landscape of North Africa, the mystery of Bowles (famed author of The Sheltering Sky) begins to unravel in Jennifer Baichwal's poetic and moving Let It Come Down: The Life of Paul Bowles. Rare, candid interviews with the reclusive Bowles--at home in Tangier, as well as in New York during an extraordinary final reunion with Allen Ginsberg and William Burroughs--are intercut with conflicting views of his supporters and detractors. At the time in his mid-eighties, Bowles speaks with unprecedented candor about his work, his controversial private life and his relationships with Gertrude Stein, Tennessee Williams, Truman Capote, the Beats, and his wife and fellow author Jane Bowles.
Red Light Go

2005

Red Light Go

2005
8
As if their day jobs weren't dangerous enough, the hardest of hard-core New York City bike messengers seek out even more thrills in their off time by organizing wild-and-wooly street races. This documentary follows a small group of these riders. The result is an intimate portrait of the madmen (and women) who risk life and limb in a series of harrowing races, culminating in the annual Halloween night Alleycat race through rush-hour traffic.
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.
The Animals Film

1981

The Animals Film

1981
9
The film offers a comprehensive examination of the exploitation of animals in modern society.
Inside the Firestorm

2010

Inside the Firestorm

2010
0.5
The story of Australia’s worst peacetime disaster On 7th February 2009, Australia suffered its worst peacetime disaster ‘Black Saturday’ claimed 173 lives, left more than 7,000 homeless and destroyed close to half a million hectares of Victorian bushland
Sex Slaves Frontline

2006

Sex Slaves Frontline

2006
7
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.
Belzec

2005

Belzec

2005
8
Although it was in full operation for less than one-year, Belzec was a very efficiently run Concentration Camp were over 600,000 Jews were slaughtered. As the Russian army was drawing closer and closer to the camp, the Nazi dismantled Belzec and eradicated virtually all the evidence that the camp ever existed. This documentary tells the story of Belzec and reminds the world "never forget".