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- Running for Jim tells the inspiring story of record-breaking high school running coach Jim Tracy, his battle with Lou Gehrig's disease, and his 2010 championship team that brought his story to international attention.
- In vivid verite detail, MY AMERICAN GIRLS chronicles the joys and struggles over a year in the lives of the Ortiz family, first generation immigrants from the Dominican Republic. Matthews' film captures the rewards - and costs - of pursuing the American dream. From hard-working parents, who imagine retiring to their rural homeland, to fast-tracking American-born daughters, caught between their parent's values and their own, the film encompasses the contradictions of contemporary immigrant life.
- "Truth Sets You Free" - Based on interviews with leading Neonazis and Holocaust deniers, as well as archival material from conspiratorial meetings, briefly reveals the state of the German Neonazi scene.
- The amazing true story of a nineteenth century Canadian girl who ran away from home disguised as a traveling Bible Salesman and fought in the American civil war as a nurse, dispatch carrier and spy.
- A life chronicle of the youngest child of Sigmund and Martha Freud - her childhood in Vienna, her analysis by her own father, her prominence in the creation and development of child psychoanalysis, and the love of her life (Dorothy Burlingame).
- RIVER PEOPLE follows the story of David Sohappy, a Native American spiritual leader who was sentenced to a five year prison term for selling 317 salmon out of season. Sohappy became a symbol of resistance for indigenous people of the United States and beyond. RIVER PEOPLE uses Sohappy's case to explore the historic controversy over fishing rights and the right to religious freedom. Behind the controversy is a story of a man caught in a conflict between two cultures and two seemingly irreconcilable ways of looking at the world.
- Filmmakers Karen Cantor and Camilla Kjaerilff team to reveal how the Jews of Denmark managed to escape falling victim to Hitler's Third Reich.
- Perry J. Watkins was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1968 and served 15 years reaching the rank of sergeant. He was also openly gay, even to the point of doing drag shows on base. He was discharged in 1982 but fought for reinstatement and the United States Supreme Court ruled in his favor. This is his story.
- Empowered by their Indian guru, thousands of new-age disciples flock to an abandoned cattle ranch in Oregon, determined to build a city.
- Who decides how life ends? The patient? The family? The physician? The health care system? This film looks at the choices available to four dying people. The intent is to introduce viewers to the complexity of end-of life choices. The four terminally ill patients featured in "Last Rights" come from across the United States. Each was determined to confront his/her illness and plan his/her final days on earth according to his/her own desires and sense of dignity. These patients and their families turned to clergy, the medical profession and, in some cases, the government in order to access information and answers to matters practical and spiritual. Their decisions have profoundly impacted their families. The desire to hasten the death of a terminally ill patient brings up a multitude of issues - medical, ethical, religious, political. Viewers will be introduced to some of these dilemmas inherent to end-of-live choices: What role does society have in preserving life? What is society's obligation to relieve suffering? How do religious and legal institutions deal with these responsibilities?
- An exploration of the Samoan fa'afafine, boys who are raised as girls, fulfilling a traditional role in Samoan culture.
- As Julian Bond traces his roots back to slavery, the audience is confronted with a unique opportunity to observe the 20th century through the eyes of one of its key witnesses. Now in his seventies, the veteran Civil Rights leader recounts his days as a child in the segregated South, growing up in a home frequently visited by intellectuals like Paul Robeson and Langston Hughes. In an intimate conversation with director Montes-Bradley, Bond examines his role in the Civil Rights movement, his opposition to the war in Vietnam, his views on religion, and the struggle to secure a seat in Georgia's legislature.
- This film, shot mostly covertly, shows a regime where 20 million people live in poverty, some on the brink of starvation, while the former dictator Kim II Sung and his son build extravagant monuments to reflect their power.
- A candid look at the burgeoning punk rock scene in South Korea, focusing on the club and the bands that started the movement.
- During the late 1960s, when Charles R. Garry gained prominence as one of the top criminal defense attorneys in the United States, his clientele read like a who's who of the leadership of the Black liberation and anti-Vietnam war movements. His groundbreaking legal approach and unwavering commitment to justice made him the choice "movement attorney." Figures like Black Panther Party leaders Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale relied on him is innovative use of the law to relieve them of charges that would have otherwise led them to the gas chamber. Garry used America's courtrooms as a platform through which issues like racism and economic inequity were constantly addressed. And, although he faced numerous challenges with his many high-profile cases, he always came up on top. "The People's Advocate" seeks to fill the gap that Bobby Seale wrote about nearly thirty years ago in his autobiography Seize the Time: "We don't know every detail of Charles' life, but we can see that he is a man who is dedicated to the survival and the existence of the right to self-determination of human beings. We need a lot more history on Charles R. Garry so we can understand what motivates a man to be such a defender of the people's human rights." This film traces Garry's life from his early days growing up as the son of Armenian immigrants in Fresno, California to his subsequent dealings with the most outspoken political radicals of the twentieth century. Rare archival footage is interwoven with rich interviews to tell the story of one the most influential legal figures of our times. Amongst the film's interviewees are Black Panther Party leaders Bobby Seale, Kathleen Cleaver, David Hilliard and Ericka Huggins; attorneys Leonard Weinglass, Malcolm Burnstein and Ann Fagan Ginger; and famed historian Howard Zinn. The film concludes with the most controversial chapter of Garry's life-his involvement with the notorious Reverend Jim Jones of the Peoples Temple. As the civil rights and anti-war movements started to wind down during the first half of the 1970s, many well meaning activists began to drift to newly developing groups, including Jones' Peoples Temple. When the group asked Garry to defend them against various allegations, he agreed. Several months later, Garry found himself in the middle of one of the most tragic events of the last century-the mass suicide and killings of over 900 people at Jonestown, Guyana. Garry was there when it occurred and was one of the handful who survived. Although he continued to practice law after Jonestown, he was never the same again. In 1991, Garry died of a stroke. Jim Jones's son, Stephan, helps describe the events surrounding this tragic chapter in Garry's life.
- This well-researched film celebrates the life and legacy of Peter Cooper, the remarkable 19th century inventor, industrialist and philanthropist. Cooper had a rare combination of mechanical skills and entrepreneurship. Beginning work in a glue factory, Cooper developed the household uses of gelatin (Jello) and fashioned the iron I-beam from railroad rails, which enabled multistoried building construction. In 1828 he founded the Canton Iron Works in Baltimore which made his fortune. A champion of 20th century communication, he helped fund the first transatlantic telegraph cable and built the first American steam locomotive named "Tom Thumb." When business success brought wealth, Cooper used it to foster social justice. He founded The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in 1859, realizing his dream of free education for working people, regardless of ethnicity or gender. The college empowered thousands of women, a radical notion for the mid-19th century. The Great Hall in Cooper Union provided a platform for most major social movements of the 19th Century, most importantly, Abraham Lincoln's speech that won him his party's nomination for president in 1865. The early feminist leaders Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony also spoke there.
- Frank Lloyd Wright's last standing hotel reflects a century of change in a Midwest city.
- A Sikh family living in a small Oregon town struggles to retain their cultural identity, particularly the wearing of turbans, in the face of provincial prejudice.
- Slender Existence is the first-ever personal film about surviving anorexia nervosa. Filmmaker Laura Murray interweaves her own fractured recollections of starvation with those of her family and closest high school friend - all of whom rally to her support. This intimate and touching self-portrait shows a family dealing with a child's eating disorder - and that child growing into a healthy adult.
- Filmed in a small town in the south, Mother Love is a fresh look at one of the most formative relationships of a woman's life. It introduces us to four mothers and daughters of contrasting age, class and family dynamics. Their stories reflect individual circumstances, but also echo similar themes, proving there are certain traits that almost all mother/daughter relationships have in common.
- An inspiring portrait of Marie Curie, the first woman to receive the Nobel Prize, and one of very few people to win two Nobel Prizes. This documentary gives a glimpse into the personal life of Marie Curie - her loves, losses, passions, and the affair that almost cost her second Nobel Prize.
- A look at the controversial Bryn Mawr Summer School for Women Workers of the 1920s and 1930s.
- The San people, more commonly known as Bushmen, are believed to be the earliest inhabitants of southern Africa. They have lived for 80,000 years as hunter-gatherers in the Kalahari Desert, and are well-known for their expert survival skills in a harsh environment. Their unique clicking languages and their astonishing method of healing through trance dancing have made them a source of worldwide fascination. But these peaceful people are not immune from the problems of modern society, and have faced oppression and eviction from their homelands for years. Vanishing Cultures: Bushmen of the Kalahari" visits the troubled San community whose once thriving culture is now facing extinction. This one-hour documentary takes a never-before-seen look at the fascinating history, the brutal struggles, and the seemingly impossible challenges of the Bushmen of the Kalahari.
- Filmed in the northeast mountains of China Kim, Kim Jung-eun's documentary examines the desperate circumstances facing North Korean refugees who illegally cross the border into China to escape the harsh famine conditions that have existed in North Korea since the mid-1990s.
- A portrait of Australian citizen Zhizhen "Jane" Dai, whose husband was persecuted and murdered for his belief in Falun Gong, an ancient meditative practice that enjoyed a revival in China in the 1990's.
- After more than four centuries of operation, the Cerro Rico (Rich Mountain) of Potosí continues to offer silver to Bolivian miners. In exchange, the men must sacrifice their lungs in the obscure maze of the Mountain tunnels.
- In many African countries, fewer than 20% of girls ever enter a classroom, and across the continent, only one woman in three learns to read. "These Girls Are Missing" offers small sets of stories, sharp glimpses into a few intimate relationships layered to mirror the complex reality.
- This film chronicles the journey of an indigenous leader from a remote tribe in the Brazilian Amazon who travels to the country capitol of Brasilia in a last ditch effort to save his people's land from being turned over to developers, miners and poachers.
- In the Haitian countryside - where people have little access to doctors, hospitals, or conventional medicine - peasants use local leaves, herbs and therapeutic massage as a way of curing simple ailments. Narrated by the people themselves.
- Mundo Milagroso documents the people and events surrounding the appearance of Jesus and the Virgin Mary in everyday objects in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas. The Holy Tortilla of Hidalgo, the Holy Camaro of Elsa-Ed Couch, and the Madonna Tree of Brownsville, are all shown to be part of the cultural heritage of this unique part of the country.
- "Testing Hope: Grade 12 in the new South Africa" chronicles the lives of four young people in Nyanga township, just outside Cape Town, as they work towards their crucial Matric exams, which one student calls "the decider." These students began school in 1994, the same year apartheid ended and Nelson Mandela became president. While this is the new South Africa, many vestiges of apartheid persist. "Testing Hope" follows the students as they prepare for the exams which they believe will determine their future. It explores what hangs in the balance if students pass Matric and what awaits those who do not. How do they achieve their dreams in a country where so many obstacles remain?
- In a culture where people choose to date, live with a significant other, and move from relationship to relationship to find the right fit, Muslim Americans often need to clarify that their alternative isn't the stereotypical arranged marriage. In "Muslims in Love," Mohammad and Ferdaus tie the knot with the aid of friends, family, laptops and cell phones. Yet, the issues are complex. Michelle, a convert to Islam, frets over the slim pickings of Muslim men. Jameelah, an African American, clashes with racism and double standards. And Zahra, a law student, avoids drama at all costs. She leaves Mr. Right to fate. For better or worse, this generation of Muslim Americans walks a tightrope between faith and modernity in the quest for their heart's desire.
- Here are inspiring portraits of five families, each caring for an emotionally handicapped, or alcohol-addicted member. The love the family members feel for their disabled relatives is evident, as the film shows the joy, as well as the burdens their care imposes. Gammi is an elderly African American woman with Alzheimer's disease. Her family members are tolerant of her repetitive and often senseless babbling. They stroke and comfort her, and laugh fondly at her foibles. Michael is an eight-year-old with Downs' syndrome. His mother, who already had two children, knew ahead of time that she would have a disabled child and chose not to abort. The family does not regret the decision, and, in fact, feels Michael is an important part of their lives. Shane is an impoverished teenager from Appalachia. His father left the family when he was young and his mother is a recovering alcoholic. Jenny, a college student, also has an alcoholic parent. It has not been easy for her to deal with confronting her mother about her alcoholism. Dale is a middle-aged paranoid schizophrenic. The family accepts the fact that he sometimes has bizarre visions. In a society in which multitudes of people share similar mental disorders and are abandoned by their families or their communities, these portraits are a reminder that patience and fortitude bring their own satisfactions.
- A lively portrait of the Kuna Indians of Panama as they unite to protect their homeland, Kuna Yala, and the tradition it inspires. Told entirely in the words of the Kunas, the film contrasts a variety of characters who together tell a story of a culture in flux. At a time when our society is struggling with its relationship to nature, The Spirit of Kuna Yala reminds us that the timeless wisdom of indigenous peoples has something vital to offer the Western world.
- In the aftermath of the 1992 Los Angeles riot of 1992, noted documentarians Maxi Cohen and Wendy Apple distributed Hi-8 camcorders to young adult videographers in every major ethnic neighborhood to discover how each had been affected. The resulting video diaries were edited into dramatic stories that provide deeper insight into the origins and effects of the 1992 Los Angeles riot.
- This fast-paced documentary features a balanced discussion and history of one of the most complex issues in American politics. This even-handed, nonpartisan examination of the many facets of the debate journeys beyond myopic sound bites and static polls to a deeply personal exploration capital punishment in America. Interspersed with powerful and rare archival footage and original photographs are exclusive interviews with those most touched by the issue. Innocence, deterrence, retribution and closure for families are some of the topics explored through the eyes of a "volunteer" on Federal Death and a murderer who narrowly escaped the electric chair in Massachusetts.
- Love is war in a city where eligible men outnumber their potential brides. A rare portrait of ordinary people in an extraordinary social predicament, and a window on the materialistic and cut-throat nature of Shanghai's marriage market.
- An inside look at the National Institute of Flamenco and its founder Eva Encinias-Sandoval.
- Follows six families with autistic children for two years and takes us deep inside the world of autism.
- This is a documentary about a man forbidden to get married by the Catholic Church in Brazil.
- "Jews of Cracow Await US Bar Mitzvah Boy," read the New York Times headline, as Eric Strom, a 13-year-old Connecticut boy, stood at the center of a complex human drama that attracted world-wide attention.