Top Rated Documentary Movies on Kanopy - Page 20

Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood

2018

Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood

2018
6
A deliciously scandalous portrait of unsung Hollywood legend Scotty Bowers, whose bestselling memoir chronicled his decades spent as sexual procurer to the stars.
We Live in Public

2009

We Live in Public

2009
6.8
In 1999, Internet entrepreneur Josh Harris recruits dozens of young men and women who agree to live in underground apartments for weeks at a time while their every movement is broadcast online. Soon, Harris and his girlfriend embark on their own subterranean adventure, with cameras streaming live footage of their meals, arguments, bedroom activities, and bathroom habits. This documentary explores the role of technology in our lives, as it charts the fragile nature of dot-com economy.
On the Adamant

2023

On the Adamant

2023
7.2
The Adamant is a unique day-care centre. A floating structure located on the Seine in the heart of Paris, it welcomes adults suffering from mental disorders, offering the kind of care that grounds them in time and space and helps them to recover or keep up their spirits. The team running it tries to resist the deterioration and dehumanisation of psychiatry as best as they can.
Frida. Viva la Vida

2019

Frida. Viva la Vida

2019
6.5
The two sides of Frida Kahlo's spirit: on one side the revolutionary, pioneering artist of contemporary feminism and on the other, the human being, victim of her tortured body and a tormented relationship.
Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You're a Girl)

2020

Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You're a Girl)

2020
7.3
The story of young Afghan girls learning to read, write and skateboard in Kabul.
Love, Gilda

2018

Love, Gilda

2018
7.2
Diaries, audiotapes, videotapes and testimonials from friends and colleagues offer insight into the life and career of Gilda Radner -- the beloved comic and actress who became an icon on Saturday Night Live.
Jim: The James Foley Story

2016

Jim: The James Foley Story

2016
7.4
In August, 2014, a video of the public execution of American photojournalist James Foley rippled across the globe. Foley wore an orange jumpsuit as he knelt beside an ISIS militant dressed in black. That image challenged the world to deal with a new face of terror. And it tested one American family. Seen through the lens of filmmaker Brian Oakes, Foley’s close childhood friend, Jim takes us from small-town New England to the adrenaline-fueled front lines of Libya and Syria, where Foley pushed the limits of danger to report on the plight of civilians impacted by war.
Kino Eye

1924

Kino Eye

1924
6.7
This documentary promoting the joys of life in a Soviet village centers on the activities of the Young Pioneers. These children are constantly busy, pasting propaganda posters on walls, distributing hand bills, exhorting all to "buy from the cooperative" as opposed to the Public Sector, promoting temperance, and helping poor widows. Experimental portions of the film, projected in reverse, feature the un-slaughtering of a bull and the un-baking of bread.
Casting By

2012

Casting By

2012
6.9
This essential new documentary pays tribute to the legacy of the late, legendary casting director Marion Dougherty and shines a light on one of the most overlooked and least understood crafts in filmmaking.
Let There Be Light

1946

Let There Be Light

1946
7.3
The final entry in a trilogy of films produced for the U.S. government by John Huston. Some returning combat veterans suffer scars that are more psychological than physical. This film follows patients and staff during their treatment. It deals with what would now be called PTSD, but at the time was categorised as psychoneurosis or shell-shock. Government officials deemed this 1946 film counterproductive to postwar efforts; it was not shown publicly until 1981.
Enthusiasm. Symphony of Donbas

1930

Enthusiasm. Symphony of Donbas

1930
6.3
An audiovisual symphony that delves into the industrial, agrarian, and cultural fabric of the Donbas region during the inaugural Soviet Five Year Plan. It spotlights anti-religious campaigns, propagandistic marches, and the vibrant athletic culture of its time
General Magic

2019

General Magic

2019
7.3
A tale of how the great vision and epic failure of General Magic, the "greatest dead company in Silicon Valley", changed the lives of billions.
Strike a Pose

2016

Strike a Pose

2016
6.7
In 1990, seven young male dancers joined Madonna on her most controversial world tour. Their journey was captured in Truth or Dare. As a self-proclaimed 'mother' to her six gay dancers plus straight Oliver, Madonna used the film to make a stand on gay rights and freedom of expression. The dancers became paragons of pride, inspiring people all over the world to dare to be who you are. 25 years later, the dancers share their own stories about life during and after the tour. What does it really take to express yourself?
The Birth of Saké

2015

The Birth of Saké

2015
7.1
Through the unrelenting winter in the north of Japan, a small group of workers must brave unusual working conditions to bring to life a 2,000-year-old tradition known as sake. A cinematic documentary, The Birth of Sake is a visually immersive experience of an almost-secret world in which large sacrifices must be made for the survival of a time-honored brew.
Elstree 1976

2015

Elstree 1976

2015
6.2
A documentary about ten very different lives connected by having appeared onscreen wearing masks or helmets in Star Wars.
The Circle

2014

The Circle

2014
6.5
A young teacher in Zurich in the 1950s falls in love with a transvestite star but is torn between his bourgeois existence and his commitment to homosexuality. He joins a gay organization that is eventually seen as the pioneer of gay emancipation in Europe.
Dear Mr. Watterson

2013

Dear Mr. Watterson

2013
6.4
20 years after Calvin and Hobbes stopped appearing in daily newspapers, filmmaker Joel Allen Schroeder has set out to explore the reasons behind the comic strip's loyal and devoted following.
The Lovely Month of May

1963

The Lovely Month of May

1963
8
Candid interviews of ordinary people on the meaning of happiness, an often amorphous and inarticulable notion that evokes more basic and fundamentally egalitarian ideals of self-betterment, prosperity, tolerance, economic opportunity, and freedom.
Hungry for Change

2012

Hungry for Change

2012
6.7
We all want more energy, an ideal body and beautiful younger looking skin... So what is stopping us from getting this? Introducing 'Hungry For Change', the latest 'Food Matters' film. 'Hungry For Change' exposes shocking secrets the diet, weightloss and food industry don't want you to know about. Deceptive strategies designed to keep you craving more and more. Could the foods we are eating actually be keeping us stuck in the diet trap?
If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front

2011

If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front

2011
6.5
Filmmaker Marshall Curry explores the inner workings of the Earth Liberation Front, a revolutionary movement devoted to crippling facilities involved in deforestation, while simultaneously offering a profile of Oregon ELF member Daniel McGowan, who was brought up on terrorism charges for his involvement with the radical group.