Top Rated Documentary Movies on Kanopy - Page 38

God Loves Uganda

2013

God Loves Uganda

2013
7
A powerful exploration of the evangelical campaign to infuse African culture with values imported from America's Christian Right. The film follows American and Ugandan religious leaders fighting sexual immorality and missionaries trying to convince Ugandans to follow biblical law.
The Sarnos: A Life in Dirty Movies

2013

The Sarnos: A Life in Dirty Movies

2013
6.4
A love story about the legendary sexploitation director Joe Sarno and his loyal wife and business partner Peggy. The film relates their part in the history of sex film, their lives between New York and Sweden, and their struggle to produce one last erotic film.
Eadweard Muybridge, Zoopraxographer

1975

Eadweard Muybridge, Zoopraxographer

1975
7.2
Thom Andersen's remarkable and sadly neglected hour-long documentary adroitly combines biography, history, film theory, and philosophical reflection. Muybridge's photographic studies of animal locomotion in the 1870s were a major forerunner of movies; even more interesting are his subsequent studies of diverse people, photographed against neutral backgrounds.
Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt

1989

Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt

1989
7.2
On the eve of 1987's Second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights, surviving families and friends of people who have died of AIDS prepare panels to be added to a large-scale memorial quilt project. Drawing from the sea of names memorialized, director Robert Epstein focuses on the lives of six people. Alongside the intimate profiles offered, through news footage and interviews, Epstein puts the AIDS crisis in the larger context of social and government response to the disease.
Juvenile Court

1973

Juvenile Court

1973
7.2
JUVENILE COURT shows the complex variety of cases before the Memphis Juvenile Court: foster home placement, drug abuse, armed robbery, child abuse, and sexual offenses. The sequences illustrate such issues as community protection vs. the desire for rehabilitation, the range and the limits of the choices available to the court, the psychology of the offender, and the constitutional and procedural questions involved in administering a juvenile court.
The Brandon Teena Story

1998

The Brandon Teena Story

1998
6.4
Documentary about Brandon Teena, a transgender man who was murdered along with two others in 1993 in rural Nebraska.
Sexy Baby

2012

Sexy Baby

2012
6.7
The cyber age is creating a new sexual landscape. While doing research for the film, we had intimate and candid conversations with kids in middle school classrooms, suburban shopping malls, nightclubs, college dorms, and even conducted an informal roundtable during a high school house party. While chronicling trends among small town and big city kids, we discovered this: Having pubic hair is considered unattractive and “gross.” Most youngsters know someone who has emailed or texted a naked photo of themselves. Many kids have accidentally or intentionally had their first introduction to sex be via hardcore online porn. Facebook has created an arena where kids compete to be “liked” and constantly worry about what image to portray – much of what was once private is now made public. And the list goes on.
Gregory Crewdson: Brief Encounters

2012

Gregory Crewdson: Brief Encounters

2012
7.2
Filmed over a decade, Brief Encounters follows internationally renowned photographer Gregory Crewdson's quest to create his unique, surreal, and incredibly elaborate portraits of suburban life. He sets a house on fire, builds 90 foot sets with crews of sixty, shuts down city streets...all in the service of his haunted image of American life, and his own anxieties, dreams and inner desires. Brief Encounters is an intimate portrait of one of the most heralded image-makers of our time.
In the Mirror of Maya Deren

2002

In the Mirror of Maya Deren

2002
7.4
Documentary about the life of avant-garde filmmaker Maya Deren, who led the independent film movement of the 1940s.
Chasing Madoff

2010

Chasing Madoff

2010
5.6
A look at how one investigator spent ten years trying to expose Bernie Madoff's massive Ponzi scheme that scammed an estimated $18 billion from investors.
La Danse: The Paris Opera Ballet

2009

La Danse: The Paris Opera Ballet

2009
7.5
A film by Frederick Wiseman following the ins and outs of 7 ballets by the Paris Opera Ballet.
Consuming Kids: The Commercialization of Childhood

2007

Consuming Kids: The Commercialization of Childhood

2007
7.4
Consuming Kids throws desperately needed light on the practices of a relentless multi-billion dollar marketing machine that now sells kids and their parents everything from junk food and violent video games to bogus educational products and the family car. Drawing on the insights of health care professionals, children's advocates, and industry insiders, the film focuses on the explosive growth of child marketing in the wake of deregulation, showing how youth marketers have used the latest advances in psychology, anthropology, and neuroscience to transform American children into one of the most powerful and profitable consumer demographics in the world. Consuming Kids pushes back against the wholesale commercialization of childhood, raising urgent questions about the ethics of children's marketing and its impact on the health and well-being of kids.
Defamation

2009

Defamation

2009
7
Intent on shaking up the ultimate 'sacred cow' for Jews, Israeli director Yoav Shamir embarks on a provocative - and at times irreverent - quest to answer the question, "What is anti-Semitism today?"
Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell

2008

Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell

2008
6.3
Wild Combination is a visually absorbing portrait of the seminal avant-garde composer, singer-songwriter, cellist, and disco producer Arthur Russell. Before his death in 1992, Arthur prolifically created music that spanned both pop and the transcendent possibilities of abstract art. Now, over fifteen years since his passing, Arthur's work is finally finding its audience. Wolf incorporates rare archival footage and commentary from Arthur's family, friends, and closest collaborators to tell this poignant and important story.
The Workshop

2007

The Workshop

2007
4.6
A spiritual search for answers leads the filmmaker to a California workshop run by a guru who promotes sexual adventure -- and the existence of aliens.
Visual Acoustics

2008

Visual Acoustics

2008
7.4
Visual Acoustics celebrates the life and career of Julius Shulman, the world's greatest architectural photographer, whose images brought modern architecture to the American mainstream. Shulman, who passed away this year, captured the work of nearly every modern and progressive architect since the 1930s including Frank Lloyd Wright, Richard Neutra, John Lautner and Frank Gehry. His images epitomized the singular beauty of Southern California's modernist movement and brought its iconic structures to the attention of the general public. This unique film is both a testament to the evolution of modern architecture and a joyful portrait of the magnetic, whip-smart gentleman who chronicled it with his unforgettable images.
Mr. Untouchable

2007

Mr. Untouchable

2007
6.6
The true-life story of a Harlem's notorious Nicky Barnes, a junkie turned multimillionaire drug-lord. Follow his life story from his rough childhood to the last days of his life.
American Swing

2009

American Swing

2009
5.1
Chronicles the rise and fall of 1970s New York City nightclub Plato's Retreat.
Moby Doc

2021

Moby Doc

2021
6.1
A surrealist biographical documentary about trailblazing electronic musician and animal rights activist Moby.
Totally Under Control

2021

Totally Under Control

2021
6.8
This documentary puts a spotlight on the White House’s failed response to the global pandemic and how it could have been prevented. Featuring damning testimony from public health officials and hard investigative reporting, director Alex Gibney reveals a system-wide collapse caused by a profound dereliction of presidential leadership.