Top Rated Documentary Movies on Kanopy - Page 27

Araya

1959

Araya

1959
7
"Araya" is an old natural salt mine located in a peninsula in northeastern Venezuela which was still, by 1959, being exploited manually five hundred years after its discovery by the Spanish. In images, the life of the "salineros" and their archaic methods of work before their definite disappearance with the arrival of the industrial exploitation.
Rude Boy

1980

Rude Boy

1980
6.4
Rude Boy is a semi-documentary, part character study, part 'rockumentary', featuring a British punk band, The Clash. The script includes the story of a fictional fan juxtposed with actual public events of the day, including political demonstrations and Clash concerts.
Louis Theroux: The Settlers

2025

Louis Theroux: The Settlers

2025
8.6
14 years after his first visit, Louis Theroux meets some of the growing community of religious-nationalist Israelis who have settled in the occupied West Bank.
Lynch/Oz

2023

Lynch/Oz

2023
6.9
Victor Fleming’s 1939 film The Wizard of Oz is one of David Lynch’s most enduring obsessions. This documentary goes over the rainbow to explore this Technicolor through-line in Lynch’s work.
Citizen K

2019

Citizen K

2019
6.7
The strange case of Mikhail Khodorkovsky — once believed to be the wealthiest man in Russia — who rocketed to prosperity and prominence in the 1990s, served a decade in prison, and became an unlikely martyr for the anti-Putin movement.
After the Screaming Stops

2018

After the Screaming Stops

2018
6.4
Brosettes rejoice! Matt and Luke Goss take on the big screen – and each other – in this candid documentary charting the twin pop sensations' stormy reunion.
No Safe Spaces

2019

No Safe Spaces

2019
6.7
Adam Carolla and Dennis Prager examine the reality of life and discourse on college campuses in modern America.
Creature Designers: The Frankenstein Complex

2015

Creature Designers: The Frankenstein Complex

2015
7.2
The Frankenstein Complex takes a historical as well as a creative perspective, with a mix of fascinating scenes behind the camera, film clips, and dozens of interviews with all the big names in the industry. In addition to the many wonderful anecdotes, the film also offers a wealth of beautiful test material, while along the way showing how the art of filmmaking has changed over the years. An affectionate ode to monster makers throughout history.
National Bird

2016

National Bird

2016
6.7
Sonia Kennebeck takes on the controversial tactic of drone warfare, and demands accountability through the personal accounts—recollections, traumas, and responses—of three American military veterans whose lives have been shaken by the roles they played in this controversial method of attack.
The Lovers and the Despot

2016

The Lovers and the Despot

2016
6.9
Hong Kong, 1978. South Korean actress Choi Eun-hee is kidnapped by North Korean operatives following orders from dictator Kim Jong-il.
Cocaine Cowboys: Reloaded

2014

Cocaine Cowboys: Reloaded

2014
7.2
In the 1980s, ruthless Colombian cocaine barons invaded Miami with a brand of violence unseen in this country since Prohibition-era Chicago. Cocaine Cowboys is the true story of how Miami became the drug, murder and cash capital of the United States. But it isn't the whole story - Pulling from hundreds of hours of additional interviews and recently uncovered archival news footage, Cocaine Cowboys has been RELOADED: packed with footage and stories that have never been told about Griselda Blanco, the Medellín Cartel, and Miami's Cocaine Wars, with firsthand accounts by hit man Jorge 'Rivi' Ayala, cocaine trafficker Jon Roberts, smuggler Mickey Munday, and others. Cocaine Cowboys: Reloaded recreates Miami's Cocaine Wars like you've never experienced it.
Sunshine Superman

2015

Sunshine Superman

2015
6.5
Documentary portrait of Carl Boenish, the father of the BASE jumping movement, whose early passion for skydiving led him to ever more spectacular -and dangerous- feats of foot-launched human flight.
Sunset Strip

2012

Sunset Strip

2012
7.3
A documentary on the famous Los Angeles street.
12 O'Clock Boys

2013

12 O'Clock Boys

2013
6
Pug, a wisecracking 13 year old living on a dangerous Westside block, has one goal in mind: to join The Twelve O'Clock Boys; the notorious urban dirt-bike gang of Baltimore. Converging from all parts of the inner city, they invade the streets and clash with police, who are forbidden to chase the bikes for fear of endangering the public. When Pug's older brother dies suddenly, he looks to the pack for mentorship, spurred by their dangerous lifestyle. Pug's story is coupled with unprecedented, action-packed coverage of the riders in their element. The film presents the pivotal years of change in a boy's life growing up in one of the most dangerous and economically depressed cities in the US.
Ballad of the Little Soldier

1984

Ballad of the Little Soldier

1984
6.4
A group of Miskito Indians use Nicaraguan child soldiers in their resistance against the Sandinistas.
Black Metal Veins

2012

Black Metal Veins

2012
4.9
Black Metal Veins unflinchingly documents the dark realities of despair and morbid self annihilation surrounding the lives of five heroin junkies. The addicts' intertwining stories of pain, loss, sadness, and abandonment lead the viewer down the agonizing and hideous path of horrifying psychological and spiritual destruction as the grim disease of heroin addiction infects and decays the bodies and minds of five young people.
Grass: A Nation's Battle for Life

1925

Grass: A Nation's Battle for Life

1925
7.7
A silent documentary which follows a branch of the Bakhtiari tribe of Persia as they and their herds make their epic seasonal journey to better pastures.
The Queen

1968

The Queen

1968
6.2
In 1967, New York City is host to the Miss All-American Camp Beauty Pageant. This documentary takes a look behind the scenes, transporting the viewer into rehearsals and dressing rooms as the drag queen subculture prepares for this big national beauty contest. Jack/Sabrina is the mistress of ceremonies, and their protégé, Miss Harlow, is in the competition. But, as the pageant approaches, the glamorous contestants veer from camaraderie to tension.
Before Stonewall

1984

Before Stonewall

1984
6.5
New York City's Stonewall Inn is regarded by many as the site of gay and lesbian liberation since it was at this bar that drag queens fought back against police June 27-28, 1969. This documentary uses extensive archival film, movie clips and personal recollections to construct an audiovisual history of the gay community before the Stonewall riots.
Trouble the Water

2008

Trouble the Water

2008
6.9
"Trouble the Water" takes you inside Hurricane Katrina in a way never before seen on screen. The film opens the day before the storm makes landfall--just blocks away from the French Quarter but far from the New Orleans that most tourists knew. Kimberly Rivers Roberts, an aspiring rap artist, is turning her new video camera on herself and her Ninth Ward neighbors trapped in the city. Weaving an insider's view of Katrina with a mix of verité and in-your-face filmmaking, it is a redemptive tale of self-described street hustlers who become heroes--two unforgettable people who survive the storm and then seize a chance for a new beginning.