Tag Archives: Kanopy

Celebrate Pride Month with Some Awesome Films!

With Pride Month upon us and summer just around the corner, it’s a great time to catch up on some films. If you’re looking for recommendations, Kanopy has put together a collection of LGBTQ-centric films.

Kanopy is proudly celebrating Pride Month and honoring the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising by highlighting some of the incredible, award-winning LGBTQ cinema available to stream right now. From moving and groundbreaking narratives to eye-opening documentaries about the historical and ongoing struggles that the community has endured, we’re thrilled to showcase some of the most unique, compelling, and essential voices in filmmaking. Browse our picks below and discover more essential LGBTQ films on Kanopy.

As we frequently remind our readers, Kanopy is like Netflix for foreign, independent, documentary, and classic films, and is free for all Illinois Wesleyan faculty, staff, and students. You can watch off-campus, too—just make sure to log in via proxy. (Hint: Go to the A-Z Resources tab on our main page and find Kanopy there.)

Before Dr. Vandana Shiva’s Stevenson Address, Watch This Film!

On Monday, April 15th, author and activist Dr. Vandana Shiva will present a talk “The Future of Food” as part of the Adlai E. Stevenson Memorial Lecture Series. We wanted to make you aware that the 2016 Collective Eye film SEED: The Untold Story, which features Shiva, is available for through our streaming video service Kanopy.

Says Kanopy:

Few things on Earth are as miraculous and vital as seeds, worshiped and treasured since the dawn of humankind. SEED: The Untold Story follows passionate seed keepers protecting our 12,000 year-old food legacy. In the last century, 94% of our seed varieties have disappeared. As biotech chemical companies control the majority of our seeds, farmers, scientists, lawyers, and indigenous seed keepers fight a David and Goliath battle to defend the future of our food. In a harrowing and heartening story, these heroes rekindle a lost connection to our most treasured resource and revive a culture connected to seeds.

Check it out here and be sure not to miss Dr. Shiva’s talk next Monday!

Celebrate Women’s History with Kanopy Films

March is Women’s History Month and Kanopy is celebrating with a new collection of documentaries by and about women. Check out some of their selections below.

As always, Kanopy films stream free for all current IWU faculty, staff, and students. You can find all these films and more right here.

Rare Independent Chinese Documentaries Streaming on Kanopy

Artist Ai Weiwei and filmmaker Wang Fen have paired with the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) for public showings of rare independent Chinese documentaries. However, you don’t have to be in San Francisco to see these films because SFMOMA has helped bring them to Kanopy, as well!

As always, Kanopy films are free to all current Illinois Wesleyan faculty, staff, and students. Just make sure to log in using IWU proxy access first.

(All images courtesy Kanopy.)

MLK Films on Kanopy for a Limited Time

In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Kanopy has put together a new collection of 16 films on the civil rights leader which are streaming from now until Wednesday, January 23rd. Says Kanopy:

With films created mere years after his death as well as recent examinations of his enduring influence, this collection provides a fully realized portrait of Dr. King, his message of peaceful protest, and the state of the country.

You can access Kanopy on our website under A-Z Resources as a current student, faculty, or staff member.

Films for Native American History Month

November is Native American History Month and Kanopy is streaming lots of related content, including PBS’s new four-part series, Native America: The World Created by America’s First Peoples. PBS’s description of the series reads:

Each hour of Native America explores Great Nations and reveals cities, sacred stories, and history that has long been hidden in plain sight. In America’s Southwest, First People emerge from the earth to build stone skyscrapers with untold spiritual power, and transform deserts to fertile fields. In New York, warriors renounce war and found America’s first democracy five hundred years before the Declaration of Independence – and later inspire a young Benjamin Franklin. On the banks of the Mississippi, rulers raise a metropolis of pyramids from swampland and draw thousands of pilgrims to their new city to worship the sky. And in the American West, nomads transform a weapon of conquest into a new way of life, turning the tables on European Invaders, and building an empire.

Kanopy is also offering a collection of over 250 films by and about native peoples. Some selections are derived from American Indian Film Festival winners, while others, like Songs My Brothers Taught Me (2015), star native actors. You can browse the collection here and watch the new PBS series here.

HBO Documentary Films Now on Kanopy

It’s no secret that we love Kanopy here at The Ames Library, but with free streaming access to over 25,000 films and regular new additions like HBO Documentary Films, who can blame us? This latest collection includes brand-new films such as King in the Wilderness: The Final Years of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. , The Final Year: Following President Obama’s Foreign Policy Team During His Last Year in Office, and Baltimore Rising: The Struggles of Police and Activists Following the Death of Freddie Gray. Best of all, Kanopy is free to all Illinois Wesleyan students, faculty, and staff.

Horror Film Collection from Kanopy

George Romero’s original Night of the Living Dead (1968), Roger Corman’s The Little Shop of Horrors, Fritz Lang’s M, David Lynch’s Eraserhead–these are just some of the more than 250 psychological thrillers and horror flicks currently available through Kanopy!

If you’re feeling that Halloween mood this weekend and want to catch a classic like House on Haunted Hill or a new favorite like A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, simply log in to Kanopy through our website to browse their Horror & Thriller Collection. All IWU faculty, staff, and students have access to Kanopy’s thousands of foreign, independent, and documentary films for free.

Hispanic Heritage Film Collection on Kanopy

If you have some downtime this weekend, Kanopy has put together a collection of films in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month. All of these great films, which celebrate Latinx experiences and contributions, are freely available to anyone with a current IWU netID and password. Just log in here!

New Pop Culture Films on Kanopy

July may be almost behind us, but summer break ain’t over yet! If you’re looking for something to do during your downtime, hop onto Kanopy and browse their new collection of pop-culture films.


Just a reminder that all IWU faculty, staff, and students have free access to thousands of foreign, independent, and documentary films through Kanopy. You don’t have to be on campus to access this amazing resource; just log in by proxy through our website. Happy viewing!