Top Rated Documentary Movies on Kanopy - Page 230

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.
Hiding in the Walls

2022

Hiding in the Walls

2022
Hiding in the Walls unwinds the fraught history of lead poisoning in Baltimore and follows the adult survivors who are on a mission to reclaim the narrative.
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.
Traded

2021

Traded

2021
The film exposes the life of women who have been trafficked in various parts of India. Some of them have been trafficked because of debt bondage and some for sexual exploitation.
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.
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.
James Hemings: Ghost in America's Kitchen

2021

James Hemings: Ghost in America's Kitchen

2021
If you've ever eaten macaroni and cheese, French fries or ice cream, you've enjoyed the contributions of America's unknown culinary founding father, James Hemings. James Hemings was the first American trained as a master chef; he was also the brother-in-law and enslaved property of Thomas Jefferson.
White Balls on Walls

2023

White Balls on Walls

2023
The slogan “Meet the icons of modern art” needs to be scraped off the glass wall of the Stedelijk, Amsterdam’s modern art museum. Because precisely who the icons of modern art are is very much the question. Who gets to decide? And who loses out? In 2019, as director Sarah Vos started shooting her documentary, more than 90 percent of art at the Stedelijk was made by white men. That’s got to change, the museum’s director Rein Wolfs believes. But this is easier said than done—so much becomes clear when Vos follows Wolfs and his team as they strive for greater diversity in the collection, as well as among their staff.
Robert Irwin: A Desert of Pure Feeling

2022

Robert Irwin: A Desert of Pure Feeling

2022
An in-depth look at the career of iconoclastic artist Robert Irwin, whose investigations into the nature of perception have radically expanded the possibilities of what art can be.
Shangri-La (Paradise Under Construction)

2023

Shangri-La (Paradise Under Construction)

2023
Does Shangri-La really exist? Mirka Duijn goes in search of the answer in this travelogue-cum-investigation. She travels to the mountains of Tibetan China and digs into the archives to unravel the history of this mythical place. At first sight, the answer is obvious: British author James Hilton invented Shangri-La for his 1933 novel Lost Horizon, in which four characters crash land in the Kunlun Mountains and later find a magnificent monastery—a paradise on earth.
Between Father and Son

2022

Between Father and Son

2022
This portrait of a Chinese family centers on the paterfamilias, who at the age of 85 still works his land by hand every day, his wife, who feeds and slaughters the chickens, and one of their sons, who lives in an apartment in the city and spends his days keeping company with his television and a steady flow of alcohol.
Much Ado About Dying

2024

Much Ado About Dying

2024
Simon Chambers is shooting a film in India when his uncle David calls him with a message of doom: “I think I may be dying.” What the viewer doesn’t yet know is that David, an eccentric gay actor, is a total drama queen, and a Shakespeare-lover who has grown old on a diet of attention and applause. Chambers returns to London to look after his uncle and capture his final stages of life on camera.
Once Upon A Place

2021

Once Upon A Place

2021
"Once Upon a Place" is the story of "La Nacional," a nondescript building in New York City that welcomed thousands of immigrants to the United States over its 150-year history. Its striking story is the story of the ebb and tide of Spanish immigration to this country; of the rise and fall of New York City as home to the American Dream, and the tale of hundreds of lives touched by the possibility of a new life. Yet that story of immigrants to America, so relevant today, remains a mystery to most New Yorkers and Americans.