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Private Notes
Danielle Beverly's Old South takes place in one of the oldest, predominantly black neighborhoods in Georgia. A group of young men, representative of Southern traditions and members of the Kappa Alpha Order fraternity (KA), are known to fly a Confederate flag and hold an annual antebellum parade. The fraternity was founded in 1865, and its lineage is anchored in the Confederate values and ideals of Robert E. Lee. The film introduces a young member of the Fraternity who struggles to convey his historical take on the Civil War, the institution of slavery, and the symbolism behind the Confederate Flag.
In American Arab, Iraqi-American Director Usama Alshaibi asks “Why is being an Arab suddenly the opposite of being a decent man?” Throughout the documentary, Alshaibi explores what it’s like to occupy the ‘space in between’ as a hyphenated American, specifically of Arab origin, during the surge of anti-Muslim sentiment that arose in post 9/11 America.
After a surprise pregnancy and abandonment by the man she thought would be her husband, and the murder of friend and colleague Daniel Pearl, journalist Asra Nomani returned to her hometown in Morgantown, West Virginia. It is here she found at her local mosque exclusion of women, intolerance toward nonbelievers and suspicion of the West.
In David Felix Sutcliffe’s first film (co-director of the acclaimed documentary (T)error), he uses intimate vérité footage to report on a teenage Muslim girl suspected of being a “potential” suicide bomber, and her desperate efforts to keep her family from unraveling. Adama provides a timely perspective on the experiences of American Muslims at a time when their religion is being equated, by some, with violence and terror.
On July 12, 1967, a rumor spread through Newark, New Jersey’s black neighborhoods that taxi driver John Smith had been fatally beaten by police, sparking what became known as “The Newark Riots.” National Guard and N.J. State Troopers were summoned to reinforce local police to quell the rebellion. Eloise Spellman, a mother of 11, looking out of the window of her housing project, was shot by the police. Acclaimed New York Times journalist Bob Herbert was shocked by LIFE Magazine’s image of his friend, Billy Furr, who was also killed by the police. In all, 26 people died as a result of the riots, which lasted nearly a week.
BaddDDD Sonia Sanchez is a portrait of the artist, revealing Sanchez’s uncompromising life. Deemed "a lion in literature's forest" by poet Maya Angelou, Sanchez is a winner of major literary honors, including the American Book Award in 1985 and the Harper Lee Award in 2004, among others. A significant figure in the 1960s Black Arts Movement, often considered the artistic arm of the Black Power Movement, she raised her voice in the name of black culture, civil rights, women's liberation, and world peace.
In Concord, Massachusetts residents hold fast to their town’s legendary status; it is the site of the initial conflict which led to the American Revolution. Concord was also home to Henry David Thoreau, a proponent of the environmental preservation movement. Divide in Concord is an engaging tale about a contemporary debate: individual freedom versus collective responsibility, and how this relates to American democracy. The Declaration of Independence states that man has certain unalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. But in today’s society where is the line drawn between consumer freedom and responsibility?
All Lexy has ever wanted is to have a baby. After marrying the woman of her dreams, Lexy and wife Jessica set out to start a family. The loving couple discusses the possible pregnancy, the pros and cons of artificial insemination and whether the sperm donor should be known or anonymous. Full of hope and feisty determination, the two women spend their life savings to buy sperm online and then head to the hospital to have Lexy inseminated. Getting pregnant, however, turns out to be more difficult than they anticipated.
An out-of-work industrial engineer stakes his life savings in a venture to re-energize the hot dog-cart business in Washington, D.C. Among the challenges he faces: hostile city regulations; and an entrenched local monopoly.
For Samuel, Josiah, Flora, Ace and Maaya, growing up is more complicated than it was for their ancestors on the isolated tundra of Barrow, Alaska (originally named “Ukpiagvik” or “where we hunt snowy owls”). As descendants of Alaska’s Native people, they are inheritors of a centuries-old way of life that emphasizes traditional mores about community, the role of elders and the relationship to nature. Proud of their Native heritage, the teens are also modern Americans facing stark realities: a fast-changing culture and climate, modern consumer economies and the impact of oil-drilling; the teens think about life outside of Barrow and what they will make of their future.
In Missouri, social innovator Marcin Jakubowski's Global Village Construction Set provides free blueprints to fabricate everything needed for a self-sustaining village. In New Orleans, Nat Turner teaches kids how to work the land, but has limited resources and broken equipment. If these two men meet might they be able to make real change?
Since 1990, the nonprofit Washington Parks & People has tried to reduce poverty and violence in Washington, D.C. neighborhoods by improving parks. At the height of the recession, the organization received a stimulus grant to create a “green” job-training program in communities hardest hit, and had two years to help unemployed people find jobs and improve parks in their neighborhoods.
Over seven years, with unprecedented access, In An Ideal World followed three men in California’s infamous Soledad prison — John Piccirillo, a white separatist murderer, Sam Lewis, a black ex-gang member and Ben Curry, a warden. Each entered the system young and learned its codes of conduct not only to maintain order and safety, but also for their personal survival.
Growing up in Missouri, award-winning Korean American filmmaker Grace Lee was the only “Grace Lee” she knew. Upon moving to New York and then California, she discovered quite the opposite. In her quest to uncover how the Western name “Grace” became ubiquitous among Asian Americans, the filmmaker seeks out and speaks with many subjects named Grace Lee, soon learning the name’s Hollywood origins, as well as its Christian and missionary roots. Through an array of first-person interviews, she finds that the name carries with it a stereotype of the model minority — or rather a “quiet, well-behaved overachiever.” While a wide range of women, including a Hawai’i based television anchor, could fit a certain image of the name, others would break that mold.
During the Vietnam War, the C.I.A. recruited Laotian Hmong to fight the communists. It is estimated that 30,000 Hmong died assisting the U.S. The first wave of Hmong refugees who emigrated to the U.S. grappled with survivors’ guilt and, for decades, agonized over human rights violations committed against those left behind, including attacks on unarmed civilians, rape, and torture.
Director Kenneth Eng's father would often tell him and his brother the story of how he walked for seven days and six nights before swimming for four hours to escape poverty and Communism. In 2007, Eng accompanied his father on a visit to rural China for the first time in 18 years to retrace the perilous steps his father chanced in search of a better life. Eng’s father reflects, “In 1966, everyone wanted to go to the U.S. People were starving.” His father was one of thousands to make the journey.
Each September, the town of Chemult, Oregon is flooded with mushroom hunters. Many are immigrants from Laos, Cambodia and Thailand who entered the U.S. as refugees in the 1980s. Here, veterans Kouy Loch and Roger Higgins find more than just the rare matsutake in the woods; they create a familial bond and a means to slowly heal the wounds of war
A rarely represented insider's perspective, COLLEGE WEEK documents the impact of teacher and parent involvement on student success at Spencer Elementary Technology Academy. Despite the Chicago neighborhood's high rates of poverty and crime, a caring community of home owners and working class families are striving to make positive changes.
At a popular bakery café in Manhattan, patrons get served with a smile 24 hours a day. Behind the scenes, some of the undocumented immigrant workers earn far below the minimum wage. Filmed at the onset of the service economy wage wars, THE HAND THAT FEEDS tells the story of the power struggle that turned a single city block into a battlefield.
Filmed over six years, BURIED ABOVE GROUND follows three Americans fighting to overcome the paralyzing grip of PTSD. Intimate moments illustrate how the road to recovery takes many shapes while being fraught with obstacles and setbacks. Over time and with support, each finds hope and pathways to living a meaningful and purposeful life.
In rural America, children face the prospect of a compromised future. Class of '27 focuses on early childhood education in struggling communities, highlighting the efforts of people guiding children toward graduating high school in '27. United by hope, inspiration and resiliency, the film shows that children are most likely to grow into productive adults if they receive support in the early years.
“In life you deal with what’s dealt your way. When you get knocked down, just get up right away. Never give up.” "In the Game" follows a girls’ soccer team in an inner-city Chicago high school to reveal the obstacles confronted by Latinas as they seek an education amid issues of class and gender in the working class Brighton Park neighborhood.
Created by largely Puerto Rican, Cuban and African American youths living alongside each other in the 1960s, Boogaloo served as an authentic and vibrant cultural expression. "We Like It Like That" explores a pivotal moment in '60s music history when blues, funk and traditional Caribbean rhythms were fused to define a new generation of urban Latinos.
Today, the Inupiaq Eskimo must navigate an uncertain future 80 miles above the Arctic Circle on a fragile barrier island disappearing due to climate change. "Kivalina" is a quiet but stirring portrait immersing viewers into the rarely seen lives of an Arctic tribe who try to continue to honor their way of life despite the government failing them.
Chronicling the ongoing conflict over the issue of tribal rights between the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma and the Cherokee Freedmen, descendants of African American slaves. "By Blood" explores a largely untold history and the impact of a battle over race, identity, and the sovereign rights of Native American people.
