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January: Nursing |
February: Black History |
March: Women’s History |
April: Criminal Justice
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May: Exam Week Film |
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11th The Disappearing Male The last few decades have seen steady and dramatic increases in the incidence of boys and young men suffering from genital deformities, low sperm count, sperm abnormalities and testicular cancer. At the same time, boys are now far more at risk of suffering from ADHD, autism, Tourette's syndrome, cerebral palsy, and dyslexia. [This program] takes a close and disturbing look at what many doctors and researchers now suspect are responsible for many of these problems: a class of common chemicals that are ubiquitous in our world. Found in everything from shampoo and sunglasses to toys and baby bottles, they are called "hormone mimicking" or "endocrine disrupting" chemicals and they may be starting to damage the most basic building blocks of human development." |
1st Banished Banished recounts the forgotten history of racial cleansing in America, when thousands of African Americans were driven from their homes and communities by violent racist mobs in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The film places these events in the context of present day race relations, by following three concrete cases of towns that remain all-white to this day (Forsyth County, Georgia; Pierce City, Missouri; & Harrison, Arkansas). Banished raises the questions -- will the United States ever make meaningful reparations for the human rights abuses suffered, then and now, against its African American citizens? Can reconciliation between the races be possible without them?" |
7th A crushing love: Chicanas, motherhood, and activism Sylvia Morales’ “A Crushing Love” is a Chicana-produced film honoring Chicana activists in their achievements. These women include: Dolores Huerta, Elizabeth “Bebita” Martinez, and others. The film focuses on these women’s ability to balance (often single) motherhood and their passion for social change. |
4th $100 a Day: Justice and reparation in California’s Legal System In 1991, Rick Walker was wrongly convicted of murder and spent the next 12 years in prison. This program tells the story of his exoneration and the political struggle to secure financial compensation for him from the state of California. In addition to an interview with Walker himself, the film presents detailed conversations with key players in his case and the partisan budget battle over reimbursing him. Interviewees include Alison Tucher, the lawyer who proved Walker's innocence; George Kennedy, the Santa Clara County District Attorney at the time; and Joe Simitian, the state assemblyman who fought to pass the bill that gave Walker $100 for each day of his incarceration. |
2nd Life in a Day A documentary shot by filmmakers all over the world that serves as a time capsule to show future generations what it was like to be alive on the 24th of July, 2010. |
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18th Crisis in Nursing: Where have all the Nurses Gone? Nurses are exiting the healthcare profession in record numbers, and are showing no signs of returning to the work they once loved. Is it the low pay? Is it the strain of attending to more and more acutely ill patients? Is it the overwhelming paperwork required by most insurance companies? This program examines the numerous contributing causes of the staffing crisis in the nursing profession - a problem that has left many hospitals short-handed and has raised concerns about the quality of patient care.
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8th Blacking Up The ambitious and hard-hitting documentary Blacking Up: Hip-Hop's Remix of Race and Identity, looks at the popularity of hip-hop among America's white youth. It asks whether white identification is rooted in admiration and a desire to transcend race or if it is merely a new chapter in the long continuum of stereotyping, mimicry and cultural appropriation? Does it reflect a new face of racial understanding in white America or does it reinforce an ugly history? Blacking up explores racial identity in U.S. society. The film draws parallels between the white hip-hop fan and previous incarnations of white appropriation from blackface performer Al Jolson to mainstream artists like Elvis Presley, the Rolling Stones and Eminem. It interweaves portraits of white hip-hop artists and fans with insightful commentary by African American cultural critics such as Amiri Baraka, Nelson George, Greg Tate, comedian Paul Mooney and hip-hop figures Chuck D. and Russell Simmons |
14th No Film: Spring Break |
11th Death Row Kids Filmed prior to the March 1, 2005 U.S. Supreme Court ruling barring execution for underage offenses, Death Row Kids tell the stories of confused and frightened young people awaiting the ultimate penalty. The program also alludes to medical findings that a 17-year-old's brain lacks fully developed decision-making capabilities. The result is a provocative inquiry into complex issues of personal responsibility and the likelihood of criminal rehabilitation. |
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25th Alzheimer’s Project: Grandpa, Do you know who I am? This film tells five stories of children, ages 6-15, who are coping with grandfathers or grandmothers suffering from Alzheimer's disease.
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15th February One Tells the inspiring story of four remarkable young men who initiated the lunch counter sit-ins in Greensboro, NC on February 1, 1960. Based largely on first-hand accounts and rare archival footage, the film documents one volatile winter in Greensboro that not only challenged public accommodation customs and law in North Carolina, but served as a blueprint for the wave of non-violent civil rights protests that swept across the South and the nation throughout the 1960s. |
21st Ferry Tales This documentary focuses on a unique culture found on the Staten Island Ferry, New York. This culture is made up of some of the women who frequent the women's powder room each day, not only as a place for putting on make-up, but as a safe place for sharing and camaraderie with women from diverse backgrounds. |
18th Surviving Hitler: A Love Story As a teenager in Nazi Germany, Jutta is shocked to discover she is Jewish. She joins the German resistance and meets Helmuth Cords, an injured German soldier. The two become sweethearts and ultimately, co-conspirators in the now famous Valkyrie plot to assassinate Hitler. With the failure of the plot comes a series of harrowing events as the couple and their associates are ruthlessly pursued by the Nazis. It would sound like a pitch for a Hollywood Blockbuster were it not all true. Narrated in vivid detail and supported by never-before-seen 8mm footage shot by one of the central characters, Surviving Hitler: A Love Story is a gripping film that combines simple romantic narrative, tense wartime story, and eye-opening links to monumental historical events. |
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22nd Freedom on my Mind Revisits the Mississippi freedom movement in the early 1960s when a handful of idealistic young activists believed they could change history -- and did. In 1964, organizers of the voter registration drive, fearing for their lives and hoping to attract the nation and federal government to their plight, recruited 1,000 mostly white college students from around the country to join them for Freedom Summer. Three students were murdered but the drive succeeded in signing up 80,000 members, mostly poverty-stricken sharecroppers, maids and day-laborers who confronted jail, beatings and even murder for the right to vote |
28th Speak Out: I had an abortion In the US, 1.3 million women per year have abortions, but the topic is still so stigmatized it's never discussed in polite company. This film tackles this taboo, featuring 10 women who candidly describe their abortion experience, with stories that span seven decades. Cutting across age, race, class and religion, this film offers heartfelt stories that personalize what has become a vicious and abstract debate. |
25th From Prison to Home Focuses on the African American Program for parolees. Ex-convicts face formidable odds, and for African-Americans, conditions are usually even more difficult. This documentary traces the experiences of four black ex-inmates over the course of a year, focusing on their challenges with employment, housing, addiction and reconnecting with family, as well as their participation in the nontraditional African American Program. The parole officers who work with these men are also interviewed. |
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29th Scarred Justice: the Orangeburg Massacre 1968 Everyone remembers the four white students slain at Kent State University in 1970, but most have never heard of the three black students killed in Orangeburg, South Carolina two years earlier. This stirring investigative documentary restores that bloody tragedy to the history of the Civil Rights Movement after years of official denial. |
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