Top Rated Documentary Movies on Kanopy - Page 298

Mary: The Mary MacKillop Story

1994

Mary: The Mary MacKillop Story

1994
7
MARY is based on the true life story of Mary MacKillop who in the 1860s began an order of nuns to teach poor Catholic children in rural Australia. When she refused to obey the local Bishop, she was ex-communicated. More than 100 years later, in 1995, she was beatified as Australia's first saint. The film follows her tumultuous journey.
70 Acres in Chicago: Cabrini Green

2015

70 Acres in Chicago: Cabrini Green

2015
Documenting the demolition of Cabrini Green, Chicago's most infamous public housing development, through the stories of three public housing residents whose lives are turned upside down in the name of progress.
Paul Taylor Creative Domain

2014

Paul Taylor Creative Domain

2014
Among the most acclaimed choreographers in American history, Paul Taylor has been reinventing the roles of music, movement and theme in dance for nearly 60 years. In that time he has offered only glimpses into his creative process. Creative Domain is a rare in-depth documentation of how he creates a single dance. Through the lens of award-winning cinematographer Tom Hurwitz, we see Paul’s non-verbal communication with his dancers. Below the surface of this dance and the many works that came before, is Paul’s power of acute observation, revealing a side to his choreography that is strangely prophetic. The dominant voice is Paul’s, between the guarded and unguarded moments we see him with new eyes and new understanding.
Janey Makes A Play

2015

Janey Makes A Play

2015
Follow 90-year-old Janey as she writes and directs her latest original, socially relevant community theatre production for her small town.
Rock the Box

2015

Rock the Box

2015
Seeking to storm the man-fortress of the DJ booth, a 29-year-old university grad is forced to deal with an old feminist dilemma: use your sexuality and get noticed, or refuse to and linger in the shadows.
Genoveva

2015

Genoveva

2015
A photograph of an unknown Mapuche great-grandmother is the starting point of this documentary essay. Through the analysis of said picture, conversations with family members, a trip to southern Chile cities, and an actress who re-enacts the photo, we see the existing prejudice against indigenous people.
Nero's Golden House

2001

Nero's Golden House

2001
Waiting for John

2014

Waiting for John

2014
If you had never heard of an airplane, would you think it was a miracle when one arrived? Waiting for John tells the story of America's incredible impact on a remote island in the South Pacific and the birth of an extraordinary religion, the John Frum Movement, considered the last surviving cargo cult. We follow the John Frum believers today as they struggle to preserve a culture in danger of being lost to the modern world.
Personal Gold: An Underdog Story

2015

Personal Gold: An Underdog Story

2015
Four underdog women become America's medal hope at the London Olympics when the men's team is banned during the Lance Armstrong drug scandal.
Family Business

1982

Family Business

1982
Howie Snyder is an archetype: a retired Marine colonel in his mid-40s, a prototypical American entrepreneur struggling to make his business go. Howie's Shakey's Pizza franchise in Muncie, Indiana employs his whole family: wife, nine children and Howie himself. He is the representative of the American Dream: the chance to invest long hours and hard work in exchange for financial security for oneself and family.
All By Myself: The Eartha Kitt Story

1982

All By Myself: The Eartha Kitt Story

1982
Documentary profile of singer-actress Eartha Kitt.
The Killing Fields of Dr. Haing S. Ngor

2015

The Killing Fields of Dr. Haing S. Ngor

2015
When Dr. Haing S. Ngor was forced into labor camps by the Khmer Rouge, little did he know he would escape years of torture and recreate his experiences in a film that would win him an Academy Award®. "The Killing Fields of Dr. Haing S. Ngor" tells the dramatic story about arguably the most recognizable survivor of the Cambodian genocide, a man who became a worldwide ambassador for justice in his homeland, only to be murdered in a Los Angeles Chinatown alley - a case still muddled with conspiracy theories. Through an inspired blend of original animation and rare archival material - anchored by Ngor's richly layered autobiography - the years encapsulating the Khmer Rouge's tyrannical rule over Cambodia are experienced though a politically charged transnational journey of loss and reconciliation.
When You Wore a Tulip and I Wore a Big Red Rose

1983

When You Wore a Tulip and I Wore a Big Red Rose

1983
In the early 1980s, documentary filmmaker Stephen Schaller was instrumental in the rediscovery and restoration of The Lumberjack (1914), the oldest surviving film made in Wisconsin, and produced by a group of itinerant filmmakers who traveled from town to town making "local talent" pictures. Schaller's lovely and sometimes deeply emotional, 63-minute journal/essay film offers a look at the making of the Wausau, Wisconsin classic, including interviews with the one surviving cast member and the relatives of others who appeared in the movie.
Nazi Hunters: The Real Story

2010

Nazi Hunters: The Real Story

2010
This gripping documentary recounts the story of the long search for Nazis in hiding from 1945 to the present day. Sixty years of relentless investigations, set-backs, trials and dramas brought about principally by three extraordinary individuals: the Austrian death camp survivor, Simon Wiesenthal and the German/French couple Beate and serge Klarsfeld who devoted their lives to search for the highest level Nazis still at large.
The Trials of Spring

2015

The Trials of Spring

2015
When 24-year-old Hend Nafea is arrested and tortured for demonstrating peacefully in Cairo's Tahrir Square, her pursuit of justice reflects post-revolution Egypt at an uncertain crossroads.
10 Buildings That Changed America

2013

10 Buildings That Changed America

2013
10 Buildings that Changed America presents 10 trend-setting works of architecture that have shaped and inspired our American landscape. These aren’t just historic structures by famous architects. These buildings have dramatically influenced our built environment in many ways – and in one case, for over two centuries.
Surviving Sandy Hook

2015

Surviving Sandy Hook

2015
Investigative documentary following three families involved in the Sandy Hook shooting, as they try to make sense of the tragedy and find a way to move on and rebuild their lives.
Guido Models

2015

Guido Models

2015
Guido Fuentes, a middle aged Bolivian immigrant, runs a modelling agency and academy in Villa 31, the biggest slum in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The Motherhood Archives

2013

The Motherhood Archives

2013
Archival montage, science fiction, and an homage to '70s feminist filmmaking are woven together to form The Motherhood Archives, a lyrical essay film excavating hidden histories of childbirth in the twentieth century.
Night Labor

2013

Night Labor

2013
Night Labor follows Sherman Frank Merchant, a forty-six year old 6'6" Downeaster during his transition from an independent and rugged clam digger by day to manning a factory at night. With his white smock, arsenal of knives, and signature black beret, Sherman performs the tasks of preparing and arranging tools for the day laborers who arrive to their 6am shift.