What is Kanopy
Kanopy is a streaming movie collection that showcases more than 30,000 of the world’s best, classic, and groundbreaking films. Kanopy lets Sonoma County Library provide access to collections that cinema-loving patrons have been requesting such as the Criterion Collection, award-winning documentaries, film festival favorites and foreign films.
Lending Limits: 6 play credits per month and access to 4 Great Courses per month. The play credit amount resets on the first of the month.
Lending time period: 72 hours (3 days) of unlimited views of the selected video.(Note: MGM and Warner Brothers Films have a 48 hour (2 day) viewing period.)
How do I get started?
Have your library card ready (Don't have one? No problem! Check out our eCard registration page)
Use the "GO" button above
Create an account if you don't have one (you will need a valid email address)
Look for the verification email in your inbox (check your spam folder if you don't see it)
Once your account is verified log into https://sonomalibrary.kanopy.com/
Choose a movie and enter your library card number and pin when prompted.
For in depth instructions with visuals visit: Creating a Kanopy Account
What Collections Are in Kanopy?
Kanopy’s collection features over 30,000 films – one of the largest film databases for libraries globally. Films come from over 1,000 top producers such as Janus Collection (Criterion Collection), PBS, Kino Lorber, Samuel Goldwyn, Harold Lloyd, and more. Over 60% of Kanopy’s content is exclusive and only available on Kanopy. Kanopy sees many new releases launched daily (approx. 300-500 per month), ensuring the collection is fresh with current content.
Criterion Collection: The gem of the collections are the 420 titles from the Criterion Collection. Films from the established canon of great international films like Federico Fellini’s “8 1/2,” Akira Kurosawa’s “Rashomon,” Vittorio De Sica’s “The Bicycle Thief,” Ingmar Bergman’s “Persona,” Jean-Luc Godard’s “Breathless,” Charlie Chaplin’s “City Lights” and John Ford’s “Stagecoach.”
Documentaries: Favorites like “All This Panic,” “I Am Not Your Negro,” “Tower,” “The Great Beauty,” and “Hooligan Sparrow,” “This is Not a Film,” “The Interrupters” and “Of Men and War.” You also have access to PBS staples like Frontline, Henry Louis Gates’ ancestor exploration show “Finding Your Roots” and Ken Burns classics like “The Central Park Five” and “The Roosevelts.”
International Auteurs: Early and important works by some of the most important international auteurs, such as: Guillermo del Toro (“Cronos”), Jean-Jacques Annaud (“The Lover”), Terence Davies (“Of Time and the City”), Wong Kar-wai (“In the Mood for Love”), Johnnie To (“Election”), Park Chan Wook (“Old Boy,” “JSA: Joint Security Area”), Werner Herzog (“Aguirre, the Wrath of God”), Miguel Gomes (“Tabu”), Melanie Laurent (“Breathe”), Michael Haneke (“Code Unknown,” “The Piano Teacher”) and the late Abbas Kiarostami (“Close-Up,” “The Wind Will Carry Us”).
Classic Movies: Over 9,000 movies including a great selection of early cinema (e.g. Charlie Chaplin, ‘Bicycle Thieves’), indie film (e.g. ‘2 Days in Paris’, ‘Donnie Darko’), and cult classics (e.g. ‘Boondock Saints’)
Learning cinema: Including over 1,500 K-12 curriculum films, career development films, and lifestyle content (yoga, cooking, etc)
Local Films and Filmmakers: The breadth of the database means there are many films from local filmmakers and of local relevance. For example there are 17 films relating to Santa Rosa and 1,800 on California.
Kanopy Kids: Kanopy includes educational and engaging videos for children of all ages—as well as the young at heart. Parents can trust that this curated collection encourages social and emotional development, promotes respect for community diversity, and inspires creativity. The many great offerings include the Muzzy Language Learning videos, popular PBS shows, Little Pim and more. Kanopy has partnered with Common Sense Media™ to provide developmentally appropriate age ratings for videos on Kanopy Kids.
Available for use on
Any computer or device with browser and internet access
Apps available for all major devices - iPhone, IPad, android, Apple TV, Roku, Fire Tablet, Chromecast.
Need Help?
Contact us
Visit Kanopy's Help page to learn about using devices, apps and even your TV to stream Kanopy today.
