Top Rated Documentary Movies on Kanopy - Page 249

Life, Unexpected

2021

Life, Unexpected

2021
Shot over 10 years in intimate, raw home footage by an Oscar-winning filmmaking couple, LIFE UNEXPECTED tells the story of the unforgiving roller coaster of bringing life into this world.
Honor Thy Mother

2021

Honor Thy Mother

2021
The untold story of 36 Aboriginal women from Canada and Native women from tribes in Washington and Alaska who migrated in the 1940s to Bainbridge Island, the traditional territory of the Suquamish people.
The Architecture Of Mud

1999

The Architecture Of Mud

1999
The Hadhramaut region in the south east of Yemen is well known for its mud brick architecture. Throughout the centuries, the population has developed very sophisticated building techniques and created a unique architectural environment. Spectacular structures such as ten-story mud brick tower houses rise up from the valley's floor. In interviews throughout the documentary, the masons describe their working techniques and the challenges they face with the introduction of new, imported building materials. The Architecture of Mud documents the vernacular architecture, the building craft and the society they belong to.
Like You Know It All

2021

Like You Know It All

2021
Kwang-Ja Lee, a counsellor at ‘Lifeline Korea’ has been listening to anonymous people’s stories for 45 years. Every day, she is all ears to stories that cannot be shared anywhere else. Image and sound react to it and creates new reflective space that seems to be the bottom of one’s heart.
Qudad, Re-Inventing a Tradition

2004

Qudad, Re-Inventing a Tradition

2004
This documentary follows a group of Yemeni masons as they restore the 16th century Amiriya Madrasa using ancient—and uniquely Yemeni—techniques. Through this project they not only renovate and protect a revered landmark, but also ensure that their rare craft will not be lost.
Raw to Ready: Bombardier

2013

Raw to Ready: Bombardier

2013
Taliban Takeover

2021

Taliban Takeover

2021
The Taliban take over Afghanistan, and the threat of ISIS and Al Qaeda intensifies. On the ground, reporter Najibullah Quraishi (Leaving Afghanistan, Taliban Country) investigates uncertainty and fear among the Afghan people and revisits the lead-up to the U.S. defeat and the Taliban’s return.
Disenchanted Forest

2002

Disenchanted Forest

2002
We call them o-rang-u-tans, which literally means "forest persons" in the Malay and Indonesian languages. They are the only great apes native to Asia. Of all the apes, they are the closest to man in genetic makeup. And they face extinction. Two years in the making, the film is an intimate portrayal of the world of orangutans, the threats to their survival and the people committed to help them thrive. The film focuses on a recent discovery that orangutans do not rely on animal instinct for survival, but instead have a culture that they have preserved from generation to generation.
The Body Won't Close

2021

The Body Won't Close

2021
Our bodies are semi-permeable. All over the world, stories are being told about heroes who magically “close” their bodies, so as to become invincible. This film follows one such story, as it is told in Santo Amaro, Bahia (Brazil). Besouro Mangangà was a capoeira player, a black hero, who had closed his body. No bullets, no knives or daggers could pierce his skin. Bahian men explain how “closing the body” makes sense in their precarious and violent world, and why, in the end, this closure can never be accomplished. Soon the filmmaker realizes that his film is not only about the people in Bahia. He too is struggling with the porosity of his body, endlessly trying to strike a balance between shutting the world out and letting the world in. Competing for the RAI Film Prize and Basil Wright Film Prize.
Love in the Time of Corona

2021

Love in the Time of Corona

2021
After the pandemic separates them, an international couple writes long-distance letters to each other while they face uncertainty and wait to be reunited.
The Cannabis Question

2021

The Cannabis Question

2021
NOVA investigates the story of cannabis from the criminalization that has disproportionately harmed communities of color to the latest medical understanding of the plant. What risks does cannabis pose to the developing brain? How much do we know about its potential medical benefits? As cannabis becomes socially accepted, scientists are exploring its long-term health consequences.
Citizen Hearst

2021

Citizen Hearst

2021
Explore the life of William Randolph Hearst, the pioneering media mogul and inspiration for Orson Welles’ "Citizen Kane." Wielding unprecedented power, Hearst forever transformed the media’s role in American life and politics.
Punch 9 for Harold Washington

2021

Punch 9 for Harold Washington

2021
In this epic story of American politics, race, and triumph against all odds, director Joe Winston chronicles the captivating rise, surprising reign, and enduring legacy of Chicago’s first African American Mayor, Harold Washington. Steeped in archival footage capturing a 1980s Chicago rife with corruption and discrimination, Punch 9 features candid interviews with Jessie Jackson, Vice Mayor Richard Mell, and others on the frontlines and in the backrooms of power as it follows the charismatic politician’s shrewd maneuverings, stinging betrayals, and unlikely victories. Inspiring and compelling, Washington’s journey continues to resonate for a city and nation confronting the same enduring social issues.
Panama Canal

2011

Panama Canal

2011
On August 15th, 1914, the Panama Canal opened, connecting the world's two largest oceans and signaling America's emergence as a global superpower.
Sandra Day O'Connor: The First

2021

Sandra Day O'Connor: The First

2021
When Ronald Reagan nominated Sandra Day O’Connor as the Supreme Court’s first female justice in 1981, the announcement dominated the news. Time Magazine’s cover proclaimed “Justice At Last,” and she received unanimous Senate approval. Born in 1930 in El Paso, Texas, O’Connor grew up on a cattle ranch in Arizona in an era when women were expected to become homemakers. After graduating near the top of her class at Stanford Law School, she could not convince a single law firm to interview her, so she turned to volunteer work and public service. A Republican, she served two terms in the Arizona state senate, then became a judge on the state court of appeals. During her 25 years on the Supreme Court, O’Connor was the critical swing vote on cases involving some of the 20th century’s most controversial issues. Forty years after her confirmation, this biography recounts the life of a pioneering woman who both reflected and shaped an era.
Tiziano

1989

Tiziano

1989
Titian’s genius and significance in European art are undisputed. Trained at the Giovanni Bellini workshop and influenced by working together with Giorgione, he came to a masterly use of colour, light and shade. His oeuvre contains everything his times demanded: drama, carnal lust, religious fervour, mythology and portraits. Didier Baussy-Oulianoff takes us to the places where the renaissance artist devised his works and worked for the most influential courts.
A Song for Cesar: Beware a Movement That Sings

2021

A Song for Cesar: Beware a Movement That Sings

2021
Song for Cesar is a documentary film with a unique view of the life and legacy of Cesar Chavez and the farmworker movement. The film tells a previously untold story about the musicians and artists who dedicated their time, creativity and even reputations to peacefully advance Cesar Chavez's movement to gain equality and justice for America's suffering farmworkers.
Double Solitaire

1998

Double Solitaire

1998
The filmmaker's father and uncle, Norm and Stan, are third generation Japanese Americans. They are "all American" guys who love bowling, cards and pinball. Placed in the Amache internment camp as children during World War II, they don't think the experience affected them that much. But in the course of navigating the maze of her father's and uncle's pursuits while simultaneously trying to inquire about their past, the filmmaker is able to find connections between their lives now and the history that was left behind.
Haymarket: The Bomb, the Anarchists, the Labor Struggle

2021

Haymarket: The Bomb, the Anarchists, the Labor Struggle

2021
The Chicago Haymarket tragedy, where a bomb thrown into the ranks of Police was followed by an eruption of panic and violence resulting in a trial and execution of presumably innocent workers' rights activists, is examined in this feature documentary film. Expert historians and professors present the history of the bomb, the anarchist movement of the 19th century, and the labor struggle of working people fighting for a shorter work day during the industrial might of America's Gilded Age.
America After 9/11

2021

America After 9/11

2021
From veteran FRONTLINE filmmaker and chronicler of U.S. politics Michael Kirk and his team, this documentary traces the U.S. response to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and the devastating consequences that unfolded across four presidencies. Drawing on both new interviews and those from the dozens of documentaries Kirk and his award-winning team made in the years after 9/11, this two-hour special offers an epic re-examination of the decisions that changed the world and transformed America. From the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to the January 6 insurrection, America After 9/11 exposes the legacy of September 11 — and the ongoing challenge it poses for the president and the country.