Top Rated Documentary Movies on Kanopy - Page 309

Secundaria

2014

Secundaria

2014
Ballet in Cuba is a national institution, revered by all. It is also a way to climb out of poverty and achieve a better life. Yet for one young ballerina, even that isn't enough.
You Don't Need Feet to Dance

2013

You Don't Need Feet to Dance

2013
In the film "You Don't Need Feet to Dance," African immigrant Sidiki Conde, having lost the use of his legs to polio at fourteen, balances his career as a performing artist with the almost insurmountable obstacles of life in New York City, from his fifth-floor walk up apartment in the East village, down the stairs with his hands and navigating in his wheelchair through Manhattan onto buses and into the subway. Sidiki struggles to cope with his disability and to earn a decent living, but he still manages to teach workshops for disabled kids, busk on the street, rehearse with his musical group, bicycle with his hands, and prepare for a baby naming ceremony, where he plays djembe drums, sings, and dances on his hands.
Getting Back to Abnormal

2013

Getting Back to Abnormal

2013
What happens when America's most joyous, dysfunctional city rebuilds itself after a disaster? New Orleans is the setting for Getting Back to Abnormal, a film that serves up a provocative mix of race, corruption and politics to tell the story of the re-election campaign of Stacy Head, a white woman in a city council seat traditionally held by a black representative. Supported by her irrepressible African-American aide Barbara Lacen-Keller, Head polarizes the city as her candidacy threatens to diminish the power and influence of its black citizens. Featuring a cast of characters as colorful as the city itself, the film presents a New Orleans that outsiders rarely see.
Cubamerican

2012

Cubamerican

2012
CUBAMERICAN is the story of how the Cuban Revolution shattered the Cuban family. Spanning the past 60 years of Cuban history, the film explores tragedy, loss, freedom, assimilation, struggle and success through the stories of Cuban exiles who have achieved success in the U.S.A. in the diverse fields of art, science, medicine, design, music, dance, literature, academia and sports. The film culminates with rumination on the future of Cuba, leaving a mosaic of a bittersweet exile experience. Thematically, Cubamerican is a pro-immigrant story that highlights the absolute need for all of the world's people to be able to freely exercise their fundamental human rights.
Fear and Learning at Hoover Elementary

1997

Fear and Learning at Hoover Elementary

1997
If Proposition 187 makes it through the courts, will hall duty become border patrol in California public schools? Fourth-grade-teacher-turned-filmmaker Laura Simon puts human faces on the issue as she takes us inside her classroom and into the faculty lounge at Hoover Elementary in Los Angeles. Law and learning converge as students, teachers and parents grapple candidly with the impact of policies that would deny public services to undocumented immigrants and their children.
Alien Boy: The Life and Death of James Chasse

2013

Alien Boy: The Life and Death of James Chasse

2013
Alien Boy: The Life and Death of James Chasse is a feature length documentary film about one mans struggle with schizophrenia and the extraordinary brutality that ended his life. It is the story of a city in denial that was forced to face the truth and learn, grow and change as a result. Alien Boy explores issues of impunity, police brutality, and mental illness.
Chelsea Bridge Boys

1965

Chelsea Bridge Boys

1965
About a group of "Rockers" who belong to a British motorcycle club. Included are interviews with both male and female bikers. The film is largely based on candid interviews where the bikers respond to questions about politics, society, freedom and independence.
Praying With Lior

2008

Praying With Lior

2008
Praying with Lior asks whether someone with Down syndrome can be a spiritual genius. Many believe Lior is close to God -- at least that's what his family and community believe -- though he's also a burden, a best friend, an inspiration and an embarrassment, depending on who is asked and when. As this documentary moves to its climax, Lior must pass through the gateway to manhood - his Bar Mitzvah.
The New Medicine

2006

The New Medicine

2006
Before her death in 2006 from lung cancer, Dana Reeve filmed this thought-provoking program exploring the use of holistic remedies in modern medicine. Moving beyond traditional treatments and examining more lifestyle factors, an increasing number of doctors are supplementing their work with a host of healing alternatives -- including meditation, hypnosis and acupuncture -- to treat the whole body and restore their patients' health.
The Ultimate Wish: Ending The Nuclear Age

2012

The Ultimate Wish: Ending The Nuclear Age

2012
This new documentary focuses on the moving, unforgettable stories of Nagasaki and Fukushima survivors. Their stories are interlaced with expert commentary illuminating the largely unknown connection between nuclear weapons and nuclear power plants.
From Nothing, Something: A Documentary on the Creative Process

2012

From Nothing, Something: A Documentary on the Creative Process

2012
Everyone has ideas. But what where do they come from? And what ensures they keep coming? How do you sort the genius ideas from the useless ones? Why invest all this hope and energy into making things in the first place? From Nothing, Something profiles creative thinkers across a variety of disciplines and finds common methods, habits, mindsets and neuroses that help bring breakthrough ideas into being. This is a thoughtful, intimate, often funny look at the creative process—straight from the brains of some of our culture's most accomplished and inspiring talents.
The Rise of DIY Art, Craft, & Design

2009

The Rise of DIY Art, Craft, & Design

2009
Handmade Nation documents the new wave of art, craft and design that is capturing the attention of the nation. It is the feature film debut of director, author, artist & curator Faythe Levine. Levine traveled to 15 cities and covered more than 19,000 miles to interview artists, crafters, makers, curators and community members.
Let Fury Have the Hour

2012

Let Fury Have the Hour

2012
A documentary chronicling the rise of art as a response to political change that defined the 1980s. A mixed media documentary incorporating art, music, animation, and spoken work Let Fury Have the Hour is told through the voices of the artists of the day.
An opera from indian ocean

2012

An opera from indian ocean

2012
In the wings of the opera "Maraina", the film combines history and oral memory, to recount in music the first contacts between the natives in the Indian Ocean Islands and the Europians. The film follows the cast's fantastic journey to the place where it all began: Fort-Dauphin, in southern Madagascar. Two differents versions of a moment in African history: one related by the French officers back in the mid-17th century, and the other one by the Malagasy people. The characters tell their own vision of a common past. There was war of course but there were also love stories between those young French soldiers and beautiful Malagasy princesses. A fascinating voyage through Madagascar today, at the heart of its beliefs.
Hasten Slowly: The Journey of Sir Laurens van der Post

1997

Hasten Slowly: The Journey of Sir Laurens van der Post

1997
An hour-long documentary about author Laurens van der Post, whose autobiographical novel was the basis for the film "Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence" directed by Nagisa Oshima.
Downeast

2012

Downeast

2012
Explores Italian immigrant Antonio Bussone's use of federal grants to return factory work to the United States.
Bertsolari

2011

Bertsolari

2011
The 'bertsolari' is a kind of minstrel sings and improvises verses in Basque. This oral tradition has evolved with the times and connecting with younger generations, getting to meet at the end of the last championship to 14 thousand people. An austere aesthetic art of surprising in this age of spectacle and special effects.
Orchestra of Exiles

2012

Orchestra of Exiles

2012
The suspenseful chronicle of how the prodigious Polish violinist Bronislaw Huberman helped save Europe’s premiere Jewish musicians from obliteration by the Nazis during World War II. In three years, he transformed from a world renowned violinist to a humanitarian racing against time.
A Lot Like You

2012

A Lot Like You

2012
What happens when a woman goes in search of her identity and discovers that the cycle of violence she's been working hard to break in the US is part of her family history and culture on another continent?
Philip Guston: A Life Lived

1982

Philip Guston: A Life Lived

1982
Late in life, the artist looks back over a career that originated in social realism during the '30s, moved to the center of Abstract Expressionism, and culminated in a return to figuration. Filmed at his retrospective in San Francisco in 1980 and at his Woodstock studio, where Guston is seen painting, the artist speaks candidly about his philosophy of painting and the psychological motivation for his work.