From gripping documentaries, to buddy comedies, to animated adventures, there are dozens of great new movies available to stream for free on Kanopy this month thanks to your Livingston Library card. Check out the recommended titles below, or browse Kanopy’s full collection of new releases here. (Descriptions provided by Kanopy.)

Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat (2024, directed by Johan Grimonprez)

United Nations, 1960: the Global South ignites a political earthquake, jazz musicians Abbey Lincoln and Max Roach crash the Security Council, Nikita Khrushchev bangs his shoe, and the U.S. State Department swings into action, sending jazz ambassador Louis Armstrong to Congo to deflect attention from the CIA-backed coup. Director Johan Grimonprez captures the moment when African politics and American jazz collided in this magnificent essay film, a riveting historical rollercoaster that illuminates the political machinations behind the 1961 assassination of Congo’s leader Patrice Lumumba. Richly illustrated by eyewitness accounts, official government memos, testimonies from mercenaries and CIA operatives, speeches from Lumumba himself, and a veritable canon of jazz icons, Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat interrogates colonial history to tell an urgent and timely story of precedent that resonates more than ever in today’s geopolitical climate.

Ezra (2024, directed by Tony Goldwyn)

This film centers on comedian Max (Bobby Cannavale) co-parenting their autistic son Ezra (William Fitzgerald) with ex-wife Jenna (Rose Byrne). Faced with crucial decisions about Ezra’s future, Max and Ezra go on a life-changing cross-country road trip.

Babes (2024, directed by Pamela Adlon)

When carefree and single Eden (Ilana Glazer) decides to have a baby on her own after a one-night stand, her friendship with childhood best friend Dawn (Michelle Buteau) faces its greatest challenge. BABES is a hilarious and heartfelt comedy about the bonds of female friendship and the messy, unpredictable challenges of adulthood and becoming a parent.

I Used to Be Funny (2024, directed by Ally Pankiw)

Sam (Rachel Sennott), an aspiring stand-up comedian and au pair struggling with PTSD decides whether or not to join the search for Brooke (Olga Petsa), a missing teenage girl she used to nanny. The story exists between the present, where Sam tries to recover from her trauma and get back on stage, and the past, where memories of Brooke make it harder and harder to ignore the petulant teen’s sudden disappearance.

Joan Baez: I Am a Noise (2024, directed by Miri Navasky, Maeve O’Boyle, and Karen O’Connor)

At the end of a 60-year career, legendary musician and activist Joan Baez reflects on her life both on and off stage — from her lifelong emotional struggles to her civil rights work with MLK and a heartbreaking romance with a young Bob Dylan. This film is a compelling and personal exploration of an icon who has never told the full truth of her life, until now.

Ryuichi Sakamoto: Opus (2023, directed by Neo Sora)

A celebration of an artist’s life in the purest sense, Ryuichi Sakamoto: Opus is the swan song of one of the world’s greatest musicians. As a parting gift, just months before his death in 2023, Sakamoto mustered all of his energy to leave us with one final performance: a concert film featuring just him and a piano, directed by his son, Neo Sora. Curated and sequenced by Sakamoto himself, the twenty of his pieces played in the film wordlessly tell the story of his life and his wide-ranging oeuvre.

Kensuke’s Kingdom (2024, directed by Neil Boyle & Kirk Henry)

Based on the best-selling novel by Michael Morpurgo and adapted for screen by Frank Cottrell-Boyce, Kensuke’s Kingdom spotlights the epic adventure of Michael, a young boy shipwrecked on a remote island who must adapt to life alone. Over time, Michael feels another presence and learns that his new world is home to both unimaginable danger and beauty.

—Joe, Adult Services & Acquisitions