Top Rated Documentary Movies on Kanopy - Page 185

The Art of Dissent

2021

The Art of Dissent

2021
"The Art of Dissent" celebrates the resilience and power of artistic engagement in Czechoslovakia before and after the 1968 Soviet-led invasion. The documentary's main protagonists - Václav Havel, banned singer Marta Kubisová, and the underground rock group the Plastic People of the Universe (PPU) - became the most recognizable dissidents during the 1970-80s. Havel bridged the disparate clusters of individuals and fused the literary, musical, political, and philosophical nonviolent elements into a hybrid network that eventually toppled the totalitarian regime in 1989.
Herskovits at the Heart of Blackness

2009

Herskovits at the Heart of Blackness

2009
A documentary on what is it that makes us who we are: an African an African, a Jew a Jew, an Arab an Arab, a white person white -and what do we make of our apparent differences? Not so long ago, all human cultures assumed a natural and unassailable hierarchy - Europeans on the top, blacks on the bottom and everybody else in the middle. The work of the anthropologist Melville Jean Herskovits helped upend many of these assumptions. Herskovits: A Jew at the Heart of Blackness is the journey of a man into international race politics and its consequences for him -and us- in the first half of 20th century, when the battleground in the earliest "culture wars" was newspapers, radio shows, movies and cartoon, all infused with propaganda that explained why Caucasians dominated the world and other peoples as part of life's natural and inevitable order.
Kisho Kurokawa From Metabolism to Symbiosis

1993

Kisho Kurokawa From Metabolism to Symbiosis

1993
A portrait of the internationally acclaimed Japanese architect who employs Buddhist ideas and western modernism to achieve intercultural architecture
Ininnawa: An Island Calling

2023

Ininnawa: An Island Calling

2023
“Rabiah and Mimi” explores the story of a family who have dedicated their lives to providing healthcare in the remote islands of the Flores Sea.
Without Country

2010

Without Country

2010
Winner of a Student Academy Award®, Sin País (Without Country) explores one family's complex and emotional journey involving deportation. A co-presentation with Latino Public Broadcasting.
Kamala and Raji

1989

Kamala and Raji

1989
The textures and complexities of everyday life in India unfold in Michael Camerini's richly observed story of two poor women and their efforts to improve their lives.
Satya: A Prayer for the Enemy

1995

Satya: A Prayer for the Enemy

1995
The personal testimonies of the courageous Buddhist nuns who have led the nonviolent resistance against the Chinese occupation of Tibet.
School Prayer: A Community at War

1999

School Prayer: A Community at War

1999
Lisa Herdahl, a Mississippi mother of six, is forced to sue her public school district in order to have The Bible removed from her childrens' classrooms.
Fenceline

2002

Fenceline

2002
African-American residents in Norco, Louisiana, who believe that increasing pollution is negatively impacting their health, demand to be relocated from under the shadow of a Shell oil refinery.
Escuela

2002

Escuela

2002
A clear-eyed view into the lives of contemporary Mexican American migrants and their struggles to educate their children while obtaining employment.
State of Denial

2003

State of Denial

2003
An unprecedented and unflinching look at how the citizens of South Africa are living with the AIDS epidemic, given the climate of governmental confusion and neglect.
Drokpa: Nomads of Tibet

2016

Drokpa: Nomads of Tibet

2016
Set in the high plateau of eastern Tibet, DROKPA is an intimate portrait of the lives and struggles of Tibetan nomads whose life is on the cusp of irreversible change as once lush grasslands are rapidly turning into deserts. The grasslands of the Tibetan plateau are home to the source of Asia’s major rivers. Nearly half of humanity depends on this water for survival. Tibetan nomads, known as DROKPA have roamed on this land for thousands of years.
Yucatec Maya Deaf Sign

1977

Yucatec Maya Deaf Sign

1977
In 1976, Hubert Smith set out with a group of researchers to visually document Yucatec Maya society within the village of Chican. This project resulted in the 4-part series, The Living Maya. During filming, however, it was impossible to ignore the use of sign language in the village. Smith and his team saw a lot of the deaf residents, filmed them often, and went back to have these sign exchanges translated. Now it is time to share a story solely about them.
Wild Window: Whales

2015

Wild Window: Whales

2015
Whales features the most majestic creatures in the ocean. This wild window contains spectacular images of Humpback Whales, Sperm Whales and Blue Whales. There is no narration, just ambient sounds of whales and water along with a calming and relaxing soundtrack.
Never Again?

2020

Never Again?

2020
"Never Again?" seeks to educate others on the horrors and consequences of anti-Semitism. The film follows the journey of a Holocaust Survivor and former radical Islamist as they seek to leave behind a legacy of love over hate.
Vincent van Gogh: A Stroke of Genius

1997

Vincent van Gogh: A Stroke of Genius

1997
The tragic story of the immortal artist whose works are among the world's most treasured masterpieces today, but who was almost completely ignored in his own lifetime.
Princess Diana: Who Do You Think She Was?

2021

Princess Diana: Who Do You Think She Was?

2021
We know how the story ends. But how did it all begin? Who was Diana before the palace, before the paparazzi? Behind the modern legend that is ‘Diana, Princess of Wales’ lie many other stories – in her childhood and in her family’s past. For, long before she was a Royal, she was a Spencer.
Jihad in Hollywood

2016

Jihad in Hollywood

2016
Once a successful Syrian actor, Jihad Abdo is now struggling as a refugee while trying to reinvent his life and rebuild his career.
The Life of Jo Menell: Americans, Mongrels, & Funky Junkies

2019

The Life of Jo Menell: Americans, Mongrels, & Funky Junkies

2019
South African filmmaker Jo Menell is most well-known for the cult feminist classic, Dick (1989), which featured 1000 penises accompanied by an audio commentary from women. The nature of that film, however, belies a rich career in film and journalism that spans the Vietnam War, the Allende government in Chile, the emergence of gay rights in San Francisco, a 1981 Bob Marley documentary, an Oscar nominated film about Nelson Mandela (1997), and the Street Talk television series, as well as close relationships with key figures from the 20th Century. Born into a life of privilege, Menell had progressive political inclinations and soon left apartheid South Africa for Britain where he was schooled in the ways and connections of the British ruling class. The film chronicles his amazingly rich and varied life using archival footage alongside a series of interviews conducted with Menell while his portrait was being painted by Cape Town artist Beezy Bailey.
The Interrogation

2018

The Interrogation

2018
In America, nearly 30% of those exonerated by DNA tests had previously confessed. For more than half a century, the Reid technique was the favored method of extracting confessions out of suspects. This method of slowly building pressure often made it seem that admitting guilt was the easiest way out. But now, a number of police forces are abandoning the Reid technique because of the risk of generating false confessions. We hear from the men and women who have spent more than 20 years in prison for crimes they did not commit. They tell us about that moment when, in the darkness of the interrogation room, cut off from the world and terrified by police officers, they finally said what the interrogators wanted to hear…the moment their lives changed forever.