Top Rated Documentary Movies on Kanopy - Page 53

Count Me In

2021

Count Me In

2021
6.9
An exhilarating celebration of the art of rock drumming, featuring some of the best drummers ever to have graced the drumkit. The viewer is taken on a uplifting journey through some of the most iconic music ever created, focusing on the women and men with the sticks, their passions, culture and awe-inspiring energy.
Oliver Sacks: His Own Life

2021

Oliver Sacks: His Own Life

2021
7.6
Oliver Sacks: His Own Life explores the life and work of the legendary neurologist and storyteller, as he shares intimate details of his battles with drug addiction, homophobia, and a medical establishment that accepted his work only decades after the fact. Sacks was a fearless explorer of unknown mental worlds who helped redefine our understanding of the brain and mind, the diversity of human experience, and our shared humanity.
Propaganda: The Art of Selling Lies

2019

Propaganda: The Art of Selling Lies

2019
6.6
From ancient cave paintings to Twitter feeds and deep fakes, propaganda's rapid progression hasn't compromised its potency. Tracing its effective use by religious figures, politicians and marketers, director Larry Weinstein crafts a persuasive study of the mechanics behind propaganda. This fascinating investigation confronts us with timely questions: If we grow up surrounded by propaganda, how do we know what is true? What risks are inherited by a society tricked into their perceptions? Freedom of speech is critical to a democracy's survival, yet demagogues have consistently exploited that freedom to coerce willing supporters. Contemporary artists, including Kent Monkman, Shepard Fairey and Ai Weiwei, analyze their politically motivated work, creatively co-opting the conventions of disinformation that have permeated their respective cultures. As our platforms for spreading ideas continue to expand in a digital age, dangerous lies have never been better disguised.
Beyond The Visible - Hilma af Klint

2019

Beyond The Visible - Hilma af Klint

2019
7.2
How can an artist discover abstraction by the beginning of the 20th century and nobody is noticing? A woman, misjudged and concealed, rocks the art world with her mind-blowing oeuvre. Hilma af Klint was a pioneer creating her first abstract painting in 1906, four years before Vassily Kandinsky. But why was she ignored? Why are her paintings not available on the market? This first film on her is about her life and work, the role of women in art history and the discovery of an art scandal. Her quest for meaning in life and a boundless thinking led into a timeless, outstanding oeuvre.
Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project

2019

Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project

2019
6.5
Marion Stokes secretly recorded television 24 hours a day for 30 years from 1975 until her death in 2012. For Marion taping was a form of activism to seek the truth, and she believed that a comprehensive archive of the media would be invaluable for future generations. Her visionary and maddening project nearly tore her family apart, but now her 70,000 VHS tapes are being digitized and they'll be searchable online.
Prosecuting Evil: The Extraordinary World of Ben Ferencz

2018

Prosecuting Evil: The Extraordinary World of Ben Ferencz

2018
6.3
A fascinating portrait of Ben Ferencz, the last surviving Nuremberg Trial prosecutor, who continues to wage his lifelong crusade in the fight for law and peace.
American Dharma

2019

American Dharma

2019
6.5
A portrait of controversial Breitbart honcho and Donald Trump advisor, Stephen K. Bannon.
A Sniper's War

2018

A Sniper's War

2018
5
A Sniper’s War is a story of a sniper, whose anti-US views led him to join the pro-Russian rebels in the ongoing Ukrainian conflict—a primary source of tension between the United States and Russia. When social media becomes a communication platform to schedule sniper duels, Deki’s rival threatens to kill him. The New York-based filmmaker, Olya Schechter, obtains unprecedented access to military bases and front line battles to paint an intimate portrait of the complex and fascinating nature of a man walking the tightrope that often comes to the morality of war: is Deki a solder or a killer?
The Grand Bizarre

2018

The Grand Bizarre

2018
6.7
A kinetic journey through the graphic motifs of textiles paired with figures and landscapes to explore the technological development of fabric production and consumption alongside systems of visual and spoken language. The piece investigates recurring graphic symbols and how their cross-cultural appropriation functions within a global economy.
Silence Is a Falling Body

2017

Silence Is a Falling Body

2017
5.6
The film follows Agustina as she finds the videotapes that her father Jaime recorded before the accident that took his life. The family secrets surrounding Jaime push Agustina to get involved. Her search will reveal a story marked by sexuality and political activism.
Betty: They Say I’m Different

2017

Betty: They Say I’m Different

2017
7.3
An aspiring songwriter from a small steel town, Betty Mabry Davis arrived on the scene to break boundaries for women with her daring personality, iconic fashion style and outrageous funk. She befriended Jimi Hendrix and Sly Stone, wrote songs for the Chambers Brothers and The Commodores and married Miles Davis, turning him from jazz to funk and then went on to ignite stages in the 70s with her sassy sexed up mix of hard rock and bluesy funk, inspiring artists from Prince to Erykah Badu to Karen 0 and Peaches. Then she vanished…
The Quest of Alain Ducasse

2017

The Quest of Alain Ducasse

2017
6.3
What can be the quest of Alain Ducasse, the little boy of the Landes now become the chef and most recognized mentor of cooking in the world? What is a man looking for who already seems to have everything? 23 restaurants in the world, 18 Michelin stars, Alain Ducasse never ceases to create addresses that appeal to our time, to build schools, to push the boundaries of his craft to new horizons, his curiosity has no limit. He traveled the world relentlessly, for to him cooking was an infinite universe. This public man, however secret, accepted to be followed for nearly two years, thus opening us the doors of his universe, in perpetual evolution.
Nokia Mobile: We Were Connecting People

2017

Nokia Mobile: We Were Connecting People

2017
6.6
Once upon a time there was a large Finnish company called Nokia that manufactured the world’s best and most innovative mobile phones. Nokia’s annual budget was larger than that of the Government of Finland and their phones spread everywhere and changed the whole culture of communication. But then something changed. Film portrays the rise and fall of Nokia and the Finnish mobile phone industry. Nokia engineers, designers and managers tell their story about the creation, success and downfall of the Finnish mobile phone.
Blurred Lines: Inside the Art World

2017

Blurred Lines: Inside the Art World

2017
5.6
As one art scene insider proclaims, the contemporary art world can be summed up as “rich people trying to prove how rich they are,” but is that all there is to this billion dollar industry? Well-researched and expertly constructed, Barry Avrich’s eye-opening documentary peels back the layers of the art world economy- from production to circulation, and delineates every integral player in the game of art-making, including curators, gallerists, collectors, donors, auction houses, and … artists. In the process, he unpacks the complex and surprising ecosystem that supports the art world superstars and million-dollar deals that make front-page news. Featuring extraordinary access to industry players and candid statements from prominent artists like Damien Hirst, Julian Schnabel, Taryn Simon, and Marina Abramovic, Blurred Lines collides the two narratives of the art world as both above and beholden to market forces.
Underfire: The Untold Story of Pfc. Tony Vaccaro

2016

Underfire: The Untold Story of Pfc. Tony Vaccaro

2016
7.2
The remarkable story of WWII infantryman and photographer Tony Vaccaro, who created one of the most comprehensive, haunting and intimate photographic records of the war using a smuggled $47 camera while developing the negatives in his helmet at night.
Hooligan Sparrow

2016

Hooligan Sparrow

2016
7.2
The danger is palpable as intrepid young filmmaker Nanfu Wang follows maverick activist Ye Haiyan (a.k.a Hooligan Sparrow) and her band of colleagues to Hainan Province in southern China to protest the case of six elementary school girls who were sexually abused by their principal. Marked as enemies of the state, the activists are under constant government surveillance and face interrogation, harassment, and imprisonment. Sparrow, who gained notoriety with her advocacy work for sex workers’ rights, continues to champion girls’ and women’s rights and arms herself with the power and reach of social media.
Last Day of Freedom

2015

Last Day of Freedom

2015
7.1
When Bill Babbitt realizes his brother Manny has committed a crime he agonizes over his decision to call the police.
Killing Them Safely

2015

Killing Them Safely

2015
5.9
In the early 2000s, two brothers found tremendous success when their company began selling a device that has been called 'the biggest revolution in law enforcement since the radio.' But as their company grew, they made decisions that would have lasting impact on both the public and their increasingly skeptical customer base.
Speed Sisters

2015

Speed Sisters

2015
5.9
The Speed Sisters are the first all-woman race car driving team in the Middle East. Grabbing headlines and turning heads at improvised tracks across the West Bank, these five women have sped their way into the heart of the gritty, male-dominated Palestinian street car-racing scene. Weaving together their lives on and off the track, SPEED SISTERS takes you on a surprising journey into the drive to go further and faster than anyone thought you could.
Hal

2019

Hal

2019
6.5
Hal Ashby's obsessive genius led to an unprecedented string of Oscar®-winning classics, including Harold and Maude, Shampoo and Being There. But as contemporaries Coppola, Scorsese and Spielberg rose to blockbuster stardom in the 1980s, Ashby's uncompromising nature played out as a cautionary tale of art versus commerce.