Top Rated History Movies on Kanopy - Page 25

A Tale of Two Cities

1980

A Tale of Two Cities

1980
5.7
Set against the conditions leading up to the French Revolution and the Reign of Terror, French doctor Alexandre Manette serves an 18-year imprisonment in the Bastille in Paris, followed by his release to live in London with the daughter he has never met.
Tantura

2022

Tantura

2022
7.7
When, in the late 1990s, Israeli student Teddy Katz exposed the massacre of Palestinian civilians by Israeli forces in the village of Tantura, in May 1948, during the first Arab-Israeli war, he was initially praised for his pioneering work; but he was soon infamous and branded a traitor. Decades later, incendiary new evidence emerges that corroborates Teddy's findings.
The King's Letters

2019

The King's Letters

2019
7.4
In the 15th century, despite so many accomplishments he has made for the people, King Sejong, his biggest goal is still remaining; the invention of original letters that can be read and written by all the people. But courtiers who want to dominate the knowledge and the power, are against his will and discourage his belief. Frustrated King Sejong hears about a bonze Sinmi a phonogram expert, and secretly brings him in the palace.
The Bomb

2015

The Bomb

2015
6.7
Using masterfully restored footage from recently declassified images, The Bomb tells a powerful story of the most destructive invention in human history. From the earliest testing stages to its use as the ultimate chess piece in global politics, the program outlines how America developed the bomb, how it changed the world and how it continues to loom large in our lives. The show also includes interviews with prominent historians and government insiders, along with men and women who helped build the weapon piece by piece.
Castles in the Sky

2014

Castles in the Sky

2014
5.8
England, while the storm clouds of Nazism menace Germany. Robert Watson Watt and a team of eccentric and brilliant meteorologists struggle to turn the mere idea of radar into a functional reality.
1971

2014

1971

2014
6.7
Forty years before WikiLeaks and the NSA scandal, there was Media, Pennsylvania. In 1971, eight activists plotted an intricate break-in to the local FBI offices to leak stolen documents and expose the illegal surveillance of ordinary Americans in an era of anti-war activism. In this riveting heist story, the perpetrators reveal themselves for the first time, reflecting on their actions and raising broader questions surrounding security leaks in activism today.
Quilombo

1984

Quilombo

1984
6.9
Quilombo dos Palmares was a real-life democratic society, created in Brazil in the 17th century. This incredibly elaborate (and surprisingly little-known) film traces the origins of Quilombo, which began as a community of freed slaves. The colony becomes a safe harbor for other outcasts of the world, including Indians and Jews. Ganga Zumba (Toni Tornado) becomes president of Quilombo, the first freely elected leader in the Western Hemisphere. Naturally, the ruling Portuguese want to subjugate Zumba and his followers, but the Quilombians are ready for their would-be oppressors. The end of this Brave New World is not pleasant, but the followers of Zumba and his ideals take to the hills, where they honor his memory to this day. Writer/director Carlos Diegues takes every available opportunity to compare the rise and fall of Quilombo with the state of affairs in modern-day Brazil.
The Beloved Rogue

1927

The Beloved Rogue

1927
6.5
François Villon, in his lifetime the most renowned poet in France, is also a prankster, an occasional criminal, and an ardent patriot.
Before, Now & Then

2022

Before, Now & Then

2022
7
Set against Indonesia’s turbulent post-independence years in the 1960s, the story revolves around the domestic life of a woman whose personal life has been completely overturned by the political turmoil.
The Day We Died

2020

The Day We Died

2020
5.5
Film about the events surrounding the terrorist attacks in Copenhagen on February 14th and 15th 2015.
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.
Combat Obscura

2018

Combat Obscura

2018
6.7
Former combat videographer Miles Lagoze presents personal footage of U.S. Marines in the Afghan war zone.
Adriana's Pact

2017

Adriana's Pact

2017
7.2
Lissette's favorite aunt Adriana, who lives in Australia, is arrested in 2007 while visiting her family in Chile and accused of having worked for dictator Pinochet's notorious secret police, the DINA, and of having participated in the commission of state crimes. When Adriana denies these accusations, Lissette begins to investigate her story in order to film a documentary about her.
Galileo

1975

Galileo

1975
5.9
Challenged by a new student, tutor and theorist Galileo co-opts emerging telescope technology and discovers irrefutable proof of the heretical notion that the earth is not the center of the universe. But in a rigid society ruled by an uneasy alliance of aristocracy and clergy already undermined by the Plague and the Reformation, science is a threat and enlightenment is a luxury. Faced with either death at the hands of the Inquisition or recantation to a hypocritical but all-powerful Papacy, Galileo must choose between his own life and the restless scientific curiosity that he has spurned family, friends, and wealth to pursue.
The Dumb Girl of Portici

1916

The Dumb Girl of Portici

1916
7
Fenella, a poor Italian girl, falls in love with a Spanish nobleman, but their affair triggers a revolution and national catastrophe.
Target for Tonight

1941

Target for Tonight

1941
5.6
This is the authentic story of a bombing raid on Germany... how it is planned and how it is executed. Every person seen in the picture is a member of the Royal Air Force from Commander-in-Chief to aircraft hand, re-enacting his own daily life on the job. They are the men and women who actually direct, plan and execute the raids.
The Boat Is Full

1981

The Boat Is Full

1981
6.3
During World War II, Switzerland severely limited refugees: "Our boat is full." A train from Germany halts briefly in an isolated corner of Switzerland. Six people jump off seeking asylum: four Jews, a French child, and a German soldier. They seek temporary refuge with a couple who run a village inn. They pose as a family: the deserter as husband, Judith as his wife, an old man from Vienna as her father, his granddaughter and the French lad, whom they beg to keep silent, as their children. Judith's teenage brother poses as a soldier. The fabrication unravels through chance and the local constable's exact investigation. Whom will the Swiss allow to stay? Who gets deported?
Close to Vermeer

2023

Close to Vermeer

2023
7.9
In the year before he retires, Gregor Weber, a globally renowned Vermeer expert and flamboyant curator at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, works on his big dream: the largest Vermeer exhibition ever. Together with Weber, a number of enthusiasts and experts go in search of what truly makes a Vermeer a Vermeer.
Finding Oscar

2016

Finding Oscar

2016
7.7
Thirty years after a forgotten massacre that occurred during the Guatemalan civil war, a forensic scientist and prosecutor search for Oscar, a young boy who survived the horror.
Heroic Times

1984

Heroic Times

1984
7.4
The tragic medieval tale of a man of inhuman strength, fierce temper and a desire for noble knighthood. While on the run as a murderer, he finds new life as a knight, only to face disillusionment, the horrors of war and ugly human vices.