Top Rated Documentary Movies on Kanopy - Page 293

Fully Awake: Black Mountain College

2008

Fully Awake: Black Mountain College

2008
Documentary about the history and ideas of Black Mountain College.
The Other Side of Home

2016

The Other Side of Home

2016
In 1915, estimated 1.5 million Armenians were killed by the Ottoman Turks, during the Armenian Genocide. In 2015, a Turkish woman named Maya discovers that her great grandmother was survivor of the Armenian genocide. Maya embodies the conflict as she has two enemies living in her body: one side that suffers and the other side that denies. The documentary follows Maya as she decides to go to Armenia to take part in the 100th commemoration of the genocide and to explore her conflicted identity. This film is a universal story of identity, denial, and how the experience of genocide creates a ripple effect for future generations on both sides.
Voices of Transition

2012

Voices of Transition

2012
Voices of the Transition is an enthusiastic documentary on farmers- and community-led responses to food insecurity in a scenario of climate change and peak oil.
Behind The Wall

2011

Behind The Wall

2011
Behind The Wall documents what life was like on both sides of The Berlin Wall through the eyes of ordinary citizens from East and West Germany. They give an in-depth and overlooked perspective of life before, during and after The Wall fell. Beginning with the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the 'Fall of the Wall' then through the voices of the people, weaves a true history of what life was like living on both sides of The Wall.
The University

2016

The University

2016
On a NASA research base in Silicon Valley, there's an organization that's changing the world ... Singularity University (SU). Created by renowned futurist Ray Kurzweil and entrepreneur Peter Diamandis, with support from NASA, Google, and others, the university brings in some of the smartest students from around the world, and gives them a crash course in the most powerful exponential technologies on the planet. The students are then given a challenge: create companies that will impact a billion people within ten years. The film follows the students and their companies over five years, as they use the support of scientists, astronauts and billionaires in their attempt to make a dent in the universe.
Smokin' Fish

2011

Smokin' Fish

2011
Cory Mann is a quirky Tlingit businessman hustling to earn a living in Juneau, Alaska. He gets hungry for smoked salmon, nostalgic for his childhood and decides to spend a summer smoking fish at his family's traditional fish camp. The unusual story of his life and the untold history of his people interweave with the process of preparing traditional food as he struggles to pay his bills, keep the IRS off his back, and keep his business afloat. By turns tragic, bizarre, or just plain ridiculous, Smokin' Fish tells the story of one man's attempt to navigate the messy zone of collision between the modern world and an ancient culture.
Pablo Picasso: The Legacy of a Genius

1981

Pablo Picasso: The Legacy of a Genius

1981
An assessment of the 20th century's best known artist and his vast achievements through the insights and speculations of over a dozen participants. Filmed on the 100th anniversary of Picasso's birth at MoMA, Musée Picasso, Walker Art Center, Museu Picasso Barcelona. Featuring Henry Moore, Anthony Caro, David Hockney, Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Rosenblum, Clement Greenberg, Roland Penrose and others.
Brother Orange

2025

Brother Orange

2025
"Brother Orange" follows the story of Matt Stopera, a BuzzFeed founding editor, whose life takes an unexpected turn when his stolen phone, lost in a New York City bar, becomes the catalyst for a viral BuzzFeed article a year later. The article launched a viral feel-good story about a lasting friendship that transcends language and culture and has captivated the world with over 100 million views on social media, including over 70 million shares on Weibo, and traditional media such as NPR, Rachel Maddow, and Ellen while propelling Matt into instant celebrity status. As their 10-year friendship anniversary nears, this extraordinary true story showcases the power of personal connection between two ordinary people-one American and one Chinese-who look beyond political tensions to form a profound bond.
The Good Breast

2016

The Good Breast

2016
Four strikingly different women undergo treatment at a comprehensive breast center presided over by the inimitable and searingly honest veteran surgeon Dr. Lauren Schnaper. She believes that fear, ignorance, and pink-ribbon culture are fueling an explosive rate of unnecessary mastectomies in America. Blending medical archival footage with extensive 'collateral damage' suffered by our four women - repeated loss of implants, blood infections caused by multiple surgical procedures, cosmetic nipple exchanges, reactions to cadaver's skin that is used to house breast implants - we learn that breast reconstruction post-mastectomy is no 'boob job.' As Dr. Schnaper advocates breast conservation and debunks breast cancer myths, so the myth of St. Agatha, the Sicilian martyred saint of the breast, offers a commentary on our own confused contemporary moment.
States of UnBelonging

2006

States of UnBelonging

2006
The core of this haunting meditation on war, land, the Bible, and filmmaking is a portrait of Revital Ohayon, an Israeli filmmaker and mother killed near the West Bank. Director Lynne Sachs creates a film on the violence of the Middle East by exchanging letters with an Israeli friend. Together, they reveal Revital's story through her films, news reports, and interviews, culminating in heartbreaking footage of children discussing the violence they've witnessed. Without taking sides or casting blame, the film becomes a cine-essay on fear and filmmaking, tragedy and transformation, violence and the land of Israel/Palestine.
Kelly's Hollywood

2015

Kelly's Hollywood

2015
Kelly is a sassy young woman who loves performing and dreams of becoming a Hollywood star. Her devoted brother Brian, an actor himself, sets out to do everything he can to help make her dream a reality. As sometimes happens in close-knit relationships, jealousy and co-dependency threaten to break the siblings apart. Kelly’s Hollywood is a loving glimpse into a tender relationship.
A Revolution in Four Seasons

2016

A Revolution in Four Seasons

2016
Two politically-opposed young women fight to shape their lives along with the political future of Tunisia, the sole country to emerge from the Arab Spring uprisings as a functional democracy.
Compassion in Exile: The Story of the 14th Dalai Lama

1993

Compassion in Exile: The Story of the 14th Dalai Lama

1993
A portrait of His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama, which includes historical footage of China's repression of Tibetan Buddhism in 1959.
After Coal: Welsh and Appalachian Mining Communities

2016

After Coal: Welsh and Appalachian Mining Communities

2016
After Coal profiles inspiring individuals who are building a new future in the coalfields of eastern Kentucky and South Wales. Meet ex-miners using theater to rebuild community infrastructure, women transforming a former coal board office into an education hub, and young people striving to stay in their home communities. The stories of coalfield residents who must abandon traditional livelihoods illustrate the front lines of the transition away from fossil fuels.
Sons of Shiva

1985

Sons of Shiva

1985
Sons of Shiva is a sustained attempt to film a four-day ceremony concerned with the worship of Shiva. Devotees of the God Shiva are shown from the initial taking of the Sacred Thread through gradually intensifying action to a culmination in a variety of ascetic and self denying practices.
Dinosaur Eggs and Babies

2007

Dinosaur Eggs and Babies

2007
Recent discoveries of dinosaur eggs, nests, and even embryos, are providing new evidence to unlock the mysteries of dinosaur reproductive behavior. This educational program explores the mysteries of dinosaur reproduction with animation and interviews with renowned dinosaur experts including Robert Bakker, Philip Currie, Mark Norell, and others. Were dinosaurs social animals? Did they care for their young? What was life like for baby dinosaurs? These are some of the intriguing questions addressed in this informative program.
The Offended

2016

The Offended

2016
When I turned 33 years-old, my mother told me that my father, during the Salvadorian Civil War, had been captured and tortured for 33 days by the National Police. Two years later I had the courage to ask him and other men and women about those days. These people do not ask for revenge, all that they ask is for the truth to be known.
Chasing Bonnie & Clyde

2015

Chasing Bonnie & Clyde

2015
'Don't build prisons, they cost too much!' In this era of Great Recession, the conservative and tough-on-crime State of Texas takes an unprecedented path by becoming a social justice leader with programs that rehabilitate offenders. Looks like rape, abuse and death are no longer parts of the solution for modern-day Bonnie and Clyde...
Answering the Call

2016

Answering the Call

2016
The bloody attacks on protesters in Selma in 1965 led to the historic protection of all Americans' right to vote. The film explores a cherished family story of Selma and the current state of voter suppression in America.
Roots In The Sand

1998

Roots In The Sand

1998
A multi-generational portrait of pioneering Punjabi-Mexican families who settled, a century ago, in Southern California's Imperial Valley. Through the use of found footage, archival and family photographs, personal and public documents, Jayasri Majumdar Hart tells the touching and inspirational story of a community that grew out of a struggle for economic survival in the face of prejudice.