0 
Subjects
Films by Subject
Sociology
134 film(s) found
 |
This no-holds-barred documentary follows the illicit opium industry, from the cultivation of the opium plants, to the processing of heroin, to the cross border smuggling that occurs between Afghanistan and Iran. more »
|
 |
Navigating the transition from adolescence to adulthood is challenging for even the most mature and privileged youth. For three young people in New York and Los Angeles, making the transition to independent living is considerably more difficult as they “age out” of the foster care system and find themselves suddenly on their own for the first time. more »
|
 |
This is a deeply personal exploration of the bedroom politics that make black women especially vulnerable to AIDS infection. The film follows a young female doctor, working in the South Bronx, as she gives medical and emotional support to her afflicted patients. more »
|
 |
This view of the Amish shows a dynamic people who have modified their rules so that they can prosper in commercial enterprises. Modern conveniences, such as telephones, that they shun at home they use in their businesses. more »
|
 |
An exclusive portrait of a rarely-filmed religious community that separates itself from the world. It captures the day-to-day life of a people who have preserved their rural traditions. more »
|
 |
The incidence of grandparents raising their grandchildren as primary caregivers has increased 30 percent since 2000. This film depicts such a situation as we see the daily life of a frail 77- year-old grandmother who is raising four grandsons aged 5-8. more »
|
 |
Street tough and very vulnerable, this young girl has honed her survival skills. more »
|
 |
A look at attitudes towards service, such as waiters and salespeople, in four different Western countries, and how service is affected by class and culture. more »
|
 |
When the Supreme Court ruled that mental patients could not be kept in institutions against their will, it was assumed that there would be community support available. Instead, the newly released people ended up on the streets, impoverished and without help. more »
|
 |
Seventeen year-old Adina Scheim from Toronto is becoming a boy named Ayden. Her father, a conservative rabbi, has a hard time dealing with this transformation. more »
|
 |
This film examines domestic violence from a personal perspective, focusing on an abuser and a victim, who each discuss their backgrounds and their determination to break the patterns of violence that have governed their lives more »
|
 |
A sensitive study of a community of Laotian refugees in Rockford, Illinois, who are torn between preserving their cultural identity and adapting to their new life. more »
|
 |
This documentary compares the Canadian system of national health insurance with health-care delivery in the United States. It shows that although routine health care is more accessible in Canada, there are high technology procedures for which patients come to the United States. more »
|
 |
This powerful documentary reveals the epidemic of sexual abuse of boys and its impact on both the individuals and their families. more »
|
 |
This powerful documentary by Roger Weisberg (Sound and Fury) profiles the struggle of a family to raise teenage children in a troubled neighborhood in Brooklyn. Faced with violence, teenage pregnancy, truancy, and attempted suicide, the family is held together by the support of The Center for Family Life, a social service agency that has helped two generations. more »
|
 |
Documents a violent clash between miners and two giant coal companies in an isolated hollow of West Virginia over a decade ago. more »
|
 |
Shows the disastrous effects of US drug policy on farmers in Bolivia and Colombia. more »
|
 |
An uplifting documentary about ghetto kids of South Central, L.A. who discover their talents and self dignity through "Colors United", a performing arts group created for inner city youth. more »
|
 |
What happens when you're sick and uninsured? "Critical Condition" puts an intimate human face on America's growing health care crisis by chronicling the struggles of a diverse group of uninsured Americans as they battle critical illness over a two-year period. more »
|
 |
This documentary on gang rape and acquaintance rape is a compelling view of what is happening on college campuses. more »
|
|
Is drug abuse a health problem or a criminal justice problem? This program shows how the drug problem is being addressed in four major cities: New York, Toronto, Amsterdam and Liverpool. more »
|
|
 |
A poignant portrayal of the effect on an entire family when one of its members faces execution. Part of the Eye for Justice series. more »
|
 |
This documentary focuses on the anti-war movement within the armed forces. It highlights the intersection of the civil rights and anti-war movements, and the ethics of whether to follow orders which one feels are immoral. more »
|
 |
The Double Dutch Divas are women who have mastered the art of jumping and dancing double Dutch during their twenty years together. They are a sisterhood of diverse ages and talents; they inspire audiences here and abroad with their spirit of "can-do". more »
|
 |
This film exposes the plight of poor, foreign-born women who are languishing in jail for carrying drugs into the United States. more »
|
 |
The poignant, depression-age story of abandoned children from big cities who were sent West to live and work with farm families. It was the idea of Charles Loring Brace, founder of the Children's Aid Society, as an alternative to institionalization. more »
|
 |
The film follows six welfare mothers over the course of a year as they struggle to comply with new work requirements, find reliable child care and transportation, battle drug addiction and depression, confront domestic violence, and try to make ends meet in the new era of welfare reform. more »
|
 |
Shows a state-of-the-art maximum security prison, Potosi Correctional Center, where all the inmates face either death or life in prison without parole. more »
|
 |
We visit five alternative sentencing programs around the country to find alternatives to imprisonment or probation. more »
|
 |
This CBC program is an engaging study of how we chose our mates and for what reason. Dr. John Money discusses the "love map", or blueprint of the ideal relationship we carry within us. more »
|
 |
Violent interactive video games make up a 20 billion dollar industry. These games may have an addictive quality, especially to teenage boys, whose lives often become dominated by them. What effect does brutality in virtual reality have on the minds and psyches of the young? more »
|
 |
Although hemp is used to make rope, paper and even food and oils, a war has been waged against the plant because of its drug properties. Yet there are thirty five maladies and symptoms on which marijuana has a beneficial effect. more »
|
 |
This landmark film is the first film to show the revolutionary social experiment, the attempt to create sexual equality between men and women on the Israeli kibbutz. Through archival footage and interviews with several generations, the film follows the evolution of family life and work roles from pioneering days to the present. more »
|
 |
A provocative film based on the work of economist Jeremy Rifkin who foresees a calamity of global proportions as our workforce is marginalized by new technology. more »
|
 |
With DNA profiling and new laws, police are better able to solve crimes, even crimes committed years earlier. This timely program traces the development of DNA profiling in forensic science and shows how effective it is in identifying criminals. more »
|
|
Families often pass violent behavior on from one generation to the other. Parents, children and professionals share their experience and insight. more »
|
|
|
An intimate portrayal of the lives of three runaway girls. All are the victims of heartbreaking family life, yet each shows the capacity of life-affirming resilience. more »
|
|
 |
This film describes the remarkable partnership between black South African grandmothers who are raising their grandchildren, orphaned by AIDS, and a group of grandmothers from North America who are being supportive of them. more »
|
|
A film about three abused inner city boys who are given the opportunity to heal at a unique facility in rural New York. The philosophy at Green Chimneys is that troubled children can be "reached" through giving them responsibility to care for an animal. more »
|
|
 |
This documentary explores the Greensboro Massacre of 1979 and its aftermath. Members of the Communist Workers Party massed for a “Death to the Klan” rally when a caravan of Ku Klux Klan and American Nazis arrived. The Klansmen opened fire. A quarter of a century later a truth and reconcilliation committee explores the tragedy. more »
|
 |
Since 1986, thousands of Mexican men have legally entered the United States to work as part of the little-known H-2A guestworker program, put in effect during the Reagan administration. Filmed on both sides of the border, The Guestworker chronicles the lives of such farm workers and explores the issues surrounding the program.. more »
|
 |
Former Harlem Globetrotter Mel Davis fathered two sons. One was with a white woman with whom he was in love but felt he couldn't marry in the racial climate of the sixties. The other was with a black woman with whom he had an unhappy marriage. Hubert Davis, the film director, was the mixed-race son who for many years did not know his father. This film movingly explores the pain of sons growing up with an absent father and its effect on their mothers. more »
|
 |
This documentary shows that the attempt to contain medical costs can reduce hospital stays and unnecessary tests, but may compromise the quality of care. more »
|
 |
Based on Dwight Conquergood's research, this documentary gives voice to the street youth and reveals their underground culture. It weaves an intricate web of symbols and passions, territory and brotherhood, honor and—all too often—death. more »
|
 |
Her Brilliant Career examines discrimination in the workplace and politics, and highlights a controversial program for women executives in the US. more »
|
 |
A portrait of the International High School in New York City where recent immigrants from 43 countries create the most multicultural classroom imaginable. The film shows how cultural and racial differences can be reconciled within an educational system. more »
|
 |
Holy Water-Gate explores the lengths to which sexual abuse has been systematically obscured throughout the nation. It presents startling testimony from an admitted priest perpetrator, church officials and victims, as well as the story of Father John Bambrick who was himself molested by a priest as an adolescent and continues to seek justice for fellow victims more »
|
 |
This film sheds light on the problems of homeless people who are mentally ill. It shows the impact on their families and the resources available to help them more »
|
|
When a sexual predator is released from jail, his accusers often worry that they may now be at risk, or that he will return to their community, placing others in danger. In the situation presented in this compelling film, it is the convicted criminal who is being stalked. more »
|
|
_20110907_134628.jpg) |
This film explores the stories of three adult children who have returned to live with their parents as they grapple with current struggles, future dreams, and past failures. more »
|
 |
This disturbing documentary profiles a chilling subculture among American youth. Racist and "anti-racist" groups have been at war with each other, assaulting and even murdering one another to the consternation of their communities and the police more »
|
 |
The stories of six educated, articulate women who are among the "hidden homeless"; those who have lost a job, lost a home, and refuse to go to a shelter. more »
|
 |
This enlightening portrait joins African American social activist Julian Bond as he traces his roots back to slavery, and recalls his role as a leader and organizer during the Civil Rights Movement. more »
|
 |
This short film explores the symbiotic relationship between the media, crime, and the judicial system and shows how today's 24/7 news culture and television dramas create a climate of fear. more »
|
 |
Twenty-two year old Miguel Martinez has been languishing on death row in Huntsville, Texas, for five years, while his co-defendant, the son of a judge, was let off for giving state’s evidence. more »
|
 |
In a small West Texas town, a parent refuses to have his 12-year-old son undergo mandatory drug testing. This conservative farmer forms an unlikely alliance with the American Civil Liberties Union to fight for his son's Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable search. more »
|
 |
Six young men and women were filmed as they prepared for their high school prom, and then six years later as they reconcile their current lives with their former hopes and dreams. more »
|
 |
Who decides how life ends? The patient? The family? The physician? The health care system? Last Rights is a compelling, deeply personal exploration of four families and their terminally-ill loved ones as they begin to contemplate death. more »
|
 |
Every year thousands of migrants from Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala leave their families and homes, staking everything they own on a one-way trip to the promised land of the United States, and encountering unimaginable hurdles along the way. more »
|
 |
An investigation of the drug war raging in Columbia, the cocaine capital of the world. more »
|
 |
Some people have very big hearts! We meet an Australian couple who have adopted several Ethiopian orphaned children. We see how they help the children overcome the pain of their past as they adjust to a new country. more »
|
 |
First-hand accounts of the pioneering women who settled the Israeli kibbutz. more »
|
 |
This film celebrates the long and rich tradition of Latin culture in a multicultural community in Florida which was founded on the cigar industry. more »
|
 |
The story of an unusual nuclear family: Roberta, Phil, and their two adopted chimpanzees. It shows the joys and challenges of life with our closest primate relatives. more »
|
 |
This haunting film tells the story of the Lynchburg Colony for the Epileptic and Feebleminded in Virginia where, between 1927 and 1972, more than eight thousand children and young teenagers were forcibly sterilized, a program which became the basis of Hitler's eugenics program. more »
|
 |
Documents the dependencies and abuses that existed during apartheid between the white mistress of the house and her black servant. more »
|
 |
Humorist Roy Blount, Jr takes an offbeat journey down the Mississippi River, the literal and figurative Main Stream of America. Blount's unpredictable odyssey celebrates the full range of American diversity and eccentricity -- from a wedding ceremony at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, to a rodeo at America's toughest prison in Angola, Louisiana. more »
|
 |
This documentary examines the current wave of welfare reform in America. It looks at the effect of new legislation on people’s lives, searching for initiatives that have proven effective. more »
|
 |
Why did a shy student with no criminal record commit the worst gun rampage in US history? Psychologists, professors and witnesses try to understand the causes behind the tragedy. more »
|
 |
In 1962, Michael Harrington’s book The Other America was a groundbreaking study of poverty that was probably the driving force behind the "war on poverty." Archival footage and fascinating interviews explore why such poverty still exists despite a booming economy. more »
|
 |
When aging mothers move in with their grown daughters, the role reversals trigger social conflict, emotional adjustments, and unexpected difficulties. more »
|
 |
How do you find a mate when your religion doesn't permit you to date? Muslims in Love shares the stories of devout American Muslim young people pursuing love and marriage. more »
|
 |
A spirited group of people of varied ages and backgrounds recall the first time they made love. Some are funny, some sad – all are interesting! more »
|
|
Twenty-year-old Jennifer Wittberger, an attractive young woman from an affluent family, destroyed herself with her heroin addiction. Her story is told through the eyes of her best friend who was helpless to save Jenny. more »
|
|
 |
Several alternatives to institutionalizing the elderly are shown in this documentary shot in New York City, rural Appalachia, and San Francisco. more »
|
 |
No Tomorrow focuses on the murder of Risa Bejarano, the principal subject of Aging Out, a documentary about teenagers leaving foster care. The film explores how Aging Out unexpectedly documented the last year of Risa’s life and became the centerpiece of a chilling homicide investigation and death penalty trial. more »
|
 |
The United States is only one of only seven countries, including Iraq and Bangladesh, whose justice system allows the execution of juveniles. This is a critical look at a highly controversial subject. more »
|
|
In the last decades, colleges around the country have faced student protests over the wages paid maintenance employees. Harvard, the richest university in the world, is no exception. Students launched a peaceful protest and then a sit-in to win concessions. more »
|
|
|
This documentary investigates the results of a stern policy that allows juveniles as young as thirteen to be tried as adults and incarcerated with adult criminals. more »
|
|
 |
This film focuses on the small village of New Paltz, N.Y. where the 26-year-old mayor Jason West stunned his neighbors and the nation by performing 25 same-sex marriages in defiance of state law. The film probes the debate on same-sex marriage as it relates to the Constitution and the family. more »
|
|
The film follows the phenomenal growth and influence of the Christian Right, not only on American politics and diplomacy, but on American culture. more »
|
|
 |
This film examines why millions of today’s poor young children may fail to reach their full developmental potential and considers positive steps that may be taken to address this crisis. more »
|
 |
Here is a portrait of the American family in crisis. Half of marriages now end in divorce, and 70% of children are brought up in single parent households. Yet there is a family support movement which is trying to solve social problems by strengthening families. more »
|
 |
In post 9/11 America, civil liberties have been curtailed in the name of national security, and immigrants have been separated from their families. This film follows four families whose lives were permanently altered. more »
|
 |
This masterful documentary examines pornography in its social and historical context. It explores whether freedom of expression and the preservation of values which define a civilized society are irreconcilable.Well-known law professors, civil rights advocates and feminists give their views. more »
|
 |
This is a film about one man’s words. These are the words of an Irish priest who came to Camden, New Jersey, forty years ago and never left. Father Doyle’s words bear witness to a horrendous crime: the total neglect of America’s poorest city, Camden, New Jersey. more »
|
 |
This documentary explores the effects of hard core pornography in our society. Does it indeed contribute to violence and de-sensitization? more »
|
 |
This CBC film delves into the world of forensic science and looks at some of the latest techniques in high-tech sleuthing. more »
|
|
In a Phoenix, Arizona penitentiary, Sheriff Joe Arpalo has initiated an extremely controversial deterrent for juvenile delinquency, called 'Smart Tents' .It involves incarcerating children who have broken the law in a real prison for two days to show them what they could become as adults if dont clean up their act. more »
|
|
 |
A sensitive look at incarcerated women who give birth and care for their babies in prison. more »
|
 |
Shot over four years, "Prison Town USA" follows prison guards, inmates and their families as well as the townspeople of Susanville, California, to shed light on the human costs of incarceration. more »
|
|
Six American states have voted in legislation to castrate sex offenders and release them back into the community. Is this really safe for the community? Part of the Eye for Justice series. more »
|
|
 |
A compassionate portrait of a young man on death row for three years. A.J. Bannister is granted a stay of execution at the last minute, when it is revealed that his crime was really second degree, rather than first degree, murder. more »
|
 |
Tells the fascinating story of the controversial community founded in central Oregon by Indian guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh more »
|
 |
This highly-charged documentary examines the causes and consequences of rape, one of the fastest growing crimes in the America. It includes an emotional confrontation between rapists and victims of rape. more »
|
|
This powerful video focuses on participants in a program at Oregon State Hospital aimed at rehabilitating sex offenders. more »
|
|
 |
This is an inspiring story of a group of homeless people who renovate an abandoned building in New York’s Lower East Side in order to obtain an affordable place to live. They are helped by Habitat for Humanity. more »
|
 |
This report, with David Suzuki,decries how the "war on drugs" has criminalized even the palliative use of marijuana. more »
|
 |
The film serves as an exposé of how the banking industry harvests billions of dollars from consumers in the form of overdraft and other fees and shares how individuals can fight against the unfair fees. more »
|
 |
After being tortured and narrowly escaping execution during Liberia's civil war, Rosevelt Henderson makes his way to America to start his life over again in a strange country. After years of struggle and deprivation, Rosevelt and his family are finally able to enjoy the prosperity and freedom that drew them here. more »
|
 |
The Ford motor plant in Detroit was the largest industrial complex in the world when it was built in 1918. This film traces the struggle of the United Auto Workers under Walter Reuther to improve the lot of the workers. more »
|
 |
A portrait of Millie Jeffrey, an indomitable activist for social change, who was awarded the Medal of Freedom by former President Clinton more »
|
 |
A teenage theater company educates peers about AIDS prevention. more »
|
|
Explores the conditions that have led to escalating rates of teen pregnancy and examines the role that public schools can play in stemming the tide of early and unwanted pregnancy. more »
|
|
 |
Traditional foods are at risk of disappearing forever, as a speed-obsessed world turns increasingly to fast foods. To counter this trend, there is an international movement known as Slow Food. more »
|
|
This documentary exposes issues of prejudice, racism and class as they affect the multicultural community of South Central. more »
|
|
 |
This historical documentary chronicles the risky but successful effort of a few women working at Delta Pride Catfish to organize a union at their plant. The mostly black female workforce had worked in noisy and wet factories for minimum wage and without benefits. more »
|
 |
This compelling documentary is about rap as it is declaimed in the streets of New York, straight up -- without music. The young people demonstrate that their grim surroundings have not killed their ability to express their political thoughts. more »
|
 |
This powerful film focuses on issues of race, culture and identity in families in which there have been transracial adoptions. more »
|
 |
Three and a half million people ride the New York subway system daily. This film explores this underground world in all its diversity. more »
|
 |
The stories of several women show that welfare reform has made the system less responsive to individual needs and circumstances. more »
|
|
For one whole year, five very different 16-year-old girls were interviewed and filmed at home, in school, at work and with their friends. The girls openly shared their thoughts and feelings. more »
|
|
|
The five girls interviewed in the film Talk 16 are filmed again three years later. What emerges is an insightful portrait of growing up female. more »
|
|
 |
A heartening look at a group of Seattle’s homeless community who took matters into their own hands and erected a series of large tattered tents, until the mayor finally provided a shelter more »
|
|
Using archival footage and interviews, the filmmaker creates a multi-layered portrait of growing up in New York’s El Barrio in the ‘30s and ‘40s 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 »
|
|
Smoking has become a polarizing issue in America, with manufacturers health professionals, legislators, insurance companies and consumers embroiled in controversy. But a voice seldom heard is one central to the debate, that of the small American tobacco farmer. more »
|
|
 |
This film shares the story of Madame C.J. Walker, the daughter of slaves who became America's first self-made millionairess. more »
|
 |
"Uncovered" puts a human face on America's health care crisis by chronicling the harrowing struggles of the Nazaretyan family to care for their disabled children without insurance. more »
|
 |
A pilot program for curing drug addiction through the use of herbal medicine was developed by a doctor in Vietnam. We see astonishing recoveries. It is now being researched in the United States. more »
|
 |
Voluntary Simplicity is a movement founded in resistance to the overwhelming consumerism in our society. Its advocates reject material comforts for more spiritually rewarding, basic pleasures. more »
|
 |
"Waging a Living"is an award-winning documentary and Academy Award nominee that chronicles the day-to-day battles of four low-wage earners struggling to earn enough to pay their bills. more »
|
 |
We Are Family takes a look at what life is really like in homosexual families, focusing on parenting and well-being of the children. more »
|
 |
This program looks at the human side of the health care crisis where millions of Americans lack insurance or are underinsured. more »
|
 |
A sensitive study of the effect on children when their mothers are incarcerated. 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 »
|
 |
Many young people in their twenties face an uncertain future because of poor job prospects and emotional stress. This is a sobering look at this generation which will ultimately become the leaders of their country. more »
|
 |
This award-winner addresses the concerns of working parents, the needs of both children and day-care providers, and the social risks of day-care shortage. more »
|
 |
Despite America's extraordinary medical resources, our health care system fails a large part of the population. While denying routine preventive care to millions, dying patients are often given expensive care they do not want. more »
|
 |
Shot over a three year period, this emotionally wrenching story reveals the bond that develops between two brothers who long to be reunited with their cocaine-addicted mother, and their grandmother’s struggle to keep the family together. When a family court threatens to terminate the mother’s parental rights after a failed rehabilitation attempt, the boys impress the judge with their strong desire to keep the family intact. more »
|
 |
This heartwarming film explores why people of a variety of ages, cultures, and gender orientation, still want to marry in an era when it is socially acceptable for couples to live together, forgoing wedding vows. more »
|
|
The terrible anti-Semitic massacre that occured on July 4, 1946 in Kielce, Poland is chillingly retold by the Polish people who were there. Some express horror but others seem indifferent. A miniature Shoah in its power to move audiences. 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 »
|
© Copyright 2012 | Filmakers Library | 124 East 40th Street | New York, NY 10016 | tel: (703) 212-8520 ext. 161 | fax: (703) 997-1294 | Email: info@filmakers.com