Media Log: U.S. History and American Studies
U.S. History and American Studies
9to5: The Story of a Movement
Documentary
When Dolly Parton sang “9 to 5,” she was doing more than just shining a light on the fate of American working women. Parton was singing the true story of a movement that started with 9to5, a group of Boston secretaries in the early 1970s. Their goals were simple—better pay, more advancement opportunities, and an end to sexual harassment—but their unconventional approach attracted the press and shamed their bosses into change. Featuring interviews with 9to5's founders, as well as actor and activist Jane Fonda, 9to5: The Story of a Movement is the previously untold story of the fight that inspired a hit and changed the American workplace.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Working Women LLC
YEAR PRODUCED: 2020
PRODUCERS/DIRECTORS: Julia Reichert, Steven Bognar
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Steven Bognar
EDITOR: Jaime Meyers Schlenck
CAST: Mary Jung, Carolyn Schwier, Debbie Schneider, Janet Selcer, Ellen Cassedy, Renia Clay, Carol Sims, Verna Barksdale, Helen Williams, Laurie Brown, Donna Samuels, Jackie Harris, Karen Nussbaum, Ophelia Ealy, Lane Windham, Ph.D., Kim Cook, Adair Dammann, Jane Fonda, Cheryl Schaeffer, Anne Hill, Rosalinda Aguirre, Inge Goldschmidt
PRINT MATERIAL: Digital promotional materials accessible here:https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1HN93XaaH0Sqz8bwA5tbGT-DX40hBI5Bb
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: St. Louis International Film Festival, St. Louis Film Critics Association, Joe Williams Award for Best Documentary; Key West Film Festival, Best Women's Film, Julia Reichert, Golden Key Award Recipient, (Lifetime Achievement Award); Alexandria Film Festival (VA), Best of Fest Film; Cordillera International Film Festival, Audience Choice - Best of Fest; World Premiere; AFI Docs; European Premiere, International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA); SXSW Film Festival, Official Selection; Full Frame Film Festival, Official Selection; International premiere, Melbourne International Film Festival; GlobeDocs Film Festival presented by the Boston Globe, Centerpiece screening; Cleveland International Film Festival; DOC NYC; Mill Valley Film Festival (CA); Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival (AR), Closing Night screening (Drive-In); Nantucket Film Festival, Lighthouse International Film Festival, Rooftop Films Summer Series; Rehoboth Beach International Film Festival (DE); Philadelphia Film Festival; Three Rivers Film Festival (Pittsburgh); Hometown Premiere, Dixie Twin Drive-In (Dayton OH)
FORMAT: DVD 82 min
DISTRIBUTOR: Independent Lens/ITVS/PBS http://pbs.org/9to5
Across the Pacific
Documentary
Across the Pacific is a three-hour documentary film about one of the great milestones in aviation history: the 1935 crossing of the Pacific Ocean by a Pan American Airways flying boat known as the China Clipper. Produced by a team of award-winning producers, writers, and directors, the program combines dramatic re-enactments, interviews with biographers and other scholars, and films and photographs drawn from the rich archival record about Pan Am and the early years of commercial aviation.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Moreno/Lyons Productions, Arlington, MA
YEAR PRODUCED: 2020
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Stephen Lyons
PRODUCER: Stephen Lyons
DIRECTORS: Stephen Lyons, Lisa Quijano
WRITER: Stephen Lyons
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Ezra Wolfinger
EDITOR: William A. Anderson
NARRATOR: Christopher Cassarino
CAST: Brian Muller, Sergey, Nagorny, Brad Koed, Will Stout
FORMAT: DVD 3x1 hour
DISTRIBUTOR: American Public Television https://www.aptonline.org/home
The Adams Chronicles
Dramatic Series
This series of thirteen one-hour dramas weaves together the lives of four generations of the Adams family with events that shaped American history. Spanning the years 1750 to 1900, it is based on 300,000 pages of letters, diaries, and journals written by various members of the family.
Program 1
John Adams: Lawyer (1758–70)
This program features John Adams' experiences as a young lawyer, his courting of Abigail Smith, and his emergence as a voice against unjust practices imposed by the British crown.
Program 2
John Adams: Revolutionary (1770–76)
While John Adams serves as a delegate to Philadelphia's second Continental Congress and signs the Declaration of Independence, Abigail is left alone with the young children to tend the family farm in Braintree, Massachusetts.
Program 3
John Adams: Diplomat (1776–83)
John Adams undertakes several diplomatic missions during the Revolutionary War, including negotiations with Lord Howe, commander of the British forces, and an appointment as Commissioner to France.
Program 4
John Adams: Minister to Great Britain (1784–87)
John Adams faces many problems in negotiating trade agreements with Great Britain. A brief visit from Thomas Jefferson results in their first disagreement over constitutional issues.
Program 5
John Adams: Vice-President (1788–96)
John Adams suffers eight years of frustration as vice-president under George Washington before election to the presidency, when he inherits a cabinet loyal to Hamilton.
Program 6
John Adams: President (1797–1801)
John Adams faces a new crisis with France, the futility of peace missions, and public sentiment over the XYZ Affair urging him to declare war on France. Jefferson defeats him in the election of 1800.
Program 7
John Quincy Adams: Diplomat (1809–15)
John Quincy Adams serves as Minister to Russia, and heads the peace commission that negotiates the Treaty of Ghent, before becoming the second Adams to serve as Minister to Great Britain.
Program 8
John Quincy Adams: Secretary of State (1817–25)
As Secretary of State, John Quincy Adams drafts the Transcontinental Treaty with Spain and proposes a course in international relations later known as the Monroe Doctrine. He becomes President in 1824.
Program 9
John Quincy Adams: President (1825–29)
John Quincy Adams faces growing opposition from states' rightists throughout his presidency, and loses the election of 1828 to Andrew Jackson.
Program 10
John Quincy Adams: Congressman (1830–48)
Despite objections from his family, John Quincy Adams serves in the U.S. House of Representatives until his death in 1848.
Program 11
Charles Francis Adams: Minister to Great Britain (1861–63)
Charles Francis Adams, son of John Quincy, is able to keep the British from recognizing the Confederacy while serving as Minister to Great Britain.
Program 12
Henry Adams: Historian (1870–85)
The sons of Charles Francis Adams, Henry and Charles Francis II, pursue separate careers to fulfill their postwar vision of a reunited and revitalized America.
Program 13
Charles Francis Adams II: Industrialist (1886–93)
Charles Francis Adams II enjoys many triumphs as president of the Union Pacific Railroad but ultimately loses the battle for its control to Jay Gould. Like his brother Henry, he is dismayed by the nation's changing values in the industrial society.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: WNET/13, New York, NY
YEAR PRODUCED: 1976
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Jac Venza
SERIES PRODUCER: Virginia Kassel
COORDINATING PRODUCER: Robert Costello
PRODUCERS: James Cellan Jones, Fred Coe, Robert Costello, Jac Venza, Paul Bogart
DIRECTORS: Paul Bogart, James Cellan Jones, Fred Coe, Barry Davis, Bill Glenn, Anthony Page
WRITERS: Jerome Coopersmith, Ian Hunter, Tad Mosel, Jacqueline Babbin, Sherman Yellan, Allan Sloane, Anne Howard Bailey, Sam Hall, Roger Hirson, Corinne Jacker, Millard Lampell, Philip Reisman, Jr.
STORY CONSULTANT: Jacqueline Babbin
CAST: George Grizzard, John Houseman, Kathryn Walker, Nancy Marchand, William Daniels, Stephen Austin, John Wylie, Albert Stratton, Robert Snively, Charles Siebert, James Broderick, Peter Brandon, Nancy Coleman, Helen Stenborg, George Hearn, Harris Yulin, Stephen Joyce, Roberta Maxwell, Keene Curtis, Robert Prosky, David Birney, John Beal
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: Four Emmy awards, eleven Emmy nominations, 1976;sixteen Emmy nominations, 1977; George Foster Peabody Award; Virgin Islands International Film Festival, First Prize, Television Category; Ohio State Bicentennial Award
PRINT MATERIAL: Teacher, Viewer, and Study Guides no longer available
FORMAT: 16mm
13 (60:00) programs
DISTRIBUTOR: Indiana University, Audio-Visual Center
Mr. Adams and Mr. Jefferson
Dramatic Radio Series
Based on their correspondence, this nine-part series presents the life-long personal and political relationship between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Adams-Jefferson Project of Carleton College, Carleton College, Northfield, MN
YEAR PRODUCED: 1986
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS/WRITERS: Michael P. Zuckert, Ruth Weiner, Charles Umbanhowe
DIRECTOR: Karl Schmidt
EDITOR: Marv Nonn
NARRATOR: Carol Cowan
CAST: James Lawless, John Lewin, Denise DuMaurier, Richard Riehle, Claudia Wilkins
PRINT MATERIAL: Study Guide available
FORMAT: Audiocassette
9 (30:00) programs
DISTRIBUTOR: Adams-Jefferson Project of Carleton College
The African Americans Many Rivers to Cross
Documentary
Noted Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. recounts the full trajectory of African American history in his groundbreaking new six-part series The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross with Henry Louis Gates Jr. Written and presented by Professor Gates, the six-hour series explores the evolution of the African American people, as well as the multiplicity of cultural institutions, political strategies, and religious and social perspectives they developed — forging their own history, culture, and society against unimaginable odds. Commencing with the origins of slavery in Africa, the series moves through five centuries of remarkable historic events right up to the present — when America is led by a black president, yet remains a nation deeply divided by race.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: WNET, New York, NY
YEAR PRODUCED: 2013
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Henry Louis Gates Jr., Dyllan McGee, Peter Kunhardt, Julie Anderson
PRODUCERS/DIRECTORS: Sabin Streeter, Jamila Wignot, Phil Bertelsen, Leslie Asako Gladsjo, Jamila Wignot
WRITER: Henry Louis Gates Jr.
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Graham Smith
EDITORS: Nancy Novak, Kim Mille, Paula Heredia
NARRATOR: Henry Louis Gates Jr.
PRINT MATERIAL: WNET
FORMAT: 6-one hour segments
DISTRIBUTOR: WNET
Africans In America
Documentary Radio Series
Based on the television series of the same name, the radio program is rooted in the history of slavery and its impact on Americans, black and white, in the struggle to forge a new nation. The themes of freedom, national identity, inclusion/exclusion, leadership and resistance, and sense of personal worth are one which are still being grappled with. The series takes a hard look at our shared history and links current events to their historical roots in a way that informs and enriches the national discussion of what it means to be an American.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATIONS: WGBH Radio Boston, MA, and National Public Radio, Washington, DC
YEAR PRODUCED: 1998
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Robert Lyons
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: The segment on “Science and Race” by NPR's Frank Browning won the CPB Gold Medal 1998.
FORMAT: varied
DISTRIBUTOR: National Public Radio
Alexander Hamilton
Documentary
Alexander Hamilton is the story of America's most controversial Founding Father, a gifted statesman who laid the groundwork for America's modern economy and whose short life had more than its share of heroism, scandal, and tragedy.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Twin Cities Public Television, St. Paul, MN
YEAR PRODUCED: 2007
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Catherine Allan, Twin Cities Public Television, and Mark Samels, American Experience
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: Muffie Meyer
WRITER: Ronald Blumer
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Tom Hurwitz
EDITOR: Jerry Lakso
NARRATOR: Colm Feore
CAST: Mary Bacon, Samuel Barnett, Gerald Bamman, Lauren Bloom, John Curless, Michael Cumpsty, Richard Easton, Peter Gerety, Daniel Gerroll, Neal Huff, Neil McGarry, Julia Morrison, Brian Murray, Mark Nelson, Denis O'Hare, Kelli O'Hara, Jamie Parker, Brandon Reilly, Bridget Regan, Marc Solomon, Henry Strozier, Michael Stuhlbarg
FORMAT: Video/DVD Approx. 2 hours
DISTRIBUTOR: PBS
America and Lewis Hine
Documentary
This film examines the life and times of America's pioneer social photographer Lewis Hine (1874–1940), who documented the story of European immigrants in early industrial America.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Daedalus Productions, Inc., New York, NY
YEAR PRODUCED: 1984
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: David Loxton
COPRODUCERS: Nina Rosenblum, Daniel V. Allentuck
DIRECTOR: Nina Rosenblum
WRITERS: Daniel V. Allentuck, John Crowley, L.S. Block
EDITORS: Lora Hays, Gerald Donlan
CINEMATOGRAPHY: John Walker, Robert Aachs, Kobi Kobiashi
NARRATION: Jason Robards, Maureen Stapleton
AWARDS: American Film and Video Festival, Red Ribbon; U.S. Film Festival, Special Jury Prize; CINE Golden Eagle; Baltimore Film Festival, First Prize; National Educational Film and Video Festival, First Prize; Columbus (OH) International Film Festival, Chris Statuette; International Documentary Association, Exceptional Creative Achievement; Booklist, Nonprint Editor's Choice (American Library Association)
FORMAT: 16mm, Video (60:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: The Cinema Guild, Inc.
America Lost and Found
Documentary
America Lost and Found is a portrait of Americans as they experienced the Great Depression.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Media Study Inc., Buffalo, NY
YEAR PRODUCED: 1980
PRODUCERS/DIRECTORS: Lance Bird, Tom Johnson
WRITERS: Lance Bird, John Crowley
EDITOR: Kate Hirson
NARRATOR: Pat Hingle
AWARDS: American Film and Video Festival, Blue Ribbon; CINE Golden Eagle
FORMAT: 16mm, Video (58:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: Direct Cinema Limited
The American Diplomat
Documentary
The American Diplomat explores the lives and legacies of three African American ambassadors—Edward R. Dudley, Terence Todman and Carl Rowan—who pushed past historical and institutional racial barriers to reach high-ranking appointments in the Truman, Eisenhower, and Kennedy administrations. At the height of the civil rights movement in the United States, they were asked to represent the best of American ideals abroad while facing discrimination at home. Colloquially referred to as “pale, male, and Yale,” the U.S. State Department fiercely maintained and cultivated the Foreign Service’s elitist character and was one of the last federal agencies to desegregate. Through rare archival footage, in-depth oral histories, and interviews with family members, colleagues and diplomats, the film paints a portrait of three men who created a lasting impact on the content and character of the Foreign Service and changed American diplomacy forever.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: The American Diplomat is a co-production between GBH/American Experience and FLOWSTATE Films.
GBH/American Experience: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/
FLOWSTATE Films: http://www.flowstatefilms.com
YEAR PRODUCED: 2022
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Cameo George, Sam Pollard
PRODUCERS: Rachell Shapiro, Kiley Kraskouskas, Leola Calzolai-Stewart
DIRECTOR: Leola Calzolai-Stewart
WRITER: Ken Chowder
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Derek Allen, Chris Anthony Hamilton, Erik Ljung, Vatsala Goel, Rex Miller
EDITOR: Sandra Christie
NARRATOR: Andre Braugher
FORMAT: DVD (51:38 minutes)
DISTRIBUTOR: PBS Distribution https://pbsdistribution.org
American Dream
Documentary
American Dream examines the Hormel meatpacking plant strike in Austin, Minnesota, in the mid-1980s and its impact on the union, community, and individuals.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Cabin Creek Center for Work and Environmental Studies, New York, NY
YEAR PRODUCED: 1990
PRODUCERS: Barbara Kopple, Arthur Cohn
DIRECTOR: Barbara Kopple
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Peter Gilbert, Kevin Keating, Hart Perry, Mark Petersson, Mathieu Roberts
EDITORS: Tom Haneke, Lawrence Silk, Cathy Caplan
MUSIC: Michael Small
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: Academy Award, Best Documentary Feature; Sundance Film Festival, Grand Jury Prize, Audience Award, and Filmmakers Trophy; San Francisco Film Festival, Golden Gate Award, Current Events Category; American Film and Video Festival, Blue Ribbon; Baltimore Film Competition, Governor's Citation; New York Film Festival, premiere; U.S.A. (Dallas) Film Festival; AFI/L.A. Film Festival; Cleveland International Film Festival
FORMAT: 35mm, 16mm, Video
DISTRIBUTOR: Cabin Creek Center for Work and Environmental Studies
American Experience: The Abolitionists
Documentary
Radicals. Agitators. Troublemakers. Liberators. Called by many names, the abolitionists tore the nation apart in order to make a more perfect union. Men and women, black and white, Northerners and Southerners, poor and wealthy, these passionate antislavery activists fought body and soul in the most important civil rights crusade in American history. What began as a pacifist movement fueled by persuasion and prayer became a fiery and furious struggle that forever changed the nation. Bringing to life the intertwined stories of Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison, Angelina Grimké, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and John Brown, The Abolitionists takes place during some of the most violent and contentious decades in American history, amid white-hot religious passions that set souls on fire and bitter debates over the meaning of the Constitution and the nature of race. The documentary reveals how the movement shaped history by exposing the fatal flaw of a republic founded on liberty for some and bondage for others, setting the nation on a collision course. In the face of personal risks—beatings, imprisonment, even death—abolitionists held fast to their cause, laying the civil rights groundwork for the future and raising weighty constitutional and moral questions that are with us still.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Apograph Productions, Brooklyn, NY, and WGBH Educational Foundation, Boston, MA
YEAR PRODUCED: 2012
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Mark Samels, Sharon Grimberg
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR/WRITER: Rob Rapley
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Tim Cragg
EDITORS: John Chimples, Aljernon Tunsil
NARRATOR: Oliver Platt
CAST: Richard Brooks, Neal Huff, Jeanine Serralles, Kate Lyn Sheil, T. Ryder Smith
FORMAT: DVD (3 hours)
DISTRIBUTOR: PBS
American Experience: Chasing the Moon
Documentary Series
Chasing the Moon reimagines the race to the moon for a new generation, upending much of the conventional mythology surrounding the effort. The series recasts the Space Age as a fascinating stew of scientific innovation, political calculation, media spectacle, visionary impulses and personal drama. With no narration and using only archival footage—including a visual feast of previously lost or overlooked material—the film features a diverse cast of characters who played key roles in these historic events. Among those included are astronauts Buzz Aldrin, Frank Borman, and Bill Anders; Sergei Khrushchev, son of the former Soviet premier and a leading Soviet rocket engineer; Poppy Northcutt, the twenty-five-year old “mathematics whiz” who gained worldwide attention as the first woman to serve in the all-male bastion of NASA's Mission Control; and Ed Dwight, the Air Force pilot selected by the Kennedy administration to train as America's first black astronaut.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: WGBH, Brighton, MA
YEAR PRODUCED: 2019
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Mark Samels
SENIOR PRODUCER: Susan Bellows
PRODUCERS: Robert Stone, Daniel Aergerter, Keith Haviland, Ray Rothrock
DIRECTOR/WRITER: Robert Stone
EDITOR: Lindy Jankura, Robert Stone
CAST: Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, Valerie Anders, William Anders, Mark Bloom, Frank Borman, Ed Buckbee, Michael Collins, Ed Dwight, Freeman Dyson, Theo Kamecke, Jack King, Sergei Khruhschev, Roger Launius, John Logsdon, Poppy Northcutt
PRINT MATEREIALS: Press kit available through American Experience/WGBH Educational Foundation
AWARD/FESTIVALS: Winner, AFI DOCS 2019 Audience Award for Best Feature
Nominee; IDA Awards 2019 Best Multi-Part Documentary
FORMAT: DVD (3x120)
DISTRIBUTOR: https://pbs.org/
American Experience: Death and the Civil War
Documentary
With the coming of the Civil War, and the staggering casualties it ushered in, death entered the experience of the American people as it never had before—permanently altering the character of the republic and the psyche of the American people. Contending with death on an unprecedented scale posed challenges for which there were no ready answers when the war began. Americans worked to improvise new solutions, new institutions, and new ways of coping with death on an unimaginable scale.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: WGBH, Boston, MA
YEAR PRODUCED: 2012
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Mark Samels
PRODUCERS: Robin Espinola, Bonnie Lafave, Ric Burns
WRITER: Ric Burns
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Buddy Squires, Stephen McCarthy, Allen Moore
EDITORS: Lewis Erskine, Aljernon Tunsil
NARRATOR: Oliver Platt
PRINT MATERIALS: Program transcript and teachers guides available on the website www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/death
FORMAT: DVD 118 minutes
DISTRIBUTORS: PBS
American Experience: Freedom Summer
Documentary
During the summer of 1964, the nation's eyes were riveted on Mississippi. For over ten memorable weeks, known as Freedom Summer, more than 700 student volunteers joined with organizers and local African Americans in an historic effort to shatter the foundations of white supremacy in the nation's most segregated state. Working together, they canvassed for voter registration, created Freedom Schools, and established the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, with the goal of challenging the segregationist state Democratic Party at the national convention in Atlantic City. The campaign was marked by sustained and deadly violence, including the notorious murders of three civil rights workers, countless beatings, the burning of thirty-five churches, and the bombing of seventy homes and Freedom Houses.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: WGBH Educational Foundation, Boston, MA
YEAR PRODUCED: 2014
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Mark Samels
PRODUCERS: Stanley Nelson, Cyndee Readdean
DIRECTOR/WRITER: Stanley Nelson
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Antonio Rossi
EDITOR: Aljernon Tunsil
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: Sundance Film Festival; Full Frame Film Festival; RiverRun Film Festival; Nashville Film Festival; San Francisco International Film Festival; Montclair Film Festival; DOXA Documentary Film Festival; Maryland Film Festival; Louisiana International Film Festival; Mountainfilm in Telluride Berkshire International Film Festival; Scarborough Film Festival; AFI Silverdocs Wildgoose Film Festival; Martha's Vineyard Film Festival; DocuWest Film Festival
FORMAT: DVD (120:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: PBS; http://www.shoppbs.org
American Icons on Studio 360
Radio Documentary Series
Autobiography of Malcolm X
When Malcolm X was assassinated at 39, his book nearly died with him. Today, The Autobiography of Malcolm X stands as a milestone in America's struggle with race. The autobiography is also a Horatio Alger tale, following a man's journey from poverty to crime to militancy to wisdom. Muslims look to Malcolm as a figure of tolerance; a tea party activist claims him for the Right; and Public Enemy's Chuck D tells us, “This book is like food. It ain't McDonalds – it's sit down at the table and say grace.”
I Love Lucy
It set the model for the hit family sitcom. Lucy was a bad girl trapped in the life of a ‘50s housewife; her slapstick quest for fame and fortune ended in abject failure weekly. Both the antics and the humiliation entered the DNA of television comedy, from “Desperate Housewives” to “30 Rock” – writers can't live without Lucy. Rapper Mellow Man Ace celebrates the breaking of an ethnic taboo; a drag performer celebrates Lucy as a freak. With novelist Oscar Hijuelos, producer Chuck Lorre, “The Office's” Mindy Kaling, and a marriage counselor who has some advice for the bickering couple.
Monticello
Thomas Jefferson was as passionate about building his house as he was about founding the United States; he designed Monticello to the fraction of an inch and never stopped changing it. Yet Monticello was also a plantation worked by slaves, some of them Jefferson's own children. Today his white and black descendants still battle over who can be buried at Monticello. With Stephen Colbert, filmmaker James Ivory, and artist Maira Kalman.
Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show
He was the most famous American in the world – a showman and spin artist who parlayed a buffalo-hunting gig into an entertainment empire. William F. Cody's stage show presented a new creation myth for America, bringing cowboys, Indians, settlers, and sharpshooters to audiences who had only read about the West in dime novels. He offered Indians a life off the reservation – reenacting their own defeat. “Deadwood” producer David Milch explains why the myth of the West still resonates; a Sioux actor at a Paris theme park loves playing Sitting Bull; and a financial executive impersonates Buffalo Bill, with his wife as Annie Oakley.
This Land Is Your Land
All of America sings it at school and summer camp; Bruce Springsteen sang it at President Obama's inauguration. Yet Woody Guthrie's song was once called anti-American, even Communist. Pete Seeger explains how Guthrie wrote it as a response to “God Bless America"; soul singer Sharon Jones tells us what the song means to her as a descendant of slaves. Leftist, environmentalist, nationalist, or patriotic – “This Land” allows everyone to sing it their way.
Harley-Davidson
With a look that suggests industrial might, a backstory of garage ingenuity, and a roar so distinctive the company tried to trademark it – Harley-Davidsons are the American motorcycle. Veteran public radio producer Jay Allison, a longtime biker, heads to Laconia Bike Week to find the source of the mystique. Diehard riders (including a biker church deacon), scholars, and a Davidson family member explain how the Harley image yokes patriotism together with outlaw rebelliousness.
The House of Mirth
Lily Bart is a smart single woman, a beauty in demand on the party circuit. But Lily is nearing thirty, and struggling to manage money, friendships, and romance. In “The House of Mirth,” Edith Wharton examined the dangerous compromises facing a woman who wants to set her own destiny, and broke ground for countless writers who followed. This is not television, and it doesn't end happily. Candace Bushnell, who wrote “Sex and the City,” explains why she vowed “never to end up like Lily Bart.” Wharton scholars and film director Terence Davies explain why the tragedy feels so contemporary.
Georgia O'Keeffe's Skull Paintings
“The men were all talking about the great American novel, the great American play...the great American everything,” said Georgia O'Keeffe, who fled the East Coast art world for New Mexico. “So I thought . . . I'll make it an American painting.” O'Keeffe painted cow and deer skulls floating over delicate abstract landscapes of the New Mexico desert. An art historian, a tour guide, and an interior designer explain the appeal of the skulls; a retiree tells how their magnetism drew her to settle in the Southwest.
Jimi Hendrix's Star-Spangled Banner
Hendrix's performance of the national anthem at Woodstock hit like a shock wave; with its distortion and chaos, it sounded like a rupture in something sacred. Two music scholars and two rock guitarists put together the pieces. “It's like the zeitgeist had vomited up this thing,” says musician Vernon Reid. Using a whammy bar and a fuzz box, Hendrix captured the sound of bombs falling overseas and screaming protestors. “I didn't think it was unorthodox,” Hendrix said. “I thought it was beautiful.”
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATIONS: Studio 360 from PRI and WNYC, New York, NY
YEAR PRODUCED: 2010
HOST/NARRATOR: Kurt Andersen
SENIOR EDITOR: David Krasnow
SENIOR PRODUCER: Leital Molad
PRODUCERS: Eric Molinsky (“Buffalo Bill's Wild West”), Leital Molad (“Buffalo Bill's Wild West”), Amanda Aronczyk (“Monticello”), Jenny Lawton (“I Love Lucy”), Derek John (“The Autobiography of Malcolm X”), Pejk Malinovski (“This Land Is Your Land”)
REPORTERS: Jay Allison (“Harley-Davidson”), Trey Kay (“Dixie”), David Krasnow (“The Star-Spangled Banner”), Ann Heppermann and Kara Oehler (“Georgia O'Keeffe's skull paintings”), Michele Siegel (“The House of Mirth”)
ADDITIONAL REPORTING/PRODUCTION: Ann Heppermann (“Monticello”), Megan Verlee and Sarah Elzas (“Buffalo Bill's Wild West”), Chloe Plaunt and Claes Andreasson (“I Love Lucy”)
EDITOR (features): Emily Botein
WEB EDITOR: Michael Guerriero
ORIGINAL MUSIC: Tara Key (“The Star-Spangled Banner”), Aaron Siegel (“Georgia O'Keeffe's Skull Paintings”)
VOICEOVER: David Strahairn (“Monticello”), Dion Graham (“The Autobiography of Malcolm X”), Anne Marie Nest (“The House of Mirth”)
PRINT MATERIALS: Website: http://www.studio360.org/series/american-icons/
FORMAT: Audio Four (4) hour-long programs and five (5) feature segments averaging 15 minutes each
DISTRIBUTOR: PRI
American Masters: Becoming Helen Keller
Documentary
Becoming Helen Keller examines one of the twentieth-century’s human rights pioneers. The documentary rediscovers the complex life and legacy of author and activist Helen Keller (1880–1968), who was deaf and blind since childhood, exploring how she used her celebrity and wit to advocate for social justice, particularly for women, workers, people with disabilities, and people living in poverty.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Straight Ahead Pictures, Inc., American Masters Pictures and ITVS
YEAR PRODUCED: 2021
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Susan Lacy, Michael Kantor, Sally Jo Fifer
PRODUCERS: Mary McDonagh Murphy, Laurie Block
DIRECTOR: Michael Pressman
WRITERS: John Crowley and Mary McDonagh Murphy
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Boyd Estus
EDITOR: Pascal Akesson
NARRATOR: Rebecca Alexander
CAST: Cherry Jones, Alexandria Wailes, Warren (“WAWA”) Snipe
FORMAT: DVD (90 minutes)
DISTRIBUTOR: www.pbs.org/AmericanMasters
American Tongues
Documentary
American Tongues examines attitudes toward regional, social, and ethnic variations in American speech and how those attitudes reflect larger cultural issues.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Center for New American Media, New York, NY
YEAR PRODUCED: 1986
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Andrew Kolker, Louis Alvarez
COPRODUCERS/CODIRECTORS/COWRITERS: Andrew Kolker, Louis Alvarez
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Andrew Kolker
EDITORS: Andrew Kolker, Louis Alvarez, John Purcell
NARRATOR: Polly Holliday
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: George Foster Peabody Journalism Award; CINE Golden Eagle; American Film and Video Festival, Finalist; The Margaret Mead Film Festival; National Educational Film and Video Festival, Silver Apple
PRINT MATERIAL: Study Guide and brochure available
FORMAT: Video (two versions, 56:00 and 40:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: New Day Films
Anarchism in America
Documentary
This film explores the history of anarchism in the United States.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Pacific Street Film Projects, Inc., Brooklyn, NY
YEAR PRODUCED: 1981
PRODUCERS/DIRECTORS: Joel Sucher, Steven Fischler
PRODUCTION COORDINATOR: Elizabeth Garfield
EDITOR: Krishna Boden
AWARD: Chicago International Film Festival, Silver Plaque
FORMAT: 16mm, Video (90:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: The Cinema Guild, Inc.
Ancestors in the Americas
Documentary
Part 1
Coolies, Sailors, Settlers: Voyage to a New World, 17th to 19th Centuries describes the astonishing untold story of how Asians-Filipinos, Chinese and Asian Indians-first arrived in the Americas before the American Revolutionary War. Sweeping across oceans and centuries of time—from 16th-century Spanish galleons sailing the Manila to Acapulco trade route, to the Opium Wars, to 19th-century Chinese and Indian coolie laborers who were shipped to plantations in South America and the Caribbean as replacements for freed black slaves in the colonies of the Americas. This film explains why today there are Chinese Cubans and Indo-Guyanese in New York and ten generations of Filipinos in Louisiana.
Part 2
Chinese in the Frontier West: An American Story 1849 to 1880s explores the arrival of Chinese in Gold Rush 1850s California and their ventures into the Frontier West from Oregon and Washington to Idaho and Montana, Wyoming and South Dakota. Laboring, reclaiming land, and building communities while pursuing cases before the US courts for justice and equality, they set legal precedents and left a legacy of civil rights for all Americans.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Center for Educational Telecommunications, Berkeley, CA
YEAR PRODUCED: Part 1: 1996 and Part 2: 1998
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR/WRITER: Loni Ding
NARRATORS: Sab Shimono, Pat Morita
EDITORS: Eric Ladenburg, Sean Thomas, Ken Schneider
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Kyle Kibbe, May Ying Welsh
VOICES: Wood Moy, Wei Ye Ou, Crystal Huie, Terry Chow, Rex Navarrete, Oscar Penaranda, Ved Vatuk, Tejinder Kaur, Usha Jain, Robert Ernst, Hawlan Ng, Alan Lau
PRINTED MATERIALS: Publicity packets. CET brochures are also available, via email to @email. For classroom and viewer guides visit the websites http://www.cetel.org/ and www.pbs.org/ancestorsintheamericas.
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: Part 2: National Educational Media Network - Silver Apple Award; Parts 1 & 2: American Library Association Booklist Editor's Choice
FORMAT: VHS 120 minutes
DISTRIBUTOR: Center for Educational Telecommunications
....And the Meek Shall Inherit the Earth
Documentary
This film follows the efforts of Native Americans to maintain control of the land in Menominee County, Wisconsin, the only Indian-governed county in the nation.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: NET (National Educational Television), New York, NY
YEAR PRODUCED: 1971
PRODUCER/WRITER: Ann Delaney
NARRATOR: E. G. Marshall
FORMAT: 16mm (59:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: Indiana University, Audio-Visual Center
Andrew Jackson: Good, Evil and the Presidency
Documentary
This film biography of America's seventh president explores whether Andrew Jackson is a president Americans should celebrate or apologize for. We discover how Jackson fought in the Revolutionary War when he was just thirteen—then used what he learned to kill a man over a gambling debt; how Jackson led the American army to the most surprising victory in its history in the Battle of New Orleans—but also launched an unauthorized invasion of Florida; how Jackson was the first great champion of the common white man—but also “owned” over a hundred black Americans; how Jackson dramatically expanded the United States—by brutally wresting vast regions of the south from Native Americans; how Jackson, in one of the boldest political strokes in history, founded the Democratic Party—and yet was viewed by his enemies as an American Napoleon. The film concludes with the words of Jackson's first biographer, “Andrew Jackson was a patriot, and a traitor. He was the greatest of generals, and wholly ignorant of the art of war. He was the most candid of men, and capable of the profoundest dissimulation. He was a democratic autocrat, an urbane savage, an atrocious saint.”
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATIONS: KCET, Los Angeles, CA
YEAR PRODUCED: 2007
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Carl Byker
PRODUCER/WRITER: Carl Byker
DIRECTORS: Carl Byker, Mitch Wilson
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Mitch Wilson
EDITOR: Richard Kassebaum
NARRATOR: Martin Sheen
CAST: Brain Dennehy, Marion Ross, Eric Stoltz, Blair Brown, David Ogden Stiers
PRINT MATERIALS: Press release
FORMAT: Video/DVD (2 hours)
DISTRIBUTOR: PBS
Annie Oakley
Documentary
Annie Oakley personified the vanished Old West for millions of Americans—but she more accurately represents her nation in the years when she was a great star, from the mid-1880s through the early 1900s. The United States in the late Victorian age was a country caught between the disappearing frontier and the emerging machine age. Americans were full of nostalgia for the past, particularly the Wild West. But they lived in a country where twentieth-century technology was roaring in—a country that was home to a movement crusading for women's rights and other progressive causes. Oakley was a star sharpshooter of the Wild West Shows, which were the most popular form of live entertainment in the United States in the last quarter of the nineteenth-century. Many Americans in her day believed that the Old West had been the most “American” place—eliminating distinctions of wealth, fostering honesty, courage, hard work, and self-sufficiency. In a time of massive immigration, industrialization, overcrowding and rampant disease in Eastern cities, the Wild West Shows flourished because they were a way of looking backward. Most people have seen Oakley as either a determined feminist or the woman who gave up everything to stand by her man, like the fictionalized version of her in the musical Annie Get Your Gun. But the real Annie Oakley was more complicated. She was a superb athlete and consummate entertainer, yet strove always to be seen as a genteel Victorian lady. She advocated increased independence for women—yet was a staunch opponent of women's suffrage. Today many believe that Annie Oakley is a mythical character. Her real life was entirely overshadowed by the legend. Annie Oakley now reveals the authentic Annie Oakley—a genuinely complicated person whose many contradictions mirrored her times.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: American Experience/WGBH
YEAR PRODUCED: 2006
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Mark Samels
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: Riva Freifeld
WRITER: Ken Chowder
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Joel Shapiro, Boyd Estus, Robert Elfstrom, Michael Chin, John Chater
EDITOR: David Espar
NARRATOR: Laura Linney
PRINT MATERIALS: American Experience/WGBH
FORMAT: Video and DVD 60 mins
DISTRIBUTOR: WGBH
Apache Mountain Spirits
Drama
Apache Mountain Spirits weaves an ancient legend with a modern story to illustrate the role of the mythical Apache holy figures known as the Gaan. The actors are all members of the tribe.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Silvercloud Video Productions, Inc., Tucson, AZ
YEAR PRODUCED: 1985
PRODUCER: John Crouch
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER: Jennie Crouch
DIRECTOR: Bob Graham
EDITORS: Tim Clark, John Crouch
WRITERS: Joy Harjo, Henry Greenberg
FORMAT: Video (59:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: Silvercloud Video Productions, Inc.
A. Philip Randolph
Documentary
This film biography analyzes the impact of Asa Philip Randolph's leadership and accomplishments—from his youth in Florida, through his formative years in New York to his contributions in the labor and civil rights movements.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: WETA-TV, Washington, DC
YEAR PRODUCED: 1996
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Tamara E. Robinson
DIRECTOR: Dante James
WRITERS: Juan Williams, Dante James
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Michael Chin
EDITOR: Catherine Shields
NARRATOR: Lynne Thigpen
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: The “Chris” Awards; Columbus International Film & Video Festival—Bronze Plaque; The New York Festival—Bronze Medal, August 1996; National Black Programmers Consortium—Best Historical Documentary
PRINT MATERIAL: Press kit
FORMAT: Video (90:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: California Newsreel
Arguing the World
Documentary
Arguing the World traces the diverging political paths of four New York intellectuals: Irving Howe, Irving Kristol, Nathan Glazer, and Daniel Bell. The film explores their intertwined lives from their childhoods in New York's Jewish immigrant neighborhoods to their years as radicals at the City College of New York, their controversial role in the McCarthy years, their clash with the New Left, and their sharp disagreements over the rise of Ronald Reagan.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Riverside Productions, New York, NY
YEAR PRODUCED: 1996
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Arnold Labaton
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR/WRITER: Joseph Dorman
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Barrin Bonet
EDITOR: Jonathan Oppenheim
NARRATOR: Alan Rosenberg
AWARDS: George Foster Peabody Award
PRINT MATERIAL: Arguing the World : The New York Intellectuals in Their Own Words by Joseph Dorman
FORMAT: Video (60:50)
DISTRIBUTOR: First Run Features
Asian Americans
Documentary Series
Asian Americans is a five-hour film series that delivers a bold, fresh perspective on a history that matters today, more than ever. As America becomes more diverse and more divided, while facing unimaginable challenges, how do we move forward together? Told through intimate and personal lives, the series casts a new lens on U.S. history and the ongoing role that Asian Americans have played in shaping the nation's story.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Center for Asian American Media, San Francisco, CA
YEAR PRODUCED: 2020
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Jeff Bieber, Stephen Gong, Jean Tsien, Donald Young
SERIES PRODUCERS: Geeta Gandbhir, Grace Lee, S. Leo Chiang
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Jerry Henry
EDITORS: Victoria Chalk, Alex Keipper, Aldo Velasco
NARRATORS: Daniel Dae Kim, Tamlyn Tomita
FORMAT: 5 x 60
DISTRIBUTOR: PBS: https://www.pbs.org/show/asian-americans/
BackStory with the American History Guys
Documentary Radio
Public radio's contemporary take on American history, BackStory with the American History Guys is a national, weekly one-hour show and podcast—a program of the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities. BackStory brings historical perspective to daily events, moving from today's headlines to drill down into U.S. history in an engaging and accessible way. Each week the American History Guys—Ed Ayers, Peter Onuf, and Brian Balogh—plumb the connections between present and past, spanning three centuries of American history. They offer lively, non-partisan conversation, a surprising exploration of ideas and events, and their continuing impact on us. The Guys deliver smart, deeply informed talk on such wide-ranging topics as the history of marriage, extreme weather, birthing, time, home ownership, apocalyptic thinking, college sports, alcohol, the post office, the War of 1812, emigration, American exceptionalism, and the Mississippi river, among many others. Brian, Ed, and Peter trade ideas with guest experts, debate each other, present features that delve into the little-known past, and talk with listeners who call in. The result: Fresh and inviting radio that has the easy style of a stimulating chat with your brightest friends around the kitchen table.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Virginia Foundation for the Humanities
YEAR PRODUCED: 2013
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Andrew Wyndham
SENIOR PRODCTOR: Tony Field
ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS: Jess Engebretson, Eric Mennel, Nina Earnest
TECHNICAL DIRECTOR: Jamal Millner
ASSISTANT PRODUCER/RESEARCH: Emily Charnock
PRODUCTION SUPPORT: Chioke Ianson, Jesse Dukes
INTERN: Mary Caple
HOST NARRATORS: Peter Onuf, Ed Ayers, Brian Balogh
PRINT MATERIAL: Fliers and promotional cards, available from VFH
FORMAT: Radio 54:00 mins (plus 5-minute news hole)
DISTRIBUTOR: Public Radio Exchange, PRX's SubAuto, and by the Content Depot of the Public Radio Satellite System. The program is available as a podcast through iTunes and the BackStory web site, backstoryradio.org, and can also be downloaded from SoundCloud.
The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez
Drama
This film is based on the true story of a Mexican farmer in Texas in 1901 who, through a faulty translation from Spanish to English, is accused of a robbery he did not commit.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: The National Council of La Raza, Washington, DC
YEAR PRODUCED: 1982
PRODUCER: Moctezuma Esparza, Michael Hausman
DIRECTOR: Robert Young
WRITER: Victor Villasenor (from the book With a Pistol in His Hand by Americo Paredes)
EDITORS: John Bertucci, Arthur Coburn
MUSIC: W. Michael Lewis, Edward James Olmos
CAST: Edward James Olmos, Tom Bower, James Gammon, Pepe Serna, Rosanna DeSoto
FESTIVALS: Santa Fe Film Festival; Telluride Film Festival; Mill Valley (CA) Film Festival
FORMAT: 16mm, Video (90:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: available in video stores or contact Moctezuma Esparza
Baseball
Documentary Series
This history of America's “national pastime” examines the sport in the context of such issues as race, gender, the immigrant experience, urban, rural, and popular culture, and the meaning of leisure.
Program 1
Our Game
1st Inning, 1840s to 1900, traces baseball's rise, in one generation, from a gentlemen's hobby to a national sport played and watched by millions. Featured are Albert Goodwill Spalding, the first baseball magnate; the game's first gambling scandal; the first attempts by women to play the game; and the first black professionals, who were hounded out of the game.
Program 2
Something Like a War
2nd Inning, 1900 to 1910, presents some of the most fascinating individuals ever to play the game: Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, Christy Mathewson, and John McGraw.
Program 3
The Faith of Fifty Million People
3rd Inning, 1910 to 1920, features the Black Sox scandal, in which eight members of the Chicago White Sox took money from gamblers to throw the World Series in 1919.
Program 4
A National Heirloom
4th Inning, 1920 to 1930, focuses on Babe Ruth, the Baltimore saloon-keeper's son who became the best-known baseball player in American history.
Program 5
Shadow Ball
5th Inning, 1930 to 1940, covers baseball's desperate attempts to survive the Great Depression; the parallel world of the Negro Leagues; Babe Ruth's fading career; the rise of a new generation of stars, including Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams; and the Negro League World Series game that pitted Satchel Paige against Josh Gibson.
Program 6
The National Pastime
6th Inning, 1940 to 1950, begins with the 1941 season: Joe DiMaggio hits in fifty-six straight games; Ted Williams hits .400; and the Brooklyn Dodgers win their first pennant in twenty years. When World War II intervenes, baseball's best players become soldiers, and on April 15, 1947, baseball is integrated, when Jackie Robinson takes the field.
Program 7
The Capital of Baseball
7th Inning, 1950 to 1960, examines the heyday of New York City baseball, where for ten straight years a local team always played in the World Series and almost always won. In 1955 the Brooklyn Dodgers finally win their first World Series, only to be moved by their owner to a new city 3,000 miles away.
Program 8
A Whole New Ball Game
8th Inning, 1960 to 1970, unfolds against the backdrop of the turbulent 1960s, when many question the game's relevance. Highlights include Bill Mazeroski's last inning home run that wins the 1960 World Series; the breaking of Babe Ruth's home run record by Roger Maris; and the first successful attempt by baseball players to organize into a union.
Program 9
Home
9th Inning, 1970 to present, covers the most recent history of baseball and explores the future of the game, including the rising influence of television and free agency.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATIONS: WETA, Washington, DC and Florentine Films, Walpole, NH
YEAR PRODUCED: 1994
PRODUCERS: Ken Burns and Lynn Novick
DIRECTOR: Ken Burns
WRITERS: Geoffrey C. Ward & Ken Burns
SUPERVISING FILM EDITOR: Paul Barnes
EDITORS: Paul Barnes, Yaffa Lerea, Tricia Reidy, Michael Levine, Rikk Desgres
COORDINATING PRODUCERS: Bruce Alfred and Mike Hill
NARRATOR: John Chancellor
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Buddy Squires, Ken Burns, Allen Moore
ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS: David Schaye, Susanna Steisel
CONSULTING PRODUCER: Stephen Ives
SENIOR CREATIVE CONSULTANT: John Thorn
PRODUCER MANAGER: Camilla Rockwell
VOICES: Adam Arkin, Mike Barnicle, Philip Bosco, Keith Carradine, David Caruso, Wendy Conquest, John Cusack, Ossie Davis, Loren Dean, Ed Harris, Julie Harris, John Hartford, Gregory Hines, Anthony Hopkins, Derek Jacobi, Gene Jones, Garrison Keillor, Alan King, Stephen Lang, Al Lewis, Delroy Lindo, Charley McDowell, Amy Madigan, Michael Moriarty, Arthur Miller, Paul Newman, Thomas P. “Tip” O'Neil, Gregory Peck, George Plimpton, Jody Powell, Aidan Quinn, Latanya Richardson, Jason Robards, Paul Roebling, Jerry Stiller, Studs Terkel, John Turturro, Eli Wallach, M. Emmet Walsh, Tom Wicker, Paul Winfield
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: CINE Golden Eagle; Telluride Film Festival; New York Festival Competition, Gold Medal; Parents' Choice Award; Best of the Year lists in Time, People, and TV Guide; Emmy, Best Information Series; Clarion Award
PRINT MATERIALS: Companion book, Baseball: An illustrated History, by Geoffrey C. Ward & Ken Burns (Knopf, 1994); Teacher's Guide and classroom materials; three children's books, Twenty Five Great Moments by Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns with S.A. Kramer; Shadow Ball: The History of the Negro League by Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns with Jim O'Connor; Who Invented the Game? by Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns with Paul Robert Walker (all Knopf, 1994); book on tape (read by Ken Burns); music soundtrack (CD and tape); etc.
FORMAT: Video, 9 programs (from 107 to 151 minutes each)
DISTRIBUTORS:
Benjamin Franklin
Documentary Series
Benjamin Franklin traces Franklin's epic life from humble beginnings to fame as a scientist, founding father, and America's first diplomat to France.
Episode 1
Let the Experiment Be Made (1706–53)
From obscure beginnings as a printer's apprentice, Franklin quickly rises to prominence as a leading publisher, businessman, and civic booster in Philadelphia. His discoveries in the new science of electricity help free the world from superstition and propel Franklin onto the world stage.
Episode 2
The Making of a Revolutionary (1755–76)
America's most celebrated citizen moves to London and finds himself in the middle of a growing dispute between England and the colonies, a dispute that turns this loyal subject of the British empire into a revolutionary and causes a tragic break with his own son.
Episode 3
The Chess Master (1776–90)
Franklin embarks on the most important mission of his long life, as America's first ambassador to France to help save the floundering American Revolution. After the war, he becomes the only Founding Father to actively campaign against slavery and plays a critical role in the Constitutional Convention that will form the basis of a new nation.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATIONS: TPT/Twin Cities Public Television in association with Middlemarch Films, Inc.
YEARS PRODUCED: 2001-2002
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Catherine Allan
PRODUCERS/DIRECTORS: Ellen Hovde, Muffie Meyer
EXECUTIVE IN CHARGE OF PRODUCTION: Gerald Richman
LINE PRODUCER: Charles Darby
WRITER: Ronald Blumer
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Tom Hurwitz
EDITORS: Eric Davies, Donna Marino, Sharon Sachs
NARRATOR: Colm Feore
LEAD ACTOR: Richard Easton
MUSIC: Richard Einhorn
SCHOLARS: Ellen Cohn, Tom Fleming, Roy Goodman, Jack P. Greene, John Heilbron, E. Philip Krider, J. A. Leo Lemay, Ralph Lerner, Claude-Anne Lopez, Pauline Maier, David Taft Morgan, Jr., Gordon Wood, Michael Zuckert
PRINT MATERIAL: Educational materials available online at www.pbs.org/benfranklin
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: Primetime Emmy Award; The Film Council of Greater Columbus
FORMAT: Video and DVD
DISTRIBUTOR: PBS Video
Benjamin Latrobe: America's First Architect
Documentary
Benjamin Latrobe: America's First Architect chronicles the life and work of early American architect Benjamin Latrobe and his lasting design impact on his country. Latrobe, who lived from 1764 to 1820, is well known for his work on the central portions of the Baltimore Basilica, the first Catholic Church built in the United States, and his design for the White House porticos. His influence on the nation's capital also included serving as the chief surveyor for the Washington Canal; designing St. John's Episcopal Church, Decatur House, and the main gate of the Washington Navy Yard; and consulting on the construction of the Washington Bridge across the Potomac River. Latrobe's tumultuous life was a series of creative triumphs, personal tragedies and constant re-invention. Benjamin Latrobe: America's First Architect explores his story from the early years in England, immigration to the young Republic, and then his work on major constructions. The production features extensive computer generated animation, interviews with architects and historians, and visits to the sites of Latrobe's work.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: WETA, Arlington, VA
YEAR PRODUCED: 2010
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Dalton Delan, David S. Thompson, Peter Kunhardt, Dyllan McGee
PRODUCERS: Sabin Streeter, Michael Epstein
DIRECTOR: Michael Epstein
WRITERS: Paul Goldberger, Sabin Streeter
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Michael Chin, Michael Epstein
EDITOR: Ed Barteski, Jr.
HOST: Paul Goldberger
FORMAT: Video/DVD (60:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: PBS Video
The Best of Families
Dramatic Series
This eight-part series presents the lives of three fictional families, each typifying a different social, ethnic, and economic segment of New York City in the 1880s and 1890s.
Program 1
Generations
In 1880, each family suffers financial setbacks when the failure of the Reading Railroad causes an economic crisis.
Program 2
The Bridge
When the Brooklyn Bridge is completed and opened in 1883, the three families respond with varying degrees of optimism and skepticism to this symbol of emerging technology.
Program 3
The Election—Patronage or Paradise
The families have various encounters with city politics through connections with Tammany Hall and in the 1886 mayoral election campaign of Teddy Roosevelt.
Program 4
Ambition
In 1890, the paths of the families cross when the prominent banker Teddy Wheeler decides to pursue philanthropy to make his bank better known.
Program 5
A Chill to the Bones
The deepening recession of 1893 finds the lives of the three families converging at Morton House, the first settlement house for the poor.
Program 6
The Great Trolley Battle
Two brothers take opposite sides in a violent trolley strike in 1895.
Program 7
New Times
On New Year's Eve, 1899, the families reflect on their lives and unrealized dreams and look toward the approaching century with renewed hope.
Program 8
January 17, 1977
In this final episode, twentieth-century descendants of the original three families confront situations similar to those faced by members of their families in the late nineteenth century.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Children's Television Workshop, New York, NY
YEAR PRODUCED: 1977
SERIES CREATOR: Naomi Foner
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Ethel Winant
PRODUCER: Gareth Davies
SERIES HEAD WRITER: Corinne Jacker
CAST: Guy Boyd, William Carden, Frederick Coffin, Alice Drummond, George Ede, Jill Eikenberry, Peter Evans, Clarence Felder, Pauline Flanagan, Victor Garber, Sean Griffin, George Hearn, William Hurt, Suzanne Lederer, Kate McGregor-Stewart, Julia McKenzie, Milo O'Shea, Lisa Pelikan, William Prince, Josef Sommer, Sigourney Weaver
FORMAT: Video
Program 1 (110:00), Programs 2-8 (59:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: Indiana University, Audio-Visual Center
Bill of Rights Radio Project
Documentary Radio Series
Each program in this fifteen-part series examines the legal, historical, and social context of a contemporary public policy issue rooted in the Bill of Rights.
Program 1
Gun Control and the Second Amendment: Interpretations and Misinterpretations
Program 2
Pressure Groups, Censorship, and the First Amendment
Program 3
Of God, Land, and Nation: Native American Land Claims and the Bill of Rights
Program 4
Neutral against God: Prayer in Public Schools
Program 5
And Throw Away the Key: The Eighth Amendment and Cruel and Unusual Punishment
Program 6
Public Libraries and the First Amendment
Program 7
The Birds, the Bees, and the Constitution: Sex Education in the Public Schools
Program 8
The Politics of the Original Sin: Entrapment, Temptation, and the Constitution
Program 9
He went and Preached unto the Spirits in Prison: Freedom of Religion in American Penal Institutions
Program 10
Abortion: A Matter of Life and Death
Program 11
Open Secrets: Technological Transfer, National Security, and the First Amendment
Program 12
Cults and the Constitution: Who's Abusing Whom?
Program 13
Television on Trial: Cameras in the Courts
Program 14
Without Due Process: Prejudice in the Application of Constitutional Rights of Citizens and Non-Citizens
Program 15
Crazy and/or Guilty as Charged: Constitutional Aspects of the Insanity Plea and Diminished Capacity Defenses
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Bill of Rights Educational Radio Project, Berkeley, CA
YEARS PRODUCED: 1982–84
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Adi Gevins
AWARDS: Corporation for Public Broadcasting, First Place, Best Documentary (Program 2); CPB, First Place, Best Documentary (Program10); CPB, Second Place, Best Documentary (Program 14); San Francisco State University, School of Broadcast Communications Award, (the series); National Federation of Community Broadcasters, Golden Reel Award (the series); NFCB, First Place Award (for the 3-minute module programs) CPB, First Place Award (Bicentennial edition of the series)
FORMAT: Audiocassette
15 (30:00) programs
DISTRIBUTOR: Pacifica Program Service/Radio Archive
Bond of Iron
Drama
Through a point-counterpoint dialogue, Bond of Iron depicts the relationship between a master and slave at a Virginia ironworks foundry prior to the Civil War.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: South Carolina Educational Television Network, Columbia, SC
YEAR PRODUCED: 1979
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Peter Anderson, John G. Sproat
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR/WRITER: William Peters
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER: Patricia Curtice
CAST: Brock Peters, Darren McGavin
FORMAT: 16mm, Video (60:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: South Carolina Educational Television Marketing
Bridging the Divide: Tom Bradley and the Politic of Race
Documentary
Thirty-five years before Barack Obama's election as President, the question of race and the possibility of bridging racial barriers were put to the test in an overlooked story in American politics: Tom Bradley's 1973 election as Mayor of Los Angeles: the first African American mayor of a major U.S. city elected with an overwhelmingly white majority. It was a remarkable political first in the history of race and politics in America. Bridging the Divide tells the story of how Bradley's coalition of African Americans, Jews, white liberals, Mexican Americans, and Asian Americans united a divided city, brought inclusion and access, and set the foundation for sustainable inter-racial coalitions that later encouraged the elections of minority candidates nationwide, most notably President Barack Obama. At the same time, the film examines the complexities and contradiction of Bradley's career as a bridge builder. Bridging the Divide brings into sharp focus the issues of police brutality in minority communities and the challenges of police reform, shows how Tom Bradley, a former police officer whose political aspirations were shaped by the Watts Rebellion, could not break the cycles of poverty and despair that would ultimately spark the 1992 Los Angeles civil unrest and mark the end of his era.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: OUR L.A., Los Angeles, CA
YEAR PRODUCED: 2015
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Lyn Goldfarb, Alison Sotomayor
PRODUCERS/WRITERS: Lyn Goldfarb, Alison Sotomayor
DIRECTOR: Lyn Goldfarb
RESEARCH/DIRECTOR: Alison Sotomayor
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Michelle Crenshaw
EDITORS: Stosh Jarecki, Lillian Benson ACE
NARRATOR: Alfre Woodard
COMPOSER: Stephen James Taylor
PRINT MATERIALS: Discussion guide available as a pdf download from our website http://www.mayortombradley.com/files/Bridging_the_Divide_Discussion_Guide.pdf
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: Los Angeles Film Festival; Pan African Film Festival; San Diego Black Film Festival
FORMAT: DVD (56:460)
DISTRIBUTOR: OUR L.A. www.mayortombradley.com
Brooklyn Bridge
Documentary
This film focuses on the struggle to construct the Brooklyn Bridge in 1883 and on its transformation into a symbol of American strength, ingenuity, and promise.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Department of Records and Information, New York, NY
YEAR PRODUCED: 1981
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: Ken Burns
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Ken Burns, Buddy Squires
EDITOR/WRITER: Amy Stechler
RESEARCHER: Thomas Lewis
NARRATOR: David McCullough
READINGS: Paul Roebling, Julie Harris, Arthur Miller, Kurt Vonnegut, David McCullough, and others
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: Academy Award nomination, Best Documentary Feature; CINE Golden Eagle; American Film and Video Festival, Blue Ribbon; Selected for MOMA/New Directors; FILMEX (Los Angeles); Chicago International Film Festival, Certificate of Merit; Christopher Award; Organization of American Historians, Erik Barnouw Award (for outstanding historical documentary); Festival dei Popoli, Florence, Italy, Special Mention
FORMAT: 16mm, Video (two versions, 58:00 and 39:00; the shorter version focuses on the history and building of the bridge)
DISTRIBUTOR: Direct Cinema Limited
Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin
Documentary
Long before Martin Luther King, Jr., became a national figure Bayard Rustin routinely put his body—and his life—on the line as a crusader for racial and economic justice. Rustin's commitment to pacifism and his visionary advocacy of Gandhian nonviolence made him a civil rights pioneer in the 1940s and an important advisor to King in the 50s and 60s. In 1963, Rustin brought his unique skills to the crowning glory of his civil rights career: his work organizing the historic March on Washington, the biggest protest America had ever witnessed. But in the fiercely homophobic era of the 40s and 50s, Rustin was also seen as a political liability. As an openly gay man, he was frequently shunned by the very civil rights movement he helped create. Brother Outsider chronicles Rustin's complex 60-year career as an activist for peace, racial and economic justice, and international human rights.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Question Why Films, LLC
YEAR PRODUCED: 2003
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Sam Pollard
PRODUCERS/DIRECTORS: Nancy Kates, Bennett Singer
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Robert Shepard
EDITORS: Veronica Selver, Rhonda Collins
NARRATOR: Erik Todd Dellums
PRINT MATERIALS: Press kit available from Question Why Films; classroom guide available at http://www.rustin.org/ and from the distributor
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: Sundance Film Festival 2003; Audience Award for Best Feature, New York Lesbian and Gay Film Festival 2003; Audience Award in Documentary: San Francisco, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Indianapolis Lesbian and Gay Film Festivals, 2003; Documentary Award, Turin Gay and Lesbian Film Festival 2003, Documentary First Prize, Rhode Island Film Festival 2003; Best Documentary Feature, Cinequest Film Festival 2003; Documentary Award, Athens International Film Festival 2003
FORMAT: Video 84:00 mins.
DISTRIBUTOR: California Newsreel
Buckminster Fuller: Thinking Out Loud
Documentary
Thinking Out Loud is a feature-length film about the chief engineer and navigator of Spaceship Earth, R. Buckminster Fuller. He was one of the twentieth century's most distinguished, innovative, and controversial thinkers. To many he was a genius, to some he was a crackpot. To most he was both.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Simon & Goodman Picture Company, New York, NY
YEAR PRODUCED: 1996
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: Karen Goodman, Kirk Simon
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Buddy Squires
EDITOR: Sara Fishro
NARRATOR: Morley Safer
INTERVIEWS: John Cage, Arthur Penn, Philip Johnson, Merce Cunningham, Paul Goldberger, Al Hirschfeld, Schuyler Chapin, Spalding Gray, George C. Scott, E.G. Marshall, Mike Wallace, Marian Seldes, Tony Roberts, Ellen Burstyn, Griffin Dunne, Morley Safer, Robert Sean Leonard, Robert McNeil, Kate Burton, Philip Bosco
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: Sundance Film Festival; DuPont-Columbia Silver Baton Award for Independent Programming; Emmy Award Nomination; Festival Du Nouveau Cinema, Montreal; Sydney Film Festival
PRINT MATERIAL/WEBSITE: www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/database/fuller_b.html
FORMAT: Video (90:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: Zeitgeist Films, Ltd.
Buffalo Social History Project
Documentary Radio Series
Through oral histories, music, dramatic readings, and commentary, this twelve-part series presents changing patterns in the social and cultural life of a Great Lakes city from 1825 through the 1970s.
Program 1
Buffalo 100 Years Ago
features accounts of everyday life in Buffalo 100 years ago through newspaper advertisements, features, and editorials.
Program 2
Immigration
relates the experiences of mid-nineteenth-century Irish, turn-of-the-century Polish, and contemporary Puerto Rican immigrants.
Program 3
Working Life
describes the work expectations and personal experiences of members of the Buffalo community over three generations.
Program 4
Compulsory Education
examines the development and maintenance of compulsory public education from 1874 to the 1930s.
Program 5
Land and Property
looks at the social and financial value of land in the city of Buffalo.
Program 6
Social Welfare
focuses on the problems of poverty in relation to democratic ideals of social and political equality.
Program 7
Parkside Neighborhood
profiles one of the city's residential neighborhoods from 1880 to the present.
Program 8
Erie Canal
features literary descriptions of canal boat travel, as well as information on the techniques of canal building in England and America during the early nineteenth century.
Program 9
Labor and Capital
examines the history of industrialization, unionism, and the free market economy in Buffalo.
Program 10
Opportunity and Education
explores issues of pluralism and bilingualism in nineteenth and twentieth-century public schools.
Program 11
Catholic Culture
probes Catholicism as the religion of many of Buffalo's immigrants.
Program 12
Pan American Exposition
presents information on two local legends with national import: the Pan American Exposition of 1901 and the Larkin Company's mail order emporium (1876–1941), a distributor of household goods that collapsed during the Great Depression.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: WBFO-FM, Buffalo, NY
YEAR PRODUCED: 1977
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR/EDITOR: Jo Blatti
FORMAT: Audiocassette
12 magazine-format radio programs (2 to 3 hours)
DISTRIBUTOR: Pacifica Program Service/Radio Archive (ask for NFCB 5555-NFCB 5583)
The Case of the Legless Veteran
Documentary
This film documents the McCarthy era defense campaign of James Kutcher, a World War II veteran fired from his job at the Veterans Administration in 1948 for his socialist beliefs.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Film Arts Foundation, San Francisco, CA
YEAR PRODUCED: 1981
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR/WRITER: Howard Petrick
EDITOR: Kenji Yamamoto
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Ashley James
FORMAT: 16mm (58:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: Mass Productions
The Civil War
Documentary Series
This nine-part series examines the history and meaning of the American Civil War, from its complex causes and the daily life of soldiers to its impact on the nation's political and social life.
Program 1
1861: A 90-Day War
begins with an examination of slavery and the causes of the war, then traces the events that led to the firing on Fort Sumter and the rush to arms on both sides, and concludes with the first Battle of Bull Run.
Program 2
1862: A Very Bloody Affair
explains how Lincoln's war to preserve the Union is transformed into a war to emancipate the slaves.
Program 3
1862: Forever Free
shows how as 1862 wears on, it marks a difficult year for the Union, leading up to the Battle of Antietam, the bloodiest single day of the war, and the emancipation of the slaves.
Program 4
1863: Simply Murder
considers Northern opposition to the Emancipation Proclamation, the miseries of regimental life, the increasing desperation of the Confederate homefront, Lee's brilliant victory at Chancellorsville, and Grant's futile attempts to take Vicksburg by siege.
Program 5
1863: The Universe of Battle
opens with an account of the Battle of Gettysburg, and goes on to describe the fall of Vicksburg, the New York draft riots, the first use of black troops, and Lincoln's Gettysburg address.
Program 6
1864: Valley of the Shadow of Death
opens with a biographical comparison of Grant and Lee, recounts the battles that pitted the two generals against each other, traces Sherman's Atlanta campaign, and explores the ghastly medical practices in both North and South.
Program 7
1864: Most Hallowed Ground
considers how Union victories in Mobile Bay, Atlanta, and the Shenandoah Valley tilt the 1864 election toward Lincoln, and the Confederacy's last hope for independence dies.
Program 8
1865: War is All Hell
traces the decline of the Confederacy from Sherman's March to the sea through Lee's surrender at Appomattox.
Program 9
The Better Angels of Our Nature
recounts Lincoln's assassination and the final days of the war, closing with a look at how the Civil War transformed the country.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATIONS: WETA, Washington, DC, and Florentine Films, Walpole, NH
YEARS PRODUCED: 1986-1990
PRODUCERS: Ken Burns, Ric Burns
DIRECTOR: Ken Burns
WRITERS: Geoffrey C. Ward, Ric Burns, with Ken Burns
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Ken Burns, Buddy Squire, Allen Moore
EDITORS Paul Barnes, Bruce Shaw, Tricia Reidy
COORDINATING PRODUCER: Catherine Eisele
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER/POST PRODUCTION: Lynn Novick
COPRODUCERS: Stephen Ives, Julie Dunfey, Mike Hill
ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS: Camilla Rockwell, Susanna Steisel
NARRATOR: David McCullough
ON-CAMERA INTERVIEWS: Shelby Foote, Barbara J. Fields, William Safire, Ed Bearss, and others
VOICES: Sam Waterson, Jason Robards, Julie Harris, Jeremy Irons, Derek Jacobi, Morgan Freeman, Garrison Keillor, Kurt Vonnegut, Arthur Miller, Studs Terkel, Colleen Dewhurst, Charley McDowell, Jody Powell, George Plimpton, Philip Bosco, Horton Foote, and others
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: George Foster Peabody Award; The Lincoln Prize, Lincoln and Soldiers Institute, Gettysburg College, PA; The People's Choice Award, America's Favorite Miniseries; Television Producer of the Year Award, Producers Guild of America, Documentary Category; Christopher Award; CINE Golden Eagle; Telluride Film Festival; Museum of Broadcasting, Special Honor; National Board of Review, D.W. Griffith Award for Best Television Miniseries; Dartmouth College Film Award; Civil War Round Table, Bell I. Wiley Award; Clarion Award; National Emmy (two); Angel Award, Best TV Miniseries of the Year; Advancement of Learning through Broadcasting Award, National Education Association; National Educational Film & Video Festival, Silver Apple; American Film & Video Festival, Blue Ribbon; Alfred I. du Pont-Columbia University Awards, Silver Baton, Independent Television Productions; British Academy of Film and Television, Best Foreign Television Show; Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word or Nonmusical Album; Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album
PRINT MATERIAL: Educational materials (Teacher's Guide, etc.) available from Tel-Ed, Inc., 7449 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90046
FORMAT: Video
Programs 1, 5 (90:00); programs 2,3,4,6,7,8,9 (60:00)
DISTRIBUTORS:
Time-Life Video (home video)
PBS Adult Learning Service (telecourse)
College Behind Bars
Documentary
This four-part documentary film series tells the story of a small group of incarcerated men and women struggling to earn college degrees and turn their lives around in one of the most rigorous and effective prison education programs in the United States—The Bard Prison Initiative. Shot over four years in maximum and medium security prisons in New York State, the four-hour film takes viewers on a stark and intimate journey into one of the most pressing issues of our time—our failure to provide meaningful rehabilitation for the over two million Americans living behind bars. Through the personal stories of the students and their families, the film reveals the transformative power of higher education and puts a human face on America's criminal justice crisis.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Skiff Mountain Films
YEAR PRODUCED: 2019
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Ken Burns
PRODUCERS: Lynn Novick Sarah Botstein, Salimah El-Amin, Mariah Doran
DIRECTOR: Lynn Novick
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Buddy Squires, Nadia Hallgren
EDITOR: Tricia Reidy
AWARD/FESTIVALS: 57th New York Film Festival – Film at Lincoln Center 2019 Official Selection
FORMAT: DVD (222:00)
DISTRIBUTORS: WETA TV & FM www.weta.org/tv/program/college-behind-bars; PBS www.pbs.org/collegebehindbars; Skiff Mountain Films www.collegebehindbars.com
The Color of Honor
Documentary
The Color of Honor documents Japanese-American experiences during World War II by examining the internment of American citizens of Japanese ancestry, the distinguished record of Japanese-American combat soldiers in the liberation of France and Italy, and the role that 6,000 Japanese-Americans played in the Asian-Pacific theater as part of the U.S. Military Intelligence Service.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATIONS: Center for Educational Telecommunications Inc., and Vox Productions, San Francisco, CA
YEAR PRODUCED: 1988
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER/DIRECTOR/WRITER: Loni Ding
EDITORS: Loni Ding, Steve Kuever
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Tomas Tucker, Michael Chin
NARRATOR: Loni Ding
SPECIAL SCREENINGS: Smithsonian Institution; U.S. Congress
FORMAT: Video (101:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: Vox Productions
Coming to Light: Edward S. Curtis and the North American Indians
Documentary
Coming to Light tells the dramatic story of Edward Curtis (1868–1952), a complicated, passionate, self-educated pioneer and visionary artist who rose from poverty and obscurity to become the most famous photographer of his time. He became friends with Teddy Roosevelt, obtained funding from J.P. Morgan, and set out in 1900 to photograph traditional Indian ways that he thought were vanishing. Curtis abandoned his career as a successful portrait photographer to create an astonishing body of work: 10,000 recordings, twenty volumes of text, a full length motion picture with Kwakiutl people, and 40,000 photographers. The film includes contemporary interviews with Indian people revealing how Curtis worked with their parents and grandparents in a collaborative effort to preserve traditional life that was disappearing.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Anne Makepeace Productions, Inc.
YEAR PRODUCED: 2000
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Anne Makepeace, Susan Lacy
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR/WRITER: Anne Makepeace
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Uta Briesewitz, Jennifer Lane, Emiko Omori
EDITOR: Jennifer Chinlund
NARRATOR: Sheila Tousey
CAST: Bill Pullman
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: 2000 Academy Award for Feature Documentary Finalist; John O'Connor Award for Best Film, the American Historical Association; Gold Hugo, Chicago International Television Festival; CINE Golden Eagle; Berkeley Film and Video Festival Best Historical Documentary; Newport Beach Film Festival Audience Award, Best Documentary; Sundance Film Festival 2000; Best Documentary, Telluride Mountain Film; Saguaro Film Festival International 2000 Best Documentary; Hardacre Film Festival Best Documentary; New Jersey Film Festival Best Documentary; Houston WorldFest Special Jury Award, Vermont International Film Festival Best Environmental Film; Aspen FilmFest Audience Favorite; American Indian Film Festival, International Film Festivals in Munich, Santa Barbara, Seattle, Nashville, Florida, New Zealand, Hawaii, Northampton, New Orleans, Cork (Ireland)
PRINT MATERIALS: Press kit, MPRM
FORMAT: Video (85:00)
DISTRIBUTORS: Bullfrog Films and CS Associates
Coney Island
Documentary
This film explores the history and meaning of Coney Island from the mid-nineteenth century to the present.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATIONS: Coney Island Film Project and City Lore, New York, NY
YEAR PRODUCED: 1991 (first broadcast on The American Experience)
PRODUCERS: Ric Burns, Buddy Squires
DIRECTOR: Ric Burns
WRITER: Richard Snow
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Buddy Squires, Allen Moore
EDITOR: Paul Barnes
NARRATOR: Philip Bosco
READINGS: Andrei Codrescu, Vincent Gardenia, Judd Hirch, Nathan Lane, John Mahoney, Jerry Orbach, George Plimpton, Lois Smith, Frances Sternhagen, Eli Wallach
AWARDS: Chicago International Film Festival, Silver Hugo; Sundance Film Festival; CINE Golden Eagle; Time Magazine, “Best of 1991 Television”; Organization of American Historians, Erik Barnouw Award
FORMAT: 16mm, Video (two versions, 67:00 and 52:00)
DISTRIBUTORS:
PBS Video (video, 67:00 only)
Direct Cinema Limited (16mm and video, 67:00 and 52:00)
Constitution USA with Peter Sagal
Documentary Series
The documentary takes viewers on a fast-paced, surprising journey across the nation to examine the 4,418 words — and 27 amendments — that made America. Over the course of the four hour series, Sagal, host of NPR's popular Wait Wait… Don't Tell Me!, travels via motorcycle — from Tyler, Texas, to Missoula, Montana; from Cranston, Rhode Island, to Berkeley, California — to find out what the Constitution means in the 21st century, how it unites us as a nation and how it has nearly torn us apart. Sagal meets with ordinary Americans who are struggling with constitutional issues such as affirmative action, same-sex marriage, voting rights, and free speech. Sagal also talks to prominent journalists, legal scholars, and historians, including Akhil Reed Amar and Richard Beeman, to find what the Constitution says, the dramatic historical events and crises that have defined it, and why all this matters.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Twin Cities Public Television, St. Paul, MN
YEAR PRODUCED: 2013
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Catherine Allan
PRODUCER: Amanda Pollak
WRITERS: Jaime Bernanke, Peter Sagal
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Buddy Squires
EDITORS: Omry Maoz, Jim Isler, David Teague
NARRATOR: Peter Sagal
PRINT MATERIAL: http://www.pbs.org/tpt/constitution-usa-peter-sagal/classroom/
FORMAT: DVD (4 hours)
DISTRIBUTOR: PBS, www.pbsdwholesale.org
Constitutional Journal
Radio Series (Documentary and Drama)
In 122 three-minute programs, this series recounts the proceedings of the Constitutional Convention of 1787 from the vantage point of a reporter on the convention floor at Independence Hall in Philadelphia. It also includes dramatizations of the remarks of Washington, Franklin, Madison, and other delegates.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Radio America, Washington, DC
YEAR PRODUCED: 1987
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: James C. Roberts
PRODUCER: Marc A. Lipsitz
WRITER/NARRATOR: Jeffrey St. John
CAST: Phil Nicolaides, Jim Parisi, Sarah Ban Breathnach, Jim Kelly
PRINT MATERIAL: Book version available through Jameson Books, Ottawa, IL
FORMAT: Audiocassette
6 (60:00) programs
DISTRIBUTOR: Radio America
Containment
Documentary
Can we contain some of the deadliest, most long-lasting substances ever produced? Left over from the Cold War are a hundred million gallons of radioactive sludge and dispersed isotopes covering vast radioactive lands. Governments around the world, desperate to protect future generations, have begun imagining society 10,000 years from now in order to create monuments that will speak across time. Part observational essay filmed in weapons plants, Fukushima and deep underground—and part graphic novel—‘Containment' weaves between an uneasy present and an imaginative, troubled far future, exploring the idea that over millennia, nothing stays put.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Redacted Pictures, c/o Department of History of Science, Science Center 468, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
YEAR PRODUCED: 2015
PRODUCERS/DIRECTORS: Peter Galison, Robb Moss
Co-PRODUCER: Chyld King
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Hervé Cohen, Tim Cragg, Austin DeBesche, Leonard Retel Helmrich, Stephen McCarthy
EDITOR: Chyld King
PRINT MATERIALS: Electronic press kit available from website: http://www.redactedpictures.com
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, Sheffield Doc/Fest, Zurich Film Festival, Vancouver International Film Festival, Festival do Rio, Cine Eco Environmental Film Festival, Denver Film Festival, RiverRun International Film Festival, Pariscience
Awards: CineEco Environmental Film Festival (Portugal) – Environmental Education Award
MUSEUMS/EXHIBITIONS: Steirischer Herbst (Graz), Walker Art Center (Minneapolis), Project Art Gallery (Dublin), Haus der Kulturen der Welt (Berlin), Timelab (Ghent), Extra City Kunsthal (Antwerp), Newspace Center for Photography (Portland), Sursock Museum (Beirut), The Academy of Natural Sciences (Philadelphia)
FORMAT: DVD 82 minutes
DISTRIBUTOR: International: Ro*co Films International, http://www.rocofilms.com
North American (educational + non-theatrical): Tugg, http://eduhome.tugg.com
Contrary Warriors: A Story of the Crow Tribe
Documentary
Contrary Warriors tells the story of the Crow people of southwestern Montana, focusing on the leadership of 97-year-old Robert Summers Yellowtail, who began his career in 1910 defending Crow lands, rights, and tribal authority in the halls of Congress.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Rattlesnake Productions, Missoula, MT
YEAR PRODUCED: 1986
PRODUCERS: Connie Poten, Pamela Roberts, Beth Ferris
WRITERS: Connie Poten, Beth Ferris
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Stephen Lighthill
EDITOR: Jennifer Chinlund
NARRATOR: Peter Coyote
AWARD: American Film and Video Festival, John Grierson Award
FORMAT: 16mm, Video (60:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: Direct Cinema Limited
A Country Auction
Documentary
A Country Auction examines how an estate sale in rural Pennsylvania reveals the personal, social, and economic pressures on a family and a community dealing with death.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Center for Visual Communication, Philadelphia, PA
YEAR PRODUCED: 1984
PRODUCERS/DIRECTORS: Robert Aibel, Ben Levin, Chris Musello, Jay Ruby
EDITOR: Ben Levin
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Tom Ott
FORMAT: 16mm, Video (58:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: The Pennsylvania State University, Audio Visual Services
Craven Street
Dramatic Radio Series
This five-part series dramatizes Benjamin Franklin's last six years as a colonial agent in London (1770-1775), and his attempts to prevent the American Revolution.
Program 1
After the Boston Massacre, Franklin agrees to represent the radical colony of Massachusetts Bay.
Program 2
Franklin comes upon stolen letters from the royal governor of Massachusetts urging “an abridgement of British liberty” in America.
Program 3
Franklin's involvement with the stolen letters causes a furor and leads to a duel.
Program 4
The Boston Tea Party increases Franklin's difficulties with the British government.
Program 5
As hostilities mount between Britain and America, Franklin is involved in three sets of secret, eleventh-hour peace talks.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: The American Dialogues Foundation, Glendale, CA
YEAR PRODUCED: 1992
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Robert Foxworth
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR/WRITER: Yuri Rasovsky
CAST: Nigel Hawthorne, Elizabeth Montgomery, George Grizzard, Martin Sheen, David Warner, and others
FORMAT: Audiocassette (50:00-55:00 each)
DISTRIBUTOR: The Hollywood Theater of the Ear
Crucible of Empire: The Spanish-American War
Documentary
The film, narrated by award-winning actor Edward James Olmos, examines the colorful characters and historic events surrounding this 100-year-old war and its relevance to the twentieth century. Using reenactments, interviews with noted authors and popular historians, and more than a dozen newly arranged popular songs from the period, the program looks at the influence of race, economics, new technologies, and the news media on America's decision to go to war.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Great Projects Film Company, Inc., New York, NY
YEAR PRODUCED: 1999
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Daniel B. Polin, Kenneth Mandel
PRODUCERS/WRITERS: Daniel B. Polin, Daniel A. Miller
DIRECTOR: Daniel A. Miller
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Roger T. Grange, III
EDITOR: Ted Winterburn
NARRATOR: Edward James Olmos
FORMAT: Video (120:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: PBS Video
The Circus
Documentary
The four-hour series tells the story of one of the most popular and influential forms of entertainment in American history. Through the intertwined stories of several of the most innovative and influential impreserious of the late nineteenth century, the series reveals the circus was a uniquely American entertainment created by a rapidly expanding and industrializing nation; that it embraced and was made possible by Western imperialism; that its history was shaped by a tension between its unconventional entertainments and prevailing standards of respectability; and that its promise for ordinary people was the possibility for personal reinvention, the exotic, and the spectacular. Drawing upon a vast and richly visual archive and featuring a host of performers, historians, and aficionados, The Circus follows the rise and fall of the gigantic, traveling, tented, railroad circus and brings to life an era when Circus Day would shut down a town and its stars were among the most famous people in the country.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Filmmakers Collaborative, Melrose, MA
YEAR PRODUCED: 2018
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Mark Samels
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR/WRITER: Sharon Grimberg
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Jason Longo, Stephen McCarthy
EDITORS: Jon Neuburger, Mark Dugas
NARRATOR: Michael Murphy
CAST: Roderick Garr, Steven Gevedon, Jason Harris Matthew Lawler, Monette Magrath, Richie Moriarty, Brandon Williams
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: Writers Guild Award Nomination
FORMAT: DVD 2 discs x 120 mins
DISTRIBUTOR: PBS Distribution: http://pbsdistribution.org/
Darrow
Drama
This film presents the events and issues that concerned Clarence Darrow (1857–1938) and documents his transformation from a corporate lawyer to the maverick defense attorney who represented Eugene Debs, the McNamara brothers, Leopold and Loeb, and Thomas Scopes.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: KCET, Los Angeles, CA
YEAR PRODUCED: 1991 (first broadcast on American Playhouse)
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Ricki Franklin
PRODUCERS: Richard Heus, Stephen Stept
DIRECTOR: John Coles
WRITERS: William Schmidt, Stephen Stept
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Paul Murphy
EDITOR: Angelo Carrao
CAST: Kevin Spacey, Rebecca Jenkins, Christopher Cooper
AWARDS: Ohio State Award; Houston Film Festival, Silver Award
FORMAT: Video (120:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: KCET
Dateline 1787
Dramatic Radio Series
Dateline 1787 is a fourteen-part series that uses modern broadcast journalism to present and examine the events, issues, and personalities surrounding the drafting of the Constitution at the Convention of 1787. Commentators William B. Allen, professor of government, Harvey Mudd College, and Jack N. Rakove, professor of history, Stanford University, discuss the issues raised in each episode.
Program 1
May 27, 1787
The National Radio Theatre News Team, situated in the “broadcast booth” of the Philadelphia State House, reports on the background and opening of the Convention called to revise the Articles of Confederation.
Program 2
June 3, 1787
Virginia Governor Edmund Randolph introduces a plan for wholesale reform.
Program 3
June 10, 1787
Elements of the Randolph Plan are debated as differences emerge on questions of representation.
Program 4
June 17, 1787
Tension mounts between the federalists and nationalists regarding legislative representation.
Program 5
June 24, 1787
National response to the confederal argument of the New Jersey Plan is aired; a final vote is taken to choose between the Randolph and Paterson plans.
Program 6
July 1, 1787
Delegates reach an impasse over methods of apportioning representation.
Program 7
July 8, 1787
The controversy over representation is turned over to a committee.
Program 8
July 15, 1787
The debate turns to differences between the North and South over slavery.
Program 9
July 22, 1787
A vote temporarily settles the representation issue; the delegates turn their attention to the Presidency and powers of federal government.
Program 10
August 4, 1787
Methods of electing the President are debated, as the controversies between large and small states continue.
Program 11
August 12, 1787
Committee reports are followed by particularly rapid progress.
Program 12
September 2, 1787
Delegates reach a compromise on the slavery issue; the presidency takes final form; property requirements for suffrage are thrown out.
Program 13
September 16, 1787
The Committee on Postponed Matters reports as the convention draws to a close. There is a discussion of defection, an interview with George Washington, and presentation of the final draft of the Constitution.
Program 14
September 17, 1787
The News Team captures Benjamin Franklin's “rising sun” remark and buttonholes other delegates after adjournment for their closing impressions.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: National Radio Theatre, Chicago, IL
YEAR PRODUCED: 1986
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: Yuri Rasovsky
WRITERS: Michelle Damico, Denise Jimenez, Yuri Rasovsky
FORMAT: Audiocassette
14 (30:00) programs
DISTRIBUTOR: Pacifica Program Service/Radio Archive
Dawn's Early Light: Ralph McGill and the Segregated South
Documentary
Dawn's Early Light examines journalist Ralph McGill, as he emerged during the 1950s and 1960s to become an influential Southern white opponent of racial segregation.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Center for Contemporary Media, Inc., Atlanta, GA
YEAR PRODUCED: 1988
PRODUCERS/DIRECTORS: Kathleen Dowdey, Jed Dannenbaum
EDITOR: Kathleen Dowdey
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Edwin Myers
HOST/NARRATOR: Burt Lancaster
INTERVIEWS: Julian Bond, Tom Brokaw, Jimmy Carter, John Lewis, Vernon Jordan, Herman Talmadge, Sander Vanocur, Andrew Young, Harry Ashmore, Eugene Patterson, Claude Sitton, and others
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: Chicago International Film Festival, Silver Plaque; National Educational Film and Video Festival, Bronze Apple
FORMAT: Video (two versions, 88:00 and 58:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: New Day Films
The Donner Party
Documentary
This film chronicles the ill-fated journey of a group of pioneers from Springfield, Illinois, to Sutter's Fort, California, in the spring of 1846.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Steeplechase Films, Inc., New York, NY
YEAR PRODUCED: 1992 (first broadcast on The American Experience)
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Judy Crichton
PRODUCERS: Lisa Ades, Ric Burns
DIRECTOR/WRITER: Ric Burns
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Buddy Squires, with Allen Moore
EDITOR: Bruce Shaw
HOST/NARRATOR: David McCullough
VOICES: J.D. Cannon, Timothy Hutton, Gene Jones, Amy Madigan, Donald McCann, George Plimpton, Paul Roebling, Lois Smith, Frances Sternhagen, Eli Wallach
AWARDS/SCREENINGS: National Emmy Nomination, Outstanding Achievement in a Craft/Directing and Writing; National Board of Review, D.W.Griffith Award; Peabody Broadcasting Award; Western Heritage Awards Competition, National Cowboy Hall of Fame, Outstanding Documentary; CINE Golden Eagle; National Educational Film and Video Festival, Silver Apple; Booklist, Top of the List; Telluride Film Festival; The Aspen Filmfest; International Documentary Film Festival (Los Angeles); Denver, Mountainfilm, and Great Plains Film Festivals; Western History Conference/California Historical Society (Sacramento, CA and Laramie, WY); Alliance Française (NYC); Channel Four/Britain
FORMAT: Video (84:00)
DISTRIBUTORS:
Direct Cinema Limited (home video)
PBS Video (educational)
Divided Highways: The Interstates and the Transformation of American Life
Documentary
A compelling and humorous film that tells of the high ideals and vision of those who planned the highways, the engineers who built them, and the way these roads have changed the communities and lives of all Americans.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Florentine Films/Hott Productions, Haydenville, MA
YEAR PRODUCED: 1997
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Larry Hott, Tom Lewis
PRODUCERS: Larry Hott, Tom Lewis
DIRECTOR: Larry Hott
WRITER: Tom Lewis
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Allen Moore
EDITOR: Diane Garey
NARRATOR: George Guidall
INTERVIEWS: Stephen Ambrose, Michael Smith, Dave Barry, Michele Grijalva, Jessica Matthews, Lisa Newton, Phillip Patton, Stephen Goddard, Tom and Ray Magliozzi, Harley Shaiken, David Lee, Sandra Rosenbloom, Ronald Edsforth, Kenneth Jackson, Roland Marchand, Fred Rogers, Frank Griggs, Molly Ivins, John Kay, William Cronon, Jonathan Gifford, T. Willard Fair, Jesse McCrary, Joseph Alioto, Fred Salvucci, Sylvia Hyman, Ken Krulkemeyer, Claire Barrett, Jane Holtz Kay, Sunny Moore, Tom Brennan, Ann Bandazian, Diane and Gary Phillips, Marion and James Malone, David Dillon, Andres Duany, Julia Child, William Fay, Char Miller
PRINT MATERIAL: WETA: Press kit, Study Guide, Poster
AWARDS: George Foster Peabody Award
FORMAT: Video (90:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: Films for the Humanities and Sciences
Driving While Black: Race, Space and Mobility in America
Documentary
Driving While Black: Race, Space and Mobility in America explores how the automobile brought mobility and personal freedom to African Americans. But even in their own cars, mobility was restricted for black drivers. In a story that reaches back to the time of slavery, the film explores the role of mobility in a free society, the relentless nature of racial profiling, and the resilience of a people in the face of discrimination. The film holds an urgent and powerful message for American society today—at once revelatory, deeply troubling, and inspiring as it reveals a story of human courage, creativity, and commitment to change—it provides a crucial window on discrimination, civil rights, and national identity.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Steeplechase Films, New York, NY
YEAR PRODUCED: 2020
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Margaret Munzer Loeb, Rula Jebreal, Arthur G. Altschul, Jr., Geralyn White Dreyfous
PRODUCERS: Bonnie Lafave, Sr. Producer; Emily Pfeil, Steven Bennett, Emir Lewis, Kathryn Clinard, Producers; Greg Sorin, Co-Producer
DIRECTORS/WRITERS: Ric Burns, Gretchen Sorin
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Buddy Squires, Samuel Russell
EDITOR: Emir Lewis
CAST: Interviewees; Vernell Allen, Eric Avila, Tamara Banks, Herb Boyd, Leah Chase, Spencer Crew, Valerie Cunningham, Walter Edwards, Lolis Elie, Carolyn Finney, Kathleen Franz, Howard Glener, Alvin Hall, Allyson Hobbs, Gary Jackson, Ken Jackson, Kenneth Jackson, Nancelia Jackson, Alison Rose Jefferson, Ellis Marsalis Jr., Yvette Marsalis, Stella Chase Reese, Jennifer Reut, Fath Ruffins, Mae Stiger, Gretchen Sorin, Thomas Sugrue, Candacy Taylor, Christopher West, Silas White, Craig Steven Wilder
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: Recipient of the American Bar Association’s 2021 Silver Gavel Award for Media and the Arts, Documentary category; Justice Film Festival (2020); Glimmerglass Film Days (2020), voted audience favorite of the festival; Sankofa Reel2Real Virtual Film Festival (2020)
FORMAT: DVD (1 hour 55 minutes)
DISTRIBUTOR: PBS; www.pbs.org
The Dust Bowl
Documentary
The “dust bowl,” words coined by an Associated Press reporter in 1935 to describe the southern plains that rain had forsaken, was the worst man-made ecological disaster in American history—in which the heedless actions of thousands of individual farmers, encouraged by their government and influenced by global makerts, resulted in a collective tragedy that nearly swept away the breadbasket of the nation. Through photographs and newsreels, newspaper accounts and diaries—and most of all, through compelling interviews with the individuals who experienced it all first-hand—we will bring the story of the Dust Bowl to life so that, for generations to come, its sweeping human drama remains emotionally vivid, and its important environmental lessons are not forgotten. At its heart, our film is a social, economic, and environmental history, examining the human cause and response to the twin catastrophes of the decade-long drought against the overlay of the national Depression. It will touch on the sociology of rural America in the 1930s—including the impact of the disasters on small communities of the Plains—as well as the way many people filtered their experience through the prism of their religion. It will cover national politics and government, as FDR and his administration struggle to devise policies that address the twin disasters, and it will delve into the history of agricultural policy in the nation—from the Homestead Act to the first, massive intervention of the federal government into shaping the decisions of individual farmers, a turning point in farm policy.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: GWETA, Inc. Arlington, VA
YEAR PRODUCED: 2012
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Ken Burns
PRODUCERS: Julie Dunfey, Dayton Duncan, Aileen Silverstone, Susan Shumaker
DIRECTORS: Dayton Duncan, Dave Mast
WRITER: Dayton Duncan
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Buddy Squires, Stephen McCarthy
EDITORS: Craig Mellish, Ryan Gifford, Richard Rubin, Meagan Frappiea, Katy Haas
NARRATOR: Peter Coyote
CAST: Patricia Clarkson, Carolyn McCormick, Kevin Conway, Amy Madigan
PRINTED MATERIALS: The Dust Bowl: An Illustrated History, Chronicle Books
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: CINE Golden Eagle Award: Televised Documentary & Performance Division; History; National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum: Western Heritage Award; Outstanding Documentary; Western Writers of America: Spur Award; Documentary Script
FORMAT: DVD (4 hours)
DISTRIBUTOR: PBS: http://www.pbs.org
Eisenhower
Documentary
Based on scholarship of the declassified Eisenhower record, this two-part program looks at the life and career of the 34th president of the United States. (Part I: Soldier; Part II: Statesman)
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: WGBH Educational Foundation, Boston, MA
YEAR PRODUCED: 1993 (first broadcast on The American Experience)
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Austin Hoyt, Judy Crichton
PRODUCERS/WRITERS: Adriana Bosch (Part I), Austin Hoyt (Part II)
COPRODUCER/EDITOR: Daniel McCabe (Part I)
EDITOR: Sarah Holt (Part II)
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Mark Gunning
MUSIC: Michael Bacon
NARRATOR: David McCullough
INTERVIEWS: John Eisenhower, Stephen E. Ambrose, Michael R. Beschloss, Forrest Pogue, Fred I. Greenstein, Sir Michael Howard, David Eisenhower, Nigel Hamilton, Andy Rooney, Arthur Schlesinger, Robert Donovan, Gen. Andrew Goodpaster, Judge Constance Motley, Chalmers Roberts, Ambassador Vernon A. Walters, Gen. Georgiy A. Mikhailov, and others
AWARDS: Christopher Award; Chicago International Film Festival, Certificate of Merit; National Educational Film and Video Festival, Gold Apple
FORMAT: Video (150:00)
DISTRIBUTORS:
PBS Video (educational)
Shanachie Entertainment (home video)
Eleanor Roosevelt
Documentary
This film biography examines the life of one of the twentieth century's most influential figures, a woman who was shaped and driven by politics and who remains an astonishingly relevant and powerful role model for millions of Americans. Eleanor Roosevelt weaves together interviews with Mrs. Roosevelt's closest surviving relatives, friends, and biographers as well as rare home movie footage—providing a fresh, complex examination of an American legend.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Ambrica Productions, Inc., Waltham, MA
YEAR PRODUCED: 2000
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Judith Vecchione, Margaret Drain
PRODUCERS: Kathryn Dietz, Sue Williams
DIRECTOR/WRITER: Sue Williams
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Bestor Cram, William Turnley, James Callanan, Joel Shapiro
EDITOR: Howard Sharp
NARRATOR: Alfre Woodard
FORMAT: Video (160:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: PBS Video
The Electric Valley
Documentary
The Electric Valley presents the history of the Tennessee Valley Authority, a federal agency with a broad mission to tame the forces of nature, create energy, and produce lasting prosperity in the Tennessee Valley.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: James Agee Film Project, Johnson City, TN
YEAR PRODUCED: 1983
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER: Jude Cassidy
WRITERS: Ross Spears, Dick Couto, Melanie Maholick
EDITOR: Melanie Maholick
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Anthony Forma
NARRATOR: Wilma Dykeman
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: American Film and Video Festival, Finalist; National Emmy nomination, Public Affairs Documentary; FILMEX (Los Angeles); American Film Festival; Leipzig Film Festival; U.S. Film Festival; American Studies Association; Filmex; Museum of Modern Art; The Kennedy Center
FORMAT: 16mm, Video (90:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: James Agee Film Project Library
Emma Goldman: An Exceedingly Dangerous Woman
Documentary
Emma Goldman (1869–1940) was an exceedingly outspoken woman who spent three decades in the United States battling political and social injustice. In the eyes of some, she was the most dangerous woman in America. To others, she was an uncompromising voice for freedom. Goldman was an old-school soapboxer, pamphleteer, writer and publisher. She condemned capitalism, advocated the ideology of anarchism, was accused of fomenting the assassination of President William McKinley, crusaded for birth control, and led a campaign to oppose the draft during World War I that landed her in prison and paved the way to her deportation from the United States in 1919. “Her name was enough in those days to produce a shudder,” said Margaret Anderson, a close friend of Goldman and the publisher the avant-garde magazine The Little Review. “She was considered “a monster, an exponent of free love and bombs.”
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Nebraska ETV Network, Lincoln, NE
YEAR PRODUCED: 2004
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Margaret Drain and Mark Samels
PRODUCERS/DIRECTOR/WRITER: Mel Bucklin
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Eddie Marritz
EDITOR: Ralph Hammack
NARRATOR: Blair Brown
CAST: Linda Emond, Denis O'Hare
PRINT MATERIAL: Copies of publicity materials are available from American Experience (WGBH Boston). See also the American Experience website pbs.org/amex/goldman for more information on the film.
FORMAT: 90 mins
DISTRIBUTORS: WGBH
Empire of the Air
Documentary
This film tells the story of three men whose role in the creation of radio transformed American culture: Lee de Forest, Edwin Howard Armstrong, and David Sarnoff.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATIONS: Florentine Films, NH, in association with WETA, Washington, DC
YEAR PRODUCED: 1991
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Ken Burns
PRODUCERS: Ken Burns, Morgan Wesson, Tom Lewis, Camilla Rockwell, Susanna Stelsel
WRITER: Geoffrey C. Ward
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Ken Burns, Buddy Squires, Allen Moore
EDITORS: Yaffa Lerea, Paul Barnes
NARRATOR: Jason Robards
FORMAT: Video (116:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: PBS Video
Expressions: Black American Folk Art and Culture
Documentary Radio Series
Expressions is a ten-part series of radio programs about African-American art forms which derive from folk culture. The programs supported by NEH are designated by an asterisk (*); the other programs were funded by the National Endowment for the Arts.
Program 1 *
Authentic Afro-American Legends
traces the origin, evolution, and transmittal of African-American legends.
Program 2 *
Afro-American Proverbs
explores the use of short sayings that express simple, common-sense truths based on practical experience.
Program 3 *
Arabing
considers the art of “arabing” as practiced in Baltimore, Maryland. “Arabers” are street vendors who sell their wares by walking through city streets with calls derived from the same source as blues, gospel, and other traditional black American music genres.
Program 4 *
A Capella
explores the African-American tradition of singing without instrumental accompaniment.
Program 5
Song Making
looks at the development of the African-American song tradition, specifically how it may be used to record history and how melodies, rhythms, and lyrics are reshaped through the oral tradition.
Program 6
Hair Sculpture
examines the history and significance of the popular urban and rural art of African-American hair design.
Program 7
The Party
compares historical slave rituals and their cultural connection with present-day house, rent, and card parties.
Program 8
Street Cheers
analyzes the contemporary urban art form called streetcheers, popular among African-American youth.
Program 9 *
Rhythms
looks at the beat and style of black art.
Program 10 *
Preaching
treats the musical, dramatic, and oratorical preaching styles in the traditional black church and considers the black preacher as artist.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Judi Moore Smith Productions, Temple Hills, MD
YEAR PRODUCED: 1983
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR/WRITER/NARRATOR: Judi Moore Smith
AWARDS: National Association of Black Journalists; Federation of Community Broadcasters, Outstanding Radio Production; Ohio State Achievement Award
FORMAT: Audiocassette
10 (30:00) programs
DISTRIBUTOR: contact Judi Moore Smith-Latta
FDR
Documentary Series
This four-part series examines the life and career of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd president of the United States.
Program 1
features FDR's childhood at Hyde Park, his marriage to Eleanor, and his entrance into national politics.
Program 2
traces his attack of polio, the long struggle to overcome his paralysis, his changing relationship with Eleanor, and his return to political life.
Program 3
explores the first two terms of his presidency, which are characterized by a new vision of the role and responsibility of government and by an evolving political partnership with Eleanor.
Program 4
covers the progress of World War II and the importance of FDR's relationships with Churchill and Stalin in planning for war and subsequent peace. His health visibly failing, FDR dies in 1945, within a year of his inauguration for a fourth term.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: WGBH, Boston, MA, in association with David Grubin Productions, New York, NY
YEAR PRODUCED: 1994 (first broadcast on The American Experience)
PRODUCER/WRITER: David Grubin
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER for The American Experience: Judy Crichton
SENIOR PRODUCER: Chana Gazit
EDITORS: Susan Fanshel, Geof Bartz
CINEMATOGRAPHY: William B. McCullough, Roger Phenix
NARRATOR: David McCullough
MUSIC: Michael Bacon
SERIES ASSOCIATE PRODUCER: Allyson Luchak
SENIOR CREATIVE CONSULTANT: Geoffrey C. Ward
AWARD: George Foster Peabody Award
PRINT MATERIAL: Transcripts can be purchased by calling 303-931-9000
FORMAT: Video, Programs 1, 2 (60:00), Programs 3, 4 (75:00)
DISTRIBUTORS:
PBS Video (educational)
Shanachie Entertainment (home video)
DOCSTAR (international)
The Fight
Documentary
This historical documentary chronicles the interweaving lives of two heavyweight boxers: American Joe Louis and German Max Schmeling. As they rise through the ranks of professional boxing, each man must navigate societies buffeted by economic depression, racism, and World War.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Social Media Productions, Brooklyn, NY
YEAR PRODUCED: 2004
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Mark Samels
PRODUCERS: Barak Goodman, John Maggio
DIRECTOR/WRITER: Barak Goodman
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Stephen McCarthey
EDITOR: Lewis Erskine
NARRATOR: Courtney B. Vance
PRINT MATERIALS: Press packet available from the director
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: Sundance Film Festival; Writers Guild Award; Emmy, best direction.
FORMAT: Video 82:00 mins
DISTRIBUTOR: WGBH
The Fight in the Fields: César Chávez and the Farm Workers' Struggle
Documentary
This film explores the pivotal role played by the United Farm Workers and its leader César Chávez in organizing the first successful union for farm workers. While focusing on Chávez, the film portrays the Chicano activism of the 1960s and 1970s and the training of a generation of organizers in their struggle for social and economic justice.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Paradigm Productions, Inc.
YEAR PRODUCED: 1996
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Rick Tejada-Flores
DIRECTORS: Rick Tejada-Flores, Ray Telles
WRITERS: Rick Tejada-Flores, Ray Telles
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Vicente Franco
EDITOR: Herb Ferrette
NARRATOR: Henry Darrow
INTERVIEWS: Jesse de la Cruz, Dolores Huerta, Chris Hartmire, and others
AWARDS: CINE Golden Eagle; National Educational Media Network Golden Apple; Best Documentary, Cine Festival, San Antonio
FORMAT: Video (90:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: University Distribution Services
First Angry Man
Documentary
If you ever wondered how the great public ambitions of postwar America collapsed into the bitter parsimony of the “permanent tax revolt,” look no further than Howard Jarvis, whose 1978 ballot initiative, Proposition 13, changed everything in California and beyond. First Angry Man unpacks the dramatic campaign, its quirky characters, and the enduring consequences that continue to define our times. Proposition 13 slashed property taxes in California. But more importantly, it launched a nationwide tax revolt that continues unabated today. The forty years since Proposition 13 has witnessed historic growth in economic inequality and the unraveling of America’s safety net. The First Angry Man frames this history for an audience that was raised with an aversion to taxation and government, without fully understanding the consequences for schools, health services, public safety, and public infrastructure.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Bread and Butter Films, Inc., Berkeley, CA
YEAR PRODUCED: 2019
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Jonathan Logan, Juan Devis
PRODUCER: Camille Seryan-Schreiber
DIRECTOR/WRITER: Jason Cohn
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Andrew Black, Ulli Bonnekamp
EDITORS: Kevin Jones, Stephanie Mechura
NARRATOR: Pamela Adlon
CAST: Bill Boyarsky, Narda Zacchino, Bill Press, Gray Davis, Willie L. Brown, Randy Goodwin, Joelle Gamble, Daniel Smith, Bill Bagley, Isaac W. Martin, Joel Fox
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: LA Press Club award for National Political/Government Reporting Nominated for LA Area Emmy Finalist for Ken Burns/ Library of Congress / Lavine Prize for Film (awarded $25,000 as finalist) Best Documentary San Pablo International Film Festival
FORMAT: DVD (52 minutes)
DISTRIBUTOR: First Run Features, www.firstrunfeatures.com
Fit: Episodes In the History of the Body
Documentary
This film looks at the scientific theories and cultural values underlying the American fascination with physical fitness and the body over the past 150 years.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Straight Ahead Pictures, Inc., Conway, MA
YEAR PRODUCED: 1991
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: Laurie Block
WRITERS: Laurie Block, John Crowley
EDITOR: Howard Sharp
NARRATOR: Linda Hunt
FORMAT: 16mm, Video (two versions, 73:00 and 57:30)
DISTRIBUTOR: Straight Ahead Pictures, Inc.
Forgotten Genius
Documentary
Forgotten Genius is a largely unknown story of scientific triumph and racial inequality. It covers the extraordinary life journey of Percy Julian, one of the great chemists of the twentieth century. The grandson of Alabama slaves, Julian met with every possible barrier in a deeply segregated America. He was a man of genius, devotion, and determination. As a black man he was also an outsider, fighting to make a place for himself in a profession and country divided by bigotry-a man who would eventually find freedom in the laboratory. By the time of his death, Julian had risen to the highest levels of scientific and personal achievement, overcoming countless obstacles to become a world-class scientist, a self-made millionaire, and a civil-rights pioneer.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: WGBH Educational Foundation, Boston, MA
YEAR PRODUCED: 2006
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Paula S. Apsell
PRODUCERS: Llewellyn M. Smith, Stephen Lyons
DIRECTOR: Llewellyn M. Smith
WRITERS: Stephen Lyons, Llewellyn M. Smith
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Gary Henoch, Tom Fahey, Stephen McCarthy
EDITOR: Doug Quade
NARRATOR: Courtney B. Vance
CAST: Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Raymond Lambert, Shawn Agard, Gregory Velez, Ray Almeida, Bobbie Patrick, Carmen Dillon, Edward Logan, Ceoria Coates, Donald Watson, Jonathan Niles, Pamela Lambert, Langston Toxey, Sean McGuirk, Frank Harrison
PRINT MATERIALS: Press Releases, Press Photos, Contact: Lindsay de la Rigaudiere, Tel. 617-300-4258
FORMAT: Video/DVD 2 hours
DISTRIBUTOR: WGBH
The Forward: From Immigrants to Americans
Documentary
This film documents the history of the Jewish Forward, a Yiddish-language daily newspaper based in New York City, which was for many years the most successful and widely read Yiddish paper in the United States.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Jewish Forward Film Project, Amherst, MA
YEAR PRODUCED: 1987
PRODUCERS/WRITERS: Marlene Booth, Linda Matchan
DIRECTOR: Marlene Booth
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Nancy Schreiber
EDITOR: Eric W. Handley
NARRATOR: Tim Sawyer
PRINT MATERIAL: Program transcript available
FORMAT: Video (58:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: Direct Cinema Limited
Frederick Douglass: When the Lion Wrote History
Documentary
This program examines the life and work of Frederick Douglass (1818–95), the former slave who became a leading abolitionist, writer, orator, journalist, publisher, diplomat, and champion of universal human rights.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: WETA-TV, Washington, DC
YEAR PRODUCED: 1994
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Tamara E. Robinson
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: Orlando Bagwell
COPRODUCER: Lisa Jones
NARRATION WRITTEN BY: Steve Fayer
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Michael Chin
EDITOR: Sandra Marie Christie
NARRATOR: Alfre Woodard
VOICE OF DOUGLASS: Charles S. Dutton AWARDS: National Emmy Nomination, Individual Achievement in a Craft/Researchers
PRINT MATERIAL: Teacher's Guide
FORMAT: Video (86:46)
DISTRIBUTOR: PBS Video
Frederick Law Olmsted: Designing America
Documentary
The film offers viewers a glimpse into the life of the most successful landscape architect to have ever lived. From co-designing Central Park to leading the campaign to protect Niagara Falls, Frederick Law Olmsted made public parks and preservation an essential part of American life. The program explores the enormous contributions of Olmsted to the American landscape, as well as his marked failures and losses.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: WNED-TV Buffalo-Toronto, Buffalo, NY
YEAR PRODUCED: 2014
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: John Grant
EXECUTIVE IN CHARGE OF PRODUCTION: David Rotterman
DIRECTORS: Lawrence Hott, Diane Garey
WRITER: Ken Chowder
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Stephen McCarthy, Jason Longo, David Litz, Thorsten Thielow, Jimmy Gribbins, Ken Willinger
EDITOR: Diane Garey
NARRATOR: Stockard Channing
CAST: Campbell Scott
ANIMATION AND GRAPHICS: Amit Sethi
PRINTED MATERIALS: Brochure; WNED-TV
FORMAT: DVD (60:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: PBS: www.pbs.org
Freedom On My Mind
Documentary
This film tells the story of the 1961–64 Mississippi Voter Registration Project, largely in the voices of the participants themselves, which culminated in Freedom Summer, when a thousand college students from around the county went to Mississippi in support of the sharecroppers, day laborers, maids, and young black organizers who had been fighting racism in the state.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Clarity Educational Productions, Berkeley, CA
YEAR PRODUCED: 1994
PRODUCERS/DIRECTORS: Connie Field, Marilyn Mulford
WRITER/EDITOR: Michael Chandler
SCRIPT BY: Michael Moore, with Connie Field and Marilyn Mulford
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Vicente Franco, Michael Ching, Steve Devita
NARRATOR: Ronnie Washington
INTERVIEWS: Victoria Gray, Bob Moses, Endesha Ida Mae Holland, L.C.Dorsey, Cleveland Sellers, Pam Chude Allen, Marshall Ganz, Curtis Hayes, Heather Booth, Len Edwards
AWARDS: Academy Award Nomination, Best Documentary Feature; Sundance Film Festival, Grand Jury Prize, Best Documentary; International Documentary Association, Best Documentary; Organization of American Historians, Erik Barnouw Award; American Historical Association, John O'Connor Award, Best Historical Documentary; National Educational Film and Video Festival, Best of Northern California
FORMAT: Video (110:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: Clarity Educational Productions
Freedom Riders
Documentary
In 1961, segregation seemed to have an overwhelming grip on American society. Many states violently enforced the policy, while the federal government, under the Kennedy administration, remained indifferent, preoccupied with matters abroad. That is, until an integrated band of college students—many of whom were the first in their families to attend a university—decided, en masse, to risk everything and buy a ticket on a Greyhound bus bound for the Deep South. They called themselves the Freedom Riders, and they managed to bring the president and the entire American public face to face with the challenge of correcting civil rights inequities that plagued the nation.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATIONS: WGBH, Boston, MA
YEAR PRODUCED: 2009
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Mark Samels
PRODUCERS: Stanley Nelson & Laurens Grant
DIRECTOR/WRITER: Stanley Nelson
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Robert Shepard
EDITORS: Lewis Erskine, Aljernon Tunsil
PRINT MATERIALS: Program transcript and teachers guides available on the website: http://www.pbs.org/freedomriders
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: Sundance Film Festival 2010; Full Frame 2010; Silver Docs 2010; Plus screenings at numerous other festivals throughout the country and world; Heartland Film Festival Crystal Heart Award; Boulder International Film Festival People's Choice Award
FORMAT: Video/DVD (115:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: PBS distribution
Fundi: The Story of Ella Baker
Documentary
This film presents the life and career of civil rights activist Ella Baker, who was friend and adviser to Martin Luther King Jr. and a driving force behind SNCC (Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee).
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Fundi Productions, Inc., New York, NY
YEAR PRODUCED: 1981
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: Joanne Grant
DIRECTORIAL CONSULTANT: Saul Landau
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Judy Irola
EDITOR: Hortense Beveridge
CONSULTING EDITOR: John Carter
MUSIC: Bernice Johnson Reagon
AWARDS: London Film Festival, Film of the Year; San Francisco International Film Festival, Best of Category; Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame, First Prize Documentary
FORMAT: 16mm, Video (two versions, 60:00 and 45:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: First Run/Icarus Films
George Marshall and the American Century
Documentary
This is a biography of General George C. Marshall who as U.S. Army Chief of Staff led the Allied Victory in World War II and as Secretary of State helped create the Marshall Plan.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Great Projects Film Company, Inc., New York, NY
YEAR PRODUCED: 1991
PRODUCERS: Daniel B. Polin, Kenneth Mandel
DIRECTORS: Kenneth Mandel, Ken Levis
WRITER: Geoffrey C. Ward
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Phil Abraham
EDITOR: Ken Levis
AWARDS/SCREENINGS: National Educational Film & Video Festival, Silver Apple; Worldfest (Houston, TX), Silver Award; American Film and Video Festival, Red Ribbon; Film Council of Greater Columbus, Chris Award, Best in History Category; CINE Golden Eagle
FORMAT: Video (88:00)
DISTRIBUTORS: Direct Cinema Limited
George Wallace: Settin' the Woods on Fire
Documentary
To many, George Wallace was the embodiment of racism in America. To others, he was a champion of Southern pride and a defender of the working class. He rose to power as the nation's best-known segregationist in the early 1960s but was later elected governor of Alabama with overwhelming black support. A Golden Gloves fighter, he battled his way into the national spotlight and came close to deadlocking the 1968 presidential election as a third-party candidate-then was shot down by a would-be assassin on the eve of his greatest political victories. Wallace would spend his remaining years seeking redemption for the divisiveness he had once preached and asking forgiveness from those he had scorned-but he left a conservative political legacy that continues to influence national politics today.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Midnight Films, c/o RTF Department, Austin, TX
YEAR PRODUCED: 2000
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Margaret Drain
PRODUCERS/DIRECTORS: Dan McCabe, Paul Stekler
WRITERS: Steve Fayer, Dan McCabe, Paul Stekler
CINEMATOGRAPHY: John Hazard
EDITOR: Dan McCabe
NARRATOR: Randy Quaid
PRINTED MATERIALS: Through WGBH/The American Experience
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: Sundance 2000 Film Festival, Special Jury Prize; Emmy Award (for Research; nominated for an Emmy for Writing); Writer's Guild of America Award for Outstanding Script for Television Documentary; International Documentary Association Distinguished Documentary Achievement Award; featured in the Academy Award's Tribute to Documentaries
FORMAT: Video 160 mins
DISTRIBUTOR: WGBH
Geronimo and the Apache Resistance
Documentary
This is the story of a tragic collision of two civilizations, each with startlingly different views of one another. In 1886, 5,000 U.S. troops mobilized to capture this one man and his band of followers who, by refusing to move onto a reservation, defied and eluded federal authorities.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: WGBH Educational Foundation, Boston, MA
YEAR PRODUCED: 1988
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Judy Crichton
PRODUCER: Neil Goodwin
DIRECTORS: Neil Goodwin, Jacqueline Shearer
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Doug Shaffer, Neil Goodwin
NARRATOR: Neil Goodwin
FORMAT: Video 60 mins
DISTRIBUTOR: WGBH
GI JEWS: Jewish Americans in World War II
Documentary
GI Jews: Jewish Americans in World War II tells the story of the 550,000 Jewish American men and women who fought in World War II. Through the eyes of the servicemen and women, the film brings to life the little-known story of Jews in World War II – as active participants in the fight against Hitler, bigotry, and intolerance. In their own words, veterans both famous and unknown (including Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, and Henry Kissinger) bring their war experiences to life: how they fought for their nation and their people, struggled with anti-Semitism within their ranks, and emerged transformed.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Turquoise Films, New York, NY
YEAR PRODUCED: 2018
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Lisa Ades
PRODUCERS: Amanda Bonavita & Lisa Ades
DIRECTOR: Lisa Ades
WRITER: Maia Harris
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Daniel B. Gold
EDITOR: George O'Donnell
NARRATOR: Mark Zeisler
FORMAT: DVD (87:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: PBS Distribution, https://shop.pbs.org/
Goin' to Chicago
Documentary
This program chronicles the migration in two great waves between 1917and 1990 of some 6 million African Americans from the rural South to cities in the North and West; the dynamic urban culture that resulted; and the personal toll of such a move.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: The Center for the Study of Southern Culture, University of Mississippi and George King and Associates, Atlanta, GA
YEAR PRODUCED: 1994
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Chiz Schultz
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: George King
WRITER: Lou Potter
EDITOR: Amy Carey
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Rick Butler
NARRATOR: Vertamae Grosvenor
SCREENINGS (selected): Organization of American Historians, Washington DC; National Conference on Racial and Ethnic Relations, Atlanta; African American Museums Association, Chicago; American Culture Association of the South, Charleston; American Studies Association, Nashville; National Council on Black American Affairs, Oakland; National Association of Black Cultural Centers, Kansas City; American Historical Association, Chicago; National Association for Multicultural Education, Washington, DC; National Association for African American Studies, Norfolk; National Association for Ethnic Studies, Boulder
FORMAT: Video (70:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: California Newsreel
The Gold Rush
Documentary
On January 28, 1848, James Marshall found gold near the fork of the American and Sacramento Rivers, unleashing a massive migration from around the world to what had been a forgotten backwater. With head-spinning speed, these gold-seekers created one of the most extraordinary societies in history-hard-driving, overwhelmingly male, often brutal. The Gold Rush was a remarkably international event; in short order, gold-seekers from Oregon and the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii), Mexico, Chile, England, France, Australia, Ireland, and China were soon knee-deep in water in the diggings. They found themselves playing the Great California Lottery, in which luck not hard work or honesty, seemed the key to success. Told through the stories of a small group of diverse characters—Chinese and Chilean, Northerner and Southerner, black and white—this American Experience film tracks the evolution of the Gold Rush from the easy riches of the first few months to the fierce competition for a few good claims. It shows that as the diggings became oppressively crowded, Americans drove foreigners from the mines. And it explores how in the end, the big money was made, not by men with shovels, but by large investments in expensive hydraulic equipment. Nonetheless, in the hurly burly of the intervening years, the Gold Rush turned California into a place synonymous with risk, riches, and reinvention, a place where the impossible seemed likely.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: WGBH, Boston, MA
YEAR PRODUCED: 2006
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Mark Samels
PRODUCERS: Randall Maclowry & Laura Longsworth
DIRECTOR: Randall Maclowry
WRITER: Michelle Ferrari
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Neil Reichline
EDITOR: Jon Neuburger
NARRATOR: Michael Murphy
PRINT MATERIALS: Transcript and teachers guide available at www.pbs.org/amex/goldrush
FORMAT: Video/DVD 120 hours
DISTRIBUTOR: WGBH - Television & International Distribution
PBS Video - Home & Audio Visual Distribution
The Golden Cradle: Immigrant Women in the United States
Documentary Radio Series
Through a blend of music, drama, archival material and interviews, this ten-part series examines the social history of America's women immigrants from the 1840s to the present.
Program 1
The Journey
looks at diaries and other accounts from immigrant women who survived the journey to America.
Program 2
The Half-Open Door
recalls how several generations of immigrants faced the realities of the quota system, exclusion laws, detainment, and deportation.
Program 3
The Alley, The Acre, and Back a' the Yards
is the story of women who established ethnic communities that continue today despite changing economic and social pressures.
Program 4
In America, They Say Work Is No Shame
relates the experiences of immigrant laborers and union organizers in American factories and sweatshops.
Program 5
Three Tunes for an American Songbook
explains how and why three women emigrated from Russia, Greece, and Italy in the early 1900s.
Program 6
Daily Bread
examines the working experience of immigrant women who served as domestic servants, farm wives, shopkeepers, and boardinghouse operators.
Program 7
English Lessons
records the difficulties that immigrant women have faced in trying to educate their children and themselves.
Program 8
My Mother Was a Member of the Rumanian Ladies Aide Society
explores the history of societies and organizations, originally formed as support systems, that affected the socio-political fabric of America.
Program 9
Tapestries
expresses the way immigrant women artists responded to life in a new world.
Program 10
In America, We Wear a New Name
features Russian, Cuban, Japanese, and Hungarian women speaking of conflicting identities in their new homeland.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Soundscape, Inc., Alexandria, VA
YEAR PRODUCED: 1984
COPRODUCERS: Deborah George, Louise Cleveland
RESEARCH DIRECTOR: Jane M. Deren
ADMINISTRATIVE COORDINATOR: Karen Getman
NARRATOR: Mandy I. Bynum
PRINT MATERIAL: Loan of cassettes with detailed discussion leader's guide available to senior citizen groups from: Discovery through the Humanities Program, The National Council on Aging, 409 Third Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20024, 202-479-1200
FORMAT: Audiocassettes
10 (30:00) programs on 5 (60:00) cassettes
DISTRIBUTOR: Pacifica Program Service/Radio Archive
The Good Fight: The Abraham Lincoln Brigade in the Spanish Civil War
Documentary
Through the recollections of eleven veterans, The Good Fight tells the story of the 3,200 Americans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade who fought against the armies of France, Hitler, and Mussolini in the Spanish Civil War.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Abraham Lincoln Brigade Film Project, New York, NY
YEAR PRODUCED: 1984
PRODUCERS/DIRECTORS: Noel Buckner, Mary Dore, Sam Sills
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Stephen Lighthill, Peter S. Rosen, Joe Vitagliano, Renner Wunderlich
EDITOR: Noel Buckner
NARRATION CO-AUTHOR: Robert A. Rosenstone
NARRATOR: Studs Terkel
AWARDS: American Film Festival, Blue Ribbon; National Educational Film and Video Festival, First Prize, History
FORMAT: 16mm, Video (98:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: First Run/Icarus Films
The Great Depression
Documentary series
Emphasizing the stories of ordinary people, this seven-part American history series examines the period between the two world wars, a time dominated by the economic depression that followed the stock market crash of 1929. (* denotes NEH production support)
Program 1 *
Job at Ford's
The rise of the Ford motor company affords opportunities for thousands of workers, but is followed by the grim realities of economic crisis and tough management decisions.
Program 2 *
The Road to Rock Bottom
As economic collapse takes its toll on America, farmers protest; mortgages are called in by banks; robberies increase dramatically; and in the summer of 1932, the U.S. Army is called in to quell the Veterans' Bonus March on Washington DC.
Program 3
New Deal/New York
As President Roosevelt presides over the creation of new federal agencies to combat the effects of the Depression, nowhere is the effect of new public works projects more apparent than in Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia's New York City. Though FDR, the American aristocrat, and LaGuardia, the son of immigrants, are unlikely partners, together they expand and redefine the role of government in people's lives.
Program 4
We Have a Plan
When world famous Socialist author Upton Sinclair runs for governor of California, his platform provides an alternative to capitalism and tests the limits of the New Deal. Ironically, one year after Sinclair's defeat, President Roosevelt signs the Social Security Act, a move that signals the beginnings of a modern welfare state.
Program 5
Mean Things Happening
On tenant farms of the Arkansas Delta and in the steel factories of America's industrial heartland, men and women battle landowners and factory managers for the right to join a union.
Program 6 *
To Be Somebody
Hard times bring fear, which often erupts in violence and discrimination towards America's racial and ethnic minorities. But hard times also encourage some to fight against bigotry through the courts, in Congress, and by example—the NAACP's Walter White, African American attorney Charles Houston, heavyweight champ Joe Louis, and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt.
Program 7
Arsenal of Democracy
As the 1930s draw to a close, Americans celebrate a dream of peace and prosperity at World Fairs in San Francisco and New York. But with Japanese and German troops on the march, they soon discover that while the New Deal changed America forever, it is war, not government programs, that ends the Great Depression.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Blackside, Inc., Boston, MA
YEAR PRODUCED: 1993
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Henry Hampton
SENIOR PRODUCER: Terry Kay Rockefeller
SERIES WRITER: Steve Fayer
DIRECTOR OF PRODUCTION: Orlando Bagwell
PRODUCERS: Jon Else (1); Terry Kay Rockefeller (2); Dante L. James(3,5); Lyn Goldfarb (4); Stephen Stept (6); Susan Bellows (7)
ASSOCIATEPRODUCERS: Leslie D. Farrell (1,2); Susan Levene (3,5); Tracy Heather Strain (4); Lisa A. Jones (6); Lulie Hadad (7)
EDITORS: Lillian Benson (1); Howard Sharp (2,4); Jon Neuberger (3,5);Marian Hunter (6); Eric Handley (7)
SUPERVISING PRODUCERS: Alison Bassett, Stephen Stept
SERIES ARCHIVIST: Katy Mostoller
COMPOSER: Brian Keane
NARRATOR: Joe Morton
PRINT MATERIAL: The Great Depression: America in the 1930s by T.H. Watkins (Little, Brown, 1993)
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: Emmy Award for Writing, National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (Program 1); National Emmy Nominations(Programs 5 ,6); Silver Baton, Alfred I. DuPont Columbia University Awards (series); CINE Golden Eagle (series); Women in Communications, Inc., Clarion Award (series); National Association of Black Journalists Award (Programs 5,6); Worldfest, Houston International Film Festival, Gold Award (Programs 3,5) and Special Jury Award (Program 7); Columbus(OH) International Film and Video Festival, Bronze Plaque Program 2) and Honorable Mention (Programs 4,5,6); National Educational Film and Video Festival, Gold Apple (Program 6), Silver Apple (Program 7); Council on Foundations Festival (Program 3); Banff Television Festival (Program 1)
FORMAT: Video, 7 (60:00) programs
DISTRIBUTOR: PBS Video
The Great War
Documentary
An eight-part series that reveals the impact and importance of World War I, The Great War explores the poignant, powerful, and permanent ways the war changed the lives of everyone it touched.
Episode 1
Explosion
Takes a sweeping look at the conditions and events that caused the cataclysm to unfold and sheds new light on how the fuse was lit that led to the first man-made catastrophe of the twentieth century.
Episode 2
Stalemate
The military believed that technical advances in weaponry would make for a quick outcome on the battlefield. How then did modern weaponry bring about a deadly stalemate? From the beginning the war was out of hand, and new styles of warfare were producing new kinds of horror and unprecedented levels of suffering and death.
Episode 3
Total War
By 1915, the conflict had spread across boundaries between continents and peoples, becoming a global war—a fact grimly confirmed by the unlikely battles between Turks and Australians on the Turkish cliffs of Gallipoli.
Episode 4
Slaughter
World War I gave new meaning to death on the battlefield, a breadth and horror summed up in one word: slaughter. The Battle of Verdun became for the French what Gettysburg is for Americans. A million men died there in only nine months. The British offered the same unspeakable sacrifice at The Somme, where another million died, and at Passchendaele, a graveyard for half a million more.
Episode 5
Mutiny
By 1917, men, armies, and nations were nearing a breaking point. For individual soldiers, it emerged as shell shock, a personal withdrawal from an intolerable reality. For armies, it was outright rebellion; half the French army mutinied in 1917, refusing to undertake senseless attacks.
Episode 6
Collapse
At the start of 1918, the odds looked bad for the Allies. With Russia knocked out of the war by revolution and the French Army rocked by mutiny, Germany stepped up the offensive on the Western Front. But in 1917, President Woodrow Wilson urged the United States into the war to “make the world safe for democracy,” and by 1918, five million American men were in uniform. Episode Six relates the military and domestic factors that led to Germany's ultimate collapse—and to the stage that would be set for a bitter peace.
Episode 7
Hatred and Hunger
The war laid the groundwork for the Cold War between the U.S. and Russia when the Allies briefly sent their soldiers to stop the Russian Revolution. And from the Balkans to the Middle East, the unresolved issues of the Great War were Simply rearranged. Versailles provided no real peace, and the seeds were sown for an even more catastrophic war.
Episode 8
War Without End
The final episode explores the aftermath of the war and the failed peace. For the lost generation it spawned, the war became a war without end, one that haunted everyone. Writers and other artists tried to create an answer, and millions searched for hope and messages from departed loved ones through Spiritualism. In Germany, the sense of betrayal and dishonor prompted some Germans to seek revenge. The man who rose up to lead them was Adolph Hitler.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: KCET, Los Angeles, CA
YEAR PRODUCED: 1997
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Blaine Baggett
PRODUCERS: Carl Byker, Issac Mizrahi, Lyn Goldfarb, Margaret Koval, Jay Winter
DIRECTORS: Carl Byker, Issac Mizrahi, Mitch Wilson
WRITERS: Blaine Baggett, Carl Byker, Jay Winter, Lyn Goldfarb
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Mitch Wilson
EDITORS: Carl Byker, David Mrazek, Stosh Jarecki, Joe Bersen, Meri Weingarten
NARRATOR: Salome Jens
CAST: Ralph Fiennes, Jeremy Irons, Martin Landau, Jane Leeves, Liam Neeson, Natasha Richardson, Rene Auberjonois, Michael Barrett, Elya Baskin, Ned Beatty, Helena Bonham-Carter, Timothy Bottoms, Leslie Caron, Master Sean Cowley, Natalya Fainkina Louis Gossett, Jr., Rupert Graves, David Hayter, Allan Hendrick, Jeremy Irons, Gerard Ishmael, Peter Jessop, David Keith, Udo Kier, Nastassja Kinski, Jeroen Krabbe, Yaphet Kotto, Malcom McDowell, Paul Mercurio, Helen Mirren, Mary Mouradian, Paul Panting, Tim Pigott-Smith, Jurgen Prochnow, Ian Richardson, Marion Ross, Martin Sheen, Lianne Schirmer, Philippe Smolinowski, Friedrich Solms, Jean Stapleton, Imogen Stubbs, Kai Wulff, Michael York
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: Two Emmy's, one DuPont, and one Peabody
PRINT MATERIAL: Companion Book (Penguin Studio Book), Teachers Guides
FORMAT: Video 8 (60:00) programs
DISTRIBUTOR: PBS Video
Harry Hopkins: At FDR's Side
Documentary
This is a film about the life and work of Harry Hopkins, with special emphasis on his role as domestic and foreign policy adviser to President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Educational Film Center, Annandale, VA
YEAR PRODUCED: 1989
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Ira Klugerman
PRODUCERS: Verne Newton, Frank Nesbitt
DIRECTOR/EDITOR: Frank Nesbitt
WRITER: Verne Newton
SCRIPT EDITOR: Ruth Pollak
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Chris Li, Greg Larsen
NARRATOR: Walter Cronkite
AWARDS: National Emmy nominee, Outstanding Historical Documentary; American Film and Video Festival, Blue Ribbon; CINE Golden Eagle; National Educational Film and Video Festival, Silver Apple; Columbus (OH) International Film Festival, Bronze Plaque
FORMAT: 16mm, Video (87:41)
DISTRIBUTOR: Educational Film Center
Heartland
Drama
Heartland is based on the experiences of a widow homesteading near Burntfork, Wyoming, in the early twentieth century.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATIONS: Filmhaus and Wilderness Women Productions, Inc., Bonner, MT
YEAR PRODUCED: 1979
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Annick Smith
PRODUCERS: Beth Ferris, Michael Hausman
DIRECTOR: Richard Pearce
WRITERS: Beth Ferris, William Kittredge
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Fred Murphy
CAST: Rip Torn, Conchata Ferrell, Barry Primus, Lilia Skala, Megan Folsom, Amy Wright
AWARDS: U.S. Film Festival, Best Independent Film, Co-winner; Berlin Film Festival, Grand Prix Golden Bear, Co-winner
FORMAT: 16mm, Video (95:00)
DISTRIBUTORS: available in video stores (The Pickman Film Corporation and Thorn EMI)
Hearts and Hands
Documentary
This film chronicles how, through their quilting and sewing, nineteenth-century women responded to the major events and developments of their times, such as abolitionism, the Civil War, industrialization, westward expansion, and the temperance and suffrage movements.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATIONS: Ferrero Films and Film Arts Foundation, San Francisco, CA
YEAR PRODUCED: 1987 (first broadcast on The American Experience)
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER/PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: Pat Ferrero
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER: Julie Silber
WRITER: Beth Ferris
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Emiko Omori
EDITOR: Jennifer Chinlund
NARRATOR: Nancy Houfek
AWARDS/SELECTED SCREENINGS: Earthwatch Film Award; Hawaii International Film Festival, People's Choice Award, Best Documentary; Cine Golden Eagle; American Film Festival, Blue Ribbon; Athens Film Festival, First Prize Documentary; Sinking Creek Film Festival, Best Feature; National Education Film and Video Festival, Crystal Apple, Best of Category-History; San Francisco International Film Festival, Best of Category-Fine Arts; UCLA Film and Folklore Festival, Best Historical Exploration of Folklore; Chicago International Film Festival, Gold Plaque; Festival International de Crateil et du Val de Marne; American Folklife Center, Library of Congress; Hawaii, London, and Denver International Film Festivals; Edinburgh Film Festival; Council on Foundations; American Film Institute; Museum of Modern Art; Museum of American Folk Art
PRINT MATERIAL: Companion book available through Quilt Digest Press, 95514th Street, San Francisco, CA 94114
FORMAT: Video (63:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: New Day Films
Heart of All Oral History Project
Documentary Series Radio and Podcast
For over two years and right in the middle of the Coronavirus pandemic, students at Little Wound High School on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation led the creation of the Heart Of All Oral History Project, a seven-part audio series dedicated to telling the long and complicated story of the Lakota oyate through the voices of local elders and community members. The Lakota are best known for defeating the 7th Cavalry at the Battle of Little Bighorn along with such prominent historical figures as Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, and Black Elk. The nearly twelve-hour project spans from origin stories to words of encouragement for future generations and journeys through many significant stories and events in between. Some of the more notable sections of the Heart Of All Oral History Project include a look at how life was before contact with Europeans, the Fort Laramie Treaties and how they were broken, colonization efforts such as the enforcement of the reservation system and the annihilation of the buffalo, the illegal taking of the Black Hills and the subsequent cases to the win them back, the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre, boarding schools and other assimilation efforts against indigenous people, and the 1973 Occupation of Wounded Knee among many others.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Little Wound School, Kyle, South Dakota
YEAR PRODUCED: 2022
STUDENTS: Mandie Amiotte, Talaiah Bear Killer, Tina Bear Nose, Sioux Dawn Bianis, Tashaya Boltz, Adriana Bradford, Helina Brings Plenty, Miracle Brown Bull, Hanna Brunsch, Lance Christensen Jr., Allison Clifford, Kansas Clifford, Gillian Cross, Terrance J. DeSersa, Tate Eagle Staff, Kobe Gay, Antonio Giago, Shelby Goggles, Emilio Gomez, Jada Good Crow, Lara Herman, BJ Hopkins Jr., Wyatt Hunter, Elizabeth Iron Horn, Jaida Jacobs, Stephanie Janis, Tokala Janis, Faron LaBatte, Clarissa Lamont, Jessica Lays Bad, Jaeilyn Little Dog, Avaline Little Elk, Zoe Long Soldier, Patricia Looks Twice, Lainey Martinez, Mary Kate Martinez, Dakota Means, Benjamin Mills, Esperanza Montileaux, Savanah Montileaux, Kobe No Neck, Aaliyah Old Horse, Christina Plenty Wounds, Taiyah Pourier, Tionna Pourier, Kimimila Pretty Bear, Ohiyesawin Ramirez, Hattie Red Owl, Eternity Red Starr, Dawson Rooks, Tara Rouillard, Enola Running Hawk, Warren Shot, Charisma Shot With Arrow, Kendra Slow Bear, Julia Swan, William Thunder Horse, Wambli Zaniya White Bull, Cheyenne Whiting, Trey Yellow Boy, Riley Yellow Cloud, Belva Young, Camden Young, Kaden Young, Theo Young Bear
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: Mark Hetzel
NARRATORS: Kansas Clifford, Antonio Giago, Jada Good Crow, Lara Herman, Elizabeth Iron Horn, Jaida Jacobs, Stephanie Janis, Joseph Marshall III, Tionna Pourier, Ohiyesawin Ramirez
FORMAT: 11 hours 47 minutes, 7 episodes / 11 parts
DISTRIBUTOR: www.heartofallohp.com
Henry Ford
Documentary
An absorbing life story of a farm boy who rose from obscurity to become the most influential American innovator of the twentieth century, Henry Ford offers an incisive look at the birth of the American auto industry with its long history of struggles between labor and management and a thought-provoking reminder of how Ford's automobile forever changed the way we work, where we live, and our ideas about individuality, freedom, and possibility.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Sarah Colt Productions, Brookline, MA
YEAR PRODUCED: 2012
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Mark Samels
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR/WRITER: Sarah Colt
CINEMATOGRAPHY: John Baynard
EDITOR: Sabrina Zanella-Foresi
NARRATOR: Oliver Platt
FORMAT: DVD (120:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: American Experience, WGBH
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/
Henry Luce: A Vision of Empire
Documentary
Visionary, capitalist, imperialist, creator of the “American Century,” Henry Luce was the son of a missionary whose idealism fueled the creation of Time, Inc., making him one of the most influential publishing moguls of the modern world and one of the most controversial figures of the last century. His words and images—in Time, Life, Fortune and The March of Time newsreels—became the lens through which the world defined Americans and Americans defined themselves. In this first major television documentary to explore Luce's life and work, we have obtained virtually unlimited access to these materials—access to an unparalleled collection of photographs and footage, much of which have become twentieth-century visual icons, enabling us to illustrate the power of Luce's story.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Educational Broadcasting Corporation, New York, NY
YEAR PRODUCED: 2004
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Susan Lacy
PRODUCERS: Stephen Stept, Jennie Amias
DIRECTOR/WRITER: Stephen Stept
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Edward Marrtiz
EDITOR: Anna Pivarnik
CAST: Harris Yulin
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: Cine Golden Eagle 2004; 2004 New York State Broadcasters Association (NYSBA) Television Award: Outstanding Documentary Program
FORMAT: Video 90 mins
DISTRIBUTOR: Educational Broadcasting Corporation
The History of Now
Radio/Podcast
The History of Now is a public radio and podcast series that explores American history in order to cast fresh light on contemporary life. Through these 16 stories we revisit the Tulsa race massacre of 1921, a prison uprising during the Vietnam war, a Nazi rally inside Madison Square Garden, the history of the concession speech and more little-known chapters of a nation’s past. Without scripted narration, we intricately weave together rich-archival audio, voices of witnesses to history, and interviews with scholars. Our sound-rich documentaries are broadcast on NPR, reaching millions of listeners nationwide, released on the Radio Diaries Podcast, and published online accompanied by print articles, photographs, and additional research.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: www.radiodiaries.org
YEAR PRODUCED: 2021
EXCUTIVE PRODUCER: Joe Richman
PRODUCERS: Neillie Gilles, Sarah Kramer
EDITORS: Deborah George, Ben Shapiro
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: Third Coast International Audio Awards — Winner of Best Documentary Short
FORMAT: 4 – 20 minutes series 16
DISTRIBUTORS: www.npr.org
The Homefront
Documentary
The Homefront explores the impact of World War II on American civilians, with an emphasis on changes in agriculture, industry, labor, and the status of minorities.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: The University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
YEAR PRODUCED: 1985
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Jack Kaufman
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR/WRITER: Steve Schechter
COPRODUCER: Mark Jonathan Harris
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER: Franklin D. Mitchell
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Don Lenzer
EDITOR: Ron Brody
NARRATOR: Leslie Nielson
AWARDS: American Film and Video Festival, Blue Ribbon, History; National Educational Film and Video Festival, Best of Festival; Baltimore Independent Filmmakers' Competition, First Prize, Documentary; Columbus(OH) International Film and Video Festival, Chris Award; Houston International Film Festival, Gold Special Jury Award, History; Chicago International Film Festival, Bronze Hugo; New York International Film and Television Festival, Silver Medal
FORMAT: 16mm, Video (90:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: Churchill Films, Inc.
House Divided
Dramatic Series
Each drama in this three-part series considers the actions and experiences of an important but little-known African-American who addressed the problems of slavery and inequality during the nineteenth century.
Program l
Denmark Vesey's Rebellion
In 1822, a prosperous free black carpenter in Charleston, South Carolina, leads an abortive rebellion to free the city's slaves.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: WPBT/Community Television Foundation of South Florida, Inc.,
Miami, FL
YEAR PRODUCED: 1981
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Robert S. Morgan
PRODUCER: Yanna Kroyt Brandt
DIRECTOR: Stan Lathan
WRITER: William Hauptman
EDITORS: John Carter and Paul Evans
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Larry Pizer
CAST: Yaphet Kotto, Ned Beatty, Cleavon Little, Antonia Fargas, Donald Moffat, Brock Peters, William Windom, Mary Alice, Bernie Casey
AWARDS: Ohio State Award; Freedom Foundation Award; National Black Programming Consortium, Best Drama; Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame, Best Drama; NAACP Image Award
FORMAT: Video (90:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: Not currently available
Program 2
Solomon Northup's Odyssey
A free black man from Saratoga, New York struggles for twelve years to regain his freedom after being kidnapped and sold into slavery in 1841.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Past America, Inc.
YEAR PRODUCED: 1984
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Robert S. Morgan
PRODUCER: Yanna Kroyt Brandt
DIRECTOR: Gordon Parks
WRITERS: Lou Potter and Samm-Art Williams
EDITOR: John Carte
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Hiro Narita
CAST: Avery Brooks, Petronia Paley, Rhetta Greene, John Saxon, Mason Adams, Lee Bryant, Janet League, Joe Seneca, Kent Broadhurst, J.C. Quinn, Michael Tolan
AWARDS: CINE Golden Eagle; Organization of American Historians, Erik Barnouw Award (for outstanding historical drama)
FORMAT: Video (113:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: SVS, Inc. (Sony Video) (retitled Half Slave, Half Free)
Program 3
Experiment in Freedom: Charlotte Forten's Mission
In 1861, the daughter of a wealthy black family gives up her comfortable life in Philadelphia to teach and help freed slaves build a new society on the Sea Islands of South Carolina.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Past America, Inc.
YEAR PRODUCED: 1985
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Robert S. Morgan
PRODUCER: Yanna Kroyt Brandt
DIRECTOR: Barry Crane
WRITER: Samm-Art Williams
EDITOR: John Carter
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Joseph Wilcots
CAST: Melba Moore, Ned Beatty, Glynn Turman, Mary Alice, Moses Gunn, Carla Borelli, Micki Grant, Anna Marie Horsford, Bruce McGill, Jay Paterson, Vyto Reginis, Roderick Wimberly
FORMAT: Video (120:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: Not currently available
H.R. 6161: An Act of Congress
Documentary
This film follows the process by which a bill becomes a law by tracing the activities of Representatives Paul G. Rogers (D-Fla) and John D. Dingell (D-Mich) as they and others work for and against the Clean Air Amendments of 1977 (H.R. 6161).
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: WVIA, Pittston, PA
YEAR PRODUCED: 1979
PRODUCER: Jerry Colbert
DIRECTOR: Charles Guggenheim
AWARDS: American Film and Video Festival, Honorable Mention; San Francisco International Film Festival, Political Documentary, Best of Category
FORMAT: 16mm, Video (59:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: Coronet/MTI Film and Video, Inc.
Huey Long
Documentary
Through archival footage and interviews with opponents, allies, and scholars, this film documents Huey Long's impact on the state of Louisiana and the nation at large.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Florentine Films, Inc., Walpole, NH
YEAR PRODUCED: 1985
COPRODUCERS: Ken Burns, Richard Kilberg
DIRECTOR: Ken Burns
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Buddy Squires
NARRATOR: David McCullough
AWARDS: American Film and Video Festival, Red Ribbon; Organization of American Historians, Erik Barnouw Award (for outstanding historical documentary)
FORMAT: 16mm, Video (88:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: Direct Cinema Limited
Indian America: A Gift From the Past
Documentary
This program portrays the cultural revival experienced by the Makah Community of Washington state following the discovery and excavation of a 15th-century village on their land. (It is the first program in a series on the histories and cultures of North American Indians.)
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Media Resource Associates, Inc., Washington, D.C.
YEAR PRODUCED: 1994
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Robin Cutler, Dave Warren
PRODUCERS: Robin Cutler, Karen Thomas
DIRECTOR: Karen Thomas
WRITER: Robin Cutler
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Mike Fox, Allen Moore
EDITOR: Penny Trams
MUSIC: Mark Adler
NARRATOR: Wes Studi
AWARDS: CINE Golden Eagle; National Educational Film and Video Festival, Bronze Apple; Christopher Award for Humanities
FORMAT: Video (56:40)
DISTRIBUTOR: Media Resource Associates, Inc.
Inheritance
Documentary
Inheritance examines the meaning of work and the role it plays in human happiness through consideration of three contemporary traditional craftsmen—a tinsmith, a blacksmith, and a lacrosse-stick maker—whose work and lives are reminiscent of the independent worker of a century ago.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATIONS: Bowling Green Films and WMHT-TV, Schenectady, NY
YEAR PRODUCED: 1975
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: Jack Ofield
WRITER: Helen-Maria Erawan
FORMAT: 16mm (two versions, 60:00 and 43:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: University of Michigan, Film and Video Library (ask for title #: 027-64-F)
Into the Amazon
Documentary
Into the Amazon tells the remarkable story of the journey taken by President Theodore Roosevelt and legendary Brazilian explorer Cândido Rondon into the heart of the South American rainforest to chart an unexplored tributary of the Amazon. Two of the most celebrated men from their respective nations, Roosevelt and Rondon set out with twenty other adventurers in 1914. Over eight eventful weeks in one of the most remote places on earth, the ill-equipped expedition navigated deadly rapids in crude dugout canoes. Hunger and exhaustion were compounded by the rainforest's unforgiving topography, which forced the men to carry heavy canoes long distances. What was anticipated to be a relatively tranquil journey turned out to be a brutal test of courage and character. Before it was all over, one member of the expedition had drowned and another had committed murder. Roosevelt would badly injure his leg and beg to be left behind to die. More than a dramatic adventure story, Into the Amazon shines a light on two the western hemisphere's most formidable men, and the culture and the politics of their two formidable nations.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: American Experience Films/WGBH, One Guest, Brighton, MA
YEAR PRODUCED: 2017
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Mark Samels
SENIOR PRODUCER: Susan Bellows
DIRECTOR/WRITER: John Maggio
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Tim Cragg
EDITOR: George O'Donnell
NARRATOR: Oliver Platt
CAST: Voice of Theodore Roosevelt: Alec Baldwin; voice of Cândido Rondon: Wagner Moura; voice of Kermit Roosevelt: Jake Lacy; voice of George Cherrie: Bill Coelius
PRINT MATERIAL: Press release available through American Experience
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: 2017 Jackson Hole Film Festival; 2018 Environmental Film Festival in the Nation's Capital; 2018 Salem Film Festival
FORMAT: DVD (1:54:23)
DISTRIBUTOR: pbs.org/americanexperience
Into the Deep: America, Whaling and the World
Documentary
From the dawn of the seventeenth-century, when the first sea-weary pilgrims looked on in wonder as teeming pods of rights whales breached the waters off Cape Cod to the eve of the Civil War, when more than 700 of the 900 ships in the worldwide whaling fleet hailed from American ports and American whalemen dominated the globe, the epic story of the commercial pursuit of the largest creature on earth would be intimately bound up with the story of America: as a parable of American capitalism on the rise, as a case study in maritime culture at its most extreme, and as an allegory for the American, and the human experience—long before a restless sometime whaleman and would-be writer named Herman Melville ever went to sea. At once a sea adventure, a cautionary economic and environmental tale, and a mythic saga of man and nature, the film tells the saga of three centuries of American whaling—interweaving the riveting tale of the doomed whaleship Essex, which set sail from Nantucket in the summer of 1819 and the deeply moving story of a young whaleman named Herman Melville—whose own life and imaginative voyage into the deep would give rise to one of the greatest works of literature ever created by an American.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Steeplechase Films, New York, NY
YEAR PRODUCED: 2010
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Mark Samples
PRODUCERS: Bonnie Lafave, Mary Recine, Robin Espinola, Ric Burns
DIRECTOR/WRITER: Ric Burns
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Buddy Squires, Paul Goldsmith A.S.C.
EDITOR: Li-Shin Yu
NARRATOR: Willem Dafoe
CAST: Robert Sean Leonard, with the voices of Josh Hamilton, Vincent Kartheiser, Callie Thorne, Philip Bosco
PRINT MATERIALS: American Experience, WGBH
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: Primetime Emmy nomination, as part of American Experience ‘series' entry.
FORMAT: Video (1:50:10)
DISTRIBUTOR: PBS Home Video
Ishi, the Last Yahi
Documentary
This film tells the story of Ishi, the last Yahi Indian in North America, who became a source of aluable information and a friend of anthropologist Alfred Kroeber, who brought him to San Francisco for study.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Rattlesnake Productions, Inc., Berkeley, CA
YEAR PRODUCED: 1992 (first broadcast on The American Experience)
PRODUCERS/DIRECTORS: N. Jed Riffe, Pamela Roberts
ADDITIONAL LOCATION DIRECTION: Steven Okazaki
WRITERS: Anne Makepeace with Jenifer Hood and Louise Steinman
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Stephen Lighthill
EDITOR: Jennifer Chinlund
AWARDS/SCREENINGS: Munich Film Festival, American Independents Program, Best Film; National Educational Film and Video Festival, Best of Festival; Society for Visual Anthropology Film and Video Festival, Honorable Mention; American Indian Film Festival (San Francisco), Best Documentary Film (Short); National Emmy Nomination, Best Historical Program
PRINT MATERIAL: Viewers Guide, Curriculum Guide, Anthology forthcoming
FORMAT: Video, 16mm (56:00)
DISTRIBUTORS:
University of California, Extension Media Center (educational)
Jed Riffe (home video)
CS Associates (international)
The Italian Americans
Documentary
On December 7, 1941, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed into law Proclamation 2527. In that moment, more than 600,000 Italian-born Americans were branded “enemy aliens.” Despite the fact that thousands of their sons were off fighting for the Allied forces, these immigrants lost their rights of citizenship, were forced to carry pink ID cards, and tens of thousands were relocated or taken into government custody. And most Italian Americans never spoke of it. This documentary film series is especially timely, not only because it provides a new lens through which to see today's immigrants, but also because the forgotten stories it tells illuminate the great conundrum of America today, that fear might trump our nation's core values. The Italian Americans reminds audiences of the foundations of the American experience while also making clear that we remain a nation constantly transformed by those newest to our shores. The series captures the sweeping arc of Italian American history in a single narrative, from the restless journey of four million immigrants hungry for work, to the transformation of the “American dream” through protest and wartime sacrifice, overcoming racial and religious discrimination to reach the highest echelons of American society, while today still battling the stigma of mafia association and the dark specter of criminality. From its opening scene in Roseto, Pennsylvania—immortalized by a landmark 1961 study finding that the cohesive nature of the Italian family helped to prevent heart disease—The Italian Americans is full of fascinating histories: the 1890 massacre of eleven Sicilian immigrants in New Orleans, one of the largest mass lynchings in American history; the story of Italian labor leaders like the poet Arturo Giovannitti, who inspired thousands of diverse textile workers to strike, and win, better working conditions at the dawn of the twentieth century; to the disappointing end to the presidential aspirations of New York Governor Mario Cuomo tarred by media speculation of mafia ties.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Social Media Productions
YEAR PRODUCED: 2014
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Jeff Bieber, Dalton Delan
PRODUCERS: John Maggio, Muriel Soenens, Julia Marchesi
DIRECTOR/WRITER: John Maggio
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Sam Russell, Stephen McCarthy
EDITORS: George O'Donnell, Seth Bomse
NARRATOR: Stanley Tucci
PRINT MATERIALS: WETA
FORMAT: DVD (120:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: PBS, http://www.pbs.org/the-italian-americans/home/
The Jewish Americans
Documentary
This six-hour series follows the struggle of a tiny minority making its way into the American mainstream. While the story of Jewish life in America is emblematic of the American immigrant story, it is also a unique story of ongoing discrimination and stereotyping coupled with some of the most remarkable accomplishments in American history, the arts, commerce, science, and academia. Beginning with the first Jews to arrive in New Amsterdam in the seventeenth century, the film offers a revealing portrait of a people who epitomize the immigrant experience. Even as they have faced bigotry and rejection, Jews have embraced American culture while keeping alive their traditions and heritage.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATIONS: WETA-TV, Arlington, VA; JTN Productions; David Grubin Productions, Inc.; and Thirteen/WNET New York
YEAR PRODUCED: 2007
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Jeff Bieber, Dalton Delan, David Grubin, Jay Sanderson, Stephen Segaller
PRODUCERS: David Grubin, Amy Brown, Rachel Bunchanan
DIRECTOR/WRITER: David Grubin
CINEMATOGRAPHY: James Callanan
EDITORS: Don Bernier, George O'Donnell, Deborah Peretz
NARRATOR: Leiv Schreiber
FORMAT: Video/DVD (Three two-hour programs)
DISTRIBUTOR: PBS
John and Abigail Adams
Documentary
Drawing on the extraordinary correspondence between the second president and his wife, this joint biography sheds light not only on the characters of two remarkable people, but also on the tumultuous times through which they lived. John and Abigail Adams played a critical role in many of the pivotal events of their era: he was a vociferous participant at the Continental Congress; she was an important eye-witness reporter during the Siege of Boston; he was an important war-time emissary to France. In the post-war era, first as vice president, then as president, Adams was caught up in the increasing political divisiveness that characterized the 1790s when rifts in the country almost pulled the fledgling nation apart. In addition to a window onto the revolutionary era, John and Abigail's story provides a strikingly intimate look inside a marriage of true companions, for whom life included not just the great events of history, but also laughter, loneliness, affection, and family tragedy. This American Experience program reminds us that the Founding Fathers—and Mothers—were not men and women of marble following a script that made independence and American national success a pre-ordained conclusion but rather real, flawed, multi-dimensional people, who had no idea how things would turn out.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: WGBH Educational Foundation
YEAR PRODUCED: 2005
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Mark Samels
PRODUCER/WRITER: Elizabeth Deane
DIRECTOR: Peter Jones
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Brian McDairmant, John Baynard
EDITOR: David Espar
NARRATOR: David Ogden Stiers
CAST: Simon Russell Beale, Linda Emund, James Barbour
PRINT MATERIALS: Teachers' Guide, available on program website www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/adams
FORMAT: Video and DVD 2 hours
John James Audubon: Drawn From Nature
Documentary
John James Audubon is best known for The Birds of America, a book of 435 images, portraits of every bird then known in the United States—painted and reproduced life sized. Its creation cost Audubon eighteen years of monumental effort in finding the birds, making the book, and selling it to subscribers. Audubon also wrote thousands of pages about birds (Ornithological Biography); he'd completed half of a collection of paintings of mammals (The Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America) when his eyesight failed in 1846. Audubon was not born in America but saw more of the North American continent than virtually anyone alive, and even in his own time he came to exemplify America—the place of wilderness and wild things. The history of his life reveals his era and his nation: he lived in Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Louisiana, South Carolina and New York—traveled everywhere from Labrador to the Dry Tortugas, from the Republic of Texas to the mouth of the Yellowstone—was a merchant, salesman, teacher, hunter, itinerant portraitist and woodsman, an artist and a scientist. He was, in a sense, a one-man compendium of American culture of his time. And his growing apprehension about the destruction of nature became a prophecy of his nation's convictions in the century after his death.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATIONS: Thirteen/WNET, NY American Masters and Florentine Films/Hott Productions, Inc.
YEAR PRODUCED: 2006
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Susan Lacy
PRODUCERS: Prudence Glass, Julie Sacks, Lawrence Hott, Diane Garey
DIRECTOR: Lawrence Hott
WRITER: Ken Chowder
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Michael Chin, Stephen McCarthy, Allen Moore
EDITOR: Aaron Vega
AWARDS/FESTIVAL: CINE Golden Eagle; Best Environmental Art Film, EarthVision International Environmental Film Festival; Best of Festival List, Hazel Wolf Environmental Film Festival; Merit Award, International Wildlife Film Festival, Missoula; Environmental Film Festival in the Nation's Capital; Napa Sonoma Wine Country Film Festival; The Chris Awards, Columbus International Film Festival
FORMAT: Video/DVD (54:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: Bullfrog Films
John Muir in the New World
Documentary
The life and the career of John Muir come to life through this documentary set against the magnificent landscapes of the American West. The Scottish-born naturalist was one of the first nature preservationists in American history, inspiring others through his writing and his advocacy to keep the wilderness wild. During his lifetime, the impact of his powerful voice could be seen in the preservation of Valley Yosemite and the sequoia groves of California, and the glacial landscapes of Alaska. His vision survived long after his death through the work of the Sierra Club, an organization he founded. The film was shot in high definition in the spectacular landscapes that shaped Muir—and which were, in turn, shaped by his devotion. A diversity of images run through the program: the Wisconsin woods of his childhood, his incredible journey on foot through the American South, the Yosemite Valley, the California fruit ranch where he lived with his wife and daughters, the Alaskan wilderness that so attracted him, and the National Parks that he was so instrumental in creating.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATIONS: Global Village Media, New York, NY
YEAR PRODUCED: 2011
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Dominique Lasseur, Susan Lacy, Steve Boyd, Peter Evans
PRODUCERS/WRITERS: Catherine Tatge, Leslie Clark
DIRECTOR: Catherine Tatge
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Bob Elfstrom
EDITOR: Tom Haneke
NARRATOR: Jane Alexander
CAST: Graeme Malcolm, Mary Beth Peil, Bill Buel Joseph Butler, Howard Weamer, Richard Markham, Patsy Fulhorst
PRINT MATERIALS: www.childrenandnature.org
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: Green Bay Film Festival; San Luis Obispo International Film Festival; Palm Beach International Film Festival; Hills Film Festival; New Milford – Best Cinematography Fallbrook Film Festival; – Best Documentary, Riverside International Film Festival
FORMAT: Video/DVD (90:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: Kultur International Films, Inc.
Joseph Pulitzer: Voice of the People
Documentary
Joseph Pulitzer's New York newspaper, The World, would transform American media and make him wealthy, admired, and feared. Throughout his four decades as a reporter and publisher, he created a powerful artistic vehicle that spoke to an unprecedented number of readers. Towards the end of his life, both sickly and blind, Pulitzer's commitment to fearless reporting would be tested by the most powerful person in American life. On December 15, 1908, President Teddy Roosevelt delivered a scathing indictment of Pulitzer to Congress —accusing the publisher of libelfor claiming that the President's greatest achievement, the Panama Canal, amounted to a colonialist overreach built on a $40 million cover-up. Roosevelt threatened Pulitzer with imprisonment. The president proclaimed: “It is high national duty to bring to justice this vilifier of the American people.” Pulitzer is an American icon who spoke of “fake news” over one hundred years ago. He fought the dangers that the suppression of news had for a democracy long before our present threats to press freedom. While he is remembered for the prizes that bear his name, his own heroic battles in the face of grave illness and Presidential ire have been forgotten as has the artistry and game-changing originality he brought to newspapers. How did Joseph Pulitzer, once a penniless young Jewish immigrant from Hungary, come to challenge a popular president and fight for freedom of the press as essential to our democracy?
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Oren Rudavsky Productions, New York, NY
YEAR PRODUCED: 2019
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Michael Kantor
PRODUCERS: Andrea Miller, Oren Rudavsky, Robert Seidman
DIRECTOR: Oren Rudavsky
WRITERS: Robert Seidman, Oren Rudavsky
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Wolfgang Held
EDITOR: Raman Rivera Moret
NARRATOR: Adam Driver
CAST: Live Schreiber, Lauren Ambrose, Rachel Brosnahan, Hugh Dancy, Ryan-James Hatanaka, Billy Magnussen, Tim blake Nelson, Sebastian Stan
PRINT MATEREIALS: Press kit on website: JosephPulitzerFilm.com
AWARD/FESTIVALS: Mill Valley Film Fest; Hot Springs Doc Film Fest; Annapolis Film Fest; Thin Line Sedona International Fim Fest; Sebastopol Doc. Film Fest; Atlanta Jewish Film Fest; Santa Fe Film Fest; Cleveland International Fim Fest; New York Jewish Film Fest
FORMAT: DVD (85:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: PBS/Thirteen Productions and www.Thirteen.org
Keeping On
Drama
Keeping On portrays the changes in community structures and social relationships in a Southern textile community during a campaign to unionize the local mill.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Many Mansions Institute/Cabin Creek Center, New York, NY
YEAR PRODUCED: 1982
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: Barbara Kopple
PRODUCER: Coral Hawthorne
WRITER: Horton Foote
EDITOR: Lora Hayes
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Larry Pizer
CAST: James Broderick, Danny Glover, Dick Anthony Williams, Carol Kane
FORMAT: 16mm, Video (72:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: Caridi Entertainment
The Killing Floor
Drama
The Killing Floor tells the story of a Southern black sharecropper who moves to Chicago and becomes involved in the organization of workers in the stockyards between 1917 and 1919.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATIONS: KERA-TV, Dallas and Public Forum Productions
YEAR PRODUCED: 1984
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Elsa Rassbach
PRODUCER: George Manasse
DIRECTOR: Bill Duke
WRITERS: Leslie Lee, Ron Milner, Elsa Rassbach
EDITOR: John Carter
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Bill Birch
CAST: Damien Leake, Alfre Woodward, Clarence Felder, Moses Gunn
AWARDS: U.S.A. (Dallas) Film Festival, Special Jury Award; U.S. Film Festival (Sundance), Special Jury Award; International Film and Television Festival of New York, Silver Medal; Hemisfilm International Festival, Best Feature; National Black Consortium, First Place, Drama; NAACP Image Award nominations for Best Television Movie, Best Actor and Best Actress; Critics' Week, Cannes Film Festival
FORMAT: 16mm, Video (120:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: Orion-Nelson Entertainment (homevideo)
King of America
Drama
King of America tells of the struggles of a Greek immigrant seeking success in America in the early twentieth century.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Center for Television in the Humanities, Inc., Atlanta, GA
YEAR PRODUCED: 1980
PROCUCER: David Horwatt
DIRECTOR: Dezso Magyar
WRITER: B.J. Merhoiz
EDITOR: Jay Freund
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Michael Fash
MUSICAL DIRECTOR: Elizabeth Swados
CAST: Barry Miller, Andreas Katsulas, Olympia Dukakis
FORMAT: Video (74:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: Caridi Entertainment
Korea: The Never-Ending War
Documentary
Korea: The Never-Ending War sheds new light on the global upheaval that led to the Korean War in 1950, a moment when the Cold War turned hot, and how today that war's brutal legacy has forced the world into a deadly nuclear showdown. With testimony from the soldiers on the frontlines, civilians caught in the crossfire, political leaders from then and now, journalists and historians, the film is a comprehensive re-examination of a war that took the lives of tens of thousands of American GIs and millions of Koreans. It is a war that has raged for generations, a war that most Americans don't remember and Koreans can never forget. The film documents how the conflict has continued post–1953, the events that triggered North Korea's nuclear program and South Korea's economic expansion. The consequences of the war's stalemate contribute to a dangerous stand-off between North and South Korea, the United States and China. The “end” of this conflict is still an open question.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: ARK Media, Brooklyn, NY
YEAR PRODUCED: 2019
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Dalton Delan, Jeff Bieber, Mandy Chang, Jo Lapping, Manuel Catteau, Jeong Joong KIm
PRODUCERS: John Maggio, Tom Dennison
WRITER: John Maggio
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Clair Popkin
EDITOR: Sunita Prasad
NARRATOR: John Cho
FORMAT: DVD (1x90)
DISTRIBUTOR: WETA. www.weta.org
Korea: The Unfinished War
Documentary Radio
While Koreans identify the war as the most important event in their recent history, for many Americans the fiftieth anniversary of the Korean War evoked only the vaguest notions of who fought and why U.S. soldiers were there. By the time it ended, inconclusively, on July 27, 1953, 54,000 Americans were dead and Korea was already on its way to becoming America's "Forgotten War." Korea: The Unfinished War features new interviews, woven together with archival tape, bringing to life a war that never received the attention it deserved. This American RadioWorks special report uses personal stories to illuminate the end of segregation in the armed forces; the policy of "limited war" and containment; and the American military build-up that lasted through the Cold War to the present day.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: American RadioWorks/Minnesota Public Radio
YEAR PRODUCED: 2003
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Bill Buzenberg
PRODUCERS: John Biewen, Stephen Smith
EDITOR: Deborah George
HOST: Stephen Smith
PRINT MATERIALS: Text and audio of the radio documentary, as well as interview transcripts and other resources are available on the website www.americanradioworks.org/features/korea/index.html
FORMAT: One hour-long radio Special Report, one 13-minute newsmagazine report on NPR's Weekend Edition Saturday. Two ten-minute stories on PRI's The World and an extensive companion website.
DISTRIBUTOR: National Public Radio
LaGuardia, the Dreamer and the Doer
Documentary Radio Series
Using original sound footage, this seven-part series examines the life and times of New York City's legendary mayor, Fiorella H. LaGuardia(1882–1947).
Program 1
LaGuardia and Reform
describes the mayor's war with Tammany Hall and his fights against gamblers, racketeers, and “tin horns.”
Program 2
Health and Housing
explains how LaGuardia made the availability of proper housing a function of city government and established the largest public health effort in the city's history.
Program 3
LaGuardia and Organized Labor
traces LaGuardia's shifting stance on unions and unionization.
Program 4
LaGuardia and the Physical City
shows how LaGuardia's public works brought about government-sponsored municipal transformation in New York City.
Program 5
LaGuardia and Aviation
discusses the mayor's lifelong support for aviation.
Program 6
LaGuardia and Relief
recounts how LaGuardia made public assistance a reality in New York.
Program 7
World War II
looks at LaGuardia's third term as mayor and his emergence as a radio personality.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: LaGuardia Archives, LaGuardia Community College/CUNY, Long Island City, NY
YEAR PRODUCED: 1990
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: Richard K. Lieberman
PRODUCER/EDITOR: Tom Vitale
WRITER: Dick Worth
NARRATOR: Tony LoBianco
FORMAT: Audiocassette
7 (30:00) programs
DISTRIBUTOR: LaGuardia Archives, LaGuardia Community College
Last Stand at Little Bighorn
Documentary
This film examines the Battle of the Little Big Horn (June 25, 1876) from both Native American and white perspectives; it also explores the process by which the military defeat was transformed by the nation's press into the enduring myth of Custer's Last Stand.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Midnight Films, New York, NY
YEAR PRODUCED: 1992 (first broadcast on The American Experience)
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Judy Crichton
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: Paul Stekler
WRITERS: James Welch, Paul Stekler
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Jon Else, Erik Daarstad
EDITOR: Michal Goldman
NARRATOR: N. Scott Momaday
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: Columbus International Film Festival, Bronze Plaque; National Emmy Award, Outstanding Achievement in a Craft/Research; National Emmy Nomination, Outstanding Achievement in a Craft/Writing; American Film Festival, Blue Ribbon; Western Writers of America, Spur Award, Best Documentary Script; CINE Golden Eagle; Great Plains Film Festival
FORMAT: Video (52:30)
DISTRIBUTORS:
PBS Video (educational)
Little Big Horn National Battlefield (home video)
Latino Americans
Documentary
Latino Americans is a three-part, six-hour documentary series that chronicles the lives and experiences of Latinos in the United States from 1800 to the twenty-first century. Through its people, politics and culture, Latino Americans tells the story of early settlement, conquest, and immigration; of tradition and reinvention; of anguish and celebration; and of the gradual construction of a new American identity from diverse sources that connects and empowers millions of people today.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: WETA, Arlington, VA
YEAR PRODUCED: 2013
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Jeff Bieber, Dalton Delan, Sally Jo Fifer
PRODUCERS: Adriana Bosch, John Valadez, Dan McCabe, Ray Telles, Nina Alvarez, Salme Lopez, Cathleen O'Connell
DIRECTORS: David Belton, Sonia Fritz
WRITERS: Adriana Bosch, Jeff Bieber, Ken Chowder
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Tim Cragg,Vicente Franco, Paul Mailman, Stephen McCarthy, Elia Lyssy, Edward Marritz, Joe LoMonaco, Thomas Kaufman
EDITORS: Peter Rhodes, David Espar, Dan McCabe, John Neurburger, Manuel Tsingaris
NARRATOR: Benjamin Bratt
PRINT MATERIAL: All print materials are available through WETA including press reviews, educational curriculum on-line at pbs.org/latinoamericans.
FORMAT: 6X60 mins (plus 5-minute news hole)
DISTRIBUTOR: WETA
LBJ
Documentary Series
This four-part documentary series traces the political career of America's thirty-sixth president Lyndon Baines Johnson.
Program 1
Beautiful Texas
chronicles Johnson's youth in rural Southwest Texas, his early political campaigns, and his years as Senator and Vice President. It concludes with his assumption of the Presidency upon the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963.
Program 2
My Fellow Americans
traces the formation of Johnson's civil rights agenda, his vision of the Great Society, and the events leading to the Gulf of Tonkin resolution.
Program 3
We Shall Overcome
traces the developing war in Vietnam and its effects on the Great Society.
Program 4
The Last Believer
chronicles the remaining year's of Johnson's presidency, his decision not to seek reelection in 1968, and his final days on his Texas ranch.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATIONS: KERA-TV, Dallas, TX, and David Grubin Productions, New York, NY
YEAR PRODUCED: 1991 (first broadcast on The American Experience)
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Patricia P. Perini
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR/WRITER: David Grubin
SENIOR PRODUCER: Chana Gazit
EDITORS: Geof Bartz, Tom Haneke
ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS: Hillary Dann, Sam Sills
CINEMATOGRAPHY: William McCullough
MUSIC: Michael Bacon
NARRATOR: Will Lyman
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: Alfred I. DuPont, Columbia University Broadcast Journalism Award, Silver Baton; National Emmy Nominee, Outstanding Historical Programming and Outstanding Individual Achievement in a Craft/Writing; Chicago International Film Festival, Gold Hugo, also Gold Plaque for Music Score; Houston Film Festival, Gold Medal; Ohio State Award; Gabriel Awards, Certificate of Merit; San Francisco International Film Festival, Best of Category, Television History; American Film and Video Festival, Honorable Mention (Parts 1,3); CINE Golden Eagle; INPUT; Nyon Film Festival
FORMAT: Video
4 (60:00) programs
DISTRIBUTORS:
Pacific Arts Video (home video)
“LBJ and the Great Society” and “Nixon at War”
Radio and Podcast
LBJ and the Great Society
While President Lyndon B. Johnson is remembered today largely for his failure in Vietnam, this seven-part podcast tells a different story, revealing LBJ’s unprecedented success in shaping domestic politics. Medicare, civil and voting rights, clean air and water, Head Start, immigration reform, public broadcasting—how did Lyndon Johnson pull it off, often in the face of fierce opposition from some of the nation’s most powerful interests? That’s the question this series explores through the recorded recollections of those who were there when this history was being made and who had a hand in its making. Hosted by Melody Barnes, former chief domestic policy adviser to Barack Obama.
Richard Nixon’s War
Most accounts of the collapse of Richard Nixon’s presidency begin with Watergate—the now iconic tale of a bungled break-in and the misbegotten cover-up that followed. But what led to Watergate? How—and more puzzlingly, why—did one of the shrewdest, most gifted political figures of his time become embroiled in so manifestly lunatic an enterprise in the first place? Intrigued by that question, writer/journalist Kurt Andersen takes a deep dive into the vast archives at the Nixon Library and emerges with an answer he wasn’t expecting: While Watergate doubtless accelerated Nixon’s spectacular fall, it was the Vietnam War that led inexorably to the break-in, and from there to the sinking of his presidency. For Andersen, who came of age in the Vietnam era, that answer in turn begs another, larger question: How did Richard Nixon, with all his foreign policy savvy, allow himself to get trapped in the same quagmire he had watched engulf his predecessor, Lyndon Johnson? These questions are the central concerns of Nixon at War. Over the course of seven episodes, Andersen peels back the onion and emerges with a new and deeper understanding of both the man and the war and of the complex linkage between them.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: PRX
YEAR PRODUCED: 2022
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Steve Atlas
PRODUCERS: Derek John, Emma Weatherill
WRITERS: Steve Atlas, Melody Barnes, Kurt Andersen
EDITORS: Derek John, Emma Weatherill
HOST/NARRATOR: Melody Barnes, Kurt Andersen
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: LBJ and the Great Society and Nixon at War were recommended in The New Yorker, The New York Times, New York Magazine, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and Recode Media and promoted on national news networks, as well as university and industry press.
FORMAT: 30-40 minutes
Number of Programs: 14 (two series, 7 episodes each)
DISTRIBUTOR: Public Radio Media Exchange (PRX), https://prx.org/
Liberty! The American Revolution
Documentary and Dramatic Series
This six-hour series covers America's greatest political story—the history of how we became a nation. The series spans 26 years, from 1763 to 1789, and traces the transformation of Americans from loyal subjects of the British king to revolutionaries, and finally, to citizens of an entirely new kind of country.
Episode 1
The Reluctant Revolutionaries
In 1763, American colonists live in a hierarchical world of gentlemen and commoners, proud to be subjects of King George III. With the end of the French and Indian War, America has become a land of opportunity, but the British impose a seemingly routine tax—the Stamp Act. It creates a firestorm throughout the colonies as Americans see their liberties and their power threatened.
Episode 2
Blows Must Decide
By the fall of 1774, British troops occupy Boston. Thirteen colonies, who until now have had little in common with one another, take faltering steps to unite in reaction to this aggression. But even after shots are fired at Lexington, there is great disagreement about what to do next. Finally, on July 2, 1776, independence is declared. Two days later, Congress passes The Declaration of Independence. A fight for independence is being transformed into a political revolution.
Episode 3
The Times that Try Men's Souls
Days after the Declaration of Independence is signed, an immense British force drops anchor in New York harbor, pitting the largest professional army in the world against George Washington's army of untrained volunteers. On the day after Christmas, 1776, a desperate Washington leads his Continentals quietly across the half-frozen Delaware River, surprising a garrison of Hessian soldiers at Trenton. Washington becomes a hero and the American Revolution goes on.
Episode 4
Oh Fatal Ambition!
Congress dispatches Benjamin Franklin to France in late 1776 to request financial and military support. Louis XVI is reluctant to back the young republic without proof it can win. British General John Burgoyne's defeat at Saratoga is the incentive France needs to supply arms and men to the revolution in America.
Episode 5
The World Turned Upside Down
How do Americans, fighting in the name of liberty, justify the institution of slavery? The British army hopes to exploit the contradiction posed by slavery in the South, but their attempt to win the south fails. Meanwhile, France enters into the revolution. The convergence of Washington's army and the French fleet at Yorktown traps the British army. Two years later, The Treaty of Paris is signed, ending eight long years of fighting.
Episode 6
Are We to Be a Nation?
Peace brings with it a new set of challenges: the country is bankrupt and the states find themselves squabbling with one another over many issues. A Constitutional Convention, held only to revise the Articles of Confederation, under which the country is run, instead creates a blueprint for an entirely new system of government.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: KTCA/Twin Cities Public Television, St. Paul, MN
YEAR PRODUCED: 1997
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Catherine Allan
PRODUCERS/DIRECTORS: Ellen Hovde, Muffie Meyer
WRITERS: Ron Blumer
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Tom Hurwitz
EDITORS: Sharon Sachs, Josh Walletsky
HOST: Forrest Sawyer
NARRATOR: Edward Herrmann
CAST: Philip Bosco, Colm Feore, Terrence Mann, Roger Rees, Donna Murphy, and others
PRINT MATERIAL: PBS Video: Curriculum Guide. Owen Comora Associates: Press Material
FORMAT: Video 6 (60:00) episodes
DISTRIBUTORS:
KTCA/Twin Cities Public Television
PBS Video
The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter
Documentary
Through newsreel footage and the testimonies of five women, this film examines the experiences of the eighteen million women who were brought into factories and plants during World War II.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Clarity Educational Productions, Emeryville, CA
YEAR PRODUCED: 1980
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: Connie Field
ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS: Ellen Geiger, Lorraine Kahn, Jane Scantlebury, Bonnie Bellow
EDITORS: Lucy Massie Phenix, Connie Field
THE WOMEN IN THE FILM: Wanita Allen, Gladys Belcher, Lyn Childs, Lola Weixel, Margaret Wright
AWARDS: Chicago International Film Festival, Gold Hugo, Documentary; Houston International Film Festival, Special Jury Gold Award, Best in Category; Festival dei Popoli, Florence, Italy, Gold Marzocco (First Prize); Athena International Film Festival, Gold Athena (First Prize); American Film Festival, John Grierson, Blue Ribbon; Cine Golden Eagle
FORMAT: 16mm, Video (60:00)
DISTRIBUTORS:
Clarity Educational Productions
A Life Apart: Hasidism in America
Documentary
A Life Apart tells the story of how post-Holocaust Hasidim have avoided being swallowed up by American culture. The strategies Hasidism have chosen for their survival has led them to reject many of the things which Americans take for granted; public schooling, sports, television, popular music, etc. Over the past fifty years Hasidim have discovered that it is indeed possible to be a Hasid even in America. Despite their best efforts, they have become American Hasidim.
Production Team: Menachem Daum, Brooklyn NY and Oren Rudavsky, New York City, NY
Year Produced: 1997
Executive Producer: Arnold Labatan
Producers/Directors: Menachem Daum, Oren Rudavsky
Writers: Menachem Daum, Bob Seidman
Cinematography: Oren Rudavsky
Editor: Ruth Shell
Narrators: Leonard Nimoy, Sarah Jessica Parker
Awards/Festivals: CINE Golden Eagle; Jewish Video Competition, First Place for Broadcast Documentary; Sydney Film Festival, June 1997
Print Material: Press kit
Format: Video (96:00)
Distributor: First Run/Icarus Films
Lincoln and the War Within
Drama
This is the story of Abraham Lincoln's handling of the Fort Sumter crisis of 1861, just as he assumed the office of presidency.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATIONS: WGBY-TV, Springfield, MA, and Lumière Productions, Inc., New York, NY
YEAR PRODUCED: 1992
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Mark Erstling
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: Calvin Skaggs
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER: Robert Brent Toplin
CO-PRODUCER: Paul Marcus
WRITERS: Frederic Hunter, Thomas Babe
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Michael Spiller
EDITOR: Jay Freund
CAST: Chris Sarandon, Tom Aldredge, Will Patton, Remak Ramsay, Dylan Baker, Alan North, Joan Macintosh, Tony Carlin, Jack Gilpin, Pirie MacDonald, Veronica Cartwright
FORMAT: Video (73:30)
DISTRIBUTOR: PBS Video
Lindbergh
Documentary
This film examines the life of Charles A. Lindbergh, including his family background, solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean in 1927, his isolationist crusade, his shattered faith in technology, and his final commitment to environmental causes.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Insignia Films, New York, NY
YEAR PRODUCED: 1990 (first broadcast on The American Experience: EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Judy Crichton
PRODUCERS: Stephen Ives, Ken Burns
DIRECTOR: Stephen Ives
WRITER: Geoffrey C. Ward
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Buddy Squires
EDITOR: Juliet Weber
AWARD: CINE Golden Eagle
FORMAT: Video (56:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: PBS Video
Long Shadows
Documentary
Long Shadows examines the modern echoes of the American Civil War, documenting how repercussions of the war still influence the American psyche.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: James Agee Film Project, Johnson City, TN
YEAR PRODUCED: 1987
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: Ross Spears
WRITERS: Ross Spears, Jamie Ross
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Anthony Forma
EDITOR: Neil Means, Grahame Weinbren
NARRATOR: Ross Spears
INTERVIEWS: Robert Penn Warren, Jimmy Carter, Robert Coles, Studs Terkel, Tom Wicker, C. Vann Woodward, John Hope Franklin, and others
SELECTED SCREENINGS: Museum of Modern Art; The Kennedy Center; Festival of American Film; Smithsonian Institute; Chicago Historical Society; American Historical Association
FORMAT: Video (88:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: James Agee Film Project Library
Lost & Found Sound
Documentary
Lost & Found Sound chronicles the nation's vanishing oral traditions, undocumented aspects of the nations aural heritage, and individuals who have changed American life through their obsessions with sound and recording. The series explores and illuminates American life through sound, emphasizing shifting accents, vanishing voices, the mergings of languages, oral histories, and historic broadcasts.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Lost & Found Sound, San Francisco, CA
YEAR PRODUCED: 2001
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Nikki Silva, Davia Nelson, Jay Allison
HOSTS: Robert Siegel, Noah Adams, Linda Wertheimer
PRINT MATERIALS/WEBSITE: http://www.lostandfoundsound.com/
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: George Foster Peabody Award 1999; Webby Award 2000; The Clarion Award 2000; Audie Award 2001 Audiobook; NFCB Silver Reel Award 2001
FORMAT: Multi-part series
DISTRIBUTOR: National Public Radio
Lost Highways
Podcast
Each episode of Lost Highways begins by inviting listeners to draw connections between western history and current events. Hosts and Coloradans Noel Black and Tyler Hill’s engagement with historical topics opens a personal door and invites listeners to cultivate a sense of wonder at the stories discovered along the way. Episodes span diverse cultures, geographies, and time periods in the history of Colorado and the West. For example, Season 4 will leave the listener with a deeper understanding of the ways in which notions of American identity have often been shaped by the changing mythologies of the West. We examine the confluence of myth and reality, which can offer us a far more complex and interesting way of understanding ourselves.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: https://www.historycolorado.org
YEAR PRODUCED: Ongoing
SENIOR PRODUCER: Noel Black
PRODUCER: Dustin Hodge
ASSISTANT PRODUCER: Maria Maddox.
WRITERS: Noel Black, Maria Maddox
EDITORS: Jason Hanson, Susan Schulten, Sam Bock
HOSTS: Noel Black, Tyler Hill
HISTORY ADVISERS/EDITORS: Jason Hanson, Susan Schulten, Sam Bock
VOLUNTEERS: Clint Carlson, Barry Levene, Ivy Martinez, Angie Neslin
EDITORIAL TEAM: Sam Bock, Shaun Boyd, Kimberly Kronwall, Jose Ortega, Julie Peterson, Angel Vigil, Marissa Volpe, Zach Werkowitch, Lori Bailey
ADVISORY GROUP: Stephen Sturm, Emily Sturm, Thomas Andrews, Jonathan Futa, Charlie Woolley, Susan Schulten, Tom Romero, Cara DeGette
FORMAT: 45 mins to 1 hour
Number of Programs: 31 through Season 4
DISTRIBUTOR: Libysyn, https://libsyn.com/
The Loving Story
Documentary
A racially charged criminal trial and a heart-rending love story converge in this documentary about Mildred and Richard Loving, a part-black, part-Indian woman and a white man who married in Jim Crow era Virginia. Thrown into rat-infested jails and exiled from their hometown for many years, the Lovings fought back and changed history. They were paired with two young and ambitious lawyers who were driven to pave the way for social justice and equal rights through a historic Supreme Court case, Loving v. Virginia. The Loving Story takes us on a journey into the heart of race relations in America. But, in the end, it is a poignant love story of two people who simply wanted to live in the place they called home.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Augusta Films, Durham, NC
YEAR PRODUCED: 2011
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Scott Berrie, Marshall Sonenshine, Sheila Nevins
PRODUCERS: Nancy Buirski, Elisabeth Haviland James
DIRECTORS: Nancy Buirski
WRITERS: Nancy Buirski, Susie Ruth Powell
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Rex Miller, Steve Milligan, Abbot Mills
EDITOR: Elisabeth Haviland James
PRINT MATERIALS: www.lovingfilm.com; Press kit (HBO Documentaries)
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: Writers Guild of America Award for Best Screenplay – Silverdocs International Film Festival; Grand Jury Award - Gasparilla Film Festival; History Makers International Award – Best Social Change Documentary Academy Awards – Feature Documentary Shortlist; Official Selections: Full Frame Documentary Film Festival – Center Frame, Tribeca Film Festival – Spotlight, Hamptons International Film Festival, Palm Springs International Film Festival, Cinema du Reel, Thessaloniki Film Festival, Heartland Film Festival, Virginia Film Festival, Festival St. Louis, Sedona Film Festival
FORMAT: DVD (77.00)
DISTRIBUTORS: HBO Documentaries; Icarus Films
MacArthur
Documentary
No soldier in modern history has been more admired-or more reviled. Douglas MacArthur, liberator of the Philippines, shogun of Occupied Japan, brilliant victor of the Battle of Inchon, was an admired national hero when he was suddenly relieved of his command. A portrait of a complex, imposing, and fascinating American general.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: WGBH-The American Experience, Boston, MA
YEAR PRODUCED: 1999
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Margaret Drain
PRODUCERS/DIRECTORS: Austin Hoyt, Sarah Holt
WRITER: Austin Hoyt
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Terry Hopkins
EDITOR: Bernice K. Schneider, Sarah Holt
NARRATOR: David Ogden Stiers
PRINTED MATERIALS: educational resources are available on the program's website, www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/macarthur
FORMAT: Video 4 hours
DISTRIBUTOR: PBS Video
Make No Little Plans: Daniel Burnham and the American City
Documentary
Few dreamers have had more impact on the American city than Daniel Hudson Burnham. He built some of the first skyscrapers in the world; directed construction of the World's Columbian Exposition that helped inspire the City Beautiful Movement in towns across America; and created urban plans for San Francisco; Washington, DC; Chicago; Cleveland; and Manila and Baguio City in the Philippines all before the modern profession of urban planning existed. Make No Little Plans: Daniel Burnham and the American City is the first film to explore Burnham's fascinating career and complex legacy as public debate continues today about how and for whom cities are planned.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: The Archimedia Workshop, Chicago, IL
YEAR PRODUCED: 2010
PRODUCERS: Judith Paine McBrien, Mary Morrissette
DIRECTOR: Judith Paine McBrien
WRITERS: Judith Paine McBrien, Geoffrey Ward
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Jim Morrissette
EDITORS: Amy Cargill, Jan Sutcliffe, Joe Langenfeld
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: Newport Beach Film Festival (2010), Modesto International Architecture Festival (2010) Major screenings in the following cities: Washington DC—The National Mall and the American Institute of Architects headquarters office; Chicago, IL—Millennium Park; El Paso, TX—KCOS-TV preview screening; San Francisco, CA—San Francisco Public Library; Boston, MA—Boston Society of Architects; Pittsburgh, PA—Community Design Center of Pittsburgh; Buffalo, NY—SUNY at Buffalo, School of Architecture; Detroit, MI—Preservation Wayne; Philadelphia, PA—AIA Philadelphia Center for Architecture; Cleveland, OH—Cleveland State University and ParkWorks
FORMAT: Video Approx (60:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: PBS Video
Manos a la Obra: The Story Of Operation Bootstrap
Documentary
Manos a la Obra (Put Your Hands to Work) traces the historical background of Operation Bootstrap and the economic development of Puerto Rico from the 1930s to the 1960s.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Centro de Estudios Puertorriquenos, Hunter College of the City University of New York
YEAR PRODUCED: 1983
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: Jaime Barrios
ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS/DIRECTORS: Pedro Angel Rivera, Susan Zeig
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Susan Zeig, Alicia Weber
NARRATOR: Ilka Tania Payan
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: American Film and Video Festival, Finalist; First LASA Invitational Film Festival; Independent Focus;Choice, Outstanding Nonprint Material (American Library Association)
FORMAT: 16mm, Video (59:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: The Cinema Guild, Inc.
Marcus Garvey: Look for Me in the Whirlwind
Documentary
This documentary tells the life story of the Jamaican immigrant who, between 1916 and 1921, built the largest black mass movement in world history. It explores Garvey's dramatic successes and failures before his fall into obscurity. Among the film's most powerful sequences are interviews with people who witnessed the Garvey movement first hand more than 80 years ago. These interviews communicate the appeal of Garvey's revolutionary ideas to a generation of African Americans, and reveal how he invested hundreds and thousands of black men and women with a new found sense of pride.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Firelight Media, Inc., New York, NY
YEAR PRODUCED: 2000
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Stanley Nelson
PRODUCER: Gwendolyn D. Dixon
DIRECTOR/WRITER: Marcia Smith
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Robert Shepard, Arthur Jafa Fielder
EDITOR: Lewis Erskine
NARRATOR: Carl Lumbly
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: First Place Overall Award Winner, Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame 11th Annual Festival of Film & Video
FORMAT: Video (82:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: PBS Video, WGBH
Margaret Sanger
Documentary
Explores the life and times of the pioneering birth control advocate, bringing into focus the forces that shaped Sanger, her movement, and society.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Cobblestone Films, Glen Ridge, NJ
YEAR PRODUCED: 1997
PRODUCERS: Bruce Alfred, Holly Carter
DIRECTOR: Bruce Alfred
WRITERS: Bruce Alfred, Michelle Ferrari
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Mead Hunt
EDITOR: Joanna Kiernan
NARRATOR: Blair Brown
VOICES: Amy Irving, Amy Madigan, Katie Couric, Matthew Broderick, Derek Jacobi, George Plimpton, Daniel Von Bargen, Jaqueline Williams, Cherry Jones, Philip Bosco, Ludmilla Bokievsky, Nicholas Haylett
FORMAT: Video (90:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: Films for the Humanities and Sciences
Mary Silliman's War
Drama
The experience of the Silliman family during the Revolutionary War as told from Mary Silliman's point of view and based on her family's letters and the scholarship of Richard and Joy Buel.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Heritage Films, San Dimas, CA, in association with Citadel Communications, Halifax, Canada
YEAR PRODUCED: 1994 (first broadcast on Lifetime Cable Channel)
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Nick Spiropoulous, Stuart Rath
PRODUCERS: Steven Schechter, Barry Cowling
DIRECTOR: Stephen Surjick
WRITERS: Steven Schechter, Louisa Burns-Bisogno
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Alar Kivilo
EDITORS: Joanne D'Antonio, Allan Shefland
MUSIC: John Welsman
CAST: Nancy Palk, Richard Donat, Diane D'Aquila, Paul Boretski, Joanne Miller
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: Gold Medal, Houston International Film Festival; Silver Medal, National Educational Film and Video Festival; Best Educational Production, 10th Annual TV Movie Awards; Bronze Plaque, Columbus Film Festival
PRINT MATERIAL: Study Guide
FORMAT: Video (93:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: Heritage Films
Metropolitan Avenue: Community Women In a Changing Neighborhood
Documentary
This film examines the changing roles of contemporary working-class women in the Williamsburg-Greenpoint neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Metropolitan Avenue Film Project, New York, NY
YEAR PRODUCED: 1985
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR/NARRATOR: Christine Noschese
EDITOR: Stan Salfas
ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Kirk LaVine
CINEMATOGRAPHY: John Bonanno
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: American Film and Video Festival, John Grierson
Award; Film Forum, Premiere; Leipzig International Film Festival, Special Jury Prize; Mannheim International Film Festival; Festival dei Popoli, Florence, Italy
FORMAT: 16mm (58:00), Video (two versions, 58:00 and 49:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: New Day Films
Middletown
Documentary Series
Building on the sociological study of the town by Robert and Helen Merrill Lynd, this six-part series examines fundamental elements of life in Muncie, Indiana.
Program 1
Second Time Around
looks at the issues and complexities surrounding a contemporary marriage, especially as contrasted to those of fifty years ago.
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: Peter Davis
EDITOR: Tom Haneke
CINEMATOGRAPHY: John Lindley
AWARD: Emmy nomination (for editing)
Program 2
Family Business
examines the idea of personal freedom through economic independence as it follows the struggles of a family of ten to save their pizza parlor from bankruptcy.
EXECUTIVE/PRODUCER: Peter Davis
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: Tom Cohen
EDITOR: Bob Brady
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Tom Hurwitz
AWARD: Emmy nomination (for directing)
Program 3
The Campaign
follows the personalities, strategies, and pressures involved in Muncie's mayoral race.
PRODUCER: Peter Davis
DIRECTOR: Tom Cohen
EDITOR: Bob Brady
CINEMATOGRAPHY: John Lindley
AWARDS: Two Emmy's (for sound and editing), Emmy nomination (producer)
Program 4
Community of Praise
examines the influence of faith on a family of evangelical Christian fundamentalists.
PRODUCER: Peter Davis
DIRECTORS/EDITORS: Richard Leacock, Marisa Silver
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Richard Leacock
AWARD: Emmy nomination (for editing)
Program 5
The Big Game
looks at the role of sports and how basketball games between two local high schools provide outlets for community tension.
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Peter Davis
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: E.J. Vaughn
EDITOR: Ruth Newald
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Paul Goldsmith, Mark Benjamin
AWARD: American Film and Video Festival, Blue Ribbon
Program 6
Seventeen
focuses on Muncie high school seniors as they face the tensions and uncertainties of growing up. (Some viewers may find the language of the film objectionable.)
PRODUCER: Peter Davis
DIRECTORS: Joel DeMott, Jeff Kreines
EDITORS/CINEMATOGRAPHY: Joel DeMott, Jeff Kreines
AWARD: U.S. Film Festival, First Prize
SERIES PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: The Middletown Film Project, New York, NY
YEARS PRODUCED: 1979-1982
SERIES PRODUCER: Peter Davis
FORMAT: 16mm, Video
Programs 1, 4, 5 (60:00), Program 2 (90:00), Program 3 (80:00), Program 6(120:00)
DISTRIBUTORS: First Run/Icarus Films (program 6, Seventeen) Programs 1-5 not currently available
Middletown Revisited
Documentary
This film examines the relationship of the documentary series (see above) to Robert and Helen Merrill Lynd's original sociological study of Muncie, Indiana, in the late 1920s.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: WIPB/49, Muncie, IN
YEAR PRODUCED: 1982
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Larry A. Dyer
PRODUCTION ASSISTANTS: Tim Merriweather, Linda Furnish
DIRECTOR: Richard Roffman
EDITORS: John Prager, Steve Singer, Ralph Cassano
CAMERA OPERATORS: Debra Steele, Richard Collins, Gary Valente
NARRATOR: Ben Wattenburg
FORMAT: Video (58:55)
DISTRIBUTOR: Ball State University, University Libraries, Educational Resources/Public Services (on-site viewing only)
A Midwife's Tale
Documentary/Drama
This dramatic exploration is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning story of Martha Ballard, a midwife in Maine during the decades following the American Revolution. Ballard delivered over 800 babies while struggling against poverty, disease, domestic abuse, and social turmoil on the northern frontier of a young nation. Her story is interwoven with the quest of a historian to uncover Ballard's world in a sparsely detailed diary.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: The Filmmaker's Collaborative/Blueberry Hill Productions, Watertown, MA
YEAR PRODUCED: 1997
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER FOR THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: Rebecca Eaton, Judy Crichton, Margaret Drain
PRODUCER/WRITER: Laurie Kahn-Leavitt
DIRECTOR: Richard P. Rogers
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Peter Stein, Steven Poster
EDITORS: William A. Anderson, Susan Korda
CAST: Kaiulani Lee, Ron Tough, Laurel Ulrich, Kevin Jubinville, Waneta Storms, Henriette Ivanans, Patricia Welbourn, Tari Signor, Andrew Miller, Ronald Spurles, Paula Dawson, Eric Jaillet, Andrew Power, Charlie Rhindress, John Cail, Wendy Way, Dawn McKelvie Cyr, Sarah Evans, Alyson Green, Guy Grenier, Susan Hayward, Doug Sutherland, Mia Dillon, J. Smith Cameron, Gil Rogers, Joel Hunter, Robert Jones, Kaiulani Kimbrell, Ruth Anderson, Jim Belding, Wallace Brown, Darrel Butler, Janet Monid, Jenny Munday, Peter O'Neill, Tom Oldenburg, Cecil Sharpe
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: San Francisco Film Festival, Silver Spire Award; Northampton Film Festival, Kodak Vision Award; American Association of State and Local History's Top Media Award; New England Historical Association's Top Media Award; Bronze Apple; Emmy; Cine Golden Eagle; Vancouver International Film Festival; St. Louis Film Festival; Rocky Mountain Women's Film Festival; DC Women in Film Festival; Atlantic Film Festival; INPUT International Public Television Screening Conference; The Hampton's International Film Festival; San Francisco International Film Festival; Green Mountain Film Festival; International Family Film Festival; Nortell Palm Springs International Film Festival; Northampton Film Festival; Maine Women's Film Festival; Silver Images Film Festival
FORMAT: Video (88:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: PBS Video
Mill Times
Documentary
The film, based on renowned author-illustrator David Macaulay's book Mill, takes viewers on a whirlwind journey through the industrial revolution, beginning with the founding of America's first textile mill in the 1790s and ending in modern times. Macaulay hosts the one-hour, family-oriented program, rich with a colorfully animated, character-driven story that is interwoven with insightful, live-action documentary segments.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Unicorn Projects, c/o Henninger Capitol, Washington, DC
YEAR PRODUCED: 2002
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Larry Klein
PRODUCERS/WRITERS: Mark Olshaker, Larry Klein
DIRECTOR: Larry Klein
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Terry Hopkins and Mike Fox
EDITORS: Mickey Green, James Butler
NARRATOR: David Macaulay
CAST: Derek Jacobi, John Sessions, Richard Clifford, Shira Ginsberg, Mike Wilson, Richard Bebb, Brook Butterworth, R. Scott Thompson, Alena Wright, Doreen Keogh, Dan Russell, Andrew Wynn
PRINT MATERIALS: PBS Video
FORMAT: Video (56:46)
DISTRIBUTOR: PBS Video
The Mine Wars
Documentary
At the dawn of the twentieth century, coal was the fuel that powered the nation, yet few Americans thought much about the men who blasted the black rock from underground and hauled it to the surface. The Mine Wars tells the overlooked story of the miners in the mountains of southern West Virginia — native mountaineers, African American migrants, and European immigrants — who came together in a protracted struggle for their rights. Decades of violence accompanied their attempts to form a union, culminating in the Battle of Blair Mountain in 1921, the largest armed insurrection since the Civil War. The West Virginia mine wars raised profound questions about what freedom and democracy meant to working people in an industrial society.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: The Film Posse, Inc., Boston, MA
YEAR PRODUCED: 2016
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Mark Samels
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: Randall MacLowry
WRITER: Mark Zwonitzer
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Stephen McCarthy
EDITORS: Mark Dugas
NARRATOR: Michael Murphy
CAST (Interviewees): Thomas Andrews, Rebecca Bailey, Jean Battlo, David Corbin, Doug Estepp, Rosemary Feurer, Beverly Gage, Denise Giardina, James Green, John Hennen, Charles Belmont Keeney, Ronald Lewis, Paul Rakes, Carl Starr, Sr, Joe William Trotter Jr, Ellis Ray Williams, John Alexander Williams
PRINT MATERIALS: available through PBS pressroom - pressroom.pbs.org (requires press credentials go access)
FORMAT: DVD (120:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/
Mission US
Digital-Based Series of online role-playing games
This series of free, interactive online games is designed to give students in grades 5 to 9 a first-person perspective on American history. The first game in the series, Mission 1: “For Crown or Colony?” puts players in the shoes of Nat Wheeler, a 14-year-old printer's apprentice in 1770 Boston who must decide if his loyalties lie with the Patriots or Loyalists. In Mission 2: “Flight to Freedom,” players take on the role of Lucy King, a fictional 14-year-old enslaved person in Kentucky in 1848. As players navigate her escape and journey to Ohio via the Underground Railroad, they discover that life in the “free” North is dangerous and difficult. The website includes resources to support use of Mission US in the classroom, including lesson plans, document-based activities, primary source documents, vocabulary activities, background on historical figures, writing prompts, and more.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: WNET, New York, NY
YEAR PRODUCED: 2010
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Jill Peters
PRODUCER: Michelle Chen
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: 2011 NETA Conference: Winner for Instructional Content/Learning Object in the Instructional Media category (received score 60 of 60 from judges); Nominated: 2012 History Makers Award – Best Interactive Production
DISTRIBUTOR: Available online
Mississippi Triangle
Documentary
This film explores the emergence of the Chinese community in the Mississippi Delta and examines economic and civil rights issues, education, labor, and class in the Delta.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Film News Now Foundation, New York, NY
YEAR PRODUCED: 1984
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: Christine Choy
CODIRECTORS: Worth Long, Allan Siegel
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: Berlin International Film Festival; FILMEX (Los Angeles); Dorothy Arzner Film Festival, Critics' Award
FORMAT: 16mm, Video (110:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: Third World Newsreel
Mitsuye and Nellie: Asian-American Poets
Documentary
This film portrays the experience of two poets, Mitsuye Yamada, Japanese-American, and Nellie Wong, Chinese-American. Among the issues explored are Japanese-American internment, Chinese immigration, intergenerational conflict in Asian-American families, and the dispelling of Asian-American stereotypes.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Mitsuye and Nellie Film Project, San Francisco, CA
YEAR PRODUCED: 1981
PRODUCER: Allie Light
DIRECTOR: Irving Saraf
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Emiko Omori
CAST: Mitsuye Yamada, Nellie Wong
FORMAT: 16mm, Video (60:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: Women Make Movies
Molders of Troy
Drama
From 1859 to 1876, Brain Duffy, resisting pressure from his fellow Irish immigrants, organizes Troy's iron molders into one of the country's strongest unions.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATIONS: Bowling Green Films, Inc. and WMHT, Schenectady, NY
YEAR PRODUCED: 1979
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: Jack Ofield
WRITERS: W.W. Lewis, Paul Wilkes
PROJECT DIRECTOR: Daniel J. Walkowitz
RESEARCH DIRECTOR: Barbara Abrash
FORMAT: 16mm (90:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: PBS Video
The Most Dangerous Woman in America
Documentary
“Woman Cook a Walking Typhoid Fever Factory,” said the headline in a New York City newspaper in 1907. The woman was Mary Mallon, an Irish immigrant who as “Typhoid Mary” would become a notorious symbol of a public health menace. Mary Mallon's ordeal took place at a time when the new science of bacteriology was shaping public health policies in America for the first time, and her case continues to hold lessons amid today's heightened concerns about communicable diseases. The documentary unfolds like a detective story, interweaving dramatizations, interviews and archival materials. The Most Dangerous Woman in America dramatizes how an otherwise ordinary woman was transformed by forces well beyond her control into an extraordinary symbol of her era. The program is based on the book Typhoid Mary: Captive to the Public's Health, by Judith Walzer Leavitt. Leavitt, who is professor of medical history and women's studies at the University of Wisconsin Medical School, is one of several noted experts interviewed by NOVA. Also featured is Anthony Bourdain, the celebrated chef at New York's Les Halles restaurant and author of Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly and Typhoid Mary: An Urban Historical.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Nancy Porter Productions, Inc.
YEAR PRODUCED: 2004
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Paula Apsell
PRODUCERS: Peter Frumkin, Laura LeMarr
DIRECTOR/WRITER: Nancy Porter
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Boyd Estus
EDITOR: Peter Rhodes
NARRATOR: Richard Donat
CAST: Marion Tomas Griffin, Natalie Rose, Jere Shea
PRINT MATERIALS: Teacher's Guide, WGBH-TV
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: Cine Golden Eagle; New York Festivals Silver Medal; Screened at Harvard School of Public Health
FORMAT: Video 58:46 mins
DISTRIBUTOR: WGBH Boston Video
Murder At Harvard
Documentary
Murder At Harvard uses a combination of film-noir style drama and present-day documentary footage to tell the true tale of one of the most famous American crimes of the nineteenth-century: the grisly murder of eminent Bostonian George Parkman by Harvard Professor John Webster in November 1849. It tells two stories in parallel: the murder itself and historian Simon Schama's journey into the past to seek the “truth” behind the mystery and to pose the question: how do we ever know for certain what happened in the past?
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Center for Independent Documentary
YEAR PRODUCED: 2002
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Margaret Drain
PRODUCERS: Melissa Banta, Eric Stange
DIRECTOR: Eric Stange
WRITERS: Eric Stange, Melissa Banta, Simon Schama
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Boyd Estus
EDITOR: Peter Rhodes
NARRATOR: Simon Schama
CAST: Tim Sawyer, Stephen Benson, Sean McGuirk
PRINT MATERIALS: PBS web site: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/murder/
FORMAT: Video 60:00 mins.
DISTRIBUTOR: PBS Video
Murder of a President
Documentary
On the morning of July 2, 1881, a wildly delusional ne'er-do-well shot President James Garfield as he was walking through Washington's Baltimore and Potomac railroad station. As the President lay grievously wounded, pandemonium broke out. The assassin, Charles Guiteau, who believed he had done God's bidding, readily surrendered, fearing he would be lynched by the howling mob. Murder of a President recounts the story of the assassination and the excruciating final months of Garfield's life, tracing Garfield's unlikely journey from a log cabin in rural Ohio to the Oval Office. A brilliant scholar, courageous general, and fervent abolitionist, Garfield never wanted the job of president. But once in office, he worked tirelessly to reunite a nation still divided fifteen years after the Civil War. As he lay dying, North and South came together to pray for the recovery of their dearly beloved leader. His wife of twenty-three years barely left his bedside. The inventor of the telephone, Alexander Graham Bell, worked feverishly to invent a contraption that would locate the bullet still lodged in the President's torso. The famed explorer, John Wesley Powell, helped construct the nation's first air-conditioning system to keep Garfield cool in the sweltering heat of a humid Washington summer. And when the end seemed near, engineers designed a special railroad car to take the President to the New Jersey shore so that Garfield could die within sight of the sea.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: WGBH Educational Foundation, Boston, MA
YEAR PRODUCED: 2015
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Mark Samels
PRODUCERS: Rob Rapley, Stephanie Haberman Bordes, Kathryn Lord
DIRECTOR: Rob Rapley
WRITERS: Rob Rapley, Paul Taylor
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Tim Cragg
EDITOR: Don Kleszy
NARRATOR: Michael Murphy
PRINT MATERIALS: Transcript on PBS website: www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/garfield
FORMAT: DVD (120:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/
PBS (broadcast) www.pbs.org
PBSD (broadcast distributers) www.pbsdistribution.org
My Palikari
Drama
Greek immigrant Pete Panakos, the proprietor of a small cafe in Yonkers, New York, returns to Greece with his son. There they reshape their conceptions of the village and each other.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Center for Television in the Humanities, Inc., Atlanta, GA
YEAR PRODUCED: 1982
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: David Horwatt
PRODUCERS: Sue Jett, Tony Mark
DIRECTOR: Charles S. Dubin
SCRIPTWRITER: George Kirgo
STORYWRITER: Leon Capetanos
EDITOR: Richard Bracken
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Ennio Guarnieri
MUSIC: John Cacavas
CAST: Telly Savalas, Keith Gordon, Edye Byrde, Lori-Nan Engler
FORMAT: 16mm, Video (90:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: Caridi Entertainment
Nat Turner A Troublesome Property
Documentary
Nat Turner A Troublesome Property is a groundbreaking exploration of slavery, race, violence and memory in American life. The film examines the Nat Turner slave rebellion of 1831, the most significant slave rebellion in our nation's history, as both an historical event and a subject of historical memory. The filmmakers have interviewed a broad range of contemporary black and white descendants, historians, writers, and artists. The film weaves selections from these interviews into a rich narrative reflecting the multifaceted legacy of Nat Turner in America today. The film also presents Nat Turner as an important figure in American historical memory through selected dramatic recreations based on images and words found in folklore, poetry, novels and plays from 1831 to the present. We explore how the publication in 1967 of William Styron's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Confessions of Nat Turner, incited a bitter debate over issues of race and memory. The passions released by this fictional depiction of a major African American leader by a major white Southern writer are still felt today.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: LLC, Santa Barbara, CA
YEAR PRODUCED: 2002 (educational version) - 2003 (PBS version)
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Frank Christopher
PRODUCER: Kenneth H. Greenberg
DIRECTOR: Charles Burnett
WRITERS: Frank Christopher, Kenneth H. Greenberg, Charles Burnett
CINEMATOGRAPHY: John Demps
EDITORS: Michael Colin, Frank Christopher
NARRATOR: Alfre Woodard
CAST: Carl Lumbly, Tom Nowicki, Tommy Hicks, James Opher, Megan Gallacher, Michael Lemelle, Reshara Coleman, Mark Joy, Justin Dray, Harry Kollatz, Laurel Lyle, Tony Miratti, Billy Dye, Patrick Waller
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: Athens International Film Fest, US Film Festival; Hollywood Black Film Festival; Black Filmmaker's Hall of Fame and the Long Beach Film Festival
FORMAT: 56 mins
DISTRIBUTORS: Educational Distribution: California Newsreel and PBS Exhibition: Independent Lens
New York: A Documentary Film
Documentary Series
The series chronicles the history of the city from its beginnings in 1624 as a Dutch trading post to its preeminence today as a global center of culture and commerce. The series draws on an unparalleled archive of paintings, prints, photographs, newsreels and motion pictures, as well as the countless men and women—celebrated and obscure—who lived in, struggled in, and built the city. Through narratives, on-camera testimony, and a collection of first-person historical quotes—from travelers, diarists, reporters, and New Yorkers themselves—the series reveals the confluence of human, social, and technological forces that converged in New York to usher in the modern world.
Program 1
The Country and the City (1609–1825)
Identifies the key themes that formed the spine of New York's history: commerce and capitalism, diversity and democracy, transformation and creativity. This episode chronicles the arrival of the Dutch, the impact of the English and the horrors of colonial slavery, and New York's role in the critical years during and after the American Revolution. The episode ends with the extraordinary burst of entrepreneurial energy that culminated in the building of the Erie Canal, which launched New York on its course to becoming the first national city in America.
Program 2
Order and Disorder (1825–65)
Already established as America's premiere port, New York swelled into the nation's greatest industrial metropolis as a massive wave of German and Irish immigration turned the city into one of the world's most complex urban environments, bringing a host of new social problems. The city's artists, innovators, and leaders—from Walt Whitman to the designers of Central Park, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux—grapple with the city's growing conflicts, which culminate in the catastrophic Civil War Draft Riots of 1863.
Program 3
Sunshine and Shadow (1865–98)
The spotlight shines on the growth, glamour, and grief of New York during America's giddy postwar “Gilded Age.” Exploring the incomparable wealth of the robber barons and the unabashed corruption of political leaders like Tammany Hall boss William M. Tweed, this episode examines the era when the expansion of wealth and poverty built to a crescendo. The episode ends as the city itself dramatically expands its boundaries, annexing Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island into a single massive metropolis.
Program 4
The Power and the People (1898–1914)
In the new century, the extraordinary interplay of capitalism, democracy, and transformation surged to a climax. During a single generation, more than 10 million immigrants arrived in New York. The city itself became an even more dramatic lure with the construction of the first subways and skyscrapers. Arising from the plight of New York's most exploited citizens came landmark legislation that would eventually transform the lives of all Americans.
Program 5
Cosmopolis (1914–31)
In this short but dazzling period, New York became the focal point of an extraordinary array of human and cultural energies, reaching its highest levels of urban excitement and glamour. In just over a decade, New York gave birth to its signature skyscrapers, the Chrysler and Empire State Buildings, artistic creations such as F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, George Gershwin's “Rhapsody in Blue,” and the jazz compositions of Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong. Along the way, Harlem emerged as the undisputed capital of the African American experience, and the new media industries of advertising, radio networks, public relations, and magazines found homes in midtown Manhattan.
Program 6
The City and the World (1931–2000)
The series concludes with an extraordinary overview of the last 69 years of New York's and America's modern history, years that took the nation through the Depression and the New Deal; World War II; the economic and population booms of the 50s; the social revolutions of the 60s; the decay and recessions of the 70s; and the rebuilding, resurgence and re-evaluation of the 80s and 90s. Viewed by many as the capital of the world, New York became home to the United Nations and new generations of migrating Americans and international immigrants.
PRODUCTION ORGANZATION: Steeplechase Films, Inc., New York, NY
YEAR PRODUCED: 1999-2000
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Ric Burns
< PRODUCERS: Lisa Ades, Ric Burns
DIRECTOR: Ric Burns
WRITERS: Ric Burns, James Sanders
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Buddy Squires, Allen Moore
EDITORS: Li-Shin Yu, Ed Bartoski, David Hansen, Nina Schulman
NARRATOR: David Ogden Stiers
INTERVIEWS: Kenneth T. Jackson, Mike Wallace, Thomas Bender, Robert Caro, David Levering Lewis, David McCullough, Ann Douglas, John Kuo Wei Tchen, Marshall Berman, Margo Jefferson, John Steele Gordon, Robert A.M. Stern, Ada Louise Huxtable, Alfred Kazin, Pete Hamill, Rev. Calvin O. Butts III, Caleb Carr, E.L. Doctorow, the late Allen Ginsberg, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, Tony Kushner, Fran Lebowitz, Phillip Lopate, Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Albert Murray, Anna Quindlen, Martin Scorsese, Donald Trump. Also featured are the dramatic voices of Joan Allen, Philip Bosco, Keith David, Spalding Gray, Frederic Kimball, Robert Sean Leonard, David Margulies, Frank McCourt, Joe Morton, George Plimpton, Frances Sternhagen, Eli Wallach.
AWARDS: Emmy for achievement in picture editing in nonfiction programming; Alfred I. DuPont-Columbia University Silver Baton
PRINT MATERIALS: New York: An Illustrated History, Ric Burns and James Sanders with Lisa Ades (Alfred A. Knopf, 1999)
FORMAT: Video 6 (120:00) episodes
DISTRIBUTOR: PBS Video
Niagara Falls: The Changing Nature of a New World Symbol
Documentary
This film explores the changing cultural and historical significance of Niagara Falls.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Florentine Films, Northampton, MA
YEAR PRODUCED: 1985
PRODUCERS/DIRECTORS/WRITERS: Diane Garey, Larry R. Hott
EDITOR: Steve Alves
NARRATOR: Adolph Caesar
AWARD: American Film and Video Festival, Blue Ribbon
FORMAT: 16mm, Video (29:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: Direct Cinema Limited
No Job For a Woman: The Women Who Fought to Report WWII|
Documentary
Before World War II, war reporting was considered “no job for a woman.” But when the United States entered the war, American women reporters did not want to miss covering the biggest story of the century so they fought for and won access. But there was a catch: women reporters would be banned from the frontlines, prevented from covering front page stories about generals and battlefield manoeuvres and assigned "woman's angle" stories about nurses and female military personnel. Several refused to abide by these journalistic conventions and military restrictions and, instead, brought home a new kind of war story: one that was more intimate yet more revealing. They reached beyond the battlefield and deep into human lives to tell a new story of war. Combining rarely seen archival footage and stills with actors reading the written words of the three main characters and interviews with contemporary female war reporters, the film focuses on the lives and work of wire service reporter Ruth Cowan, magazine reporter Martha Gellhorn, and war photographer Dickey Chapelle. The film is narrated by Julianna Margulies, Emmy Award Winner and star of CBS's The Good Wife.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Hurry Up Sister Productions, LLC, New York City, NY
YEAR PRODUCED: 2011
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Michele Midori Fillion, Jeanne Houck
PRODUCERS: Michele Midori Fillion, Maria Agui Carter
DIRECTOR: Michele Midori Fillion
WRITERS: Michele Midori Fillion, Maia Harris
EDITOR: Kate Hirson
NARRATOR: Julianna Margulies
CAST: Portraying Ruth Cowan: Kathleen McNenny, Portraying Dickey Chapelle: Dorothea Harahan, Portraying Martha Gellhorn: Elyse Mirto
PRINT MATERIALS: On-line presskit available here.
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: John F. Kennedy Presidential Library Foundation Grant (2008); New York State Council for the Arts (2009); Lucius and Eva Eastman Fund (2009); Educational Foundation of America Grant (2010); 14th International Hemingway Conference, Lausanne, Switzerland; Director Michele Midori Fillion invited to present clips of the film (2010) at conference; Newswomen's Club of New York screening 2011; March 9, 2011 private screening at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum; Sarasota International Film Festival 2011; They That Have Bourne the Battle – Vet's Fest screening; Best Use of Archive Nomination History Maker's Conference 2012; Flying Broom International Film Festival, Ankara Turkey 2012; Vancouver International Film Festival 2012; Far Out East Film Festival 2012; American Studies Association Conference Puerto Rico; Peterborough International Film Festival 2013
FORMAT: DVD (61:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: Women Make Movies
Oliver Sacks: His Own Life
Documentary
Oliver Sacks: His Own Life explores the life and work of the legendary neurologist and storyteller, as he shares intimate details of his battles with drug addiction, homophobia, and a medical establishment that accepted his work only decades after the fact. Sacks, known for his literary works Awakenings and The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, was a fearless explorer of unknown cognitive worlds who helped redefine our understanding of the brain and mind, the diversity of human experience, and our shared humanity. The film features exclusive interviews with Sacks conducted just weeks after he received a terminal diagnosis, and months prior to his death in August 2015, and nearly two dozen deeply revealing and personal interviews with family members, colleagues, patients, and close friends, including Jonathan Miller, Robert Silvers, Temple Grandin, Christof Koch, Robert Krulwich, Lawrence Weschler, Roberto Calasso, Paul Theroux, Bill Hayes, Kate Edgar, and Atul Gawande, among others. The film also draws on unique access to the extensive archives of the Oliver Sacks Foundation.
PRODUCTIONS ORGANIZATION: Steeplechase Films, Vulcan Productions, Motto Pictures, American Masters Pictures, PBS and Independent Television Service, Inc., HHMI Tangled Bank Studios, Sandbox Films, Passion Pictures, WDR, ARTE, American Masters Productions, New York, NY
YEAR PRODUCED: 2019
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Paul G. Allen, Carole Tomko, Rocky Collins, Michael Kantor, Julie Goldman, Christopher Clements, Doron Weber, Arthur G. Altschul Jr., Margaret Munzer Loeb, Nion McEvoy, Regina K. Scully, Geralyn White Dreyfous, David Guy Elisco, Sean B. Carroll, Sally Jo Fifer, John Battsek, Nicole Stott, Greg Boustead
PRODUCERS: Leigh Howell, Bonnie Lafave, Kathryn Clinard
DIRECTOR: Ric Burns
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Buddy Squires
EDITORS: Li-Shin Yu, Tom Patterson, Chih Hsuan Liang
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: 2019 Official Selection - Telluride Film Festival; 2019 New York Film Festival; 2019 Official Selection – Doc Stories – SFFILM; 2019 Virgina Film Festival; 2019 Middleburg Film Festival; 2019 Official Selection – Hamptons International Film Festival; WINNER: HIFF27 Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature; 2019 AFI Festival; 2020 Palm Springs International Film Festival; 2020 Glasgow Film Festival; 2020 Phiadelphia Jewish Film Festival; 2020 Adelaide Film Festival; 2020 InScience Film Festival
FORMAT: DVD (114 minutes)
DISTRIBUTOR: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/
One on Every Corner: Manhattan's Greek-Owned Coffee Shops
Documentary
This film examines Manhattan's neighborhood coffee shops and their role as a means of support and social mobility for new Greek immigrants who run them.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: International Women's Film Project, Washington, DC
YEAR PRODUCED: 1984
COPRODUCERS: Doreen Moses, Andrea Hull
EDITOR: Andrea Hull
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Tom Siegel
AWARD: CINE Golden Eagle
FORMAT: 16mm, Video (48:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: Currently unavailable
One Woman, One Vote|
Documentary
This program tells the story of the seventy-year struggle to win the right to vote for women in America. Culminating in the 1920 passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution, it examines the suffrage movement's leaders, triumphs, defeats, and internal divisions.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Educational Film Center, Annandale, VA
YEAR PRODUCED: 1995 (first broadcast on The American Experience)
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER for The American Experience: Judy Crichton
PRODUCER/WRITER: Ruth Pollak
COPRODUCER/COWRITER: Felicia Widmann
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Peter Pearce, Erich Roland
EDITORS: Patty Stern, A.C. Warden
NARRATOR: Susan Sarandon
HOST for The American Experience: David McCullough
VOICES: Karen Allen, Pat Carroll, Julie Harris, Linda Hunt, Amy Irving, Richard Kiley, Frances Sternhagen, Nina Totenberg, Doug Brown, Franchelle Dorn, Helen Hedman, Sarah Marshall, Alice McGill, Pamela Nyberg, Richard Stillwell, Henry Strozier
FORMAT: Video (106:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: PBS Video
The Orphan Trains
Documentary
This program tells the story of the first large-scale foster care program in American history when from 1854 to 1929, the Children's Aid Society, a private New York charity, sent 100,000 orphans and other poor city children on trains to rural communities across the nation to begin new lives with foster families.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Edward Gray Films, Inc., New York, NY
YEAR PRODUCED: 1994 (first broadcast on The American Experience)
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Judy Crichton
PRODUCERS/DIRECTORS: Janet Graham, Edward Gray
WRITER: Edward Gray
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Edward Marritz, Gary Steele
EDITOR: Josh Waletzky
COEDITOR: Kenneth Levis
NARRATOR: Stacy Keach
FORMAT: Video (57:30)
DISTRIBUTOR: contact PBS Video
Out of Ireland
Documentary
Focusing on eight specific lives, this film traces the history of Irish immigration to America, from the famine-swept villages of 19th-century Ireland to the industrialized cities of 20th-century America.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: American Focus, Inc., Charlottesville, VA
YEAR PRODUCED: 1994
PRODUCERS: Paul Wagner, Ellen Casey Wagner
DIRECTOR/WRITER: Paul Wagner
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Erich Roland
EDITORS: Paul Wagner, Neil Means, Reid Oechslin
NARRATOR: Kelly McGillis
VOICES: Liam Neeson, Aidan Quinn, Gabriel Byrne, Brenda Fricker
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: Sundance Film Festival; Chicago International Film Festival, Certificate of Merit; Cork (Ireland) Film Festival; Denver International Film Festival
PRINT/AUDIO MATERIAL: Out of Ireland, companion book by Kerby Miller and Paul Wagner (Elliott and Clark, 1994); CD and cassette of soundtrack available through Shanachie Entertainment (see below)
FORMAT: Video, 16mm (111:00)
DISTRIBUTORS:
PBS Video (educational)
Shanachie Entertainment (home video)
Charles Schuerhoff (international)
The Other Side of Victory
Drama
The Other Side of Victory dramatizes the problems facing ordinary American soldiers during the Revolutionary War, explaining why most ultimately chose to stay and fight.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: New York State Bicentennial Commission
YEAR PRODUCED: 1976
PRODUCER: Ira Barmak
DIRECTOR: Bill Jersey
WRITERS: Richard Wormser, Ira Barmak
CAST: Josh Clark, William Sanderson, Tom Waite, Jamie Ross, David Naughton, Roberta Maxwell, Mark Margolis, Steve Simpson
FORMAT: Video (58:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: Bill Jersey Productions/Quest Productions
Paradox on 72nd Street
Documentary
Through observations of passersby in a New York neighborhood over a three year period, this film examines the paradox of how we can be “our individual separate selves and, at the same time, the working part of others.”
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATIONS: Equinox Films and WNET/13, New York, NY
YEAR PRODUCED: 1982
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR/WRITER: Gene Searchinger
FORMAT: 16mm, Video (60:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: Equinox Films, Inc.
A Paralyzing Fear: The Story of Polio in America
Documentary
This film examines the impact of epidemic disease on American society and culture. First person narratives from polio survivors, their families, nurses, doctors, and journalists are coupled with archival images to create a portrait of America as it struggled to combat the annual epidemics and the fear that they brought with them.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Center for History in the Media, The George Washington University, Washington, DC
YEAR PRODUCED: 1997
PRODUCERS: Nina Gilden Seavey, Paul Wagner
DIRECTOR/WRITER: Nina Gilden Seavey
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Allen Moore, Reuben Aaronson
EDITOR: Catherine Shields
NARRATOR: Olympia Dukakis
AWARDS AND FESTIVALS: 1998 Golden Apple Award, National Media Network for Outstanding Achievement in Filmmaking; Golden Hugo Award in the History and Biography category, International Communication Film and Video Festival (INTERCOM); Erik Barnouw Prize, “best historical film”; Emmy, “Best Research in a News or Documentary program”
FORMAT: Video (88:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: The George Washington University
Past/Present: 1906
Video Game
An irreverent, surprising, and fresh approach to teaching social history to secondary schoolers, Past/Present: 1906 is an immersive digital video game where players live the lives of Americans from eras past. Players can impersonate one of two protagonists living in the fictional New England mill town of Eureka Falls a century ago: Anna Caruso, a young Italian immigrant worker at the Boylston Mill, or Walter Armbruster, the mill's young manager. They will move through the game world alongside a series of non-playing characters who represent various jobs, personalities, backgrounds, and political views. Past/Present: 1906 is set against the backdrop of growing labor struggles in an economically harsh climate. It's a tense time – labor unrest is on the rise, and players will have to decide which side they stand on.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Center for New American Media, New York, NY
YEAR PRODUCED: 2012
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Louis Alvarez, Andrew Kolker, Peter Odabashian
PRODUCERS: Louis Alvarez, Andrew Kolker, Peter Odabashian
GAME DESIGNERS: Bert Snow and Jeremy Monken, Muzzy Lane Software
PRINT MATERIALS: Teacher guides and student materials at pastpresent.org
DISTRIBUTOR: Center for New American Media
Partners of the Heart
Documentary
Partners of the Heart tells the story of Vivien Thomas and Alfred Blalock, whose discoveries saved the lives of thousand of “blue babies”—children born with a deadly heart defect. The men's stunning success ushered in a new era of cardiac medicine and launched modern heart surgery. At age 19, with only a high school degree and at a time when his color barred him from being treated in many hospitals, Thomas embarked on a 34-year partnership with Blalock, a white surgeon. His journey is a bittersweet, overlooked American story of personal triumph.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Spark Media, Inc., Washington, DC
YEAR PRODUCED: 2002
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Andrea Kalin
PRODUCER: Andrea Kalin
DIRECTORS: Andrea Kalin, Bill Duke
WRITERS: Lou Potter, Andrea Kalin
CINEMATOGRAPHY: John Rhode
EDITORS: Susan Fanshel, Barbara Burst
NARRATOR: Morgan Freeman
PRINT MATERIALS: Partners of the Heart: An Autobiography by Vivien Thomas, available through University of Pennsylvania Press
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: CINE Award; Chris Award; American Black Film Festival, Miami, FL; Nashville Independent Film Festival, Nashville, TN; Hot Springs Film Festival, Hot Springs, AZ; St. Louis International Film Festival, St. Louis, MO; High Falls Film Festival, Rochester, NY; Memphis Film Festival; Bermuda International Film Festival; Worldfest Fest-Houston International Film and Video Festival
FORMAT: Video & DVD 58:00
DISTRIBUTOR: PBS Video
Pearl Harbor: Surprise and Remembrance
Documentary
This film examines Japanese-American relations and the events leading to the attack on Pearl Harbor, with special emphasis on the way in which various interpretations of events and evidence arise from conflicting national purposes and personal insights.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: American Studies Film Center, Inc., New York, NY
YEAR PRODUCED: 1991 (first broadcast on The American Experience)
PRODUCERS/DIRECTORS: Lance Bird, John Crowley, Tom Johnson
WRITER: Tom Johnson
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Mead Hunt
EDITORS: Victor Kanefsky, Julianna Parroni
NARRATOR: Jason Robards
FORMAT: Video (85:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: Direct Cinema Limited
The People's Plague: Tuberculosis in America
Documentary
This film chronicles America's response to tuberculosis, from 1850 to the present, and the relationship of the disease to science, medicine, public policy, literature, cultural myth, and social and ethical considerations.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Florentine Films, Haydenville, MA
YEAR PRODUCED: 1994
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Lawrence R. Hott, Diane Garey
PRODUCERS/DIRECTORS: Lawrence R. Hott, Diane Garey
WRITER: Kage Kleiner
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Allen Moore
EDITORS: Rikk Desgres, Diane Garey
NARRATOR: Joe Mantegna
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: Finalist, International Documentary Film Festival; Northhampton Film Festival, National Educational Media Network Gold Apple
FORMAT: Video (120:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: Direct Cinema Limited (English version)
The Performed Word
Documentary
This film explores the structure and style of African-American preaching, the sermon as performance, and the nature of oral performance in secular and sacred environments.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Anthropology Film Center Foundation, Santa Fe, NM
YEAR PRODUCED: 1981
PRODUCER: Gerald Davis
CODIRECTORS: Carlos de Jesus, Ernest Shinagawa
EDITORS: Ernest Shinagawa, Paul Grindrod
WRITERS: Gerald Davis, Ernest Shinagawa
CINEMATOGRAPHERS: Hiroaki Tanaka, Rick Butler
NARRATOR: Gerald Davis
FORMAT: 16mm, Video (60:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: Center for Southern Folklore
Picture Bride
Drama
This film tells the story of a young woman from Japan who ventures to Hawai'i as a picture bride in 1918. She has always dreamed of a “love marriage,” but by becoming a picture bride she can leave behind a difficult life in Japan. Through a matchmaker, she exchanges photos and letters with a plantation laborer in Hawai'i, and a match is made. Picture Bride portrays the immigrant men and women of Hawai'i's early plantations who surmounted the initial stumbling blocks of racism and fear to lay the foundation for a successful multi-ethnic society.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Cecile Company, Ltd.
YEAR PRODUCED: 1995
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Paul Mayersohn
PRODUCERS: Diane Mei Lin Mark, Lisa Onodera
DIRECTOR: Kayo Hatta
WRITERS: Kayo Hatta, Mari Hatta
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Claudio Rocha
EDITORS: Linzee Klingman, A.C.E., Mallory Gottlieb
CAST: Youki Kudoh, Yoko Sugi, Rev. Shoin Hoashi, Keiji Morita, Michael Hasegawa, Akira Takayama, Peter Clark, Warren Fabro, Lito Capina, Tamlyn Tomita, Michael Ashby, Glenn Cannon, James Grant Benton, Kati Kuroda, Hatsuko Otsuka, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Kyle Kakuno, Dawn Saito, Christianne Mays, Toshiro Mifune, Moe Keale, Nobu McCarthy
AWARDS AND FESTIVALS: Audience Award for Best Dramatic Film, Sundance Film Festival, 1995; San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival; Cannes Film Festival
FORMAT: Video (95:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: Miramax Films
The Pilgrims
Documentary
Arguably one of the most fateful and resonant events of the last half millennium, the Pilgrims' journey west across the Atlantic in the early seventeenth century is a seminal, if often misunderstood, episode of American and world history. The Pilgrims explores the forces, circumstances, personalities, and events that converged to propel their crossing, a story universally familiar in broad outline, but almost entirely unfamiliar to a general audience in its rich and compelling historical actuality, and rarely presented in the broad global context required.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATIONS: Steeplechase Films, New York, NY and WETA, Arlington, VA
YEAR PRODUCED: 2015
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Jeff Bieber, Dalton Delan
PRODUCERS: Leigh Howell, Robin Espinola, Bonnie Lafave, Ric Burns
DIRECTOR/WRITER: Ric Burns
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Tim Cragg, Buddy Squires, ASC, Michael Chin, Brian Heller, Stephen McCarthy, Allen Moore, Anthony Savini
EDITOR: Lishin Yu
CAST: Roger Rees as William Bradford
VOICES: Julian Elfer, Michael Elwyn, James Thorne
ALSO FEATURING
Josh Webb…William Bradford (boy)
Jos Brown Gaier...William Bradford (teen)
James Thorne...John Robinson
Matthew Jure...William Brewster
Howard Lee...Richard Clyfton
PRINT MATERIALS: PBS Learning Media has educational materials for the following subjects:
The Pilgrims: Mayflower Compact
The Pilgrims: Alliance with Massasoit's People and the First Thanksgiving
The Pilgrims: European Plague in Native New England, 1616-1619
The Pilgrims: William Bradford
The Pilgrims: The Origins of Separatism
The Pilgrims: Native American Relationship to the Land
The Pilgrims: The First Winter
The Pilgrims: The Beaver Trade and Colonial New England
The Pilgrims: Mayflower Descendants
All materials can be found at:
http://www.pbslearningmedia.org/collection/americanexperiencethepilgrims/
FORMAT: DVD 02:09:09 (home video); 01:56:40 (broadcast)
DISTRIBUTOR: WGBH, http://www.wgbh.org/
Prince Among Slaves
Documentary
In 1788, the slave ship Africa set sail from the Gambia River, its hold laden with a profitable but highly perishable cargo—hundreds of men, women and children bound in chains—headed for American shores. Eight months later, a handful of survivors found themselves for sale in Natchez, Mississippi. On the slave auction block, one of them, a 26-years-old male named Abdul Rahman Ibrahima, is an African prince.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Unity Productions Foundation, Silver Spring, MD
YEAR PRODUCED: 2007
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Alex Kronemer, Michael Wolfe
PRODUCERS/WRITERS: Andrea Kalin, Raki Jones
DIRECTORS: Andrea Kalin, Bill Duke
CINEMATOGRAPHY: John Rhode
EDITOR: David Grossbach
NARRATOR: Mos Def
CAST: Marcus Mitchell, Bruce Holmes, Dawn Ursula, John C. Bailey, Wilson White, Theodore M. Snead
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: Best Documentary 2007 at the American Black Film Festival; Cine Golden Eagle; Grand Goldie Film Award: for excellence in Direction presented to Andrea Kalin
FORMAT: Audio: (60:00)
DISTRIBUTORS: Unity Producitons Foundation & PBS
PRI's The World
Documentary Radio Series
The World examines patterns and realities of post-1965 immigration in America, illuminating one of the most dramatic intersections of domestic and international affairs and one that profoundly affects our nation's character. By calling upon such subjects as history, linguistics, and sociology to inspire and inform its coverage, The World uncovers dimensions of immigration often overlooked by other news programs in their retelling of current affairs.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: WGBH-Boston, Boston, MA
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Robert Ferrante
PRODUCERS/WRITERS: Carol Hills, Anthony Brooks, Jackie Mow, Patrick Cox, Marco Werman, Boris Maxsimov, Jeb Sharp, Ken Bader, Clark Boyd, Katy Clark; Lisa Mullins, Rebecca Roberts
DIRECTOR: Traci Tong
EDITORS: Ken Bader, Carol Hills
HOST: Lisa Mullins, Tony Kahn
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: The Massachusetts Broadcasting Association Star Award (first place) for coverage of Irish immigrants in the United States and the different educational and occupational profiles of successive generations of arrivals
FORMAT: Video (59:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: Public Radio International
The Probable Passing of Elk Creek
Documentary
This film considers the impact of a government-funded dam on two communities north of San Francisco, both of which are to be flooded: the predominantly white community of Elk Creek which opposes it, and the Nomlaki Indians of the Grindstone Creek Indian Reservation who are ambivalent.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATIONS: Tocayos Films and KTEH, San Jose, CA
YEAR PRODUCED: 1983
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: John W. Bloch, Elie Abel, Peter Baker
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR/WRITER/NARRATOR: Rob Wilson
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Mahlon Picht, William Zarchy, David Ambriz
EDITORS: Susan Slanhoff, Richard Chasen
FORMAT: 16mm, Video (60:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: The Cinema Guild, Inc.
Prohibition
Documentary
Prohibition is a six-hour documentary film series that explores the rise, rule, and fall of the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the entire era it encompassed. The series examines the social, political, and cultural forces that converged to make the Amendment's passage possible, the far-reaching impact of Prohibition on American life, and the country's eventual disillusionment with the edict, which culminated in repeal. The series accompanied by extensive educational outreach materials.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Florentine Films, Walpole, NH
YEAR PRODUCED: 2011
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Ken Burns
PRODUCERS/DIRECTORS: Ken Burns, Lynn Novick
WRITER: Geoffrey C. Ward
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Buddy Squires, Allen Moore, Stephen McCarthy
EDITORS: Tricia Reidy, Erik Ewers, Ryan Gifford
NARRATOR: Peter Coyote
CAST: Patricia Clarkson, Blythe Danner, Paul Giamatti, Tom Hanks, John Lithgow, Oliver Platt
PRINT MATERIALS: available online
FORMAT: DVD 3 Episodes, Approximately six hours
Power to Heal: Medicare and the Civil Rights Revolution
Documentary
At a time when many African Americans had little or no access to health care, Medicare offered President Johnson a “golden opportunity” to destroy the Jim Crow medical system prevalent in the 1960s. He had only a few short months to desegregate thousands of hospitals and every reason to fear massive resistance and violent retaliation. Chased by the Klan and followed by local police, a hastily recruited army of federal hospital inspectors, working closely with civil rights activists, fanned out across the nation in a race against time for health and human rights. By the implementation of Medicare on July 1, 1966, more than ninety percent of the nation's hospitals were certified to be in compliance with the Civil Rights Act. In a mere four months, thousands of hospitals had been desegregated, bringing life-saving medical care to millions of Americans. Power to Heal tells how civil rights activists, the federal government, and medical professionals achieved this life-changing success, leveraging Medicare funding to bring down segregation opening the door to hospitals, doctors, and medical schools for black Americans in both the North and South. The film begins by revealing the culture of segregated health care and the real perils it unleashed in black communities. It follows a chronological arc, beginning with federal legislation, the Hill–Burton Act of 1946, that facilitated the spread of segregated hospitals following World War II just as black doctors intensified their efforts to end racial discrimination. The film weaves together the first-person accounts of participants in the desegregation effort with expert historians' commentary to create a cohesive storyline that shows how segregation was dismantled in hospitals and how astonishingly successful the effort was.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: BLB Productions, Los Angeles, CA
YEAR PRODUCED: 2018
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Tamara Robinson, Martin Dornbaum
PRODUCERS: Barbara Berney, Roberta Friedman
DIRECTORS: Charles Burnett, Daniel Loewenthal
WRITERS: Anna Jhirad, Martin Dornbaum, Leslie Clark
EDITOR: Daniel Loewenthal
NARRATOR: Daniel Loewenthal
CAST: Danny Glover, Charles Evers, Aaron Shirley, Sylvia Drew Ivie, John McKnight, David Satcher, Antoinette Daniels, Camara Jones, L.C. Dorsey, H. Jack Geiger, Alvin Poussaint, Helen Barnes, Robert Smith, Raylawni Branch, Josephine Disparti, Brenda Armstrong, Pearline Williams, Ruby Washington, Steve Mangold, Harriet Washington, Sidney Feldman, Michael Meltsner, David B. Smith, Jeanette Wenger, Janet Willis, Patricia Parrott, Donald Chatman, Alvin Blount, Xernona Clayton, F. Peter Libassi, M. Phyllis, Cunningham, Philip Lee, Larry Brilliant, Jesse Roth, Roger Platt, Lilli Perry
FORMAT: DVD 56 minutes
DISTRIBUTOR: https://www.blbfilmproductions.com/
The Pueblo Revolt
Radio Drama
This two-part program dramatizes the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, during which the Pueblo Indians attacked Santa Fe and drove the Spanish out of New Mexico until 1692.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: The Wheelwright Museum, Santa Fe, NM
YEAR PRODUCED: 1980
PRODUCER: Mel Lawrence
DIRECTOR: Phil Austin
WRITER: Peggy Schneider
FORMAT: Audiocassette
2 (60:00) programs
DISTRIBUTOR: Currently unavailable
Ralph Bunche: An American Odyssey
Documentary
The film takes an indepth look at the life and legacy of the African American scholar and statesman Ralph Johnson Bunche (1903-1971) who, in 1949, successfully negotiated armistice agreements between Israel and its four Arab neighbors. Despite a life of extraordinary achievements that included a Nobel Peace Prize-the first ever awarded to a person of color anywhere in the world-today Bunche is arguably one of the most overlooked public figures of the 20th century. The pioneering contributions Bunche made to international conflict resolution, decolonization and peacekeeping at the United Nations over a period of more than two decades are the primary focus of the documentary. The film also takes a critical look at the less well-known, but important, role he played in advancing the cause of human rights around the world and civil rights at home. In bringing these major achievements to light, this biography begins the process of restoring Ralph Bunche to his rightful place in American and world history.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: William Greaves Productions, Inc, New York, NY
YEAR PRODUCED: 2001
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: William Greaves
PRODUCER: Louise Archambault
DIRECTOR: William Greaves
WRITERS: William Greaves, Leslie E. Lee
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Jerry Pantzer, Joe Mangine
EDITOR: Stephen J. Mack, Christopher Osborn, Paul Srp, Linda Hattendorf
NARRATOR: Sidney Poitier
PRINTED MATERIALS: Teachers' Guide, Instructors' Notes, Press kit, Poster
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: Houston International Film Festival - Gold Award, Feature documentary; Philadelphia International Film Festival, Gold Award, Feature documentary; Black International Cinema (Berlin), best film/video by a Black Filmmaker; Sundance Film Festival 2001, selected for competition; Human Rights Watch International Film Festival 2001, selected for screening; USA International Film Festival (Dallas), selected for competition; Full Frame International Documentary Film Festival, selected for competition; Pan African Film Festival 2002, selected for competition
FORMAT: Video 117 mins.
DISTRIBUTOR: William Greaves Productions, Inc.
Ralph Ellison: An American Journey
Documentary
A documentary portrait of Ralph Ellison, author of the American literary classic, Invisible Man, employing rare archival footage and interviews of notable authors and scholars Toni Morrison, Cornel West, Robert O'Meally, Clyde Taylor, Terrence Rafferty and others, An American Journey explores Ellison's illustrious career and major achievements as well as the controversies that surrounded him. A special feature of the program is the first ever presentation of selected dramatic scenes adapted from Invisible Man.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: New Images Productions, Inc., Berkeley, CA
YEAR PRODUCED: 2002
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR/WRITER: Avon Kirkland
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Bobby Shepherd
EDITOR: Ken Schneider
NARRATOR: Andre Braugher
PRINT MATERIALS: Teacher's Guide available at http://www.pbs.org/
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: 2002 Sundance Film Festival Documentary Competition; Los Angeles Pan African Film Festival; Denver Pan African Film Festival; San Francisco Black Film Festival; 2002 DeBalie Film Festival; Amsterdam
FORMAT: Video 87:00
DISTRIBUTOR: California Newsreel
Rebuilding the Temple: Cambodians in America
Documentary
This film examines the influence of traditional Khmer Buddhism and culture on the adjustment of Cambodian refugees to life in America.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATIONS: Florentine Films, Haydenville, MA
YEAR PRODUCED: 1990
PRODUCERS/DIRECTORS: Claudia Levin, Lawrence R. Hott
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Buddy Squires, Allen Moore, Bruce Jacoby
EDITOR: Sharon Sachs
NARRATOR: Linda Hunt
FORMAT: Video (60:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: Direct Cinema Limited
Reconstruction: The Second Civil War
Documentary
In his first speech after the end of the Civil War, President Lincoln began with only a few words of celebration of the recent victory. He went straight to the problem at hand, acknowledging that there was no agreed-upon plan for the future, and warning that the way ahead would be fraught with great difficulty. Spanning the years 1863 to 1877, this American Experience mini-series tells the story of the tumultuous years after the Civil War during which America grappled with how to rebuild itself, how to successfully bring the South back into the Union and at the same time how the former slaves could be brought into the life of the country. This three-hour series interweaves the stories of key political players in Washington—among them, Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, Ulysses Grant—with the stories of ordinary people, black and white, Republican and Democrat, in the North and South, whose lives were caught up in the turbulent struggles of the era.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: WGBH Educational Foundation, Boston, MA
YEAR PRODUCED: 2003
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Mark Samels
PRODUCERS/DIRECTORS/WRITERS: Elizabeth Deane, Llewellyn Smith, Patricia Garcia-Rios
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Kyle Kibbe
EDITORS: Randall MacLowry, Peter Rhodes
NARRATOR: Dion Graham
CAST: Richard E. Swanson, William R. Faulkner, John L. Spencer, James Devine, Richard Moody, Jean Wyatt, Jennifer Lynn Moses, Michael Ortiz
PRINT MATERIALS: Teachers' Guide available on program website: www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/reconstruction
FORMAT: Video 90:00 mins. (2X90) programs
DISTRIBUTOR: PBS Video
Rediscovering Alexander Hamilton
Documentary
Rediscovering Alexander Hamilton tells the dramatic story of our least understood founding father. Brookhiser walks the paths of Hamilton's life, from the Caribbean islands where he was born, to Yorktown and Wall Street where he fought and worked, to Harlem and Weehawken, where he lived and died. We hear a Treasury Secretary, a Supreme Court Justice, publishers, warriors, pornographers, lawyers, calypso singers and urban gang members talk about money, rights, news, battle, sex and honor—all the themes that shaped Hamilton's life, helped him make modern capitalist America, and led to his death in the most famous duel in American history.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATIONS: Manifold Productions, Inc., Chevy Chase, MD
YEAR PRODUCED: 2010
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Michael Pack, Gina Cappo Pack, Leo Eaton
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: Michael Pack
WRITER: Richard Brookhiser
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Anthony Forma, Allen Moore
EDITOR: Joseph Wiedenmayer
HOST: Richard Brookhiser
PRINT MATERIALS: Educational materials are available at www.manifoldproductions.com.
FORMAT: Video/DVD (120:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: Manifold Productions, Inc.
Remembering Jim Crow
Documentary Radio
Jim Crow gripped the South for eighty years, and race relations today are still deeply marked by its system of repressive laws and customs. Correspondents Stephen Smith, Kate Ellis and Sasha Aslanian examine the neglected “middle years” of America's segregation story, through the voices of people—both black and white—who lived through it. Remembering Jim Crow draws on interviews conducted by the Center for Documentary Studies' “Behind the Veil” oral history project and new, original field work by American RadioWorks.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: American RadioWorks/Minnesota Public Radio
YEAR PRODUCED: 2001
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Bill Buzenberg
PRODUCERS: Stephen Smith, Kate Ellis, Sasha Aslanian
EDITOR: Deborah George
HOST: Deborah George
PRINT MATERIALS: Text and audio of the radio documentary; slideshows; information about Jim Crow laws and other resources are available on the website www.americanradioworks.org/features/remembering/index.html
FORMAT: One hour-long radio report, two newsmagazine reports on NPR's Morning Edition, two eight-minute reports on the Travis Smiley Show and an extensive companion website
DISTRIBUTOR: National Public Radio
Remembering Slavery
Documentary/Radio Series
This is a series of two one-hour radio documentaries which describe daily life under slavery using rare voice-recorded interviews with former slaves made in the 1930s and 1940s. In addition to the actual voices of former slaves, Remembering Slavery uses dramatic readings by nationally known performers such as James Earl Jones, Debbie Allen, and Louis Gossett, Jr., and the narration of Tonea Stewart to bring to life readings from the written transcripts of more than 3,000 interviews with former slaves.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATIONS: Smithsonian Productions, Washington, DC, and Institute of Language and Culture, Clanton, AL
YEAR PRODUCED: 1999
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Wesley Horner
PRODUCERS: Kathie Earnell, Jacquie Gales Webb
DIRECTOR: Paul Johnson
WRITERS: Judlyne Lilly, Jacquie Gales Webb
EDITORS: Jacquie Gales Webb, John Tyler, Todd Hulslander
NARRATOR/HOST: Tonea Stewart
CAST: Debbie Allen, Clifton Davis, Louis Gossett, Jr., James Earl Jones, Jedda Jones, Melba Moore, Esther Rolle, John Sawyer
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: New York Festivals International Radio Awards: Gold World medal, Best Narration; Bronze Worldmedal, Best History Series; Finalist, Best Sound; American Museum Association, Honorable Mention; 1999 Museum Publications Design Competition (for enhanced CD/press kit); National Catholic Association for Communicators, Gabriel Award
PRINT MATERIALS: Study guides and companion book/tape set available through The New Press, 450 West 41st St, New York, NY 10036. See also the website: http://www.rememberingslavery.org/
FORMAT: Video (2 hours)
DISTRIBUTOR: Public Radio International
Reporting America At War
Documentary
Reporting America at War chronicles over one hundred years of American war correspondents, from the Spanish American War through the present day and the conflict in Iraq. The documentary also traces the evolutionary nature of media-military relations in that period, through the experiences and reflections of the correspondents themselves. The revelations offer critical insights into how Americans perceive armed conflict, and the role of a free press in a democracy at war. A special coda added analysis of the experiences of the embedded reporters during the Iraq War.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATIONS: WETA, Arlington, VA, and Insignia Films, New York, NY
YEAR PRODUCED: 2001
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Dalton Delan, David S. Thompson, Robert A. Wilson
PRODUCERS: Stephen Ives, Amanda Pollak
DIRECTOR: Stephen Ives
WRITER: Michelle Ferrari
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Buddy Squiers
EDITORS: George O'Donnell, Toby Shimin
NARRATOR: Linda Hunt
PRINT MATERIALS: Companion book, Hyperion Press
FORMAT: Video 180:00 mins. (2X90)
DISTRIBUTOR: PBS Video
Richard J. Daley: The Last Boss
Documentary
This is the story of Richard J. Daley (1902–76), including his rise to power as mayor of Chicago, his controversial rule, and eventual decline as arguably the most powerful urban politician in American history.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Social Media Productions, New York, NY
YEAR PRODUCED: 1995
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Judy Crichton
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: Barak Goodman
WRITERS: Barak Goodman, Geoffrey C. Ward
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Jonathan Smith, Buddy Squires
EDITOR: Bruce Shaw
NARRATOR: David McCullough
FORMAT: Video (90:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: Public Media Inc.
The Richest Man in the World: Andrew Carnegie
Documentary
This film is a personal portrait of one of the great entrepreneurs of the nineteenth century who, for millions, became the embodiment of the American dream. In 1876, with the nation in the midst of the greatest technological revolution in history, Carnegie predicted a fundamental shift from the use of wood to the use of iron and steel in railroad construction, bridges, and modern building.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: WGBH Educational Foundation, Boston, MA
YEAR PRODUCED: 1996
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS (The American Experience): Judy Crichton, Margaret Drain
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR/WRITER: Austin Hoyt
CO-PRODUCER: Gilda Brasch
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Terry Hopkins
EDITOR: Sarah Holt
NARRATOR: David McCullough, David Ogden Stiers
PRINT MATERIAL: Press kit from The American Experience
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: Erik Barnouw Award
FORMAT: Video (120:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: PBS Video
The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow
Documentary
The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow tells the story of the African American struggle for freedom during the era of Jim Crow between 1880 and 1954. This was perhaps the most oppressive time in African American history when whites segregated, disfranchised and brutalized blacks. Yet, African Americans continually sought ways to challenge and subvert Jim Crow.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Videoline Productions/Quest Productions
YEAR PRODUCED: 2002
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Bill Jersey, Bill Grant
PRODUCERS: Bill Jersey, Sam Pollard, Richard Wormser
DIRECTORS/WRITERS: Bill Jersey, Richard Wormser
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Brian Dowley, Bobby Shepard, Pierre Valette
EDITORS: Tom Hanake, Max Salomon, Pierre Valette, Garrett Levin, Aaron Butler
NARRATOR: Richard Roundtree
PRINT MATERIALS: Available through WNET
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: George Foster Peabody Award
FORMAT: Video 4 programs 60:00 each
DISTRIBUTOR: California Newsreel
Roanoak
Dramatic Series
This three-part drama covers the period 1584–90 and examines the first prolonged contact between English explorers and the Algonquian-speaking Indians on Roanoke Island. Drawing on the perspectives of both peoples, it considers the relationship between “Lost Colony” governor John White and two Native Americans. The series concludes with the disappearance of the colony, which remains a mystery.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATIONS: First Contact Films, Inc., and The South Carolina ETV Network, Spartanburg, SC
YEAR PRODUCED: 1986
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Lindsay Law
PRODUCERS: Timothy Marx, James K. McCarthy
COPRODUCERS: Robin C. Maw, Dina Harris
DIRECTOR: Jan Egleson
WRITERS: Dina Harris, James K. McCarthy
EDITOR: Bill Anderson
CAST: Victor Garber, Joseph Running Fox, Tino Juarez, Will Sampson
PRINT MATERIAL: Viewer's Guide available
FORMAT: Video (180:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: PBS Video
Robert E. Lee
Documentary
He is celebrated by handsome equestrian statues in countless cities and towns across the American South, and by no less than five postage stamps issued by the government he fought against during the four bloodiest years in American history. Nearly a century and a half after his death, Robert E. Lee, the leading Confederate general of the American Civil War, remains a source of fascination and, for some, veneration. This film examines the life and reputation of the general, whose military successes made him the scourge of the Union and the hero of the Confederacy, and who was elevated to almost god-like status by his admirers after his death.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATIONS: WGBH, Boston, MA
YEAR PRODUCED: 2010
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Mark Samels
PRODUCER/WRITER: Mark Zwonitzer
DIRECTORS: Mark Zwonitzer, Jamila Wignot
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Michael Chin
EDITOR: Bruce Shaw
NARRATOR: Michael Murphy
PRINT MATERIALS: Program transcript and teachers guides available on the website: www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/lee
FORMAT: Video/DVD (90:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: PBS
The Roosevelts: An Intimate History
Documentary
This series presents Theodore, Franklin, and Eleanor Roosevelt as they have never been portrayed on-screen before, as the most prominent members of one of the most important families in our history. For nineteen of the first forty-five years of the twentieth century, a member of the Roosevelt clan occupied the White House. Theodore Roosevelt took the nation from the excesses and exploitation of the Gilded Age into an era of social equity with his progressive politics and began the transformation of his country from an ex-colony of the British Empire into a world power. His fifth cousin, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who considered Theodore his hero and sought to emulate his success in politics, overcame the devastating effects of polio to become the President who tried unprecedented government intervention to rescue the country from the Great Depression, steered the nation toward victory in World War II and, with his dream of a new world order, laid the groundwork for the United Nations. Eleanor Roosevelt, Theodore's best loved niece and Franklin's wife—the living link between the two men—overcame her insecurities and the oftentimes confining role of wife and mother to become an activist who re-defined the role of First Lady, fearlessly supported the civil rights of African Americans and pioneered the role of women in politics. Through over one hundred years of shared history, the Roosevelts changed forever our nation and its government—and the expectations of its citizens.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: GWETA, Inc., Arlington, VA
YEAR PRODUCED: 2011
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Ken Burns
PRODUCERS: Paul Barnes, Pam Tubridy Baucom, Ken Burns
DIRECTOR: Ken Burns
WRITER: Geoffrey C. Ward
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Buddy Squires, Allen Moore
EDITORS: Paul Barnes, A.C.E., Tricia Reidy, Erik Ewers, Daniuel J. White
NARRATOR: Peter Coyote
CAST: Paul Giamatti, Edward Hermann, Meryl Street, Adam Arkin, Keith Carradine, Patricia Clarkson, Kevin Conway, Ed Harris, Michael Klug, Jason Lambert, John Lithgow, Josh Lucas, Carl Lumbly, Amy Madigan, Carolyn McCormick, Massimiliano Pala, Pamela Reed, Billy Bob Thornton, Joanne Tucker, Eli Wallach
PRINTED MATERIALS: Classroom materials available at http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/the-roosevelts/classroom
FORMAT: DVD 7 part (14 hour)
DISTRIBUTOR: www.pbs.org
School: The Story of American Public Education
Documentary
This four-part series journeys though history and across the nation to recapture the idealism of our education pioneers, the remarkable revolution that ensued, and the turmoil that marks our public school system today. School is a compelling odyssey that weaves archival footage, rare interviews and on-site coverage into an unprecedented portrait of America's great education experiment.
Program 1
The Common School (1770–1890)
profiles the passionate crusade launched by Thomas Jefferson and other reformers to educate all citizens rich and poor and ensure the survival of the democracy.
Program 2
As America as Public School (1900–50)
recalls the dramatic story of how massive immigration, child labor laws, and the explosive growth of cities transformed public education.
Program 3 Equality (1950–80)
covers the tempestuous era when public schools became a major battle ground in the fight for equality for minorities and women.
Program 4
The Bottom Line (1980–the present)
explores the wide range of “free-market” educational experiments-from charter schools to privatization—that emerged in the wake of A Nation at Risk, the Reagan Administration's shocking report on America's education crisis.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Stone Lantern Films, Inc., Chevy Chase, MD
YEAR PRODUCED: 2001
PRODUCERS: Sarah Mondale, Sarah Patton
DIRECTORS: Sarah Mondale, Vera Aronow
WRITER: Sheila Curran Bernard
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Allen Moore, Tome Hurwitz, Roger T. Grange, III, Mead Hunt
EDITOR: Marion Hunter
NARRATOR: Meryl Streep
PRINT MATERIALS: Outreach materials available through Roundtable, Inc., phone number: 781/893-3336
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: Golden Gate Award, San Francisco International Film Festival; Silver Hugo, Chicago International Television Competition; 1st Place-Gold Camera Award, Show 2-Education Category, U.S. International Film and Video Festival; Cine Golden Eagle
FORMAT: Video 4 programs 60:00 each
DISTRIBUTOR: Films for the Humanities and Sciences
Scottsboro: An American Tragedy
Documentary
This is the story of the arrests, trials, and ultimate vindication of nine black youths in Depression-era Alabama accused of rape by two white women.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Social Media Productions, Brooklyn, NY
YEAR PRODUCED: 2000
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Margaret Drain
PRODUCERS: Barak Goodman, Daniel Anker
DIRECTOR/WRITER: Barak Goodman
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Buddy Squires
EDITOR: Jean Tsien
NARRATOR: Andre Braugher
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: National Primetime Emmy; Best Non-Fiction Special; Academy Award Nomination; Writers Guild Award (Barak Goodman); Erik Barnouw Award (Organization of American Historians); Sundance Film Festival; Docfest, Audience Award; Hotsprings Film Festival; Doubletake Film Festival
FORMAT: Video 90 mins
DISTRIBUTOR: PBS Video
Search and Seizure: The Supreme Court and the Police
Documentary
This film examines the history and impact of the Fourth Amendment, from its origins in the colonial period through varying interpretations by the Supreme Court.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Film Odyssey, Inc., Washington, DC
YEAR PRODUCED: 1992
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: Karen Thomas
WRITERS: Karen Thomas, Jack McDonald, Wayne Lafave
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Terry Hopkins, Erich Roland
EDITOR: Martha Conboy
HOST/NARRATOR: Roger Mudd
FORMAT: Video (56:30)
DISTRIBUTOR: PBS Video
Seasons of a Navajo
Documentary
This film documents a year in the life of the Neboyias, a Navajo couple who farm, weave, and tend sheep from a traditional hogan (dwelling) in Arizona.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATIONS: Peace River Films and KAET, Tempe, AZ
YEAR PRODUCED: 1985
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Anthony Schmitz
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER: Joana Hattery
DIRECTOR: John Borden
EDITOR: Michel Chalufour
CINEMATOGRAPHY: John Borden, Doug Shaffer
NARRATOR: Will Lyman
AWARDS: American Film and Video Festival, Red Ribbon; CINE Golden Eagle
FORMAT: Video (60:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: PBS Video
Seeing Red
Documentary
Seeing Red looks at the American Communist Party's goals, organization, and eventual decline in light of McCarthyism and revelations about Stalinism.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Heartland Productions, Dayton, OH
YEAR PRODUCED: 1984
CODIRECTORS/COPRODUCERS: James Klein, Julia Reichert
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER: Aaron Ezekiel
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: Academy Award nominee, Best Feature Documentary; American Film and Video Festival, Blue Ribbon; Chicago International Film Festival, Bronze Hugo; New York Film Festival
FORMAT: 16mm, Video (100:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: New Day Films
Sentimental Women Need Not Apply
Documentary
This film chronicles the emergence and evolution of professional nursing, and explores the realities and myths that have characterized the field.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Florentine Films, Haydenville, MA
YEAR PRODUCED: 1988
PRODUCERS/DIRECTORS/WRITERS: Diane Garey, Lawrence R. Hott
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Buddy Squires, Allen Moore
EDITOR: Sharon Sachs
NARRATOR: Elaine Princi
MUSIC: Richard Einhorn
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: National Educational Film and Video Festival, Silver Apple, Women's Issues Category; Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing, Award of Excellence
FORMAT: Video (60:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: Direct Cinema Limited
The Shakers
Documentary
This film traces the growth, decline, and continuing survival of the Shakers, a remarkable and influential religious sect, through the memories and rich song traditions of the surviving Shakers themselves. It includes performances by the late Eldress Baker, a leading singer of the Shaker community still active at Sabbathday Lake, Maine.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Davenport Films, Delaplane, VA and the Curriculum in Folklore at UNC, Chapel Hill, NC.
YEAR PRODUCED: 1974
PRODUCERS: Tom Davenport, Frank Decola
EDITOR: Louis Stieg
FORMAT: Video (30.00)
DISTRIBUTOR: Davenport Films
Shannon County
Documentary
This two-part film examines the economic, cultural, and psychological expectations of the inhabitants of the Ozarks region of southern Missouri, and juxtaposes those expectations against past experiences and present reality.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATIONS: Center for Ozarks Studies of Southwest Missouri State University, Springfield, MO, and Veriation Films, Palo Alto, CA
YEAR PRODUCED: 1982
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Robert Flanders
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: Robert Moore
EDITORS: Robert Moore, Lise Rubinstein, David Espar
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: American Film and Video Festival, Blue Ribbon; CINE Golden Eagle; The Margaret Mead Festival
FORMAT: 16mm, Video
Part 1, Shannon County: Home (67:00), Part 2, Shannon County: The Hearts of the Children (57:00)
DISTRIBUTORS:
Veriation Films (16mm)
Center for Ozarks Studies (video)
Simple Justice
Drama
Based on Richard Kluger's book of the same name, Simple Justice is the story behind Brown v. Board of Education—the landmark 1954 Supreme Court case that ended racial segregation in American public schools.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: New Images Productions, Inc., Berkeley, CA
YEAR PRODUCED: 1992
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Avon Kirkland
PRODUCERS: Yanna Kroyt-Brandt, Preston Holmes
DIRECTOR: Helaine Head
WRITERS: John McGreevey, Avon Kirkland, Peter Cook
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Joe Wilcots
EDITOR: Gary Princz
CAST: Peter Francis James, James Avery, George Grizzard, Pat Hingle, Denise Burse-Mickelbury, William Neely, Andre Braugher, Sam Gray, Diana Scarwid, Annie Murray, Matthew Arkin
AWARDS: National Educational Film and Video Festival, Gold Apple, “Best Biography”; Houston International Film Festival, Gold Medal; CINE Gold Eagle; National Education Association, Award for Advancement of Learning through Broadcasting
FORMAT: Video (2 hrs., 18 mins.)
DISTRIBUTOR: PBS Video
Slavery by Another Name
Documentary
Slavery by Another Name challenges one of Americans' most cherished assumptions: the belief that slavery in this country ended with the Emancipation Proclamation. The film tells how even as chattel slavery came to an end in the South in 1865, thousands of African Americans were pulled back into forced labor with shocking force and brutality. It was a system in which men, often guilty of no crime at all, were arrested, compelled to work without pay, repeatedly bought and sold, and coerced to do the bidding of masters. Tolerated by both the North and South, forced labor lasted well into the twentieth century. Slavery by Another Name gives voice to the largely forgotten victims and perpetrators of forced labor and features their descendants living today. To help fill this void, Slavery by Another Name seeks to educate, demystify, and to capture the forgotten voices in our country's history so we can learn and move forward as a nation.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Twin Cities Public Television, Inc., St. Paul, MN
YEAR PRODUCED: 2012
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Catherine Allan, Douglas A. Blackmon
DIRECTOR: Sam Pollard
WRITER: Sheila Curran Bernard
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Andrew Young
EDITORS: Jason I. Pollard, Ezra Gold
CAST: Turron Kofi Alleyne, Alex Carney, Melvin Cox, Ananias J. Dixon, Shane Guilbeau, Roxanne Roberts Hankins, Jaquay Arnold, Tim Kirkpatrick, Derek J. Lovett, Carl McGhee, Sayyed Shabazz, William Jason Sumners, Randy Watson, Gabe Cain, Vincent Cheatham, Timothy Craig, Tim Grady, Emeline Hankins, Tyler Hollinger, Curt Karibalis, David Kramer, Tom Martin, Alesha Renee, Raymond Spencer, Rudy Thomas
NARRATOR: Laurence Fishburne
PRINT MATERIALS: High school and college classroom educational materials in the subjects of History, Civics and Social Justice, English and Media Literacy and Economics as well as community education/discussion guides are available for download, www.pbs.org/tpt/slavery-by-another-name/classrooms
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: Pan African Film Festival—Winner of Festival Programmers' Award—Documentary
FORMAT: DVD (86.46)
DISTRIBUTORS: PBS Distribution
Somewhere South
Documentary Series
In six one-hour episodes, chef and author Vivian Howard digs deeper into the lesser-known roots of Southern food, Southern cooking, and Southern living. Her curiosity has made her beloved by the millions of people who watched her grow into an award-winning television host, best-selling author, and celebrated chef over five seasons of A Chef's Life. With Somewhere South, Howard serves as both student and guide, exploring cross-cultural dishes through the professional and personal relationships she has with southerners of many backgrounds. Each episode of Somewhere South explores the connectivity of a single dish and the ways people of different backgrounds interpret that dish while expressing the complex values, identities, and histories that make up the American South.
Somewhere South lets viewers meet their neighbors while exploring the foods that bind and define the American South—one dish at a time.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Markay Media, Durham, NC
YEAR PRODUCED: 2020
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: Cynthia Hill
WRITER: Vivian Howard
DIRECTORS OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Rex Miller, Blaire Johnson
SERIES EDITOR: Tom Vickers
ORIGINAL SCORE: Chuck Johnson
LINE PRODUCER: Jenn Cromling
CO-PRODUCERS; Andrea Weigl, Shirelette Ammons, Victoria Bouloubasis, Tom Vickers
FORMAT: Six one-hour episodes
DISTRIBUTORS: PBS Website: https://www.pbs.org/show/somewhere-south/
Markay Media website for the project: https://www.somewheresouthty.com
Stories from the Spirit World: Legends of Native Americans
Radio Series (Documentary and Drama)
This four-part series presents the mythology and heritage of the Cahuilla and Chumash Indians of southern California and of the Nahuatl-speaking (Aztec) peoples of pre-Columbian Mexico. The programs feature dramatizations of episodes from the myths as well as discussions of their themes and role in traditional tribal cultures.
Program 1
The Old Ways Are Gone: The Cahuilla Indians of Southern California
introduces the Cahuilla creation myth, featuring contemporary native songs, dances, and games, with historic Cahuilla language recordings.
Program 2
The Legend of the Sun: Aztec Mythology
considers creation cycle stories popular among the Nahuatl-speaking people of Mexico, especially the Aztecs.
Program 3
December's Child: Chumash Mythology
is adapted from a book of the same name, which presents a collection of Chumash oral narratives.
Program 4
Confrontation of Mythologies
features a dialogue between Aztec priests and European missionaries that took place in 1524, an exchange that was reconstructed in 1564 by a Catholic priest and a group of Aztec informants in a document known as Colloquios y Doctrina Christiana.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Voices International, New York, NY
YEARS PRODUCED: 1985-86
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR/WRITER: Everett C. Frost
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER/WRITER: Faith Wilding
NARRATORS: Marcos Gutierrez (Program 1); Katherine Siva Saubel (2); Jimmie Skaggs (3); Tony Amendola (4)
FORMAT: Audiocassette
Program 1 (two versions, 60:00 and 90:00); Programs 2 & 3 (60:00); Program 4 (30:00)
Note: In the three-part Soundplay series package, Program 1 has been cut to 60:00 and Program 4 is excerpted in Program 2
DISTRIBUTOR: Pacifica Program Service/Radio Archive
Strangers and Kin
Documentary
Strangers and Kin examines the history of stereotypes associated with people living in the Appalachian Mountains.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Appalshop Films, Whitesburg, KY
YEAR PRODUCED: 1984
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: Herb E. Smith
WRITERS: Herb E. Smith, Helen Lewis, Don Baker
FORMAT: 16mm, Video (58:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: Appalshop Films
The Supreme Court's Holy Battles
Documentary
This program explores the history of the First Amendment's clauses on religion, from colonial thought and culture through significant Supreme Court decisions regarding the separation of church and state.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Film Odyssey, Inc., Washington, DC
YEAR PRODUCED: 1988
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: Karen Thomas
COPRODUCER: George Wolfe
WRITERS: Karen Thomas, George Wolfe
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Erich Roland, Terry Hopkins, Judy Irola, Don Sellars
EDITOR: Mark Muheim
CORRESPONDENT: Roger Mudd
PRINT MATERIAL: Companion Guide available
FORMAT: Video (60:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: PBS Video
Talk to Me: Americans in Conversation
Documentary
This film examines Americans' shared national identity, drawing upon a wide range of American icons—from Walt Whitman and Duke Ellington to the Preamble to the Constitution, Star Trek, and The Wizard Of Oz—to create a composite portrait. The program profiles communities in four very different regions of the country, featuring interviews and conversations with historians and writers as well as farmers, grandmothers, high-school kids, and downsized steelworkers.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Arcadia Pictures, New York, NY
YEAR PRODUCED: 1997
PRODUCERS: Andrea Simon, Jack Briggs
DIRECTOR: Andrea Simon
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Jerry Pantzer, Wayne Delaroche
EDITORS: Lawrence Silk, Jane Zipp
INTERVIEWS: Allan Gurganus, Mary Pipher, Gordon Wood, Rosemary Bray, Randall Kennedy, John Kuo Wei Tchen, Ammiel Alcalay, John Mack Faragher, Tomás Atencio, and others
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: Gold Medal-documentary, 1996 Charleston WorldFest.
PRINT MATERIAL: Discussion Guide/Resource Kit for use in setting up a community conversation on American identity. There is also a 22-minute “trigger film” called Toward a More Perfect Union, based on material from the longer program. Call Arcadia Pictures for information at 212-580-1299.
FORMAT: Video (57:20)
DISTRIBUTOR: The Cinema Guild, Inc.
Television's Vietnam: Impact of the Media/The Real Story
Documentary
A response to the thirteen-part PBS series Vietnam: A Television History, this program features a critique of the original series and an examination of the role of the media in creating perceptions that influenced the course of the war. A two-hour version includes an introduction and a panel discussion focusing on the major issues raised in the critique.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Accuracy In Media, Inc., Washington, DC
YEAR PRODUCED: 1985
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR/WRITER: Peter C. Rollins
EDITOR: Bill Crane
HOST/NARRATOR: Charlton Heston
MODERATOR/PANEL DISCUSSION: Arthur Miller
FORMAT: Video (two versions, 58:30 and 112:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: SVS, Inc. (58:30 only)
Tell Them We Are Rising: The Story of Black Colleges and Universities
Documentary
A haven for black intellectuals, artists and, revolutionaries—and path of promise toward the American dream—black colleges and universities have educated the architects of freedom movements and cultivated leaders in every field. They have been unapologetically black for more than 150 years. For the first time ever, their story is told. Directed by award-winning documentary filmmaker Stanley Nelson, Tell Them We Are Rising: The Story of Black Colleges and Universities examines the impact historically black colleges and universities have had on American history, culture, and national identity. The film is the second in a three-part series called America Revisited.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Firelight Films, New York, NY
YEAR PRODUCED: 2017
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Lois Vossen, Sally Jo Fifer
PRODUCERS: Stanley Nelson, Marco Williams, Cyndee Readdean, Stacey Holman
DIRECTORS: Stanley Nelson, Marco Williams
WRITER: Marcia Smith
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Antonio Rossi, Josh Bagnall, Peter Hutchens, Garland McLaurin, Naiti Gamez, Thomas Kaufman
EDITOR: K.A. Miille
FORMAT: DVD (83:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: PBS Distribution http://www.pbsdistribution.org/home/
There She Is: A History of Miss America
Documentary
This tells the story of the world's most famous beauty pageant, while exploring the larger themes of what it means to be an American and what the definition of the “ideal” American woman is. In selecting that ideal year after year, the Pageant has had a history of controversy over who is to be included and who is to be excluded, raising important questions pertaining to beauty, class, race, religion, sex and women's roles in our society. Combining rare archival footage and still photographs with live footage of the Pageant today, the film features on-camera interviews with a host of distinguished commentators including Gloria Steinem, Willima Goldman, Margaret Cho, Isaac Mizrahi, Julia Alvarez and former Miss Americas Bess Myerson, Lee Meriwether and Mary Ann Mobley.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Orchard Films, New York, NY
YEAR PRODUCED: 2001
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Lolavan Wagenen, Jeanne Houck
PRODUCERS: Lisa Ades, Lesli Klainberg
DIRECTOR: Lisa Ades
WRITER: Michelle Ferrari
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Buddy Squires, Peter Nelson
EDITOR: Toby Shimin
NARRATOR: Cherry Jones
PRINT MATERIALS: Press kit available through Orchard Films
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: Sundance Film Festival; South By Southwest/ Doubletake (Full Frame)
FORMAT: Video 98:00 mins
DISTRIBUTOR: Orchard Films
This Far By Faith: African-American Spiritual Journeys
Documentary
The tumultuous and inspirational journey of spiritual renewal and transformation is the theme of This Far by Faith, a major new television series from Blackside, Inc., producers of Eyes on the Prize, and Malcolm X: Make It Plain, and The Faith Project, Inc. an independent identity created to complete This Far by Faith. The series presents a dramatic interpretation of the African-American religious experience in six hours of dramatic narrative storytelling. Black religious institutions and individuals helped lead the first for the abolition of slavery, offered new political ideals and leadership during Reconstruction, provided shelter and opportunity during the years of migration, immigration, and through the Great Depression; and fueled the movement for civil rights in the middle of the twentieth century. In the years since, these individuals and institutions have formed a vanguard in the search for answers to problems facing the nation. This Far by Faith tells their stories and examines their legacies.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: The Faith Project, Inc., c/o Dasi, New York City, NY
YEAR PRODUCED: 2003
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: June Cross, Dante James
PRODUCERS/DIRECTORS/WRITERS: Noland Waler, June Cross, Lulie Haddad, Alice Markowitz, Valerie Linson, Leslie Farrell
EDITORS: Michael Simollari, Tracy Baumgardner, Sandra Christie, Jonathan Sahula, Jean Boucicaut, Gina Sohn
NARRATOR: Lorraine Toussaint
PRINT MATERIALS: This Far By Faith: Stories from the African-American Religious Experience available through Harper Collins
FORMAT: Video 3 programs 2 hours
DISTRIBUTOR: Blackside, Inc.
Three Sovereigns for Sarah
Drama
Three Sovereigns for Sarah is a three-part drama that depicts the Salem witch trials of 1692 by focusing on the story of three sisters, distinguished matrons in the community, who were caught up in these events. The script is based on existing trial manuscripts and on the writings of Sarah Cloyce, the youngest sister and the only one to escape the hanging tree.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: NightOwl Productions, Nahant, MA
YEAR PRODUCED: 1985
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Michael Uslan
PRODUCERS: Ben Melniker, Victor Pisano
DIRECTOR: Philip Leacock
WRITER: Victor Pisano
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Larry Pizer
EDITOR: Stan Salfas
CAST: Vanessa Redgrave, Patrick McGoohan, Phyllis Thaxter, Kim Hunter, Ronald Hunter, Will Lyman
FORMAT: Video
3 (56:00) programs
DISTRIBUTORS:
NightOwl Productions (for large groups or special events)
Through Deaf Eyes
Documentary
Through Deaf Eyes is a two-hour documentary exploring nearly 200 years of Deaf life in America. The film presents the shared experiences of American history—family life, education, work, and community connections—from the perspective of deaf citizens. Interviews include community leaders, historians, and deaf Americans with diverse views on language use, technology and identity. Bringing a Deaf cinematic lens to the film are six artistic works by Deaf media artists and filmmakers. Poignant, sometimes humorous, these films draw on the media artists' own lives and are woven throughout the documentary. But the core of the film remains the larger story of Deaf life in America—a story of conflicts, prejudice, and affirmation that reaches the heart of what it means to be human.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATIONS: WETA and Florentine Films/Hott Productions, Washington, DC
YEAR PRODUCED: 2007
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Karen Kenton, Dalton Delan
PRODUCERS: Lawrence Hott, Diane Garey
WRITER: Ken Chowder
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Allen Moore, Michael Chin, Stephen McCarthy, John Baynard
EDITOR: Steve Peguignot
NARRATOR: Stockard Channing
PRINT MATERIALS: Viewer and educational guides, press materials and photos are available for download at the project's companion website, pbs.org/throughdeafeyes
AWARDS/FESTIVAL: Deaf Rochester Film Festival, April, 2007; Erik Barnouw Award; Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award
FORMAT: Video/DVD 2 hours
DISTRIBUTOR: WETA
Thurgood Marshall Before the Court
Documentary
This documentary concentrates on Justice Marshall's career before he joined the United States Supreme Court. Marshall is best known as the first African American appointed to the Supreme Court. Justice Marshall may also be known to many as the lead attorney in Brown v. Board of Education. Yet many Americans are unfamiliar with the full scope of Marshall's 30-year career striking at the legal framework of Jim Crow and establishing the foundation for modern civil rights law. In the 1940s and 50s, Marshall was perhaps the most recognized civil rights leader in the country—he was often called “Mr. Civil Rights.” This comprehensive documentary project highlights contributions made by Marshall and key legal partners and by the courageous African Americans across the South who risked their jobs and safety to press their grievances in local courts.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: American RadioWorks/Minnesota Public Radio, St Paul, MN
YEAR PRODUCED: 2004
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Bill Buzenberg
PRODUCERS: Stephen Smith, Catherine Ellis
EDITOR: Deborah George
NARRATOR: Deborah Amos
COORDIANTING PRODUCER: Sasha Aslanian
PROJECT MANAGER: Misha Quill
ASSISTANT PRODUCER: Ellen Guettler
WEB PRODUCER: Ochen Kaylan
PRINT MATERIAL: A printable transcript of the program is available on the website: www.americanradioworks.org/features/marshall
FORMAT: One hour
DISTRIBUTORS: National Public Radio
The Trial of Standing Bear
Drama
The Trial of Standing Bear dramatizes an 1879 case adjudicated in the U.S. District court in Omaha, Nebraska, establishing that Native Americans have protection under the Constitution.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Nebraskans for Public Television, Inc., Lincoln, NE
YEAR PRODUCED: 1983
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Eugene Bunge
LINE PRODUCER: Dan Jones
DIRECTOR: Marshall Jamison
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: Bob Hicks
STORY: Adapted from The Ponca Chiefs by Thomas Tibbles
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Robert Schoenhut
EDITOR: Michael Farrell
NARRATOR: William Shatner
CAST: Ivan Naranjo, George Ede, Carmen de Lavallade, George Riddle
FORMAT: Video (90:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: Nebraska ETV
The Time of the Lincolns
Documentary
Elected President only to see the nation fracture in two, Lincoln led a confused and frightened people through the most terrible war in their history. At the same time, his own household mirrored the fissures that rent the nation: the great emancipator was married to the daughter of a slave owner from Kentucky. Mary Todd Lincoln was an aristocratic southerner who met Lincoln when he was still a backwoods politician lacking in experience and sophistication. Although she remained fiercely loyal to her husband and the Union cause, two of her brothers fought for the South. Their marriage was long and turbulent and knew many trials, including the loss of two children. This mini-series weaves together the lives of the two Lincolns drawing us into their long-vanished world. The enhanced DVD adds a range of additional voices to the story of the Lincolns, including those of Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, nurse Mary Bickerdyke, former slaves Harriet Jacobs and J. W. Loguen, Confederate spy Rose Greenhow, and Confederate foot soldier Sam Watkins and his Union counterpart, George Beidelman.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: WGBH Educational Foundation, PBS, and David Grubin Productions, Boston, MA
YEAR PRODUCED: 2001
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Margaret Drain
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: David Grubin
WRITERS: David Grubin, Geoffrey C. Ward
CINEMATOGRAPHY: James Calanan
EDITORS: Tom Haneke, Deborah Peretz, Seth Bromse
NARRATOR: David McCullough
CAST: David Morse, Holly Hunter
PRINT MATERIALS: Limited press kits available through WGBH; transcript and teachers' guides available on program website, www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/
FORMAT: Video 3 X 120 mins plus enhanced materials on DVD and program website
DISTRIBUTOR: PBS Video
TR: The Story of Theodore Roosevelt
Documentary
This film looks deep into the life of the man who embodied the confidence and exuberance of America at the turn of the century, revealing both the heroic and the tragic sides of Roosevelt's character. TR combines photographs, newspapers, motion pictures, sound recordings, family diaries and letters, and interviews with scholars, historians, and Roosevelt family members to create a vivid and comprehensive portrait of this larger-than-life figure.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: David Grubin Productions, Inc., New York, NY
YEAR PRODUCED: 1996
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER FOR THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: Judy Crichton
PRODUCER: David Grubin
WRITERS: David Grubin, Geoffrey C. Ward
CINEMATOGRAPHY: James Callahan, William B. McCullough, Roger Phenix
EDITORS: Geof Bartz, Howard Sharp
NARRATORS: David McCullough, Jason Robards
FORMAT: Video 2 (120:00) programs
DISTRIBUTOR: PBS Video
Tribal Justice
Documentary
In Tribal Justice, we meet two Native American judges, Yurok Judge Abby Abinanti and Quechan Judge Claudette White, as they forge innovative justice systems in order to keep their people out of prison, prevent children from being taken from their communities, and stop the school-to-prison pipeline that plagues their young people. Their justice is personal, dedicated, harking back to age-old traditions to help tribal members live in the modern world. Vérité footage of these judges' lives and work form the backbone of the documentary, while the heart of the film follows several cases in and out of their courtrooms. Taos Proctor faces life in prison when we meet him in Abby's court. Judge Claudette White invokes the Indian Child Welfare Act to reunite a nine-year-old boy with his family. Meanwhile her teenage nephew faces felony charges for breaking into cars. Tribal Justice shows these judges restoring rather than punishing offenders, modeling restorative justice in action.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Anne Makepeace Productions, Inc.
YEAR PRODUCED: 2017
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Ruth Cowan
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR/WRITER: Anne Makepeace
CO-PRODUCERS: Dan Golding, Lori Nesbitt
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Barney Broomfield
EDITOR: Russell Greene
PRINT MATERIAL: Posters, postcards Anne Makepeace Productions, Inc.,
Contact @email
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: Best Documentary Feature, American Indian Film Festival; Best Documentary Feature, Charlotte Film Festival; Directing Award, Cinetopia Film Festival; Rigoberta Menchu Award, Best Social Issue Film, Montreal First People's Film Festival; Full Frame Documentary Film Festival; Santa Barbara International Film Festival; Big Sky Documentary Film Festival; Martha's Vineyard Film Festival; Mendocino Film Festival; Berkshire International Film Festival; Brooklyn Film Festival; Woods Hole Film Festival; Port Townshend Film Festival; Asheville Film Festival; Bushwick Film Festival; DOCTOBER, Bellingham WA; Arlington Film Festival; Adirondack Film Festival; Nativisions Film Festival; Olympia Film Festival; Anchorage International Film Festival; Rocky Mountain Women's Film Festival
FORMAT: DVD (87 mins)
DISTRIBUTOR: Anne Makepeace Productions Inc. http://makepeaceproductions.com/tribaljustice/
Triumph at Carville
Documentary
Triumph at Carville documents the triumph over one of mankind's most feared diseases—leprosy. The program outlines the history of one of the most unusual communities in American history: the national leprosarium in Louisiana known as “Carville,” a refuge for leprosy patients from all over the world. Crafted from contemporary interviews, as well as old radio shows, movie news accounts, and other archival materials—including exclusive photographs taken by a longtime patient—the documentary takes viewers inside Carville and introduces them to patients, nuns, doctors, and staff who lived and worked there. The personal narratives are underscored by original music composed and performed by Grammy-winner Bela Fleck, accompanied on bass by Grammy-winner Edgar Meyer and other world-class musicians.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: The Wilhelm Group, Inc.
YEAR PRODUCED: 2005
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: John L. Wilhelm
PRODUCERS/WRITERS: John Wilhelm, Sally Squires
DIRECTOR: John Wilhelm
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Allen Moore
EDITOR: Barbara Ballow
NARRATOR: Michael Tolaydo
PRINT MATERIALS: Brochures available through The Wilhelm Group, Inc.
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: In 2009 in Emmy, Peabody, and National Academies 2008 competitions
FORMAT: Video/DVD 56:46 mins.
DISTRIBUTOR: PBS
Tupperware: Earl and Brownie's Plastic Empire
Documentary
Tupperware: it's a plastic product, a company, a marketing phenomenon, an enduring icon. A Tupperware party takes place somewhere in the world every 2.5 seconds. How did it happen? Tupperware tells the remarkable story of Earl Silas Tupper, an ambitious but reclusive small-town inventor, and Brownie Wise, the self-taught saleswoman who built him an empire out of bowls that burped. Brownie was an intuitive marketing genius who trained a small army of Tupperware Ladies to put on Tupperware parties in living rooms across America in the 1950s. She rewarded her sales force with minks and modern appliances at extravagant annual jubilees. Her saleswomen earned thousands, even millions of dollars, selling Tupperware. And the experience changed their lives. At a time when women were being sent back to the kitchen, these women got around their husbands by starting up their own businesses—based in their kitchens.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Blueberry Hill Productions - Filmmakers Collaborative, Watertown, MA
YEAR PRODUCED: 2003
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Mark Samels, Margaret Drain
PRODUCERS: Laurie Kahn-Leavitt, Robin Hessman
DIRECTOR/WRITER: Laurie Kahn-Leavitt
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Peter Stein
EDITOR: William Anderson
NARRATOR: Kathy Bates
PRINT MATERIAL: See Study Guide at www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/tupperware
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: Banff Rockie Award - Best History/Biography Program 2004 - worldwide; Savannah Film Festival jury prize - best documentary; nominated by the International Documentary Association as best documentary of the year in the continuing series; Montreal Film Festival, Silvedocs Festival, Maine International Film Festival, Mill Valley (CA) Film Festival, Savannah (GA) Film Festival, Valladolid International Film Festival (Spain), High Falls Film Festival (Rochester NY), Northampton (MA) Film Festival, Fort Landerdale (FL) Film Festival; St. Louis International Film Festival, International Documentary Film Festival/Amsterdam, Sarasota (FL) Film Festival, Sedona (AZ) Film Festival, Bermuda International Film Festival, DocAviv Film Festival (Tel Aviv, Israel), Full Frame Film Festival (NC), Minneapolis/St. Paul International Film Festival, Barcelona International Women's Film Festival, Woods Hole Film Festival (MA)
FORMAT: 62 mins (52 for broadcast version)
DISTRIBUTORS: PBS Video
The Two Lives of Asa Earl Carter
Documentary Radio
Asa Carter was a speechwriter for George Wallace in Alabama and penned one of the most infamous speeches of the era...Wallace's “Segregation Now, Segregation Forever” address. Forrest Carter was a Cherokee writer who grew up in Tennessee. His autobiography, The Education of Little Tree, is a beloved classic that has sold millions of copies around the world. These two men could not have been more different…. Except, they weren't. This is the story of one of the strangest literary hoaxes of the twentieth century.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Radio Diaries, New York, NY
YEAR PRODUCED: 2012
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Joe Richman
PRINT MATERIALS: www.radiodiaries.org
FORMAT: DVD (13.00)
DISTRIBUTORS: NPR and All Things Considered
The Two Worlds of Angelita (Los Dos Mundos De Angelita)
Drama
Told through the eyes of a nine-year-old girl, this drama portrays the dilemmas faced by a Puerto Rican family as they migrate from the island to the barrios of New York's Lower East side.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Casa del Autor Puertorriqueno, San Juan, PR
YEAR PRODUCED: 1982
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: Jane Morrison
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER: Lianne Halfon
WRITER: Jose Manuel Torres Santiago
EDITOR: Suzanne Fenn
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Alfonso Beato
MUSIC: Dom Salvador
CAST: Marien Perez Riera, Rosalba Rolon, Angel Domenech Soto, Delia Esther Quinones
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: American Film Festival, Red Ribbon; U.S. Film Festival; Festival dei Popoli, Florence, Italy
FORMAT: 16mm, Video (73:00)
In Spanish with English subtitles
DISTRIBUTOR: First Run/Icarus Films
Ulysses S. Grant
Documentary
This multi-hour biography of Ulysses S. Grant paints a nuanced portrait of one of America's most paradoxical leaders. The greatest hero of the Civil War, Grant was a brilliant military strategist who rose from obscurity to a rank held previously only by George Washington. However, the strength of the Confederate resistance forced Grant into a hard war that destroyed the South and led to his being labeled “a butcher.” Propelled into the White House by his battlefield success, Grant lacked the political skills to deal with the issues of the era: reconstructing the South and managing the nation's rapidly expanding economy. His two terms were rocked by bitter racial conflict and corruption scandals. Seven years after leaving office, Grant was financially ruined by the collapse of an investment house in which he had placed his assets. He spent his final days in a race against time as he battled cancer while finishing his epic war memoirs.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: WGBH-The American Experience, Boston, MA
YEAR PRODUCED: 2002
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Margaret Drain, Elizabeth Deane
PRODUCERS/DIRECTORS: Adriana Bosch, Elizabeth Deane
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Terry Hopkins, Buddy Squires, Boyd Estus
EDITOR: Jon Neuberger, Bill Lattanzi
NARRATOR: Liev Schreiber
Cast: Alex Ingram, Julia Dent, Janine Jacques, John Jacques, Harry Bulkeley, Derek Nelson
PRINTED MATERIALS: outreach resources can be found on the program's website, www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/grant
FORMAT: Video 4 hours
DISTRIBUTOR: PBS Video
Unladylike2020
Documentary
Unladylike2020 is an innovative multimedia series featuring diverse and little-known American heroines from the early years of feminism, and the women who now follow in their footsteps, timed to honor the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage. Presenting history in a bold new way, the rich biographies of twenty-six women who broke barriers in male-dominated fields at the turn of the twentieth century, such as business, politics, science, journalism, sports, and the arts, are brought back to life through an imaginative mix of rare archival imagery, captivating original artwork and animation, and interviews with historians, descendants, and accomplished women of today who reflect on the influence of these pioneers. The series documents the role of diverse women in the building of this nation, including women of color.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Unladylike Productions, LLC, Brooklyn, NY
YEAR PRODUCED: 2020
EXECTIVE PRODUCTERS: Charlotte Mangin, Sandra Rattley
PRODUCERS/DIRECTORS/WRITERS: Charlotte Mangin, Sandra Rattley
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Ashley Battle, Ruben Carrillo, Matt Crum, Hannah Engelson, Bryan Gibel, Kristian House, Briana Johnson, Darren Kawasaki, Rafi Landau, Barbie Leung, Jake Pulliam, Martina Radwan, Amanda Ricks, Sidney Unga, Brett Wiley, Zach Wood
EDITORS: Virginie Danglades, Adam Lingo, Xuan Vu, Hina Ali
NARRATORS: Julianna Margulies, Lorraine Toussaint
PRINT MATEREIALS: Unladylike Productions
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: As of July 17, 2020:
Women Deliver Film Festival, 2019, https://wd2019.org/film-festival/
Athena Film Festival, 2020, https://athenafilmfestival.com/film/unladylike-2020/
AFI Docs, 2020, https://www.afi.com/news/afi-announces-full-lineup-for-2020-afi-docs-virtual-festival-june-17-21/
Bentonville Film Festival, 2020, https://bentonvillefilm.org/bentonville-film-festival/
FORMAT: 26 x 10-min digital
DISTRIBUTORS: www.unladylike2020.com; www.pbs.org/unladylike2020;
https://www.youtube.com/user/AmericanMastersPBS
Unfinished Journey: The Lewis and Clark Expedition
Documentary Radio Series
Two hundred years ago, President Thomas Jefferson commissioned the Corps of Discovery to explore the recently acquired Louisiana Territory and, beyond it, the lands extending to the Pacific Ocean. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark led the 28-month, 7,680-mile expedition, collecting information on the peoples, flora, fauna, geography, and history of the territory that would later become a significant part of the nation. While tracing and documenting the human, environmental, and political issues that were left in the expedition's wake, the series gives voice to historians, anthropologists, and textual scholars and engages Native American experts, musicians, storytellers, and poets.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATIONS: Lewis & Clark College, Portland, OR, and Oregon Public Broadcasting, Portland, OR
YEAR PRODUCED: 2005
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Clay Jenkinson, Morgan Holm
PRODUCER: Eve Epstein
HOST: Peter Coyote
PRINT MATERIALS: Transcripts available at http://www.opb.org/lewisandclark/unfinishedjourney/episodes.html A companion DVD with extended interviews and visual imagery is also available.
FORMAT: Audio 13:53 minute programs
DISTRIBUTOR: Public Radio International
The U.S.-Mexican War 1846–1848
Documentary
The U.S.-Mexican War (1846–1848) tells the dramatic story of a war in which Mexico lost almost half of its national territory—including all of the states of the present American Southwest—to the United States. The documentary series explores the events surrounding the conflict between two neighboring nations struggling for land, power, and identity.
Program I
Neighbors and Strangers
In 1836, Texans—most of them immigrants from the United States—rebel against Mexico. A Mexican army arrives in Texas to put down the rebellion, but is defeated at the Battle of San Jacinto. Ten years later, Texas is annexed by the United States, and the United States and Mexico become embroiled in a border dispute. In April 1846, Zachary Taylor's troops clash near the Rio Grande with Mexican forces under the command of General Mariano Arista. The battles at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma signal the beginning of war.
Program II
The War for the Borderlands
In June of 1846, an army of 1,600 soldiers begin a 900-mile march to conquer the Mexican territory of New Mexico. In California, wealthy rancher Mariano Vallejo is imprisoned by a group of U.S. settlers in the Bear Flag Revolt, which gives birth to the short-lived independent Republic of California. When Mexico still refuses to surrender, U.S. President Polk turns his attention to the “Halls of Montezuma,” Mexico City itself.
Program III
The Hour of Sacrifice
In 1846, former Mexican President General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna returns from exile to unite Mexico against the U.S. invasion. President Polk formulates a plan to open a second front against Mexico. In 1847, Santa Anna's troops meet Zachary Taylor's army on a furrowed plain near the small hacienda of Buena Vista. Winfield Scott lands 10,000 U.S. soldiers on the beach at Veracruz. Scott and Santa Anna meet at Cerro Gordo in a battle that turns into a rout of the Mexican army. Defeated but unbowed, Santa Anna falls back to Mexico City to defend the capital.
Program IV
The Fate of Nations
The U.S. army reaches the Mexican capital defended by 20,000 Mexican solders led by General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. The battle for Mexico City begins with heavy casualties on both sides. Mexican defenders fight back courageously, but the capital is finally forced to surrender. General Winfield Scott rides triumphantly into Mexico City to occupy the fabled “Halls of Montezuma.” On February 2, 1848, the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is signed, and a new border is established between Mexico and the United States.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: North Texas Public Broadcasting, Inc., Dallas, TX
YEAR PRODUCED: 1998
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Sylvia Komatsu
PRODUCERS: Sylvia Komatsu, Paul Espinosa, Andrea Boardman, Ginny Martin, Rob Tranchin
DIRECTOR/EDITOR: Ginny Martin
WRITER: Rob Tranchin
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Ginny Martin, Allen Moore
NARRATOR: Bruce DuBose
AWARDS: Emmy Award for Historical Programming with Limited Dramatization for the episode “The Fate of Nations.”
PRINT MATERIALS: Companion book through Bay Books and educational curriculum through PBS Video
FORMAT: Video 4 (60:00) episodes
DISTRIBUTOR: PBS Video (Note: A Spanish language version is also available).
Vietnam: A Television History
Documentary Series
With the history of French colonial Indochina as background, Vietnam: A Television History chronicles three decades of conflict in Southeast Asia.
Program 1
Roots of a War
covers a rebellion against the Chinese in the first century A.D., the development of the Vietnamese revolutionary movement during the Second World War, and Indochina's return to French rule after the war.
Program 2
The First Vietnam War (1946–54)
considers how, after eight years of fighting, the French lost their empire in Indochina.
Program 3 America's Mandarin (1954–63)
chronicles President Eisenhower's decision to support Ngo Dinh Diem as the leader of a separate, anti-Communist state in South Vietnam; it also considers President Kennedy's choice, nine years later, not to interfere in a plot to overthrow Diem.
Program 4
LBJ Goes to War (1964–65)
examines how, as a result of events in the Gulf of Tonkin in August 1964, the United States increased the number of American troops.
Program 5
America Takes Charge (1965–67)
tells the story of some of those sent as part of the military build-up.
Program 6
America's Enemy (1954–67)
presents the escalating conflict in Vietnam from the different perspectives of Communist leaders in Hanoi, Vietcong guerillas, North Vietnamese soldiers and civilians, and Americans held as prisoners of war.
Program 7
Tet, 1968
examines the Communist offensive and its political consequences for President Johnson.
Program 8
Vietnamizing the War (1968-1973)
explores the impact of American withdrawal on American soldiers, Vietnamese civilians, the economy of Vietnam, and the conduct of the war
Program 9
No Neutral Ground: Cambodia and Laos
traces American activities in the two countries from 1961 when President Kennedy sent in special forces to aid guerilla troops against Communist forces.
Program 10
Peace Is at Hand (1968–73)
analyzes the course of the complex peace talks in Paris, from their inception in mid-1969 to the final cease-fire agreement nearly five years later.
Program 11
Homefront USA
traces the eroding public support for the war.
Program 12
The End of the Tunnel (1973–75)
considers the fall of Saigon and the capitulation of South Vietnam.
Program 13
Legacies
examines the results of the war in Asia and the United States, particularly its effects on Vietnam and on American foreign policy.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATIONS: WGBH Educational Foundation, Boston, MA; Central Independent Television/UK; and Antenne 2/France
YEAR PRODUCED: 1983
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Richard Ellison
PRODUCERS: Elizabeth Deane, Austin Hoyt, Martin A. Smith, Judith Vecchione, Bruce Palling, Andrew Pearson
DIRECTOR OF MEDIA RESEARCH: Lawrence Lichty
CHIEF CORRESPONDENT: Stanley Karnow
MUSIC: Mickey Hart
AWARDS: For Series: Alfred I. Dupont/Columbia University Broadcast Journalism Award; 6 National Emmy awards; George Foster Peabody Award; International Film Festival of Nyon, Certificate of Merit; George Polk Award, Documentary Television Award; Organization of American Historians, Erik Barnouw Award; New England Historical Society, Certificate of Merit; San Francisco International Film Festival, Golden Gate Award for Network Documentary, Television Special Program Category; America Takes Charge: Global Village Film and Video Documentary Festival, Best Program Made for Television; Roots of a War American Film Festival, Red Ribbon; Tet 1968 American Film Festival, Honorable Mention
PRINT MATERIALS: Anthology, Textbook, and Instructor's Guide available (see below)
Study Guide and Anthology—Steven Cohen, Vietnam: Anthology and Guide to a Television History. (New York: Alfred A. Knopf), 1983. Nearly150 documents, along with photographs, maps, chronologies, and historical summaries. Desk copies of the study guide are available through McGraw-Hill, 1-800-338-3987.
Textbook—Stanley Karnow, Vietnam (New York: Viking Press) 1983. In the first full history of the war, chief correspondent for the television series Karnow combines scholarship with information from thirty years of reporting on the French and American wars in Indochina. Personal, desk, and examination copies of the textbook are available from Penguin USA, 1-800-331-4624.
Instructor's Guide to Vietnam, 1983. Interdisciplinary material and instructional suggestions for using the series as a television course or in existing courses in history, political science, or philosophy. Colleges, universities, and other organizations can license the use of Vietnam from the PBS Adult Learning Service as a credit or non-credit television course and receive one copy of the guide and the right to tape the programs off-air and to use them with enrolled telecourse students for the term of the license.
FORMAT: Video
13 (60:00) programs
DISTRIBUTORS:
Films for the Humanities and Sciences
Sony Video (homevideo)
Adult Learning Service, PBS (telecourse)
The Vietnam War
Documentary
Ken Burn's and Lynn Novick's ten-part, eighteen-hour documentary series, The Vietnam War, tells the epic story of one of the most consequential, divisive, and controversial events in American history as it has never before been told on film. Visceral and immersive, the series explores the human dimensions of the war through revelatory testimony of nearly eighty witnesses from all sides—Americans who fought in the war and others who opposed it, as well as combatants and civilians from North and South Vietnam. Ten years in the making, the series includes rarely seen, digitally re-mastered archival footage from sources around the globe, photographs taken by some of the most celebrated photojournalists of the twentieth century, historic television broadcasts, evocative home movies, and secret audio recordings from inside the Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon administrations. The Vietnam War features more than one hundred iconic musical recordings from greatest artists of the era and haunting original music from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross as well as the Silk Road Ensemble featuring Yo-Yo Ma.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATIONS: Greater Washington Educational Telecommunications Association (WETA), Arlington, VA and Florentine Films, Wapole, NH
YEAR PRODUCED: 2017
PRODUCERS: Sarah Botstein, Lynn Novick, Ken Burns
DIRECTORS: Ken Burns, Lynn Novick
WRITER: Geoffrey C. Ward
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Buddy Squires, ASC
EDITORS: Tricia Reidy, ACE; Paul Barnes, ACE; Erik Ewers, ACE; Craig Mellish, ACE
NARRATOR: Peter Coyote
PRINT MATERIAL: Book, The Vietnam War, available on shop.PBS.org and other online retailers
FORMAT: DVD (18 hours)
DISTRIBUTOR: https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/the-vietnam-war/home/
Village of No River
Documentary
Featuring a mix of old and new footage, this film explores the impact of modern life and technology on Kwigillingok, a small Eskimo village of 200 people located one mile from the Bering Sea in southwestern Alaska.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: The Newark Museum Association, Newark, NJ
YEAR PRODUCED: 1981
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER/WRITER: Barbara Lipton
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: Stuart Hersh
EDITOR: Vincent Stenerson
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Craig Makhitarian
NARRATOR: Elsie Jimonie
FESTIVAL: Margaret Mead Film Festival
FORMAT: Video (58:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: The Newark Museum
The Vote
Documentary
The Vote tells the story of the dramatic story of the lengthy and hard-fought campaign by American women to win the right to vote, a transformative cultural and political movement that led to the largest expansion of voting rights in U.S. history. Focusing primarily on the movement's militant and momentous final decade, the film charts the suffragists' determined path to the ballot box and illuminates the myriad obstacles––social, cultural, and political––that continuously hindered their progress. Along the way, The Vote delves deeply into the animating controversies that divided the nation in the early twentieth century––over gender, race, state's rights, and political power––and reveals the often-fractious dynamics of social change. Exploring how and why millions of twentieth-century Americans mobilized for––and against––women's suffrage, The Vote brings to life the unsung leaders of the movement and the debates that continue to dominate American political discourse today.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: 42nd Parallel Films, Brooklyn, NY
YEAR PRODUCED: 2020
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Mark Samels, Susan Bellows
PRODUCERS: Connie Honeycutt, Michelle Ferrari
DIRECTOR/WRITER: Michelle Ferrari
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Rafael de la Uz
EDITORS: Nancy Novack, Ilya Chaiken
NARRATOR: Katre Burton
CAST: Patricia Clarkson, Audra MacDonald, Mae Whitman, Laura Linney
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: AFI Docs
FORMAT: DVD 2x120 minutes
DISTRIBUTOR: American Experience https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/
Walt Disney
Documentary
Walt Disney is an unprecedented look at the complex life and enduring legacy of one of America's best-known storytellers. Featuring rarely seen footage from the Disney archive, scenes from his greatest films, and interviews with biographers, animators, and artists who worked on his early productions as well as the designers who helped turn his dream of Disneyland into reality, this four-hour film reveals the makings of the man who would leave an indelible mark on our nation's cultural history.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Sarah Colt Productions, New York, NY
YEAR PRODUCED: 2015< EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Mark Samels
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: Sarah Colt
STORY BY: Sarah Colt, Tom Jennings
TELESCRIPT BY: Mark Zwonitzer
CO-PRODUCERS: Helen Ryan Dobrowski, Laura Longsworth
EDITORS: Jon Neuburger, Mark Dugas
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: John Baynard
NARRATOR: Oliver Platt
FORMAT: DVD (4 hours)
DISTRIBUTOR: American Experience, WGBH, One Guest Street, Boston, MA 02135, https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/
The War
Documentary
The War explores the history of the Second World War from an American perspective by following the fortunes of so-called ordinary men and women who get caught up in one of the greatest cataclysms in human history. The film focuses on the stories of citizens from four geographically diverse American towns—Waterbury, Connecticut; Mobile, Alabama; Sacramento, California; and the tiny farming town of Luverne, Minnesota. Individuals from each community take the viewer through their own personal and quite often harrowing journeys into war, painting vivid portraits of how the war dramatically altered their lives and those of their neighbors. The War is an attempt to describe, through their eyewitness testimony, what the war was actually like for those who served on the front lines, in the places where the killing and the dying took place, and equally what it was like for their loved ones back home. The film does not sentimentalize, glorify or aestheticize the war, but instead simply tells the stories of those who did the fighting—and of their families. The film illuminates the intimate, human dimensions of a global catastrophe that took the lives of between 50 and 60 million people—of whom more than 400,000 were Americans. Through the eyes of these witnesses, it is possible to see the universal in the particular, to understand how the whole country got caught up in the war; how the four towns and their people were permanently transformed; how those who remained at home worked and worried and grieved in the face of the struggle; and in the end, how innocent young men who had been turned into professional killers eventually learned to live in a world without war.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATIONS: Florentine Films, New York, NY; and WETA, Arlington, VA
YEAR PRODUCED: 2007
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Ken Burns
PRODUCERS: Ken Burns, Lynn Novick, Sarah Botstein, Peter Miller, David McMahon
DIRECTORS: Ken Burns, Lynn Novick
WRITER: Geoffrey C. Ward
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Buddy Squires
EDITORS: Paul Barnes, Erik Ewers, Tricia Reidy
NARRATOR: Keith David
CAST: Tom Hanks, Josh Lucas, Bobby Cannavale, Samuel L. Jackson, Eli Wallach
PRINT MATERIALS: For the general public: Viewers Guide, The War / Veterans History Project Field Guide to Conducting and Preserving Interviews; For educators: fourteen lesson plans developed to help teachers use The War in the classroom. Snapshot Activities for classroom use, Search & Explore database, The Power of Story Handbook. All materials are available through the companion website: pbs.org/thewar.
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: Honors: Official selection, Cannes Film Festival, May, 2007; Best Documentary Canal Plus, Deauville American Film Festival, 2007; Telluride Film Festival, 2007; Top 10 Shows of 2007—TV Guide, People Magazine, Entertainment Weekly; Critics Top Ten for 2007—San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose Mercury News, New York Post, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, Newsday, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Desert Morning News, Richmond Times-Dispatch, The Sacramento Bee, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, The Detroit News, San Antonio Express-News, Chicago Daily Herald; History Makers 2008, Best Program Award; Nominated, 2007 Directors Guild of America Award, Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary; Nominated, 2007 Writers Guild of America Award; Nominated, Critic's Choice Award, 2007, Best Television Mini-Series; Christopher Award, 2007
FORMAT: Video/DVD (7 episodes, 15-hours)
DISTRIBUTOR: PBS Video
The War of 1812
Documentary
The War 1812 is a two-hour film history of a deeply significant event in North American and world history. The war shaped American, Canadian, and British destiny in the most literal way possible: had one or two battles or decisions gone a different way, a map of the United States today would look entirely different. The U.S. could well have included Canada - but was also on the verge of losing much of the Midwest, and perhaps the entire West to boot. The New England states, meanwhile, were poised on the brink of secession just months before a peace treaty was signed. The fires of this war forged the nation of Canada; at the same time, the result tolled the end of Native American dreams of a separate nation. By war's end, the process of Native nation removal had already begun in the southeast, paving the way for a cotton kingdom powered by slavery and a United States that had been on the verge of collapse was ready to announce its arrival as a global power. The U.S. did not win the War of 1812, but the noble experiment of democracy had managed to survive intense pressure from without and within.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATIONS: Production of WNED-TV, Buffalo/Toronto and Florentine Films/Hott Productions, Inc., in association with WETA Washington, DC
YEAR PRODUCED: 2011
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: John Grant, David Rotterman, Dalton Delan, Karen Kenton
PRODUCERS: Lawrence Hott, Diane Garey
DIRECTOR: Lawrence Hott
WRITER: Ken Chowder
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Stephen McCarthy
EDITOR: Diane Garey
NARRATOR: Joe Mantegna
PRINT MATERIALS: Companion Book—The War of 1812 - A Guide to Battlefield and Historic Sites, available through PBS Distribution. Bi-national Educators Guide for students in elementary, middle and high school, available for download on www.pbs.org/1812. The War of 1812: An Essay Collection —Scholars featured in the PBS film share their perspectives. Contact WNED at 716-845-7000.
FORMAT: Video/DVD (120:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: PBS
The War That Made America
Documentary
The War That Made America brings to life a vastly important—but often misunderstood—period of American history, a period that set in motion forces that would culminate in the American Revolution. The dramatic documentary tells the story of the French and Indian War (1754–63), which began in the wilderness of the Pennsylvania frontier and spread throughout the colonies, into Canada, and ultimately around the world. Narrated by Graham Greene, The War That Made America combines a commitment to accuracy with a compelling filmed portrayal of the dangerous world of the eighteenth-century frontier. A central figure is George Washington, then a brash and ambitious young officer in his twenties hoping to make his reputation in the military, whose blunders actually trigger the war. A primary focus of the series, and a story that has long been distorted or forgotten, is the critical military importance and strategic diplomacy of Native Americans in the conflict between the English and French for the expansion of their colonial empires. It was a war the British won, but the fruit of their victory contained the seeds of the Revolutionary War.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: WQED, The War That Made America Productions LLC, Pittsburgh, PA
YEAR PRODUCED: 2006
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Deborah Acklin, Laura Fisher
PRODUCERS/DIRECTORS/WRITERS: Eric Stange, Ben Loeterman
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Peter Pilafian, James Callagnan
EDITORS: William Anderson, Peter Rhodes
PRINT MATERIALS: Teachers guide available on http://www.thewarthatmadeamerica.org/
FORMAT: Video and DVD 4 hours
DISTRIBUTOR: PBS Video
Washington's Neighborhoods: A History of Change
Documentary Radio Series
Washington's Neighborhoods: A History of Change
is an eleven-part radio series tracing the development of the nation's capital.
Program 1
Washington: The Capital City—Part 1
traces the development of the nation's capital from its beginning as a swampland village through the mid-nineteenth century.
Program 2
Washington: The Capital City—Part 2
looks at further settlement of the federal city, particularly during the Civil War when Washington's residents were ambivalent about their loyalties.
Program 3
Georgetown and Alexandria
considers the evolution of both towns from competitive seaports, through decline, to their present status as fashionable residential areas.
Program 4
Anacostia: The Land across the River
chronicles how the Anacostia community became Washington's first suburb for working people of modest means.
Program 5
Streetcars and Streetcar Suburbs
examines the impact of the trolley, especially as it contributed to socio-economic divisions within the city
Program 6
Monumental Washington
portrays the well-known sites and attractions of the city.
Program 7
LeDroit Park: Washington's Black Community
focuses on the desegregation of LeDroit Park, once a fashionable suburb for well-to-do white Washingtonians.
Program 8
The Interwar Period: 1920-1940
examines the growth of the city during the Interwar Years.
Program 9
Automobile Suburbs
describes how the automobile led to the development of distant suburbs which, by the end of World War II, were spilling over the city's boundaries into neighboring Maryland and Virginia.
Program 10
In the Capital's Shadow: Two Neighborhoods
explores the divergent histories and lifestyles of Capitol Hill and Southwest Washington.
Program 11
The Death and Life of a Great American Downtown
presents the rise and fall of downtown Washington, and the new life that is returning to it.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: The Washington Ear, Inc., Silver Spring, MD
YEAR PRODUCED: 1981
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: Margaret W. Rockwell
PRODUCERS: Larry Massett, Deborah Amos, Thomas Looker, Carol Malmi
WRITERS: Luther Spoeher, Larry Massett, Thomas Locker, Carol Malmi
NARRATOR: Noah Adams
PRINT MATERIAL: A set of fourteen braille and large-type maps of the city, with alphabetical index, is also available.
FORMAT: Audiocassette
11 (60:00) programs
DISTRIBUTOR: The Metropolitan Washington Ear, Inc.
Water and the Dream of the Engineers
Documentary
This film considers the troubled relations between engineering and environmentalism, with attention given to California's “water wars,” river contamination in New Orleans, and the modern use of old sewage systems.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Cine Research Associates, Boston, MA
YEAR PRODUCED: 1983
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: Richard Broadman
COPRODUCER: John Grady
WRITERS: Richard Broadman, John Grady
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Nick Doob
FORMAT: 16mm, Video (80:00) The film is also available in two parts, Water History (40:00) and The Shape of a Crisis (40:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: Cine Research Associates
We Shall Overcome
Radio Documentary
The history of the song “We Shall Overcome” is recounted through archival tapes and interviews with cultural historian and musician Bernice Johnson Reagon and folksingers Pete Seeger and Guy Carawan.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: The Public Affairs Media Center, Madison, WI
YEAR PRODUCED: 1983
PRODUCER/WRITER: Judith L. Strasser
FORMAT: Audiocassette (25:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: Kaleidoscope Media Service
We Were So Beloved: The German Jews of Washington Heights
Documentary
This film examines the experiences of German-Jewish refugees who fled Nazi Germany in the 1930s and resettled in New York City's Washington Heights neighborhood.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATIONS: Streetwise Films and New York Foundation for the Arts, New York, NY
YEAR PRODUCED: 1985
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR/WRITER: Manfred Kirchheimer
CINEMATOGRAPHY: James Callanan, Steven Giuliano
FESTIVALS: Berlin Festival; FILMEX (Los Angeles)
FORMAT: 16mm, Video (145:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: First Run/Icarus Films
A Weave of Time
Documentary
Through the photography, footage, and observations of anthropologist John Adair, A Weave of Time explores change and continuity over fifty years in a Navajo family in Arizona.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: New York Foundation for the Arts, New York, NY
YEAR PRODUCED: 1986
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: Susan Fanshel
PRODUCERS: Susan Fanshel, John Adair, Deborah Gordon
CINEMATOGRAPHERS: Robert Achs, Jack Parsons
EDITORS: Susan Fanshel, Deborah Gordon
MUSIC: Jim Pepper
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: Earthwatch Film Award; American Film and Video Festival, Blue Ribbon; National Educational Film and Video Festival, Silver Apple; Margaret Mead Film Festival; Hawaii International Film Festival; International Flaherty Film Seminar; Festival dei Popoli, Florence, Italy; Berlin Film Festival
FORMAT: Video (58:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: Direct Cinema Limited
We Shall Remain
Documentary/Drama Series
Tecumseh's Vision
In the spring of 1805, Tenskwatawa, a Shawnee, fell into a trance so deep that those around him believed he had died. When he finally stirred, the young prophet claimed to have met the Master of Life. He told those who crowded around to listen that the Indians were in dire straits because they had adopted white culture and rejected traditional spiritual ways. For several years Tenskwatawa's spiritual revival movement drew thousands of adherents from tribes across the Midwest. His elder brother, Tecumseh, would harness the energies of that renewal to create an unprecedented military and political confederacy of often antagonistic tribes, all committed to stopping white westward expansion. The brothers came closer than anyone since to creating an Indian nation that would exist alongside and separate from the United States. The dream of an independent Indian state may have died at the Battle of the Thames, when Tecumseh was killed fighting alongside his British allies, but the great Shawnee warrior would live on as a potent symbol of Native pride and pan-Indian identity.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Steeplechase Films, d/b/a Tecumseh LLC, New York, NY
YEAR PRODUCTED: 2008
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Sharon Grimberg, Mark Samels
PRODUCER/WRITER: Ric Burns
DIRECTORS: Ric Burns, Chris Eyre
EDITOR: Li-Shin Yu
NARRATOR: Benjamin Bratt
CAST: Billy Merasty, Michael Greyeyes, Dwier Brown
Trail of Tears
The Cherokee would call it Nu-No-Du-Na-Tlo-Hi-Lu, “The Trail Where They Cried.” On May 26, 1838, federal troops forced thousands of Cherokee from their homes in the Southeastern United States, driving them toward Indian Territory in Eastern Oklahoma. More than 4,000 died of disease and starvation along the way. For years the Cherokee had resisted removal from their land in every way they knew. Convinced that white America rejected Native Americans because they were “savages,” Cherokee leaders established a republic with a European-style legislature and legal system. Many Cherokee became Christian and adopted westernized education for their children. Their visionary principal chief, John Ross, would even take the Cherokee case to the Supreme Court, where he won a crucial recognition of tribal sovereignty that still resonates. Though in the end the Cherokee embrace of “civilization” and their landmark legal victory proved no match for white land hunger and military power, the Cherokee people were able, with characteristic ingenuity, to build a new life in Oklahoma, far from the land that had sustained them for generations.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATIONS: Apograph Productions, New York, NY, and WGBH, Boston, MA
YEAR PRODUCTED: 2009
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Sharon Grimberg, Mark Samels
PRODUCERS: Mark Zwonitzer, Rob Rapley
DIRECTOR: Chris Eyre
WRITER: Mark Zwonitzer
EDITOR: Penny Elliot Hays
NARRATOR: Benjamin Bratt
CAST: Wes Studi, Freddy Douglas, Josh Blaylock, Will Finley, Wesley French, Carla-Rae Holland, Emily Podleski
PRINTED MATERIAL: Program/Event Guide – available through Mary Haggerty, Educational Outreach, WGBH, One Guest Street, Boston, MA 02135; Teachers Guide – available online at www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/weshallremain/beyond_broadcast/teach_and_learn
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: Tecumeh's Vision screened at Indian Market in Santa Fe. and Trail of Tears was the opening night film at the Native American film festival in New York
FORMAT: Video/DVD (90:00 each)
DISTRIBUTORS: PBS (TV) and PBS Distribution (Video, AV, Foreign)
The Chinese Exclusion Act
Documentary
On May 6, 1882—on the eve of the greatest wave of immigration in American history—President Chester A. Arthur signed into law a unique piece of federal legislation. Called the Chinese Exclusion Act, it singled out as never before a specific race and nationality for exclusion—making it illegal for Chinese workers to come to America—and for Chinese nationals already here ever to become citizens of the United States. A deeply American story—about immigration and national identity, civil rights and human justice; about how we define who can be an American and what being an American means—the film examines the economic, cultural, social, legal, racial, and political dimensions of the law; the forces and events that gave rise to it; and the effect it had, and continues to have, on American culture and identity. The film explores this little known, yet deeply resonant and revealing episode in American history—one that sheds enormous light on key aspects of the history of American civil liberties, immigration, and culture—during one of the most formative periods of U.S. history.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATIONS: Steeplechase Films, New York, NY, and the Center for Asian American Media, San Francisco, CA
YEAR PRODUCED: 2018
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Stephen Gong, Donald Young
PRODUCERS: Li-Shin Yu, Robin Espinola, Ric Burns
DIRECTORS: Ric Burns, Li-Shin Yu
WRITERS: Ric Burns, Robin Espinola, Li-Shin Yu
EDITOR: Li-Shin Yu
NARRATOR: Hoon Lee
CAST VOICES: Joel De La Fuente, Josh Hamilton, Yuet-Fung Ho, Fenton Li, Russell Wong
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: A director's cut premiered at CAAMFestm the Center for Asian American Media's annual film festival in San Francisco. The film has also been featured in festivals in Los Angeles, Houston, Miami, Eugene, Oregon; Chicago; and Boston.
FORMAT: DVD 163 minutes (Home Video)
DISTRIBUTOR: PBS American Experience (WGBH) https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/chinese-exclusion-act/
Voices of Vietnam: Vietnam War Public Radio Series
Radio Series
This program is a fresh retelling of the Vietnam War through a focus on the race, gender, and class of the soldiers and others who served. The eight-part documentary radio series features people who experienced the conflict from many perspectives, including African Americans and Native Americans veterans and the native Montagnards who fought with them. There are segments on women who served as well as the traumas felt by women left on the home front. The last segment, “A Lost Homeland,” gives a glimpse into post-war life under communist rule in Vietnam and explores the enduring legacies of Vietnamese refugees who arrived in America en masse after the fall of Saigon and the complexities of their feelings of gratitude, guilt, and silence.
The eight-parts of this public radio series:
Trauma: Historians explore how the self-image of America was shattered in Vietnam and hear the first-hand accounts of veterans’ return to America after the trauma of conflict.
The Draft: Vietnam veterans as well as historian Christian Appy walk us through the experience of teenage men being plucked from suburban life and set on the road to war.
African Americans in the Armed Forces: What it meant to be a person of color fighting in Vietnam as the charged racial politics of the home front often seeped onto the battlefield.
Indigenous Experiences of War: For indigenous people, participation in the Vietnam War was complicated. The Montagnards fought alongside American soldiers but were abandoned when the war ended. Also, Native American veterans describes their experiences fighting in Vietnam.
Women of War: Women are part of a forgotten group of war veterans who served—and suffered—in various positions alongside male soldiers.
The Homefront: The surprising and sometimes contentious relationship between antiwar activists and the wives of POWs trying to bring their men home. Also, the lonely and troubling experiences of young women holding down the home front while their husbands were at war.
The Fall of Saigon: The chaotic withdrawal of U.S. troops, along with heroic rescues and harrowing escapes of Vietnamese citizens, and a glimpse into post-war life under communist rule in Vietnam.
A Lost Homeland: The enduring legacies of Vietnamese refugees who arrived in America en masse after the fall of Saigon and the complexities of their feelings of gratitude, guilt, and silence.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: With Good Reason https://www.withgoodreasonradio.org/
WEBSITE: https://www.withgoodreasonradio.org/specials/voices-of-vietnam/
YEAR PRODUCED: 2018
DIRECTOR/LEAD PRODUCER: Allison Quantz
ASSISTING: Alison Byrne
EDITORS: Elliot Majerczyk, Kelley Libby, Lilia Fuquen, John Last, Miranda Bennett
HOST/NARRATOR: Sarah McConnell
RELATED MATERIALS: Teachers’ Guide for high school government, history, and social studies teachers, making the radio series an invaluable resource for teachers and scholars who seek to convey a broader understanding of the human legacy of the war. Created by history teacher Matt Deegan.
FORMAT: Eight 30-minute radio episodes
DISTRIBUTORS: PRX, Content Depot, Audioport of Pacifica stations, Soundcloud and the With Good Reason download site.
The West
Documentary Series
This eight-part series examines the people and events that shaped the American West, exploring the myths and realities of a nation's struggle to tame an uncharted wilderness.
Program 1
The People (to 1806)
Spans the 1500s to 1806, beginning with the Europeans' arrival in the West, their conflict with native people, America's purchase of the Louisiana Territory, and Lewis and Clark's epic journey in search of the fabled Northwest Passage.
Program 2
Empire Upon the Trails (1806–48)
Covers the pivotal years when Americans began moving West in significant numbers, following the path of “Manifest Destiny,” determined to make the West their own.
Program 3
The Speck of the Future (1848–56)
Begins in 1848, when James Marshall discovers gold on the American River in California, and tells the story of over 50,000 fortune seekers who swarmed into the Sierra Nevada scrambling for riches and changing the West forever.
Program 4
Death Runs Riot (1856–68)
Examines how the debate over whether new western lands would be slave or free provided the sparks that ignited the Civil War and how, after the war ended, Union heroes used the tactics they had used to defeat the South against the Native Americans of the West.
Program 5
The Grandest Enterprise Under God (1868–74)
Recounts America's struggle to unite the nation East and West with the construction of the first transcontinental railroad, an astonishing achievement that opens the West to settlement as never before and identifies the United States as an emerging world power.
Program 6
Fight No More Forever (1874–77)
Chronicles groups caught in the path of America's westward expansion: Sitting Bull and the Lakota, Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce, and the Mormon patriarch, Brigham Young.
Program 7
The Geography of Hope (1877–87)
Documents the domestication of the West—Indians are sent to boarding schools, the prairies are fenced, and 4.5 million new settlers arrived to “tame” the West and stake a claim to the future.
Program 8
One Sky Above Us (1887–1914)
Shows that while much of the “wild west” did come to an end with the massacre at Wounded Knee in 1890, the hopes and dreams that have always shaped the West still burn brightly.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Co-production of Insignia Films and WETA-TV, Washington, DC, in association with Florentine Films and Time-Life Video & Television.
YEAR PRODUCED: 1996
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Ken Burns
PRODUCERS: Stephen Ives, Jody Abramson, Michael Kantor
DIRECTOR: Stephen Ives
WRITERS: Geoffrey C. Ward, Dayton Duncan
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Buddy Squires, Allen Moore
EDITOR: Paul Barnes
NARRATOR: Peter Coyote
VOICES: Adam Arkin, Pilip Bosco, Matthew Broderick, Keith Carradine, Tantoon Cardinal, John Cullum, Blythe Danner, Ossie Davis, Hector Elizand, Julie Harris, Derek Jacobi, John Lithgow, Amy Madigan, Mary Stuart Masterson, Russell Means, Jason Robards, Gary Sinise, Jimmy Smits, B.D. Wong
AWARDS: 1997 Erik Barnouw Award
PRINT MATERIAL/WEBSITE: PBS Video: Teacher's Guide and Teacher's edition with video index; Life Time Learning Systems: Press kit, Study Guide, Poster, Website: www.pbs.org/weta/thewest; WETA: Newsletters
FORMAT: Video (90:00) Programs 1-7, Program 8 (120:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: PBS Video
The Wobblies
Documentary
This film presents the history of the International Workers of the World, nicknamed the Wobblies, through the eyes of rank-and-file members.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Center for Educational Productions, New York, NY
YEAR PRODUCED: 1979
DIRECTORS: Deborah Shaffer, Stewart Bird
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Sandi Sissel, Judy Irola, Peter Gessner, Bonnie Friedman
EDITORS: Deborah Shaffer, Stewart Bird
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: American Film and Video Festival, Red Ribbon; New York Film Festival, premiere
FORMAT: 16mm, Video (89:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: First Run/Icarus Films
Woodrow Wilson
Documentary
In 1917, President Woodrow Wilson led a reluctant America out of decades of isolationism into a ghastly and frightening global conflict. In doing so he helped define the U.S. role on the world stage for the rest of the twentieth century. It was an unlikely job for a man who started his working life as a college professor and whose political interests lay in domestic reform. But once Wilson believed America had a responsibility to bring peace and democracy to the world, it was a mission he pursued tenaciously and one that would ultimately destroy him. His campaign to save humanity from future wars took a devastating toll on his health, and while Wilson's closest advisors refused to publicly acknowledge his inability to perform the tasks of his office, his second wife effectively ran the country as president by proxy.
Part 1
A Passionate Man
Wilson rises from a Civil War boyhood in Georgia to become president of Princeton University and an outspoken champion of progressive reform. He is elected governor of New Jersey, then narrowly wins the Presidency, accomplishing a remarkable agenda of reform in his first two years.
Part 2
The Redemption of the World
President Wilson leads American through World War I, then brokers its peace treaty. His vision of world peace through the League of Nations is struck down at home, and his health suffers so seriously that his wife becomes de facto Chief Executive.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: KCET/Hollywood, Los Angeles, CA
YEAR PRODUCED: 2001
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Margaret Drain, Mark Samels
PRODUCERS: Carl Byker, David Mrazek, Isaac Mizrahi, Richard Kassebaum
DIRECTORS: Carl Byker, Mitch Wilson
WRITERS: Carl Byker, David Mrazek
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Mitch Wilson
EDITORS: Isaac Mizrahi, Victor Livingston
NARRATOR: Linda Hunt
PRINT MATERIALS: An interactive DVD
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: International Documentary Association, Best Limited Series, 2002
FORMAT: Video 2 programs 86:46 each
DISTRIBUTOR: WGBH
The Women of Summer: The Bryn Mawr Summer School for Women Workers
Documentary
From 1921 to 1938, seventeen hundred blue-collar women participated in an educational experiment that exposed them to a broad range of humanistic disciplines and political thought. This film blends archival materials with the individual experiences of Bryn Mawr Summer School alumnae, as recounted at a specially planned reunion fifty years later.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: The Women of Summer, Inc., Tenafly, NJ
YEAR PRODUCED: 1985
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR/WRITER: Suzanne Bauman
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER: Rita Heller
EDITOR: Phyllis Chinlund
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Ross Lowell
AWARDS: American Film and Video Festival, Red Ribbon, History; CINE Golden Eagle; San Francisco International Film Festival, Second Place; Athens (OH) International Film Festival, Golden Athena; National Educational Film and Video Festival, First Prize, Social Studies; Booklist, Editor's Choice (American Library Association)
FORMAT: 16mm, Video (60:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: Filmakers Library
Will The Circle Be Unbroken?
Documentary Radio series
Will The Circle Be Unbroken? is a 26-part radio series that provides a history of the civil rights movement by focusing on activism and resistance at the local level in five southern communities—Atlanta, Georgia; Little Rock, Arkansas; Jackson, Mississippi; Montgomery, Alabama; and Columbia, South Carolina—between 1940 and 1970. The series goes behind and beyond the headlines to tell the stories of unknown heroes, both black and white—parents, neighbors, and relatives—faced with a chance to do the right thing.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Southern Regional Council (SRC), Atlanta, GA
YEAR PRODUCED: 1997
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Steve Suitts
PRODUCER: George King
PRINCIPAL WRITER: George King
NARRATOR: Vertamae Grosvenor
PRINT MATERIAL: Press and marketing materials, reviews, and listener email responses available from SRC
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: 1998 George Foster Peabody Award; The National Federation of Community Broadcasters “Golden Reel” Award for Best News and Current Affairs Programming; The Oral History Association 1997 Nonprint Media Award
FORMAT: Audiocassette (13 hours)
DISTRIBUTOR: Southern Regional Council (SRC)
A World on Display: The St. Louis World's Fair of 1904
Documentary
This film examination of the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair shows how its exhibits reflected the economic, political, cultural, technological, and ethnographic knowledge and perspectives of the time.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: New Deal Films Inc., Corrales, NM
YEAR PRODUCED: 1994
PRODUCERS: Eric Breitbart, Mary Lance
DIRECTOR/WRITER: Eric Breitbart
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Evan Estern, Judy Hoffman
EDITOR: Eric Breitbart
NARRATOR: Leona Luba
SCREENINGS: Centre de la Villette, Paris; American Institute, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands; Webster University, St. Louis; Albuquerque Museum
PRINT MATERIALS: Brochure and Study Guide
FORMAT: Video (53:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: The Cinema Guild, Inc.
The Yiddish Radio Project
Documentary Radio Series
The Yiddish Radio Project is a ten-part radio series is based on 1,000 fragile aluminum discs—one-of-a-kind recordings from the “Golden Age” of Yiddish radio (1930–55)—that have been rescued from attics, storerooms, and even dumpsters. Taken as a whole, the series offers an unprecedented window to Jewish immigrant culture in the U.S. during the first half of the 20th century. The series explores the Yiddish and English language dramas, music, news programs, advice and game shows, man-on-the-street interviews, and commercials that were stalwarts of Yiddish radio. Translations are performed by a cast that includes Carl Reiner, Eli Wallach, and Isaiah Sheffer, as well as Yiddish stars.
History of Yiddish Radio
From the 1930s to 50s, Yiddish radio was heard coast to coast, with a dozen stations in New York alone. This program explores its forgotten history and how one man stumbled upon-and rescued—its last remnants.
Yiddish Melodies in Swing
The radio program “Yiddish Melodies in Swing” ran from 1938 until 1955 and celebrated a peculiar but wonderful fusion of traditional Yiddish klezmer music with popular American swing.
The Radio Dramas of Nahum Stutchkoff
Stutchkoff's days were spent creating some of the most memorable, intimate radio dramas of the age, his nights, compiling history's only Yiddish thesaurus.
Levine and His Flying Machine
Most know Charles A. Lindbergh was the first man to fly across the Atlantic. But have you ever heard of Charles A. Levine? Discover the incredible story of the first man to cross the Atlantic in an airplane—as a passenger.
Commercials on Yiddish Radio
And now a word from our sponsor. They were the seven most dreaded words on Yiddish radio-until the Joe and Paul jingle hit the airwaves.
The Jewish Philosopher
Before Dr. Laura, before Dr. Ruth, before Ann Landers, there was C. Israel Lutsky, “The Jewish Philosopher,” radio's first advice columnist.
Seymour Rexite
Crooning sensation Seymour Rexite thrilled his radio audience for forty years, singing all the American standards—in Yiddish.
Victor Packer An avant-garde poet turned programming director, Victor Packer experimented with every genre imaginable in a desperate attempt to fill his four-hour slot.
Rabbi Rubin's Court of the Air
From disputes over ill-measured bedsheets to appeals by abandoned grandparents, no program takes us closer to the real struggles of poor Jews living in New York's Lower Eastside.
Reunion
Decades before the word “Holocaust” entered our vocabulary, this short-lived series featured the voice of a holocaust survivor telling his own story. His name was Siegbert Freiberg, and his story was unlike anything ever before heard on the radio.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Sound Portraits Productions, New York, NY
YEAR PRODUCED: 2001
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Dave Isay
PRODUCERS: Dave Isay, Henry Sapoznik, Yair Reiner
EDITOR: Gary Covino
NARRATOR: Henry Sapoznik
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: George Foster Peabody Award
FORMAT: Video (120:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: National Public Radio
You May Call Her Madam Secretary
Documentary
This film traces the life and career of Frances Perkins, who became the first woman member of a presidential cabinet as Secretary of Labor (1933–45) under Franklin D. Roosevelt.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: The Frances Perkins Film Project, Inc. West Tisbury, MA
YEAR PRODUCED: 1987
PRODUCERS/WRITERS: Robert Potts, Marjory Potts
DIRECTOR: Marjory Potts
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Dean Gaskill
EDITORS: Michael Grenadier, Robert Potts
CAST: Frances Sternhagen, Robert Potts
AWARDS: American Film and Video Festival, Red Ribbon; CINE Golden Eagle; Columbus (OH) International Film Festival, Chris Bronze Plaque; “Outstanding Non-Print” Lists in Booklist and Choice, (American Library Association)
FORMAT: 16mm, Video (57:40)
DISTRIBUTOR: Vineyard Video Productions
Ziveli: Medicine for the Heart
Documentary
Filmed in Chicago and Northern California, Ziveli examines the culture of Serbian immigrants, with emphasis on rituals of the Eastern Orthodox Church and on the performance of traditional songs and dances.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Center for Visual Anthropology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
YEAR PRODUCED: 1987
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Andrei Simic, Edward Levine
PRODUCER: Vikram Jayanti
DIRECTOR/CINEMATOGRAPHY: Les Blank
WRITER: Andrei Simic
EDITOR: Maureen Gosling
NARRATOR: Andrei Simic
AWARD: Chicago International Film Festival, Silver Plaque
FORMAT: Video (55:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: Flower Films