Top Rated Documentary Movies on Kanopy - Page 305

Blood Antiquities

2009

Blood Antiquities

2009
The European art trade, synonymous with wealth and glamour, has always involved a degree of stolen and smuggled art. Now, Afghanistan's rich cultural heritage is financing terrorism and the Taliban. From Afghans scrabbling in the sand for treasures, to the dazzling show rooms of unscrupulous dealers and private collectors - 'Blood Antiques' uncovers one of the most outrageous illegal trades since blood diamonds.
The Oyler House: Richard Neutra's Desert Retreat

2012

The Oyler House: Richard Neutra's Desert Retreat

2012
In 1959, a government employee named Richard Oyler, living in the tiny desert town of Lone Pine, California, asked world-famous modern architect Richard Neutra to design his modest family home. To Oyler's surprise, Neutra agreed. Thus began an unlikely friendship that led to the design and construction of an iconic mid-century modern masterpiece.
BAM150

2012

BAM150

2012
A captivating history of the nation's oldest performing arts center - which largely mirrors the evolution of experimental and progressive performing arts in 20th century America - BAM150 chronicles the vibrant past, present and future of the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Through footage of recent performances, intimate interviews, and an astonishing treasure trove of 150 years' worth of archival materials, BAM150 is a testament to the power and stamina of the institution that established Brooklyn as a cultural mecca-serving as a home to such greats as Enrico Caruso, Sarah Bernhardt, Edwin Booth, Merce Cunningham, Robert Wilson, Mark Morris, Laurie Anderson, and Pina Bausch.
T'Ain't Nobody's Bizness: Queer Blues Divas of the 1920s

2013

T'Ain't Nobody's Bizness: Queer Blues Divas of the 1920s

2013
The 1920s saw a revolution in technology, the advent of the recording industry, that created the first class of African-American women to sing their way to fame and fortune. Blues divas such as Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, and Alberta Hunter created and promoted a working-class vision of blues life that provided an alternative to the Victorian gentility of middle-class manners. In their lives and music, blues women presented themselves as strong, independent women who lived hard lives and were unapologetic about their unconventional choices in clothes, recreational activities, and bed partners. Blues singers disseminated a Black feminism that celebrated emotional resilience and sexual pleasure, no matter the source.
Donald Judd: Marfa Texas

1998

Donald Judd: Marfa Texas

1998
An artist and critic, there was a considerable duality to Donald Judd (1928-1994) - he was at once a man of intellectual rigor and a multi-disciplinary conceptualist who deftly moved towards a new minimalism. In 1971, he relocated from New York, to the prairies of Presidio County in Southern Texas, twenty miles from the Mexican border.
Altered by Elvis

2006

Altered by Elvis

2006
Shot across the U.S., a moving, and often hilarious, exploration of lives fathered, fulfilled, and even destroyed by the King of rock & roll.
American Crusaders

2007

American Crusaders

2007
A harrowing exploration of the rapid rise of American religious fanaticism after 9/11. This film explores an emerging ultra Right Wing mass movement seeking dominion over all aspects of contemporary American society. The film weaves archival video, contemporary Christian Nationalist movement propaganda (recruiting videos, apocalyptic/military videogame imagery, etc.) and original investigative material) to create an intense examination of the totalistic mindset and its will to power.
The Legend of Dolemite! Bigger & Badder

1994

The Legend of Dolemite! Bigger & Badder

1994
Rudy Ray Moore tells all as only he can in this all-new retrospective legendary career. From his humble beginnings to his crowning as "King of the Party Records," Rudy Ray guides us through his struggles and triumphs in the film and music industries.
Last Woman Standing

2013

Last Woman Standing

2013
In this thrilling doc, two world champion women boxers and former friends must face each other in the ring for a chance to win gold at the 2012 Olympics.
Through the Wire

1990

Through the Wire

1990
In 1986, a controversial high security unit was opened in an underground chamber of Kentucky's federal prison. Its three female prisoners received sentences of unprecedented length for nonviolent crimes.
Los Lonely Boys: Cottonfields and Crossroads

2008

Los Lonely Boys: Cottonfields and Crossroads

2008
After a childhood of playing cantinas and honky tonks from Texas to Tennessee, this band of brothers 'Los Lonely Boys' from San Angelo Texas rocked their way to the top of the American music industry, determined to fulfill their father's long held dream.
Capoeira: Fly Away Beetle

2011

Capoeira: Fly Away Beetle

2011
The stories of three world renowned masters and a young man who redeems his life reveal the virtues and violence of Capoeira, as well as its surprising origins.
The Cardboard Bernini

2012

The Cardboard Bernini

2012
James Grashow is an artist who has built—among many other things-- giant 15 foot tall fighting men, a city, and an ocean-- using paper mache, fabric, chicken wire and cardboard. More recently, he has begun making sculptures entirely out of corrugated cardboard and twist ties.
We Are Egypt

2012

We Are Egypt

2012
In the 14 months prior to the revolution, filmmaker Lillie Paquette follows key opposition figures and young activists as they struggle against the odds and at great personal risk to remove an uncompromising US-backed regime.
Beyond Pollution

2012

Beyond Pollution

2012
Barker White documents the environmental impact of the massive BP spill.
Voices from the Front

1992

Voices from the Front

1992
In New York City, a distraught activist confronts the mayor with a story of a friend who languished on a cot in an emergency room hallway for nine days, only to die 48 hours after leaving the hospital. In 1988, thousands of activists hold the Food and Drug Administration under siege, demanding speedier drug approval. In 1990 AIDS activists converge on the National Institute of Health, calling for a more equitable clinical trial system and expanded research into new drugs and treatment. Voices From the Front, the first feature-length documentary on AIDS activism in America, makes clear the emotional and political effects of community activism using the voices of those directly engaged. It is a powerful distillation of pictures and words from events organized to change public consciousness, expose the failure of the health care systems, and challenge government inaction and neglect concerning AIDS.
Cartoneros

2006

Cartoneros

2006
Cartoneros follows the paper recycling process in Buenos Aires from the trash pickers who collect paper informally through middlemen in warehouses, to executives in large corporate mills. The process exploded into a multimillion dollar industry after Argentina's latest economic collapse. The film is both a record of an economic and social crisis and an invitation to audiences to rethink the value of trash.
This Land Is Our Land

2010

This Land Is Our Land

2010
For more than three decades, transnational corporations have been busy buying up what used to be known as the commons -- everything from our forests and our oceans to our broadcast airwaves and our most important intellectual and cultural works. In This Land is Our Land, acclaimed author David Bollier, a leading figure in the global movement to reclaim the commons, bucks the rising tide of anti-government extremism and free market ideology to show how commercial interests are undermining our collective interests. Placing the commons squarely within the American tradition of community engagement and the free exchange of ideas and information, Bollier shows how a bold new international movement steeped in democratic principles is trying to reclaim our common wealth by modeling practical alternatives to the restrictive monopoly powers of corporate elites.
Revealing Mr. Maugham

2012

Revealing Mr. Maugham

2012
Documentary film on the life and work of author W. Somerset Maugham. His life and work discussed by writers such as Armistead Maupin and Alexander McCall-Smith and experts such as Selina Hastings.
Braddock America

2014

Braddock America

2014
Braddock, Pennsylvania has been the home to key events that have greatly shaped American history. Today, it is struggling to reinvent itself and stay relevant.