Top Rated Documentary Movies on Kanopy - Page 202

Long Distance Revolutionary: A Journey with Mumia Abu-Jamal

2013

Long Distance Revolutionary: A Journey with Mumia Abu-Jamal

2013
10
The film chronicles the life and revolutionary times of death row political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal.
The Slanted Screen

2006

The Slanted Screen

2006
10
From silent film star Sessue Hayakawa to Harold and Kumar Go to Whitecastle, the Slanted Screen examines the portrayal Asian men in film and television, and how new filmmakers are now re-defining age-old stereotypes.
Thomas Jefferson: A View from the Mountain

1995

Thomas Jefferson: A View from the Mountain

1995
5
In this documentary, historians, politicians and actors (including Danny Glover and Sissy Spacek) try to illuminate the quixotic nature of founding father Thomas Jefferson, focusing on his views about slavery and rumored affair with his slave Sally Hemmings. Though many consider Jefferson America's most influential political logician, his life was a series of paradoxes. Edward Herrmann is featured as the voice of the conflicted aristocrat. [netflix]
Uprising

2012

Uprising

2012
6
The leaders of Egypt's 2011 revolution discuss the fire, courage and resiliency behind their movement to remove President Hosni Mubarak from office.
Poetry in Motion

1982

Poetry in Motion

1982
7
More than 20 contemporary North American poets recite, sing, and perform their work. Early in the film, Charles Bukowski talks about the energy of poets and of a poem. These poets are the children of Walt Whitman and of Charles Olson, incantatory and oratorical, radical, sometimes incorporating contemporary political imagery. Black Mountain poets, the Beats, minimalists like John Cage, the wordless Four Horsemen, Tom Waits, and others capture aspects of poets as troubadours.
The Boot Cake

2008

The Boot Cake

2008
7
Charlie Chaplin is a saint to earthquake survivors in a small desert town in India and they are throwing him a birthday party. Australian filmmaker Kathryn Millard is taking the cake - a chocolate truffle sponge shaped like the Tramp's boot.
Arguing the World

1998

Arguing the World

1998
8
A true story of four Jewish intellectuals born in New York and educated at City College during the 1930s, and their divergent paths over the next six decades.
The Cola Conquest

1998

The Cola Conquest

1998
7
The Cola Conquest tells the story of Coca-Cola - the 'sublimated essence' of all that American stands for - and the century-long competition with its rival, Pepsi-Cola. Challenging, fast-paced, irreverent, serious and funny by turns, it explores the delicious paradox at the heart of Coke: How did an innocuous soft drink come to wield such enormous power and assume such significance in so many people's lives? What does it tell us about who we are and what we are becoming?
Yoga Is: A Transformational Journey

2012

Yoga Is: A Transformational Journey

2012
1
This is the story of a woman who thought she had it all until she lost her beloved mother to cancer. Trying to process and understand her profound grief, Suzanne embarked on a journey and turned to a deeper practice of yoga. Along the way, she discovers what YOGA IS.
Liberators: Fighting on Two Fronts in World War II

1992

Liberators: Fighting on Two Fronts in World War II

1992
5
An account of Black American soldiers in World War II who combated racism in the segregated military and on the home front.
The Memories of Angels

2008

The Memories of Angels

2008
8
Documentary, poetry and essay rolled into one, this compilation of stockshots and clips sourced from NFB productions of the '50s and '60s offers a singular lesson in Montreal history - its famous figures, symbolic places, and ordinary citizens. Without commentary, the film moves from the red light district to Jean Drapeau, the Jacques-Cartier market, department stores downtown, textile factories, and the construction of Place Ville-Marie. We meet Geneviève Bujold, Oscar Peterson, Monique Mercure, and Igor Stravinsky. We hear Raymond Lévesque, Jean Drapeau, and René Lecavalier.
You Got to Move

1985

You Got to Move

1985
7
A documentary that follows people from communities in the Southern United States in their various processes of becoming involved in social change, with special emphasis on the work the
Minds in the Water

2012

Minds in the Water

2012
10
A surfer travels the world on a quest to save dolphins.
Corner Store

2010

Corner Store

2010
6
Corner Store is about family, community and patience, told through the eyes of a man who has spent 10 years living the back of his store, working long, hard days while waiting to bring his family to San Francisco from their native Palestine.
Manga Mad

2008

Manga Mad

2008
6
An introduction to the pop culture history of comics and animation in Japan, particularly adult comics, and the obsessive fantasy world of comic & animation fans.
American Tongues

1987

American Tongues

1987
7
Rich in humor and regional color, this sometimes hilarious film uses the prism of language to reveal our attitudes about the way other people speak. From Boston Brahmins to Black Louisiana teenagers, from Texas cowboys to New York professionals, American Tongues elicits funny, perceptive, sometimes shocking, and always telling comments on American English in all its diversity. (PBS)
Freedom For Birth

2012

Freedom For Birth

2012
7
A documentary that re-frames Human Rights issues as the most pressing issue in childbirth today; calling for radical change to the world's maternity systems - this is the Mothers' Revolution. In many countries around the world, women are being denied the most basic human right of autonomy over their own bodies. They cannot choose how and where to give birth. Those that persist in their desire to have a normal, physiological birth are sometimes forced by judges to surrender to surgery or threatened with having their babies taken away by child welfare services. In many countries, if a woman wants to have a home birth supported by a midwife, those midwives face criminal prosecution. Some midwives, like Ágnes Geréb in Hungary, are even imprisoned. FREEDOM FOR BIRTH calls for radical reform to the world’s maternity systems so that these Human Rights violations stop and women are afforded real choice as to how and where they give birth.
Frame 313: The JFK Assassination Theories

2008

Frame 313: The JFK Assassination Theories

2008
6
Frame 313 examines several theories that have been offered about who was responsible for the JFK Assassination including the single bullet theory, the CIA/Mafia theory, the Soviet Union/KGB theory, the Mafia hit theory, and the CIA/Anti-Castro theory.
Tapestries of Hope

2010

Tapestries of Hope

2010
6
Tapestries of Hope is the story of filmmaker Michealene Cristini Risley who traveled to Zimbabwe to document the work of Betty Makoni and the Girl Child Network. The film exposes an issue that continues to be ignored: the rape and abuse of thousands of young girls in Zimbabwe by men who believe it will cure their HIV/AIDS.
Dying to Do Letterman

2011

Dying to Do Letterman

2011
6
When 35 year old stand-up comedian Steve Mazan learned he was dying of cancer, he dedicated the rest of his life to making his dream come true: performing comedy on The Late Show with David Letterman. This documentary chronicles his five-year journey, as he races his own ticking clock to achieve a nearly impossible goal. Hilarious and heart-breaking, Steve brings a brand-new perspective to living with cancer. This is a story that proves it's not how much time you have, it's what you do with it. As Steve says, 'If you stop chasing your dreams, you're already dead.'