Top Rated Documentary Movies on Kanopy - Page 65

Saving Brinton

2018

Saving Brinton

2018
7
In rural Iowa, a beloved history teacher uncovers the century-old showreels of one of America's first motion picture impresarios and sets out to premiere the films at a historic local opera house.
Pre-Crime

2017

Pre-Crime

2017
4.5
Science fiction has become a reality in our modern criminal justice system. A term originally coined by science fiction author Philip K. Dick, “pre-crime” is a policing technique now used in both the US and Europe to identify “hot people”—those most likely to be victims or perpetrators of a crime. Forecasting software and algorithms that have been criticized as inaccurate and arbitrary are used to collect information, and monitor and flag people. But predictive tools are only as good as the data they’re fed. With scant evidence of the reliability of the data sources or the accuracy of the data crunching, misfires are a guarantee. In this chilling and explosive in-depth examination into the modern age of policing, directors Monika Hielscher and Matthias Heider pose an important question: How much freedom and human awareness are we willing to give to the limited logic of technology?
The Future of Work and Death

2016

The Future of Work and Death

2016
6.8
The documentary focuses on how future technology could significantly change the two inevitable features of the human experience: punching the clock and fading away. With advanced automation and artificial intelligence, the utopia of the end of human labor or the dystopia of widespread unemployment could not be a thing of science fiction. Scientists, engineers and academics all come together to share their thoughts on the future.
A Suitable Girl

2017

A Suitable Girl

2017
6.9
A Suitable Girl follows three young women in India struggling to maintain their identities and follow their dreams amid intense pressure to get married. The film examines the women's complex relationship with marriage, family, and society.
Empathy

2017

Empathy

2017
6.6
Ed is commissioned to make a documentary intending to change those habits of society that are harmful to animals. But completely alien to the animal protection movement, he will realize that to carry out the project, he must first convince himself.
Free Lunch Society: Komm Komm Grundeinkommen

2017

Free Lunch Society: Komm Komm Grundeinkommen

2017
7.8
What would you do if your basic income was taken care of month after month? Would you stop working? Follow your passions? Take more risks? The four-figure sum that all four members of the Wardwell family receive each year from the Alaskan government’s crude oil profits goes towards a college fund for their children, something they would otherwise be unable to afford. Filmmaker Christian Tod, himself a fervent supporter of the idea, explores the model of an unconditional basic income and takes a look at trial systems already underway in the US, Canada and Namibia. Wandering the history of this utopia reminiscent of science fiction he eventually ends up in Switzerland, where the new system was voted on in 2016. In this multifaceted and highly entertaining documentary, Tod broaches life’s existential questions and fuels the debate on one of the most prevalent economic topics of our generation.
I Am Another You

2017

I Am Another You

2017
7.6
Through the eyes of a young drifter who rejects society's rules and intentionally chooses to live on the streets, Chinese filmmaker Nanfu Wang explores the meaning of personal freedom – and its limits.
Intelligent Trees

2017

Intelligent Trees

2017
7.6
Trees talk, know family ties and care for their young? Is this too fantastic to be true? German forester Peter Wohlleben and scientist Suzanne Simard have been observing and investigating the communication between trees over decades. And their findings are most astounding.
It's Not Yet Dark

2016

It's Not Yet Dark

2016
7.4
The story of Simon Fitzmaurice, a young filmmaker who becomes completely paralyzed from motor neuron disease but goes on to direct an award-winning feature film through the use of his eyes.
Quest

2017

Quest

2017
7.5
For over a decade, this portrait of a North Philadelphia family and the creative sanctuary offered by their home music studio was filmed with vérité intimacy. The family's 10-year journey is an illumination of race and class in America, and it's a testament to love, healing and hope.
Casablancas: The Man Who Loved Women

2016

Casablancas: The Man Who Loved Women

2016
5.3
In the last 30 years of the 2nd millennium, John Casablancas created the Elite modeling agency and invented the supermodels. If the names as Naomi, Cindy, Linda, Kate or Claudia are today so famous in the pop culture, it is mostly his doing. He lived a life dreamt by many, surrounded by glamour and beauty. John Casablancas tells his own story.
Karl Marx City

2017

Karl Marx City

2017
6.8
Petra Epperlein and Michael Tucker take a powerfully personal journey through the former East Germany, as Epperlein investigates her father’s 1999 suicide and the possibility that he may have worked as a spy for the dreaded Stasi security service.
Black Code

2016

Black Code

2016
5.8
Toronto-based documentary filmmaker and cinematographer Nicholas de Pencier (Four Wings and a Prayer, Watermark) examines the complex global impact that the internet has had on matters of free speech, privacy and activism.
Creem: America's Only Rock 'n' Roll Magazine

2019

Creem: America's Only Rock 'n' Roll Magazine

2019
6.6
Explores the seminal music magazine from its 1969 launch in Detroit to the untimely death of its publisher Barry Kramer in 1981.
Aida's Secrets

2016

Aida's Secrets

2016
7.8
Family secrets, lies, high drama and generations of contemporary history unspool in this international story that begins with World War II and concludes with an emotional 21st-century family reunion. Izak was born inside the Bergen-Belsen displaced persons camp in 1945 and sent for adoption in Israel. Secret details of his birth mother, an unknown brother in Canada and his father's true identity slowly emerge in this extremely personal investigative film.
The Pistol Shrimps

2016

The Pistol Shrimps

2016
5.8
An eclectic group of actresses, musicians, writers, comedians, and moms compete in the Los Angeles women’s recreational basketball league. With team names guaranteed to make you smile (Shecago Bulls, Traveling Pants, Space Glam, Ba Dunka Dunks, LA Nail Clippers), this documentary shows that girls not only wanna have fun, they wanna ball too.
Bad Rap

2016

Bad Rap

2016
6.3
The lives and careers of four Asian-American rappers trying to break into a world that often treats them as outsiders. Sharing dynamic live performance footage and revealing interviews, these artists will make the most skeptical critics into believers.
Eva Hesse

2016

Eva Hesse

2016
6.5
German American artist Eva Hesse (1936 – 1970) created her innovative art in latex and fiberglass in the whirling aesthetic vortex of 1960s New York. Her flowing forms were in part a reaction to the rigid structures of then-popular minimalism, a male-dominated movement. Hesse’s complicated personal life encompassed not only a chaotic 1930s Germany, but also illness and the immigrant culture of New York in the 1940s. One of the twentieth century’s most intriguing artists, she finally receives her due in this film, an emotionally gripping journey with a gifted woman of great courage.
Mully

2015

Mully

2015
7.2
Director Scott Haze chronicles the remarkable life of Charles Mully. A man revered as "Father to the Fatherless," Mully is a one time Kenyan business tycoon turned founder of Mully Children's Family, the largest children's rescue, rehabilitation and development organization in Africa.
Art of the Prank

2015

Art of the Prank

2015
6.8
The great media prankster, Joey Skaggs, wants to fool the world media AGAIN, and, with the most complex hoax of his career in the pipeline, he now must use every trick in his prankster's arsenal to make it work. Art of the Prank is an emotional journey following the evolution of artist Joey Skaggs-a fierce proponent of independent thinking and the man who has turned the media hoax into an art form. With unprecedented access to the man and his archives, the 95-minute documentary interweaves a current unfolding hoax with a look behind-the-scenes at some classic performance pieces (all reported as fact by a wide range of prestigious journalists) plus commentary from co-conspirators and others.