The recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, Peres has been the leading Israeli spokesman for a negotiated peace with the Palestinians. He exemplifies the challenge of unifying a divided Israel, split on the issue of peace and security. Rare archival film and exclusive interviews are used.  more »

The film captures the intensity of Islamic fundamentalists and the willingness of extremists to eliminate all opposition. Candid interviews with Arab leaders show the difficulties of having a Western style democracy in countries where there is so much illiteracy and poverty.  more »

As China changes at an awesome rate, becoming more industrialized, urban, and westernized, this film explores how this has impacted traditional relationships between men and women.  more »

The filmmaker was nine years old when her father shot himself. The film addresses the pain and guilt of the children and spouse left behind when a parent commits suicide.  more »

This multi-festival film is an unforgettable portrait of twins with cerebral palsy whose mother is determined to have them lead a full life.  more »

The biography of the African-American scholar turned diplomat who was the first person of color to win the Nobel Peace Prize.  more »

Our Lady's is the story of how one Boston suburban parish, energized by a dynamic leader, rose up against the powerful Church hierarchy to demand that their voices be heard.  more »

The film takes us back to the murderous years of Pol Pot (1975-79) when 90 percent of the Cambodian dancers were executed or died of starvation or disease. It shows how several surviving dancers train a new generation to continue their tradition.  more »

This carefully researched film celebrates the life and legacy of Peter Cooper, the remarkable 19th century inventor, industrialist and philanthropist. When business success brought wealth, Cooper used it to foster social justice.  more »

Originally from a small village in the Buryat region of Siberia, Irina Pantaeva emigrated to the U.S. in the 1980's. Every summer, Irina, a world-famous model, and her son travel back to help her troubled family, trapped in the new free market society. Siberian Dream shows the effects of perestroika and glasnost on this Buryat community.  more »

This film tells the remarkable story of the villagers of one district of North Vietnam who found themselves on the frontlines of an increasingly brutal war. They survived by digging a series of tunnels and moving their entire community underground.  more »

Thirty years after the end of the Vietnam War they are among several millions diagnosed by the Vietnamese as victims of Agent Orange. In this film, we meet several who are plaintiffs in a class action suit against 32 US chemical companies. Attorneys, activists, scientists, and a military historian take us to a new battlefield.  more »

Operation Babylift in 1975 helped thousands of South Vietnamese children to escape to America where they were adopted. In their mid-twenties, the adoptees return to their birthplace in search of their roots.  more »

This admiring portrait of indefatigable social activist Abe Osheroff weaves through twentieth century American history, bringing alive historical issues for a new audience.  more »

Suzanne Bonnar was the mixed-race child of a black American serviceman and a Scotswoman from a small seaside town. She grew up without her father -- a black child in white Scotland. In this very moving film, she re-unites with her father and journeys with him to meet her close-knit black family in South Carolina.  more »

Are the categories of "black" and "white" still relevant in our evolving society? Several biracial young people explore the impact society and history have on the perception of color in the United States.  more »

This film records the most spectacular sacred ceremony of the Balinese people, held by order of the high priests to restore balance between good and evil.  more »

This documentary explores how several Japanese women struggled to reconcile their traditional upbringing with their desire to create unique lives.  more »

Salamanca, N.Y. is the only city in the U.S. that is situated entirely on land owned by Native Americans. The townspeople rented the land upon which their homes stand from the Seneca Indians. But in 1991 the lease expired and the two communities were caught in a web of historical injustice.  more »

Compelling historical footage and first­hand accounts give the background of the genocide that occurred in Rwanda.  more »

This delightful film tells the story of Mura Dehn, a Russian-born dancer who came to America in the 1930's, and dedicated herself to preserving jazz dance on film.  more »

A violent chapter of American history is brought alive in this film about the race riots which began on July 1, 1917, when racial tension exploded. Although thirty-nine people died, President Wilson refused to permit a federal inquiry.  more »

Explores the "hunger for a perfect body" which sometimes leads women to starve themselves.  more »

This documentary examines the painful legacy of Korean sex slaves under World War II Japanese colonial rule. It honors a few brave survivors who came forward to break the silence.  more »

This lively documentary traces the history of the struggle to rid the workplace of occupational hazards. Archival footage and interviews with labor activists and doctors make this a powerful discussion starter.  more »

Three remarkable scientists conduct a series of groundbreaking experiments at a NASA base camp in the High Arctic. Isolated on an island with other leading scientists, they study a giant crater for clues that will help future astronauts explore Mars.  more »

Twenty-four indigenous women weavers gather for a festival, each gripped by painful memories of the civil war in Chiapas. Music, prayer, and weavings intertwine in a homage to those who have suffered and died resisting oppression.  more »

This film gives us an intimate look at a resilient and spirited woman whose skill as a weaver keeps her family afloat through difficult economic times in Mexico. Through her eyes one can see how the forces of global economy affect her people.  more »

This is an innovative, intimate portrait of stalwart members of an indigenous people who inhabit Mexico¹s Sierra de Santa Marta and speak a derivative of ancient Olmec.  more »

This visually stunning film documents an extraordinary coming of age ritual in a village in the Niger Delta in which the young women undergo the Iria rite to prepare themselves for womanhood.  more »

This film explores the importance of the Virgin of Guadalupe as a liberating symbol for Mexican women today  more »

This film shows the much maligned Afro-Cuban religion, Santeria, and its practitioners in Puerto Rico gathering for the initiation of a priest over a three-day period.  more »

This disturbing documentary addresses the startling reality that in forty American states it is legal to fire an employee for being homosexual. Through moving case studies we learn of harassment in the workplace.  more »

This charming documentary depicts the social space of a kosher Middle Eastern grocery store in the traditionally Sephardic section of Brooklyn, with customers speaking Hebrew, English, Syrian and Egyptian Arabic as well as other languages.  more »

In today’s age of globalization, this film provides a portrait of how the local population of a “developing” African nation responds to influx of foreigners who strive to bring economic growth, but often stir up cultural conflict in the process.  more »

The Peruvian town of Paradise was once a tropical Utopia.The villagers survived by growing coca. Then the Shining Path came in to control the drug trade. The town became embattled in the drug war. This firsthand account from deep inside the Peruvian jungle reveals the complex problems of stopping coca cultivation.  more »

The colorful film portrays the musicians of a mountainous region in the Peruvian Andes who have adopted saxophone music from New York's big band era. Dressed in sharp suits and fedoras from the 40s and 50s they blend divergent cultures as they play for village celebrations.  more »

This film is an eloquent statement from the Native Americans themselves on the vulnerability of their very existence. Tribal leader Ron Eagleye Johnny shows how the Indian tribes could become the repository for radioactive waste, if they accept the lure of quick money.  more »

Filmed in the stately mansions of New Orleans, Yes, Ma'am shows the role of the black domestic workers in keeping up the gracious lifestyle so closely associated with the old South.  more »

This wide ranging documentary travels from Berlin to Harlem to the Middle East and Australia to investigate the connection beween the hatred that leads to mass violence and the hatred we all feel from time to time.  more »

A close up look at the tribe in Papua New Guinea, known as "the men who eat men."  more »

This film offers a portrait of the filmmaker's brother Nicky, a delightful twenty-one-year-old with Asperger's syndrome, as his family grooms him for independence.  more »

In the mid-1970's, Cambodia was the victim of a brutal genocide, when the communist Pol Pot regime exterminated every fifth inhabitant. This film shows efforts that are now being made in the country towards reconciliation. For many, the wounds remain deep.  more »

When the US exploded two nuclear bombs over Japan in 1945, it was perhaps the largest demonstration of power in the history of civilization. But the bombs were just the starting point of a desperate arms race between the US and the Soviet Union.  more »

This film makes a strong case for beginning music education at a very early age because of its precursor to language skills. We hear from Prof. Howard Gardner of Harvard University.  more »

While everyone knows of the history of slavery in the USA, few people realize that Brazil was actually the largest participant in the slave trade. Forty percent of all slaves that survived the Atlantic crossing were destined for Brazil. This well-researched BBC production charts Brazil's history using original texts, letters, accounts and decrees.  more »

This film looks at families struggling with pre-schoolers who have serious behavioral problems. It demonstrates how early intervention may help.  more »

This film concentrates on the "end-use philosophy." Instead of asking how much energy the world will demand, it asks how can less energy be used to give consumers the things they want - lighting, central heating, air conditioning, automobiles, etc.  more »

This brilliantly conceived series of three parts investigates innovative solutions to prevent worldwide ecological disaster. Part I: Changing the Way the World Works concentrates on the "end-use philosophy." Part II: The Rich Get Richer focuses on tough, innovative laws and fresh initiatives world-wide which are helping to contain energy consumption and pollution. Part III: Power to the People focuses on the developing world where the energy debate is carried out against a background of grinding povery, limited resources and rapidly growing population.  more »

This film focuses on the developing world where the energy debate is carried on against a background of grinding poverty, limited resources and rapidly growing population. Among the affordable solutions demonstrated are more efficient stoves and faster growing trees.  more »

The strange story told in this film about Sri Lanka narrates a revival of mystical belief in the ancient Hindu god, Kataragama  more »

This is an inspirational documentary about a young Muslim woman, trained as an anthropologist, who suffered hardship and professional censure to save a desert tribe from becoming extinct in the harsh Sahara.  more »

Watching the lithe, expressive movements of Javanese masked dancer Rasinah, one would never believe a 72-year old woman is behind the mask! She is a master of an ancient form of mask dance called Topeng Cirebon, which originated in West Java, Indonesia. This colorful documentary shows the history, function and meaning of these masked dances.  more »

Life Sentence gives voice to six formerly incarcerated men and women, some of whom were sentenced as adolescents. Each spent between twelve and twenty-six years in prison, and must now find a way, economically and emotionally, to rebuild life on the outside.  more »

Rural communities face a crisis as farms are abandoned and young people leave for cities where there is more opportunity. Hard economic realities could reduce whole regions to wasteland if preventive measures are not taken.  more »

Providing rare insight into the obstacles to peace between Israelis and Palestinians, this film records seven Israeli professionals working in the field of human rights in the Israeli occupied territories.  more »

The filmmaker captures the character of Everett Soop, a Blackfoot journalist and political cartoonist who has had to face the challenges of being both indigenous and disabled.  more »

This intriguing four-part series chronicles scientists and anthropologists searching for vanishing populations, lost cultures, and hidden cities.  more »

Egyptologist Tony Mills unearths artifacts and examines skeletal remains of "the other Egypt," an area around the Dakhleh Oasis, far away from the pyramids and the Nile.  more »

Linguist Ian Mackenzie preserves the unique language of the Penan of Borneo, the last true nomadic hunting and gathering people on earth.  more »

Paleo-athologist Eldon Molto examines the bones of the now-vanished Pericu of Baja California, Mexico, using DNA to piece together the story of a fierce and independent people.  more »

Archeologist Edmundo Edwards explores the French Polynesian islands which are filled with huge stone cities, left by thriving native populations that were wiped out by European disease.  more »

South Africa is hard hit by the AIDS epidemic, which reflects the social, racial , and economic divisions that still continue.  more »

This film on the women of Oman shows us educated, independent women who dress in the traditional way, yet are moving into new areas for women.  more »

The film travels to Kenya, Brazil and Thailand to tell the personal stories of women with AIDS. Set against a background of disease, poverty and social subjugation this is a story of vitality and will power, and of women who have the courage to fight against reigning cultural and religious traditions.  more »

Nuclear disasters in Chelabynsk were kept secret from the outside world although the local population was sickened from radiation and there is still contamination today.  more »

This insightful film offers a rare look into the lives of gays and lesbians in contemporary Poland. While many gay men and lesbians remain in the closet for fear of being ostracized, recent positive changes in attitude and growing acceptance have prompted an increase in the number of Poles who are now openly gay.  more »

When an international company causes pollution in an African American neighborhood, who pays?  more »

Through the personal experiences of three families, this documentary explores the ethical issues involved in sustaining the life of a severely brain damaged or comatose patient.  more »

Thousands of children have been kidnapped and used as soldiers by the Ugandan rebel army. These children have been traumatized by their experience. This film shows a program that tries to rehabilitate the ones who have been fortunate enough to escape.  more »

The Samurai offers an enthralling and colorful odyssey into Japan's history in which Samurai culture became the core of Japanese values. The film colorfully illustrates the Samurai's martial traditions and the manifestations of its ties to the Zen principles of Respect, Purity and Composure.  more »

This provocative film, with stirring footage from Mexico's past , shows how life in a small town may be far removed from the pivotal moments of Mexican history. Personal memories recall harvests and natural phenomena, not wars and revolutions.  more »