The Kanopy streaming platform features documentary, classic, and independent films for educational use. Content partners include The Criterion Collection, Kino Lorber, A24, New Day Films, Film Movement, Oscilloscope Laboratories, Collective Eye, Grasshopper Films, First Run Features, Magnolia Films, A&E, The History Channel, and PBS, among many others. Kanopy is a set catalog of films, and VCU Libraries licenses films from their catalog for educational use. We cannot add content to Kanopy.
Kanopy can be accessed via the VCU Libraries A-Z Databases page.
Films licensed by VCU Libraries for course content are available continuously on Kanopy. Faculty and students can view these films without requesting a license or renewal. Many Kanopy films are not a part of this continuously available collection and must be requested individually by faculty. Due to cost, VCU Libraries licenses individual films by faculty request for course instruction. Once licensed, the film will become part of VCU's continuous collection and will not need renewal. Faculty: Please check all Kanopy films at least one week before their anticipated use and submit the request form for any film that is not yet available.
When searching for films in Kanopy, currently licensed films will appear at the top of the results page. Unlicensed films that match the search terms will appear below the licensed films.
Professors who would like to use a Kanopy video for course instruction should submit the form on the film's page within Kanopy. Please submit all Kanopy requests at least one week before you plan to use the film; access is not instantaneous.
To copy a film link, open the page for the film and select "Share" under the video player.
While not the case for all streaming platforms, the "share link" in Kanopy is the same as the URL that appears in your browser's URL bar.
Access Kanopy through the VCU proxy by going to https://vcu.kanopy.com, or by using the link on the library's A-Z Databases page. Offsite users will be prompted to enter their VCU eID and password.
While users can watch licensed films without setting up a Kanopy account, logging into an account is required to make watchlists and playlists.
Users can use "Login with Google" and then enter their VCU email address and password.
Users can make playlists in kanopy by selecting the carrot next to their username on the upper right-hand corner. Select "My Dashboard" from the dropdown menu.
The dashboard is the central location for accessing features of your Kanopy profile.
To make a playlist, select "My Playlists," then "Create a new playlist."
To add films to a playlist, you can select "Edit," then "Click here to add a new clip," which will allow you to search for a particular film.
Alternatively, you can search films in the film library, then under the video player select "Create Clip/Playlist."
Logged in users can create and save clips within their saved playlists. If a film is already in a playlist, select "Edit" next to the playlist.
Select "Edit" next to the clip you want to edit.
Enter the start time and stop time for the desired clip. Alternatively, you can scrub through the video to find the desired start time and stop time. Move the player head to the desired start time or stop time and hit "Capture" next to either the "Start Time" or "Stop Time" fields.
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