Top Rated Documentary Movies on Kanopy - Page 244

All the Difference

2016

All the Difference

2016
Filmed over five and a half years, ALL THE DIFFERENCE (83 min.) weaves together the stories of two tough, yet promising young black men, Robert and Krishaun, as they navigate their lives through their high school senior year and all four years of college. They come from broken homes and low-income, high-risk communities in Chicago where barely 50% of young black men graduate from high school and of those that do graduate less than half go on to college and even fewer will graduate within 4 to 6 years. The film explores the factors in their lives (education, parents and grandparents, teachers, role models, personal drive and community support) that made all the difference in helping them be the first in their families to most likely escape poverty and secure a place in the middle class.
Silent Shakespeare

2000

Silent Shakespeare

2000
A BFI collection of 7 short films from the USA, England and Italy scored for Piano, Guitar and String Quartet.
On Richard's Side

2016

On Richard's Side

2016
Director-producer Andrew Wiseman began filming Richard and his family in 1989, making the documentaries Driving with Richard (1992) and Wonder Boy (2001) before On Richard's Side - the culmination of his 27-year project. Richard was born with a complex disability. He needs 24-hour care, seven days a week. Now in her early sixties, his mother Deirdre is apprehensive about her son's future. She is determined to build a circle of friends and carers for Richard, and to find him sustainable long-term accommodation. Wiseman's intimate documentary, enriched by Deirdre's impassioned voice, reveals just what it means to care for someone who needs care for life.
David Hockney: Joiner Photographs

1983

David Hockney: Joiner Photographs

1983
David Hockney is unquestionably one of the most passionate and versatile experimental artists on the contemporary scene. In the late 1970s the British artist developed a pioneering concept which also changed his perspective on painting – his “joiners”. In this film, the artist himself talks about this photographic approach, a kind of Cubism-inspired photocollage which explores the space-time continuum. Hockney allows the viewer to share in the creative “joiner” process and leads us step by step into the universe of his artistic creativity.
Night Parrot Stories

2016

Night Parrot Stories

2016
In the remote deserts of Australia lives an elusive nocturnal bird called the Night Parrot. Virtually nothing is known of its ecology. It disappeared at the end of the 19th Century. Searching for evidence of its existence became a preoccupation. Night Parrot Stories was filmed in all the locations where Night Parrots once lived, during a time when stories of extinction were everywhere.
Invitation to Dance

2014

Invitation to Dance

2014
At age 23, Simi Linton was injured while hitchhiking to Washington to protest the war in Vietnam. Suddenly a young disabled college student, she confronted discrimination she couldn't have imagined before. Simi emerges as a resourceful activist, and in time realizes that love, sexuality, and dance can once again be central to her life.
The Way We Talk

2015

The Way We Talk

2015
The Way We Talk is a personal documentary intimately centered around a support group for people who stutter on their journey toward self-acceptance.
Germans & Jews - Eine neue Perspektive

2016

Germans & Jews - Eine neue Perspektive

2016
Following Germany's transformation as a society from the Holocaust to becoming the moral leader of Europe as the country embraces hundreds of thousands of refugees.
Summer in the City

1970

Summer in the City

1970
German writer Uwe Johnson lived for several years in the 1960s on Manhattan’s Upper Westside where he got to know his neighborhood very well, observing the goings-on in the streets, cafeterias, and parks. In 1968 German Television agreed to co-produce a film for broadcast featuring interviews with various neighborhood characters.
Destination Arnold

2016

Destination Arnold

2016
Tash and Kylene are two Indigenous women with a dream to make it to the Arnolds – an amateur bodybuilding competition being held in Australia for the first time.
Tested

2015

Tested

2015
A diverse group of 8th graders in New York City vie for a coveted spot in one of the city's elite public schools by taking a single standardized test.
Footprint

2016

Footprint

2016
Feature length documentary film on population growth and its challenges, with a focus on women's empowerment and family planning. Shot in USA, Kenya, Egypt, Pakistan and the Philippines.
Oleg's Choice

2016

Oleg's Choice

2016
Fighting in eastern Ukraine broke out in early 2014. Since the summer, thousands of young Russians, driven by television propaganda and a thirst for adventure, began to pour in. Among these volunteers were Oleg and Max. Oleg became a battalion commander and Max remained an ordinary soldier. While they prepare to fight, they discuss their motivations and share their own perspective on the conflict. The image becomes a unique personal testimony of one side of the war, one rarely seen in the western media.
A Balinese Trance Seance

1981

A Balinese Trance Seance

1981
Bringing offerings of rice, flowers, and woven coconut leaves, clients visit Jero in her household shrine to determine the cause of their son's death. Jero lights an incense brazier, sprinkles holy water, and recites mantras as preliminaries to trance. Several ancestors and finally the young son speak through her voice, revealing the nature of his premature death (witchcraft) and his wishes for cremation. In contrast to other films about Balinese trance which focus on spectacular, community performances, this film provides an intimate view of a fascinating process of communication between Jero, the spirits, and her clients who are at one point moved to tears. (der.org)
The Tentmakers of Cairo

2015

The Tentmakers of Cairo

2015
Amid the tumult of the Arab Spring in Cairo, vendors in a small souk observe the political upheaval while seeking to preserve an ancient tradition of fabric making.
The Professor: Tai Chi's Journey West

2016

The Professor: Tai Chi's Journey West

2016
The Professor: Tai Chi's Journey West is the first major feature documentary about Tai Chi and one of its greatest masters, Cheng Man-Ching, a man who brought Tai Chi and Chinese culture to the West during the swinging, turbulent 60’s. Though Cheng is an important transformational figure, his teachings have been overlooked. This documentary film tells the story of his remarkable life and features Tai Chi as a martial art and a spiritual practice. Over the past decade, we have shot approximately fifty hours of footage in New York, North Carolina, and California.
Today the Hawk Takes One Chick

2008

Today the Hawk Takes One Chick

2008
Witnessing the highest rate of HIV infection in the world and the lowest life expectancy on the planet, three grandmothers in Swaziland cope in this critical moment in time.
Rabin in His Own Words

2016

Rabin in His Own Words

2016
20 years after his assassination, Yitzhak Rabin himself tells his dramatic life story.
My Father's Vietnam

2015

My Father's Vietnam

2015
A personal documentary about a public subject, My Father's Vietnam personifies the connections made and unmade by the Vietnam War. Featuring never-before-seen photographs and 8mm footage of the era, My Father's Vietnam is the story of three soldiers, only one of whom returned home alive. Interviews with the filmmaker's Vietnam Veteran father, and the friends and family members of two men he served with who were killed there, give voice to individuals who continue to silently carry the psychological burdens of a war that ended over 40 years ago. My Father's Vietnam carries with it the potential to encourage audiences to broach the subjects of service and sacrifice with the veterans in their lives.
From Billions to None: The Passenger Pigeon's Flight to Extinction

2014

From Billions to None: The Passenger Pigeon's Flight to Extinction

2014
The passenger pigeon, the most abundant bird species in North America for thousands of years, became extinct by human hands in a geologic heartbeat. Its story remains relevant to conservation challenges today, and there are even plans for its possible revival. Rare archival material, CGI animation, and aerial cinematography combine to recreate the awe-inspiring nature of these birds.