Top Rated Documentary Movies on Kanopy - Page 73

Peace Officer

2015

Peace Officer

2015
6.4
Peace Officer is a documentary about the increasingly militarized state of American police as told through the story of Dub Lawrence, a former sheriff who established his rural state's first SWAT team only to see that same unit kill his son-in-law in a controversial standoff 30 years later. Driven by an obsessed sense of mission, Dub uses his own investigation skills to uncover the truth in this and other recent officer-involved shootings in his community, while tackling larger questions about the changing face of peace officers nationwide.
GTFO: Get The F% Out

2015

GTFO: Get The F% Out

2015
5.1
Sparked by a public display of sexual harassment in 2012, GTFO pries open the video game world to explore a 20 billion dollar industry riddled with discrimination and misogyny. Every year, the gaming community grows increasingly diverse. This has led to a clash of values and women are receiving the brunt of the consequences every day, with acts of harassment ranging from name calling to death threats. Through interviews with video game creators, journalists, and academics, GTFO paints a complex picture of the video game industry, while revealing the systemic and human motivations behind acts of harassment. GTFO begins the conversation that will shape the future of the video game world.
The Royal Road

2015

The Royal Road

2015
5.4
A fascinating and unlikely reinvention story, The Royal Road simultaneously explores cinematic spiritual channeling, the conquest and colonization of Mexico and the American Southwest, fading historical Californian urban landscapes, and the passions found in butch identity to achieve an achingly beautiful and poetic defense of remembering. Probing roads from El Camino Real, to the Boulevard of Broken Dreams, to the road right outside the front door, Olson crafts a deeply intelligent and transcending observation of the human condition that reaches for redemption in the embrace of history, nostalgia, mindfulness, and sheer beauty. If you give yourself over to it, it will crack you wide open.
Dying to Know: Ram Dass & Timothy Leary

2016

Dying to Know: Ram Dass & Timothy Leary

2016
6.6
Icons of '60s counterculture, Harvard psychologists Timothy Leary and Ram Dass became estranged until an illness inspired their fascinating reunion.
Wild Japan: Snow Monkeys

2014

Wild Japan: Snow Monkeys

2014
8.3
In the frigid valleys of Japan's Shiga Highlands, a troop of snow monkeys make their way and raise their families in a complex society of rank and privilege where each knows their place. Their leader is still new to the job and something of a solitary grouch. But one little monkey, innocently unaware of his own lowly social rank, reaches out to this lonely leader, forming a bond with him that manages over time to warm his less than sunny disposition. It is a rare and remarkable gesture that alters both their lives. Changing seasons bring new babies to care for, a profusion of insects and blossoms to eat, family disagreements to squabble over and tragedies to overcome. Mating season brings competition for females, as the days grow shorter and colder in a rush toward winter. But with their now confident leader to guide them and their families to shelter and care for them, this troop of snow monkeys is ready to face the world.
Sam Klemke's Time Machine

2015

Sam Klemke's Time Machine

2015
6.3
In 1977, Sam Klemke began obsessively filming and documenting his life on film. Over the next 35 years we see Sam grow from an optimistic teen to a self-important 20 year old, into an obese, self-loathing 30-something and onwards into his philosophical 50s.
Of Men and War

2014

Of Men and War

2014
6.9
Filmed over five years, this documentary charts the progress of several veterans dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder at a California clinic.
Ballet

1995

Ballet

1995
7.6
Ballet portrays rehearsals, choreography, performances, business transactions, and other day-to-day life of the American Ballet Theatre. Much of the footage dates from the 1992 season. It also includes scenes from the company's European tour, namely in Greece and Copenhagen.
Tupac Shakur: Before I Wake

2001

Tupac Shakur: Before I Wake

2001
7.3
A look back on Tupac's final years through the eyes of Tupac's personal bodyguard, Frank Alexander. Featuring never-before-seen footage.
Women with Eyes Open

1994

Women with Eyes Open

1994
5.9
Portraits of contemporary African women from four West African nations: Burkina Faso, Mali, Senegal and Benin.
My Name Is Salt

2013

My Name Is Salt

2013
6.9
Year after year, just after the monsoon season has finished, thousands of families travel to a bleak desert in Gujerat, India, where they will stay for an endless eight months and extract salt from the earth, using the same painstaking, manual techniques as generations before them. Director Farida Pacha spent a season with one of these families, observing the very particular rhythms of their lives.
Approaching the Elephant

2015

Approaching the Elephant

2015
7
APPROACHING THE ELEPHANT is a feature-length documentary about The Teddy McArdle Free School, where classes are optional and rules are made by democratic vote. Summerhill, founded 90 years ago by A. S. Neill, was the first free school - now there are more than 200 worldwide. Approaching the Elephant chronicles a free school in the making - spanning two years, from Teddy McArdle's first day when there were no rules or classes, through the changing of the school's director and the expulsion of a student by democratic vote, to the last day of the second year, APPROACHING THE ELEPHANT is an intimate portrait of a small group of people from a range of educational backgrounds, come together to forge a place where children are treated as equals, at liberty to spend their days however they please.
Afternoon of a Faun: Tanaquil Le Clercq

2014

Afternoon of a Faun: Tanaquil Le Clercq

2014
6.4
Of all the great ballerinas, Tanaquil Le Clercq may have been the most transcendent. With a body unlike any before hers, she mesmerized viewers and choreographers alike. With her elongated, race-horse physique, she became the new prototype for the great George Balanchine. Because of her extraordinary movement and unique personality on stage, she became a muse to two of the greatest choreographers in dance, George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins. She eventually married Balanchine, and Robbins created his famous version of Afternoon of a Faun for her. She had love, fame, adoration, and was the foremost dancer of her day until it suddenly all stopped. At the age of 27, she was struck down by polio and paralyzed. She never danced again. The ballet world has been haunted by her story ever since.
The Way Steve Jobs Changed the World

2011

The Way Steve Jobs Changed the World

2011
5.4
An examination of the career and influence of the American business leader and technology innovator.
Cidade Cinza

2013

Cidade Cinza

2013
6.1
A new way of painting graffiti was born in Sao Paulo. Hip Hop was replaced by Brazilian regional culture and OsGemeos' crew works were spread to galleries around the world. However, a new visual pollution combat act made the City Hall cover their paintings in grey in their hometown.
Design Is One

2012

Design Is One

2012
6.1
As artists and visual architects, husband and wife Massimo and Lella Vignelli have been producing unique and groundbreaking work as brand designers. This up-close documentary reveals their major influence in reshaping our visual environment.
Walking the Camino: Six Ways to Santiago

2013

Walking the Camino: Six Ways to Santiago

2013
5.1
'A Walk to Within: The Camino de Santiago' tells the story of walking the ancient 500-mile pilgrimage across norther Spain known as 'The Camino de Santiago'. The documentary follows six strangers from incredibly diverse walks of life as they attempt to cross an entire country on foot with only a backpack, a pair of boots, and an open mind. Each pilgrim throws themselves heart-and-soul into their physical trek to Santiago de Compostela, and their personal journey to themselves. As you watch, you will learn the rich history of this honored tradition, as well as witness the Camino's remarkable ability to change lives and provide those who choose to walk its paths with a greater sense of self and spiritual knowledge.
David Blaine: Magic Man

1998

David Blaine: Magic Man

1998
6.7
In Magic Man, Blaine is shown traveling across the country, entertaining unsuspecting pedestrians in New York City, Atlantic City, Dallas, San Francisco, Compton, and the Mojave Desert recorded by a small crew with handheld cameras. Jon Racherbaumer commented, "Make no mistake about it, the focus of this show, boys and girls, is not Blaine. It is really about theatrical proxemics; about the show-within-a-show and the spontaneous, visceral reactions of people being astonished."
Bet Raise Fold: The Story of Online Poker

2013

Bet Raise Fold: The Story of Online Poker

2013
8
BET RAISE FOLD: The Story of Online Poker is a feature documentary that follows a new generation of Internet poker professionals during the meteoric rise and sudden crash of the multibillion dollar online poker industry of the 2000s.
Bukowski at Bellevue

1970

Bukowski at Bellevue

1970
7.7
In the spring of 1970 Charles Bukowski took his first plane trip for a poetry reading at Bellevue Community College in Washington state. That he was videotaped by two students apparently was later forgotten, but the tapes were recently rediscovered and have been released by Black Sparrow press. "Bukowski at Bellevue" gives us a fascinating glimpse of the man before he had to be concerned with how celebrity and financial security were affecting him. (It is said that this was only his fourth public reading.) This is Bukowski, then about 50, taken straight. No games, no irony, no self-consciousness--just an ordinary-looking guy, maybe hung over, sitting before a small group of students reading his work with gusto, humor and sensitivity. A man who clearly had lived the marginal life he wrote about with passion and at times a lyrical, even mystical beauty.