Top Rated Documentary Movies on Kanopy - Page 271

Miss America

2002

Miss America

2002
Tracking the country’s oldest beauty contest—from its inception in 1921 as a local seaside pageant to its heyday as one of the country’s most popular events—Miss America paints a vivid picture of an institution that has come to reveal much about a changing nation. The pageant is about commercialism and sexual politics, about big business and small towns. But beyond the symbolism lies a human story—at once moving, inspiring, infuriating, funny, and poignant. Combining rare archival footage, with a host of intimate interviews with distinguished commentators including Gloria Steinem, Margaret Cho, Isaac Mizrahi, former contestants and behind–the–scenes footage and photographs, the film reveals why some women took part in the fledgling event and why others briefly rejected it - how the pageant became a battle ground and a barometer for the changing position of women in society.
Hamtramck, USA

2020

Hamtramck, USA

2020
Once known as a Polish Catholic town, Hamtramck, MI is now home to America’s first Muslim-majority city. As election season approaches, candidates set out to win hearts, minds and votes in this rapidly changing city. Going behind the scenes of small-town politics, HAMTRAMCK, USA explores the beauty and challenges that come with multiculturalism.
Jamaica y Tamarindo: Afro Tradition in the Heart of Mexico

2020

Jamaica y Tamarindo: Afro Tradition in the Heart of Mexico

2020
The Jamaica flower and tamarind are iconic ingredients in Mexico, but their history comes from a place much further away. In Jamaica & Tamarindo: Afro Tradition in the Heart of Mexico, we meet five people who explore African heritage in Mexico City, an identity that goes beyond the color of one's skin.
Lee Ufan: Marking Infinity

2012

Lee Ufan: Marking Infinity

2012
"Marking Infinity", Lee Ufan's recent retrospective exhibition at the Guggenheim charts the artist's creation of a visual, conceptual, and theoretical language that has radically expanded the possibilities for sculpture and painting over the past forty years. Deeply versed in modern philosophy, Lee is also an influential writer and is recognized as the key theorist of Mono-ha, an anti-formalist, materials-based art movement that developed in Tokyo in the late 1960s. Active internationally over the last four decades, Lee is acclaimed for an innovative body of Post-Minimalist work that promotes process and the experiential engagement of viewer and site.
Sol LeWitt: 4 Decades

2001

Sol LeWitt: 4 Decades

2001
"Sol LeWitt: 4 Decades" presents an opportunity to accompany one of the great artists of our time on a tour of his work, from his formative years to the present. Joined by curator Gary Garrels, LeWitt offers context and motive behind his 2000 retrospective exhibition at Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art. A heavy emphasis is placed on LeWitt's spectacularly large scale wall drawings, for which he is best known. Garrels, who with LeWitt, spent three years on the creation of the exhibition, leads the artist through his breakthroughs of four decades, from the 1960s to the present.
Lebbeus Woods + Steven Holl: The Practice of Architecture

2012

Lebbeus Woods + Steven Holl: The Practice of Architecture

2012
Architects Lebbeus Woods and Steven Holl have been friends for many years, brought together by their creativity, philosophy and visionary architectural pursuits. While both are theorists, Woods finds himself preoccupied with bold, speculative designs that push back against notions of time and space, not waiting or searching for any kind of commissions but instead forming his own aesthetical world through the freedom of drawing. This approach stands in direct contrast with Holl's body of work, which consists of many physical buildings both in the United States and abroad. This known order between the two architects has recently been interrupted by Holl commissioning Woods to design a four-story pavilion for his large-scale multi complex Sliced Porosity Block in Chengdu, China. Getting together at Woods' workspace in downtown Manhattan, the longtime friends recall their careers while discussing the current project and their mutual architectural practices.
Kenneth Frampton: A Critical Voice

2012

Kenneth Frampton: A Critical Voice

2012
Critic Kenneth Frampton is a masterful commentator on the architecture of our time. At the start of his long-spanning career Frampton worked as an architect in London before settling into his writing and teaching, which mainly took place at Columbia University. Over the past fifty years Frampton has certified himself as a prolific and influential contributor towards a progressive interpretation of the role of architecture in modern society. In "Kenneth Frampton: A Critical Voice", architect Stan Allen interviews the renowned critic and questions him about his architectural contemporaries, notable past projects, and published writings.
The New Clark: Bringing the Ando Experience to the Berkshires

2014

The New Clark: Bringing the Ando Experience to the Berkshires

2014
"The New Clark: Bringing the Ando Experience to the Berkshires" is a revealing insight into a long-term radical expansion of the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts. The film follows the close collaboration between the museum and its internationally-acclaimed Japanese architect, Tadao Ando. Both Ando and the director of the Clark Art Institute, Michael Conforti, ponder the complexities of the project and the challenges involving aesthetic, setting, and community impact during the difficult twelve-year period. Determined to honor the institute's original buildings while introducing the modern elements associated with his unique style, Ando's design evokes a classic tranquility that seamlessly blends the Clark Art Institute with its stunning surroundings.
The Artist's Studio: Carroll Dunham

2014

The Artist's Studio: Carroll Dunham

2014
In an effort to work without the distractions of the city, artist Carroll Dunham moved his studio from Manhattan to a small village in Connecticut, not far from where he grew up. Finding himself to be more at peace in the calm, rural setting, Dunham feels the freedom to create wildly bold and visually stimulating work, painting his way through expression and sexuality. Continuously holding a mirror up to society, Dunham aims to examine the ways in which we interpret images and ideas surrounding the physical human form and our contrived notions of appropriate depictions of it through art and media. Dunham's large canvas works are flooded with vivid color and striking imagery that grabs the attention of its audience and encourages a reconsideration of form and gaze. "The Artist's Studio: Carroll Dunham" documents a visit with critic Roberta Smith as she observes his new captivating work: a series entitled "In the Flowers" and a large canvas "The Beach".
Determined

2020

Determined

2020
Three women at high risk for Alzheimer's disease offer their brains and bodies to a medical study. After the deaths of their mothers, these daughters are determined to contribute to the search for a cure. This is the latest fight against Alzheimer's - by those with a very personal stake in the battle.
She Did That

2019

She Did That

2019
"She Did That” is the first full-length documentary focusing the lens on Black women building brands and legacies. The film explores the passionate pursuits of Black women and their entrepreneurship journeys.
Flint: The Poisoning of an American City

2019

Flint: The Poisoning of an American City

2019
100,000 people have been poisoned by lead, a lifelong affliction, yet somehow this shocking event has been normalized in the US. "Flint: The Poisoning of an American City" gives voice to the current struggle of city residents and follows the environmental history of the river and how the continued abuse and neglect of city infrastructure and environmental regulations have led to the poisoning of a city. Flint explores the critical question of how this could happen in America, and how this event should serve as a warning for the rest of the country. A recent report found that 5,300 American cities were found to be in violation of federal lead rules, and research published in USA Today detected excessive lead in nearly 2,000 public water systems across all 50 states. This documentary educates but also enrages and seeks to radically change how we view and value water.
Riders of the Purple Sage: The Making of a Western Opera

2020

Riders of the Purple Sage: The Making of a Western Opera

2020
Follow a classically trained composer as he adapts a dime novel masterpiece into a grand opera. In 1912, Zane Grey's Riders of the Purple Sage flew off bookshelves around the world and today is considered iconic. A century later, Craig Bohmler and a team of musicians, singers, and painters translate cowboy culture and the beauty of the west into the realm of Puccini and Verdi.
Bastards' Road

2020

Bastards' Road

2020
Walking 5,800 miles around the United States, Veteran Jonathan Hancock uses the solitude of the road and the company of his fellow Marine brothers and the families of their fallen to successfully manage his wounds from war.
I'm Moshanty. Do You Love Me?

2019

I'm Moshanty. Do You Love Me?

2019
I'm Moshanty. Do You Love Me? is a musical profile of the late South Pacific recording artist and transgender activist Moses "Moshanty" Tau and members of the LGBTQI community of Papua/New Guinea.
The American Sector

2020

The American Sector

2020
A documentary about the concrete sections of the Berlin Wall that have been acquired by institutions or individuals since 1989 and are now scattered across the USA. Cherished or abandoned, they have become silent witnesses to recent history.
Hidden Heroes

1999

Hidden Heroes

1999
Two Canadian women return to the Netherlands to recount the terrifying ordeal they experienced as children at the hands of the Nazis, and to connect with the individuals and families who risked their lives to save them.
Same Difference

2011

Same Difference

2011
Following the debate over California's Proposition 8, this short film is an exploration of how modern American families are constructed, not only those within the LGBTQ community.
Americaville

2020

Americaville

2020
Hidden among the mountains north of Beijing, a replica of the Wyoming town of Jackson Hole promises to deliver the American dream to its several thousand Chinese residents.
Prisoners in Freedom City

2007

Prisoners in Freedom City

2007
Civil rights activist Hu Jia was held under house arrest from 2004 to 2008 in the upscale eastern suburbs of Beijing. One day Hu picked up a video camera and began to document things outside the window: his watchers, shepherds tending their flocks, spiders in the rain, and his fellow activist and wife, Zeng Jinyan, going to and from work under the unnervingly close watch of plainclothes police.