Top Rated Documentary Movies on Kanopy - Page 173

Our Brother James

2001

Our Brother James

2001
10
Australia has one of the highest youth suicide rates in the world. The suicide rate in men under 25 has tripled in the last 30 years, and young men in rural and remote communities are particularly vulnerable. This reality has disturbing implications for society. When it affects you directly, it's shattering. In this very personal film, director Jessica Douglas-Henry and her sister Alix explore the impact of their brother’s suicide. In 1996 James Dalmann killed himself. He was found dead in the bathroom of his housing commission unit in Geraldton, Western Australia. James was only twenty. Although this film is about James, it's really Alix's story. It's about the people left behind, whose lives have been changed forever by the suicide of someone they loved. Although Our Brother James focuses on a personal tragedy, it is ultimately a film about survival and growth, about love, strength and hope for the future.
A Closer Walk

2003

A Closer Walk

2003
6
This documentary examines the world AIDS crisis. The camera travels to Africa, where infections overwhelm the public health system and orphans face their own deaths, central Europe, where drug users spread the disease via shared needles, India, where husbands infect wives, and to the U.S., where grass-roots efforts in places like Kansas City confront cultural stereotypes. Interviews include patients, doctors, nurses, the Dalai Lama, and Kofi Annan. The film's tone is compassionate and urgent, and the statistics overwhelming.
Let the Little Light Shine

2022

Let the Little Light Shine

2022
8
When a thriving, top-ranked African American elementary school is threatened to be replaced by a new high school favoring the community’s wealthier residents, parents, students and educators fight for the elementary school’s survival.
Dear Sirs

2022

Dear Sirs

2022
10
Filmmaker Mark Pedri had never heard his grandfather Silvio's story. Ten years after his grandfather's death, Mark found an archive of photos and letters that changed the rest of his life. The discovery inspired Mark to journey across Europe on a bike to examine his grandfather's experience as a Prisoner of War in WWII in an effort to understand the man who helped raise him.
American Reckoning

2022

American Reckoning

2022
8
In this feature-length documentary from FRONTLINE and Retro Report, an unsolved 1960s murder reveals an untold story of the civil rights movement and Black resistance. “American Reckoning” examines Black opposition to racist violence in Mississippi, spotlighting a little-known armed resistance group called the Deacons for Defense and Justice, woven alongside the Jackson family’s decades-long search for justice amid a federal effort to investigate civil rights era cold cases.
White Supremacy: Going Under

2016

White Supremacy: Going Under

2016
1
Combining reenactments and interviews with the primary players involved, three separate cases in the early 1990s of individuals going undercover to infiltrate and thus bring down white supremacist activities are presented. This documentary posits that such undercover operations are one of if not the most most effective means of stopping these white supremacist activities.
The American Diplomat

2022

The American Diplomat

2022
8
The American Diplomat explores the lives and legacies of three African American ambassadors — Edward Dudley, Terence Todman and Carl Rowan — who pushed past historical and institutional racial barriers to reach high-ranking appointments in the Truman, Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations. At the height of the civil rights movement in the United States, the three men were asked to represent the best of American ideals abroad while facing discrimination at home. Oft reputed as “pale, male and Yale,” the U.S. State Department fiercely maintained and cultivated the Foreign Service’s elitist character and was one of the last federal agencies to desegregate. Through rare archival footage, in-depth oral histories and interviews with family members, colleagues and diplomats, the film paints a portrait of three men who left a lasting impact on the content and character of the Foreign Service and changed American diplomacy forever.
Skate Dreams

2022

Skate Dreams

2022
5.5
Skate Dreams, the first feature documentary about the rise of women’s skateboarding, profiles a group of women whose pursuit of self-expression, equality, and freedom have created an international movement on and off their skateboards. From their boycott of the X-Games, to their defiance of traditional skateboarding gatekeepers, through grueling worldwide skate competitions in the run up to the Olympics, Skate Dreams showcases the charismatic personalities, indomitable spirits and amazing talent of these trailblazing pioneers.
We Are Not Ghouls

2022

We Are Not Ghouls

2022
3
US Air Force JAG Attorney Yvonne Bradley was assigned to defend a man held at Guantanamo Bay. Believing Guantanamo held ‘the worst of the worst’, her world was turned upside down once she arrived in Cuba and began to untangle an unimaginable case.
The Unmaking of a College

2022

The Unmaking of a College

2022
8
In THE UNMAKING OF A COLLEGE, students at Hampshire College confront a new president's underhanded attempt to shut down their school and discover that a powerful institution is bullying an inexperienced administration into giving up the independence of one of the most experimenting colleges in the United States. A raucous ode to democracy in action, this film evokes the courage required to stand up to power at a time when many liberal arts colleges are failing.
Butterfly Blueprints

2022

Butterfly Blueprints

2022
10
The hidden scientific secrets of butterflies reveal them to be more inventive and resilient than we ever imagined. Follow their extraordinary life cycle and migrations to tropical rainforests, windswept prairies, and even inside a chrysalis as it’s being spun.
Neurodivergent

2021

Neurodivergent

2021
8
“My mind is like someone emptied the junk drawer onto a trampoline.” From post-it notes to keys, pens, rubber bands, & receipts, the unorganized chaos of a junk drawer is the perfect representation of what goes on in the mind of someone with ADHD. In this profoundly personal mixed media experience inside the ADHD mind, Neurodivergent follows the filmmaker’s journey as she discovers her ADHD diagnosis during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. When she turns the camera on herself and her family to process what this diagnosis means, she also discovers why so many women with ADHD are undiagnosed and the dire consequences on their lives.
Jews of the Wild West

2022

Jews of the Wild West

2022
2
“Jews of the Wild West” is a feature-length documentary completed in December 2021. The independent not-for-profit project is produced by Electric Yolk Media and directed by award-winning filmmaker Amanda Kinsey. Through on-camera interviews, compelling footage, and historical photographs, the film tells the positive immigration story and highlights the dynamic contributions Jewish Americans made to shaping the Western United States.
Betelnut Bisnis

2004

Betelnut Bisnis

2004
7
In the Highlands of Papua New Guinea, a grassroots family makes a precarious living by trading in betelnut, one of the world's most widely used narcotics. This is the story of resilient people who have few material possessions but who face each day with dignity and quiet determination. As they go about their daily work, the film presents us with a vivid portrait of present-day life in Papua New Guinea.
Use of Force: The Policing of Black America

2022

Use of Force: The Policing of Black America

2022
2
As reports of fatal police violence continue to flood the headlines, this film shines a light on not only the circumstances of these cases but how to improve the system as a whole and heal the communities they impact.
The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo: The Sky's The Limit

2018

The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo: The Sky's The Limit

2018
5
The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo celebrates 100 years of the RAF with colourful performers joining the event from across the globe.
The Holy Game

2021

The Holy Game

2021
1
Seminarians compete in the Vatican's football tournament known as the Clericus Cup. A film about religion, sport, and why young men choose to become priests.
Ten Million Throwaways

2021

Ten Million Throwaways

2021
2
A growing consumer appetite for underage performers and violent sex dominates today's porn. Ten Million Throwaways uncovers the dramatic and illegal operating practices of this multi-billion-dollar industry.
Sex, Lies and Butterflies

2018

Sex, Lies and Butterflies

2018
8
An exploration of the diversity of moths and butterflies from caterpillars to larvae to chrysalis to winged flight. The documentary covers camouflage and other anti-predatory tactics along with uniqueness of different species and amazing feats and colors.
Trump's Trade War

2019

Trump's Trade War

2019
6
As the trade war between the U.S. and China escalates, FRONTLINE and NPR take a look at what led to the rising tensions and what’s at stake. “Trump’s Trade War” presents the inside story of President Trump’s gamble to confront China over trade. Reporting from the U.S. and China, FRONTLINE and NPR investigate what led the world’s two largest economies to the brink, and the billions at stake.