Top Rated History Movies on Kanopy - Page 30

The Image You Missed

2018

The Image You Missed

2018
5.5
An Irish filmmaker grapples with the legacy of his estranged father, the late documentarian Arthur MacCaig, through MacCaig's decades-spanning archive of the conflict in Northern Ireland. Drawing on over 30 years of unique and never-seen-before footage, 'The Image You Missed' is an experimental essay film that weaves together a history of the Northern Irish 'Troubles' with the story of a son's search for his father. In the process, the film creates a candid encounter between two filmmakers born into different political moments, revealing their contrasting experiences of Irish nationalism, the role of images in social struggle, and the competing claims of personal and political responsibility.
'85: The Greatest Team in Football History

2016

'85: The Greatest Team in Football History

2016
8.2
Through never-been-seen-before footage and fascinating interviews with key members of the 1985 Chicago Bears -- Mike Ditka, Jim McMahon, Mike Singletary, and others -- you will hear the inside story of their historic season.
League of Denial: The NFL’s Concussion Crisis

2013

League of Denial: The NFL’s Concussion Crisis

2013
7.5
Drawing on the book of the same name, League of Denial crafts a searing two-hour indictment of the National Football League’s decades-long concealment of the link between football related head injuries and brain disorders.
Sembene!

2015

Sembene!

2015
7
Meet Ousmane Sembene, the African freedom fighter who used stories as his weapon.
The Cool Lakes of Death

1982

The Cool Lakes of Death

1982
5.9
Hedwig, a young wealthy woman growing up in the straight-jacket of bourgeois morality in the Victorian era, descends into madness after years of sexual repression and tragedy.
The Mothers of Plaza de Mayo

1985

The Mothers of Plaza de Mayo

1985
6.1
1985 Argentine documentary film directed by Susana Blaustein Muñoz and Lourdes Portillo about the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo.
Koch

2013

Koch

2013
4.9
A documentary on the former mayor of New York City, Ed Koch.
Horatio's Drive: America's First Road Trip

2003

Horatio's Drive: America's First Road Trip

2003
7.4
In the spring of 1903, on a whim and a fifty-dollar bet, Dr. Horatio Nelson Jackson set off from San Francisco in a 20-horsepower Winton touring car hoping to become the first person to cross the United States in the new-fangled "horseless carriage." Most people doubted that the automobile had much of a future. Jackson's trip would prove them wrong.
Till Eulenspiegel

1975

Till Eulenspiegel

1975
5.4
In medieval Germany, poor and witty Till Eulenspiegel fools and cheats citizens, churchmen, and landlords. Although in most cases he uses his wit for personal well-being, he often helps the poor and weak. Eventually, he gains an influential but also dangerous position as royal fool at the court of the emperor.
Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio

1991

Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio

1991
7.5
For 50 years radio dominated the airwaves and the American consciousness as the first “mass medium.” In Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio, Ken Burns examines the lives of three extraordinary men who shared the primary responsibility for this invention and its early success, and whose genius, friendship, rivalry and enmity interacted in tragic ways. This is the story of Lee de Forest, a clergyman’s flamboyant son, who invented the audion tube; Edwin Howard Armstrong, a brilliant, withdrawn inventor who pioneered FM technology; and David Sarnoff, a hard-driving Russian immigrant who created the most powerful communications company on earth.
The Sons of Tennessee Williams

2010

The Sons of Tennessee Williams

2010
4.8
Mardi Gras, drag balls and politics – where else could these elements come together but in New Orleans? Interweaving archival footage and contemporary interviews, The Sons of Tennessee Williams charts the evolution of the gay Mardi Gras krewe scene over the decades, illuminating the ways in which its emergence was a seminal factor in the cause of gay liberation in the South.
Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin

2003

Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin

2003
5
Documentary on Bayard Rustin, best-remembered as the organizer of the 1963 March on Washington.
Daughter From Danang

2002

Daughter From Danang

2002
6.8
In 1975, as the Vietnam War was ending, thousands of orphans and Amerasian children were brought to the United States as part of "Operation Babylift." Daughter from Danang tells the dramatic story of one of these children, Heidi Bub (a.k.a. Mai Thi Hiep), and her Vietnamese mother, Mai Thi Kim, separated at the war's end and reunited 22 years later. Heidi, now living in Tennessee - a married woman with kids - had always dreamt of a joyful reunion. When she ventures to Vietnam to meet her mother, she unknowingly embarks on an emotional pilgrimage that spans decades and distance. Unlike most reunion stories that climax with a cliché happy ending, Daughter from Danang is a real-life drama. Journeying from the Vietnam War to Pulaski, Tennessee and back to Vietnam, Daughter from Danang tensely unfolds as cultural differences and the years of separation take their toll in a riveting film about longing and the personal legacy of war.
Sacco and Vanzetti

2006

Sacco and Vanzetti

2006
7
SACCO AND VANZETTI is an 80-minute-long documentary that tells the story of Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, two Italian immigrant anarchists who were accused of a murder in 1920, and executed in Boston in 1927 after a notoriously prejudiced trial. It is the first major documentary film about this landmark story.
Queen of the Deuce

2023

Queen of the Deuce

2023
6.6
The unbelievable true story of Chelly Wilson, who escaped the Holocaust and built a porn cinema empire in New York City in the 1970s. Chelly was a Greek-born, Christmas-celebrating, Jewish grandma, who married men but was openly gay. This documentary charts her unlikely rise to wealth as a shrewd businesswoman on “The Deuce,” aka New York’s infamous 42nd Street.
Robin Bank

2022

Robin Bank

2022
6.9
The story of Enric Duran, a Catalan activist who, during the economic crisis of 2008, stole —by borrowing loans that he never paid back— half a million euros from banks, donated them to social projects and announced it to the media to denounce the practices of the banking system.
Film: The Living Record of Our Memory

2022

Film: The Living Record of Our Memory

2022
8.3
Why are we still able, today, to view images that were captured over 125 years ago? As we enter the digital age, audiovisual heritage seems to be a sure and obvious fact. However, much of cinema and our filmed history has been lost forever. Archivists, technicians and filmmakers from different parts of the world explain what audiovisual preservation is and why it is necessary. The documentary is a tribute to all these professionals and their important work.
Image of Victory

2023

Image of Victory

2023
6
1948: an Egyptian filmmaker is creating newsreel stories about a volunteer force tasked to liberate Palestinian farmers. The journey propels him towards a chance encounter with a tenacious young leader of a nearby commune that will set in motion events that will change their lives forever.
Shusenjo: The Main Battleground of the Comfort Women Issue

2019

Shusenjo: The Main Battleground of the Comfort Women Issue

2019
7.4
A Japanese-American director digs deep into the controversial 'comfort women' issue to settle the debate on whether the women were paid prostitutes or sex slaves, and reveals the motivations and intentions of the main actors pushing to revise history in Japan.
Mute Fire

2019

Mute Fire

2019
6.1
On 6 March 1906, four men were executed for the attempted murder of Colombian president Rafael Reyes. The event was photographed, and the photos were later used for a fictionalised film on the failed coup. From then on, cinema in this South American country has been inextricably linked to its violent history. Moving images have been used for historiography, propaganda, disinformation and to instil unity in a nation that refuses to come together. Falsos positivos, murdered youths disguised as guerrillas by the army to simulate military success, are a common element.