Top Rated Documentary Movies on Kanopy - Page 63

The End of Poverty?

2008

The End of Poverty?

2008
7.9
The End of Poverty? asks if the true causes of poverty today stem from a deliberate orchestration since colonial times which has evolved into our modern system whereby wealthy nations exploit the poor. People living and fighting against poverty answer condemning colonialism and its consequences; land grab, exploitation of natural resources, debt, free markets, demand for corporate profits and the evolution of an economic system in in which 25% of the world's population consumes 85% of its wealth. Featuring Nobel Prize winner Amartya Sen and Joseph Stiglitz, authors/activist Susan George, Eric Toussaint, Bolivian Vice President Alvaro Garcia Linera and more.
Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt and the Magnetic Fields

2011

Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt and the Magnetic Fields

2011
6.7
Ten years in the making, Strange Powers is an intimate documentary portrait of songwriter Stephin Merritt and his band the Magnetic Fields. With his unique gift for memorable melodies, lovelorn lyrics and wry musical stylings that blend classic Tin Pan Alley with modern sounds, Stephin Merritt has distinguished himself as one of contemporary pop's most beloved and influential artists.
Best Boy

1979

Best Boy

1979
6.3
In this documentary, the director follows the day-to-day activities of his retarded, middle-aged cousin Philly, over a three-year period.
William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe

2009

William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe

2009
6.1
William Kunstler was one of the most famous lawyers of the 20th century. His clients included Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Phillip and Daniel Berrigan, Abbie Hoffman, H. Rap Brown, Stokely Carmichael, Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., and Leonard Peltier. Filmmakers Emily Kunstler and Sarah Kunstler explore their father’s life, from middle-class family man, to movement lawyer, to “the most hated lawyer in America.”
Berkeley in the Sixties

1990

Berkeley in the Sixties

1990
5.6
A documentary about militant student political activity at the University of California, Berkeley in the 1960s.
Copyright Criminals

2009

Copyright Criminals

2009
6.8
Copyright Criminals examines the creative and commercial value of musical sampling, including the related debates over artistic expression, copyright law, and (of course) money. This documentary traces the rise of hip-hop from the urban streets of New York to its current status as a multibillion-dollar industry. For more than thirty years, innovative hip-hop performers and producers have been re-using portions of previously recorded music in new, otherwise original compositions. When lawyers and record companies got involved, what was once referred to as a “borrowed melody” became a “copyright infringement.” The film showcases many of hip-hop music’s founding figures like Public Enemy, De La Soul, and Digital Underground—while also featuring emerging hip-hop artists from record labels Definitive Jux, Rhymesayers, Ninja Tune, and more.
The Horse Boy

2009

The Horse Boy

2009
7
Filmmaker Michel Orion Scott captures a magical journey into a little-known world, in a documentary which chronicles Rupert Isaacson and Kristin Neff's personal odyssey to make sense of their child's autism, and find healing for him and themselves in the unlikeliest of places.
It's Hard Being Loved by Jerks

2008

It's Hard Being Loved by Jerks

2008
6.8
The murder of Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh by an Islamic extremist in 2004, followed by the publishing of twelve satirical cartoons depicting the prophet Mohammed that was commissioned for the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, provides the incendiary framework for Daniel Leconte's provocative documentary, It's Hard Being Loved by Jerks.
The Last Tourist

2021

The Last Tourist

2021
6.2
Travel is at a tipping point. From Carribean beaches to remote villages in Kenya, forgotten voices reveal the real conditions and consequences of one of the largest industries in the world. The role of the modern tourist is on trial.
The Loneliest Whale: The Search for 52

2021

The Loneliest Whale: The Search for 52

2021
7.6
THE LONELIEST WHALE is a cinematic quest to find the “52 Hertz Whale,” which scientists believe has spent its entire life in solitude calling out at a frequency that is different from any other whale. As the film embarks on this engrossing journey, audiences will explore what this whale’s lonely plight can teach us — not just about our changing relationship to the oceans, but to each other. Executive Produced with Leonardo DiCaprio and Adrian Grenier.
All the Streets Are Silent: The Convergence of Hip Hop and Skateboarding (1987-1997)

2021

All the Streets Are Silent: The Convergence of Hip Hop and Skateboarding (1987-1997)

2021
7
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, skateboarding and hip-hop culture collide in downtown Manhattan. Archival footage from the era showcases the fusion of these two forms of expression.
Charli XCX: Alone Together

2022

Charli XCX: Alone Together

2022
6.1
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.
Gather

2020

Gather

2020
7.5
A portrait of a growing movement amongst Indigenous Americans to reclaim their spiritual and cultural identities through obtaining sovereignty over their ancestral food systems, while battling against the historical trauma brought on by centuries of genocide.
Keith Haring: Street Art Boy

2020

Keith Haring: Street Art Boy

2020
7.5
In the 1980s Keith Haring blazed a trail through the galleries and nightclubs of downtown New York's art scene. Rebellious and ingenious, Haring chose to operate both inside and outside the art world. Inspired by the city's graffiti scene, he made New York's subways, tarpaulins and walls his canvas. This new feature documentary blends stunning archive and an edgy soundtrack, with tender and candid first-hand accounts of Haring. It tells the extraordinary story of an artist who lived and created with a boundless energy, throughout the social, cultural and political counter-revolution of the 1980s.
Gamemaster

2020

Gamemaster

2020
6.1
A deep dive into the world of the thriving board game industry and the creators behind popular games.
Scandalous: The Untold Story of the National Enquirer

2019

Scandalous: The Untold Story of the National Enquirer

2019
5.6
The sensational true story of the most infamous tabloid in US history, a wild, probing look at how one newspaper's prescient grasp of its readers' darkest curiosities led it to massive profits and influence.
The Great Green Wall

2020

The Great Green Wall

2020
6.8
An epic journey along Africa's Great Green Wall — an ambitious vision to grow a wall of trees stretching across the entire continent to fight against increasing drought, desertification and climate change.
NOVA: First Face of America

2018

NOVA: First Face of America

2018
7.4
During risky expeditions in an underwater cave in Mexico, scientists unearth the skeleton of a 13,000-year-old prehistoric teenager to gain insight into the earliest known humans in America.
Game Changers: Inside the Video Game Wars

2019

Game Changers: Inside the Video Game Wars

2019
7.8
The untold story of the personal battles that gave rise to the $100 billion video game industry and a 50-year-long, multi-generation epic featuring corporate coups, industrial espionage, secret burial grounds and the promise of unimaginable riches being just one cartridge away. The only constant through the saga is this: When you think you've won, you're actually at your most vulnerable.
Stuffed

2019

Stuffed

2019
5.5
An inside look into the world of taxidermy and the passionate artists from all over the world who work on the animals.