Top Rated Documentary Movies on Kanopy - Page 175

The Tree of Knowledge

1982

The Tree of Knowledge

1982
6
Set in Huehuetla, Puebla, a Totonac Indian community in East Central Mexico, this documentary contrasts two systems of education. The public school system uses patriotic symbols to "integrate" Indian pupils into the national culture while teaching them to reject their own identity.
Jasper Johns: Take an Object

1990

Jasper Johns: Take an Object

1990
1
A portrait of the artist at work. The film begins in 1972 with Johns repainting Air Ocean World based on Buckminster Fuller's dymaxion map. Johns work is traced over the next eighteen years. His Untitled, 1973, with its cross-hatching, flagstones, and anatomical parts become recurrent motifs, as Johns begins to imbed skulls and severed arms in them. The paintings become more personal as Johns gradually "drops the reserve" in his recent series, "The Seasons." The film culminates with Johns working on the final state of the etching based on "The Seasons."
Sweatshop Deadly Fashion

2015

Sweatshop Deadly Fashion

2015
10
Sweatshop Deadly Fashion (English Subtitled) Frida, Anniken and Ludwig live, breath and dream fashion. They spend hundreds of euros every month on clothes and make a living promoting the latest catwalk trends.They have never given much thought to the people who make their clothes.
Battered

1989

Battered

1989
7.5
Lee Grant's acclaimed 1989 investigation of domestic violence in American Homes. Battered is the powerful, if harrowing portrait of a life lived in constant fear of the people closest to you. Intimate interviews with the victims and children of the cycle are combined with the eye opening and heart breaking stories of the abusers themselves to take you deeper into every facet of these American lives.
November's Children: Revolution in Prague

1991

November's Children: Revolution in Prague

1991
3
A first-hand account of the tumultuous events of 1989 when a student-led revolution succeeded in overthrowing Czechoslovakia's repressive Communist regime. The film, which includes rare government and underground footage, follows the lives of three Czechoslovak students whose leadership helped ignite the 'Velvet Revoution' and eventually establish a democratic government. Directed by Oscar-winner Allan Miller, it features interviews with students, activists and the country's new president, Vaclav Havel.
The Third Strike

2020

The Third Strike

2020
2
A deep dive into the 1980's war on drugs that led directly to the three-strikes laws that locked up even petty offenders for lifetime sentences.
Behind the Screen

1915

Behind the Screen

1915
6
A look behind the scenes at Universal Studios in 1915.
Honorable Men: The Rise and Fall of Ehud Olmert

2020

Honorable Men: The Rise and Fall of Ehud Olmert

2020
6
How former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert unexpectedly rose to power and how he dramatically fell from grace: from the most powerful position in the country to prison.
Escape from Room 18

2017

Escape from Room 18

2017
2
John Daly, an ex-Neo Nazi, fled to Israel when his gang tried to kill him for being Jewish. An old Skinhead friend finds John 25 years later and suggests they visit concentration camps in an effort to make amends for their past.
Sam Smith: Dreams Come True

2015

Sam Smith: Dreams Come True

2015
5
Follow Sam Smith's journey from their humble beginnings to taking the music world by storm. Find out the secret to the singer's success and feel the power of their searing voice.
Two Million Minutes: A Global Examination

2008

Two Million Minutes: A Global Examination

2008
7
Six students from 3 Countries, USA, India and China are moving to College. They soon find themselves in a global competition and it narrows down to: Engineering and Science.
Prescribing Death

2019

Prescribing Death

2019
6
Oxycontin. Codeine. Fentanyl. All prescription drugs to which countless patients have become addicted. As America battles an opioid crisis that sees 170 citizens die everyday, lawyers and prosecutors are trying to bring an end to Big Pharma's impunity. How did it happen? And how can we hold those responsible to account?
Mau

2022

Mau

2022
8
Mau follows the unlikely story of design visionary Bruce Mau and his ever-optimistic push for massive change.
On These Grounds

2021

On These Grounds

2021
6
An explosive viral video shows a white policeman throwing a Black teenager from her school desk. One woman uproots her life to help the girl, face the officer, and dismantle the system behind the “Assault at Spring Valley.”
Netanyahu at War

2016

Netanyahu at War

2016
8
The inside story of the bitter clash between President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. Amid violence in the Middle East, the film traces Netanyahu's rise to power and his high-stakes fight with the president over Iran's nuclear program.
Subjects of Desire

2021

Subjects of Desire

2021
6
Subjects of Desire is a thought provoking film that examines the cultural shift in beauty standards towards embracing (or appropriating) Black aesthetics and features, deconstructing what we understand about race and the power behind beauty.
Luchadoras

2021

Luchadoras

2021
10
The courageous female wrestlers of Ciudad Juárez, a city known for its high murder rate against women - who fight in the ring and in their daily lives to redefine the image of what it means to be a woman in Mexico.
Bat City USA

2012

Bat City USA

2012
5
Bat City USA delves into Austin's complicated relationship with a colony of Mexican free-tailed bats under the downtown Congress Avenue Bridge. Each year, thousands of people get a fascinating, close-up glimpse of the world's largest urban bat colony amid the colorful downtown Austin, Texas setting. The film reveals how the bats moved into the bridge and survived eradication plans by hostile residents. Viewers discover how the bats eventually became a beloved part of what makes Austin unique and weird, mainly through the efforts of Merlin Tuttle, founder of Bat Conservation International, who convinced residents of the benefits of the bats.
Instructions for Survival

2021

Instructions for Survival

2021
6
Alexander’s transgender identity means he is obliged to lead a life of secrecy in his home country. Being identified as “female” in his passport means he cannot legally find work, either. Since even a visit to the doctor is a risk for him, he has begun hormone therapy to transition on his own with support from internet forums and the local transgender community. Desperate to escape their hopeless situation and leave the country, Alexander’s wife Mari decides to become a surrogate mother for 12,000 dollars. But their ostensibly pragmatic plan backfires when Alex and Mari gradually develop an emotional bond with the unborn child.
Life on Parole

2017

Life on Parole

2017
7
Follow former prisoners through the challenges of their first year on parole. With unique access, the film goes inside the effort to change the way parole works in Connecticut and reduce the number of people returning to prison.