Top Rated Documentary Movies on Kanopy - Page 33

Dream Big: Engineering Our World

2017

Dream Big: Engineering Our World

2017
6.2
Narrated by Academy Award® winner Jeff Bridges, DREAM BIG: Engineering Our World is a first film of its kind for IMAX® and giant screen theaters that will transform how we think about engineering. From the Great Wall of China and the world's tallest buildings to underwater robots, solar cars and smart, sustainable cities, DREAM BIG celebrates the human ingenuity behind engineering marvels big and small, and shows how engineers push the limits of innovation in unexpected and amazing ways. With its inspiring stories of human grit and aspiration, and extraordinary visuals for the world's largest screens, DREAM BIG reveals the compassion and creativity that drive engineers to create better lives for people and a more sustainable future for us all. DREAM BIG is a MacGillivray Freeman film produced in partnership with American Society of Civil Engineers and presented by Bechtel Corporation.
Whose Streets?

2017

Whose Streets?

2017
5.8
A nonfiction account of the Ferguson uprising told by the people who lived it, this is an unflinching look at how the killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown inspired a community to fight back—and sparked a global movement.
The Road Movie

2017

The Road Movie

2017
6.9
Anything can happen on Russian roads and is precisely shot by the dashboard camera. Super-objective video registration grows into the strong image of Russian national character – with its permanent awaiting for the miracle and habitual approach to real dramas. A forest on fire as a symbol of Russian hell, a military tank at a car wash and car chase in the vicinity of Kremlin shot with a dashboard cam at the same time when Boris Nemtsov, the leader of political opposition, was shot dead near Kremlin. Dashboard cam depicts life in it’s purity as an unbiased observer.
Venus

2016

Venus

2016
5.4
During casting sessions, young women from Copenhagen talk candidly about their sexual experiences. Initially, the two female directors wanted to make a film as a way of better understanding their own sexual desires and frustrations. In response to a casting call, more than a hundred ordinary young women turned up and talked straight into the camera about their erotic fantasies. As shooting progressed, the filmmakers realized that these intimate casting sessions should in fact be the final film.
Harry Benson: Shoot First

2016

Harry Benson: Shoot First

2016
6.6
What we know today about many famous musicians, politicians, and actresses is due to the famous work of photographer Harry Benson. He captured vibrant and intimate photos of the most famous band in history;The Beatles. His extensive portfolio grew to include iconic photos of Muhammad Ali, Michael Jackson, and Dr. Martin Luther King. His wide-ranging work has appeared in publications including Life, Vanity Fair and The New Yorker. Benson, now 86, is still taking photos and has no intentions of stopping.
Inside Einstein's Mind: The Enigma of Space and Time

2015

Inside Einstein's Mind: The Enigma of Space and Time

2015
7.3
In November 1915, Einstein published his greatest work: General Relativity, the theory that transformed our understanding of nature's laws and the entire history of the cosmos. This documentary tells the story of Einstein's masterpiece, from the simple but powerful ideas at the heart of relativity to the revolution in cosmology still playing out in today's labs, revealing Einstein's brilliance as never before.
They Call Us Monsters

2016

They Call Us Monsters

2016
6.7
Behind the walls of the Compound, LA’s most violent juvenile offenders await their trials. To their advocates, they’re kids. To the system, they’re adults. To their victims, they’re monsters. Who are they to you?
The Beginning of Life

2016

The Beginning of Life

2016
7.3
One of the greatest neuroscience breakthroughs is having discovered that babies are far more than a genetic load. The development of all human beings lies on the combination of genetics, the quality of the relationships and the environment they are set on. The Beginning of Life invites everyone to reflect: are we taking good care of this unique moment, which defines both the present and future of humankind?
A Billion Lives

2016

A Billion Lives

2016
8
In 20 years’ time, there will be nearly 1.6 billion smokers around the world. Approximately 70% of smokers want to quit. The United Nations’ World Health Organisation expects a billion people will die prematurely from smoking this century. The products their doctors recommend are rarely effective and many are trapped. A new vapour technology was invented to give smokers a successful way to quit. But it was quickly demonised, and even banned in many countries. A perfect storm is brewing between smokers trying to quit, government regulators, and health charities funded by the powerful pharmaceutical industry. Director Aaron Biebert travelled across four continents interviewing doctors, scientists, and others working to save a billion lives. What he found was profound government failure, widespread corruption in the public health community and powerful subversion by big business.
Reset

2016

Reset

2016
7.8
In early 2013, it was announced that choreographer and dancer Benjamin Millepied, known as the man behind the ballet of Black Swan, would take over as director of the Paris Opera Ballet. Reset finds Millepied on the eve of his first gala with the Opera, designing and refining his inaugural choreography for the esteemed institution. As a film, Reset possesses of the same artistic assuredness as its subject as he blocks out the preliminary steps for his choreography. It explores various concepts of space simultaneously: the digital space, the space of the opera house (each scene opens with a declaration of which studio it’s in) and the space of the stage, the distance from stage right to stage left. It’s a portrait of a watershed moment for one of the ballet's oldest institutions and one of its brightest new stars, both on the cusp of great transition.
Rabin, the Last Day

2015

Rabin, the Last Day

2015
4.4
Itzhak Rabin's murder ended all efforts of peace, and with him the whole left wing of Israel died. The movie shows the last of his days as prime minister, and what led to his murder.
The Last Laugh

2016

The Last Laugh

2016
6.9
Feature documentary about humor and the Holocaust, examining whether it is ever acceptable to use humor in connection with a tragedy of that scale, and the implications for other seemingly off-limits topics in a society that prizes free speech.
Tyke Elephant Outlaw

2015

Tyke Elephant Outlaw

2015
8
This is the gripping and emotionally charged story of Tyke, a circus elephant that went on a rampage in Honolulu in 1994, killed her trainer in front of thousands of spectators and died in a hail of gunfire. Her break for freedom - filmed from start to tragic end - traumatised a city and ignited a global battle over the use of animals in the entertainment industry. Looking at what made Tyke snap, the film goes back to meet the people who knew her and were affected by her death - former trainers and handlers, circus industry insiders, witnesses to her rampage, and animal rights activists for whom Tyke became a global rallying cry. Like the classic animal rebellion film King Kong, Tyke is the central protagonist in a tragic but redemptive drama that combines trauma, outrage, insight and compassion. Ultimately, this moving documentary raises fundamental questions about our deep and mysterious connection to other species.
Among the Believers

2015

Among the Believers

2015
7
An unsettling and eye opening exploration into the spread of the radical Islamic school Red Mosque, which trains legions of children to devote their lives to jihad, or holy war, from a very young age. With incredible access and chilling footage, Among the Believers is a timely and relevant look into the causes that have led to the growth of radical Islam in Pakistan and around the world.
Steak (R)evolution

2014

Steak (R)evolution

2014
6.4
Far from intensive farming and industrial output, a revolution is already under way; good red meat has become a rare, indeed, luxury product. But where is the world's best steak found? Franck Ribière and his favorite butcher, Yves-Marie Le Bourdonnec, generous, charming, and ecological, set out to meet the new players in the field to try to understand what makes a cut of meat good.
Inner Worlds, Outer Worlds

2012

Inner Worlds, Outer Worlds

2012
7.5
There is one vibratory field that connects all things. It has been called Akasha, Logos, the primordial OM, the music of the spheres, the Higgs field, dark energy, and a thousand other names throughout history. The vibratory field is at the root of all true spiritual experience and scientific investigation. It is the same field of energy that saints, Buddhas, yogis, mystics, priests, shamans and seers, have observed by looking within themselves. Many of history's monumental thinkers, such a Pythagoras, Kepler, Leonardo DaVinci, Tesla, and Einstein, have come to the threshold of this great mystery. It is the common link between all religions, all sciences, and the link between our inner worlds and our outer worlds.
The Trials of Muhammad Ali

2013

The Trials of Muhammad Ali

2013
7.1
Brash boxer Cassius Clay burst into the American consciousness in the early 1960s, just ahead of the Civil Rights movement. His transformation into the spiritually enlightened heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali is legendary, but this religious awakening also led to a bitter legal battle with the U.S. government after he refused to serve in the Vietnam War. This film reveals the perfect storm of race, religion and politics that shaped one of the most recognizable figures in sports history.
Below Sea Level

2008

Below Sea Level

2008
6.6
During a five year period an Italian filmmaker documents the world of down-on-their-luck individuals who live in a Californian desert trying to get by one day at a time. None of them has more than a vehicle, a dog and some clothes.
Kimjongilia

2009

Kimjongilia

2009
6.2
The first film to fully expose the humanitarian crisis of North Korea, this stylish, deeply moving documentary is centered around astonishing interviews with survivors of North Korea's vast and largely hidden prison camps, and interspersed with archival footage of North Korean propoganda films and original art performances.
Black Gold

2006

Black Gold

2006
6.4
An in-depth look at the world of coffee and global trade.