Top Rated Documentary Movies on Kanopy - Page 58

Enemies of the People

2009

Enemies of the People

2009
7.2
The Khmer Rouge slaughtered nearly two million people in the late 1970s. Yet the Killing Fields of Cambodia remain unexplained. Until now. Enter Thet Sambath, an unassuming, yet cunning, investigative journalist who spends a decade of his life gaining the trust of the men and women who perpetrated the massacres. From the foot soldiers who slit throats to Pol Pot's right-hand man, the notorious Brother Number Two, Sambath records shocking testimony never before seen or heard. Having neglected his own family for years, Sambath's work comes at a price. But his is a personal mission. He lost his parents and his siblings in the Killing Fields. Amidst his journey to discover why his family died, we come to understand for the first time the real story of Cambodia's tragedy.
The Man Nobody Knew: In Search of My Father, CIA Spymaster William Colby

2011

The Man Nobody Knew: In Search of My Father, CIA Spymaster William Colby

2011
6.3
A personal exploration into the life of America's controversial former CIA Director told through the eyes of his wife and filmmaker son, Carl. Through extraordinary events in twentieth century history, this consummate soldier/spy stood at the center of the Agency's most clandestine activities and operations. The film reveals the 'cover life' of this CIA operative, who followed orders and took on the dirtiest assignments until the Nixon Administration ordered him to 'stonewall' Congress about the CIA's past abuses, but he refused. This film reveals why, for the first time, he could not obey.
Morning Sun

2003

Morning Sun

2003
7.4
The film Morning Sun attempts in the space of a two-hour documentary film to create an inner history of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution (c.1964-1976). It provides a multi-perspective view of a tumultuous period as seen through the eyes—and reflected in the hearts and minds—of members of the high-school generation that was born around the time of the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, and that came of age in the 1960s. Others join them in creating in the film’s conversation about the period and the psycho-emotional topography of high-Maoist China, as well as the enduring legacy of that period.
Peace, Propaganda & the Promised Land

2004

Peace, Propaganda & the Promised Land

2004
6.5
This video shows how the foreign policy interests of American political elites-working in combination with Israeli public relations stratgies-influence US news reporting about the Middle East conflict. Combining American and British TV news clips with observations of analysts, journalists and political activists, Peace, Propaganda & the Promised Land provides a brief historical overview, a striking media comparison, and an examination of factors that have distorted U.S. media coverage and, in turn, American public opinion.
Square Grouper

2011

Square Grouper

2011
6.2
A colorful portrait of Miami's pot smuggling scene of the 1970s, populated with redneck pirates, a ganja-smoking church, and the longest serving marijuana prisoner in American history.
Reclaiming the Blade

2009

Reclaiming the Blade

2009
5.9
The Medieval and Renaissance blade, a profound and beautiful object handcrafted by master artisans of old. An object of great complexity, yet one with a singular use in mind- it is designed to kill. The truth of the sword has been shrouded in antiquity, and the Renaissance martial arts that brought it to being are long forgotten. The ancient practitioners lent us all they knew through their manuscripts. As gunslingers of the Renaissance they were western heroes with swords, and they lived and died by them. Yet today their history remains cloaked under a shadow of legend.
The Devil's Miner

2005

The Devil's Miner

2005
6.7
'The Devil's Miner' tells the story of 14-year-old Basilio who worships the devil for protection while working in a Bolivian silver mine to support his family.
The Real Dirt on Farmer John

2006

The Real Dirt on Farmer John

2006
7
An outcast in his community, Farmer John bravely stands amidst a failing economy, vicious rumors, and violence. By melding the traditions of family farming with the power of art and free expression, this powerful story of transformation and renewal heralds a resurrection of farming in America. Through highly personal interviews and 50 years of beautifully textured footage, filmmaker Taggart Siegel shares Farmer John’s haunting and humorous odyssey, capturing what it means to be wildly different in a rural community.
Another Body

2023

Another Body

2023
6.7
A college student searches for justice after she discovers deepfake pornography of herself circulating online.
Godard Cinema

2023

Godard Cinema

2023
5.5
Jean-Luc Godard is synonymous with cinema. With the release of Breathless in 1960, he established himself overnight as a cinematic rebel and symbol for the era's progressive and anti-war youth. Sixty-two years and 140 films later, Godard is among the most renowned artists of all time, taught in every film school yet still shrouded in mystery. One of the founders of the French New Wave, political agitator, revolutionary misanthrope, film theorist and critic, the list of his descriptors goes on and on. Godard Cinema offers an opportunity for film lovers to look back at his career and the subjects and themes that obsessed him, while paying tribute to the ineffable essence of the most revered French director of all time.
Jurassic Punk

2022

Jurassic Punk

2022
6.4
Steve ‘Spaz’ Williams is a pioneer in computer animation. His digital dinosaurs of Jurassic Park transformed Hollywood in 1993, but an appetite for anarchy and reckless disregard for authority may have cost him the recognition he deserved.
Atlantide

2022

Atlantide

2022
7.1
Daniele is a young man from Sant’Erasmo, an island on the edges of the Venice Lagoon. He lives on his wits, isolated even from his peer group who are busy exploring an existence of pleasure-seeking expressed in the cult of the barchino (motorboat). This obsession focuses on the building of ever more powerful engines to transform the little lagoon launches into dangerously fast racing boats. Daniele too dreams of a record-breaking barchino, one that will take him to the top of the leader board, but everything he does to further his dream and win respect from the others turns out to be tragically counterproductive. The decline that erodes the relationships, environment and habits of a rootless generation is observed from the timeless perspective of the Venetian landscape and its island outskirts: the point of no return is a foolish, vestigial tale of male initiation. Violent and destined to fail, it explodes dragging the ghost city along on a psychedelic shipwreck.
Last Man Standing: Suge Knight and the Murders of Biggie and Tupac

2021

Last Man Standing: Suge Knight and the Murders of Biggie and Tupac

2021
6.6
Last Man Standing takes a look at Death Row and how L.A.’s street gang culture had come to dominate its business workings, as well as an association with corrupt LA police officers who were also gang affiliated. It would be this world of gang rivalry and dirty cops that would claim the lives of the world’s two greatest rappers: Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls.
Charli XCX: Alone Together

2022

Charli XCX: Alone Together

2022
6.2
Discover the process behind Charli XCX’s 2020 quarantine album "how i'm feeling now", created in 40 days during the COVID-19 pandemic, including its semi-collaborative nature with her community of online fans.
Nazis on Drugs: Hitler and the Blitzkrieg

2019

Nazis on Drugs: Hitler and the Blitzkrieg

2019
6.2
For all its talk of racial, spiritual, and physical purity, the self-anointed “Master Race” harbored a secret…theirs was an axis of drug addicts. This two-hour special explores the origin, impact, and lasting effects of the state-sponsored drug use that helped build—and eventually burned—the Third Reich. Incredible new sources of information, including a detailed journal maintained by Hitler’s personal physician, reveal the extent of not just his, but the entire Nazi Party’s reliance on drugs to power their war effort.
Changing the Game

2019

Changing the Game

2019
6.3
Transgender high school athletes from across the country compete at the top of their fields, while also challenging the boundaries and perceptions of fairness and discrimination.
Heimat Is a Space in Time

2019

Heimat Is a Space in Time

2019
6.6
Director Thomas Heise picks up the biographical pieces left by his family, and composes an epic picture of four generations of his family, of a country, of a century.
Love & Bananas: An Elephant Story

2018

Love & Bananas: An Elephant Story

2018
8.1
Ashley Bell and a team of elephant rescuers led by world renowned Asian elephant conservationist Lek Chailert, embark on a daring 48-hour mission across Thailand to rescue a 70-year old captive blind Asian elephant and bring her to freedom.
Far from the Tree

2019

Far from the Tree

2019
6.8
Parents of children who have Down syndrome, dwarfism or autism share intimate stories of the challenges they face. Tracing their joys, challenges, tragedies, and triumphs.
Brothers in Arms

2018

Brothers in Arms

2018
5.9
Charlie Sheen narrates, as cast and crew share their personal experiences making the Academy Award winning film, Platoon. This non-union, low budget, independent film was cast almost exclusively with young, unknown actors making their first film. Together they share their first hand accounts of the grueling boot camp, Oliver Stone's "unique" directing style, and the brutal filming conditions that together forged their eternal brotherhood.