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FILM LIBRARY: A - E

49 Up
by Michael Apted

In one of documentary cinema's more remarkable enterprises, "49 Up" makes its U.S. broadcast premiere as the seventh in a series of films that has profiled a group of English children every seven years, beginning in 1964. Renowned director Michael Apted (Coal Miner's Daughter, Gorky Park, Gorillas in the Mist) has doggedly pursued the series as the children have grown into adults, navigating the divide between childhood dreams and adult realities. "49 Up" revisits questions of love, marriage, career, class and prejudice — discovering unexpected turns in individual lives and surprising views of the Up film series itself.

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Al Otro Lado (To the Other Side)
by Natalia Almada

The proud Mexican tradition of corrido music — captured in the performances of Mexican band Los Tigres del Norte and the late Chalino Sanchez — provides both heartbeat and backbone to this rich examination of songs, drugs and dreams along the U.S./Mexico border. "Al Otro Lado" follows Magdiel, an aspiring corrido composer from the drug capital of Mexico, as he faces two difficult choices to better his life: to traffic drugs or to cross the border illegally into the United States. An Official Selection of the Tribeca Film Festival.

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American Aloha
by Lisette Marie Flanary and Evann Siebens

For Hawaiians, the hula is not just a dance, but a way of life. While most Americans know only the stereotypes of grass skirts and coconut bras, the hula is a living tradition that tells of the rich history and spirituality of Hawai'i through music, language, and dance. "American Aloha: Hula Beyond Hawai'i" discovers a renaissance of Hawaiian culture as it continues to grow in California. Following three kumu hula, or master hula teachers, the film celebrates the perpetuation of a culture — from the very traditional to the contemporary — as it evolves on distant shores. Revealing the survival of Hawai'i's indigenous culture from near-destruction, "American Aloha" is a reminder of the power of reclaiming tradition for communities creating a home away from home. An Independent Television Service (ITVS) and Pacific Islanders in Communications (PIC) co-presentation. A Diverse Voices Project Selection.

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Arctic Son
by Andrew Walton

In "Arctic Son," the clash of tradition and modernity puts a Native father and son at odds in the remote village of Old Crow, 80 miles above the Arctic Circle. Stanley Jr., raised in Seattle, is drifting deeper into drinking and partying. Stanley Sr., a distant, philosophical figure to his son, keeps the ways of his Gwitchin ancestors alive by hunting, fishing and living by his wits in the harsh arctic environment. After a lifetime apart, the two are reunited in the raw, quiet beauty of the Canadian Yukon in a story that captures the dialogue between a father and son from vastly different worlds.

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Big Enough
by Jan Krawitz

In this intimate portrait, Jan Krawitz revisits some of the subjects who appeared in her 1982 award-winning film Little People. Through a prism of "then and now," she contrasts the youth of these individuals affected with dwarfism with their lives 20 years later. From navigating everyday life to dating and marrying, they confront physical and emotional challenges with humor, grace and sometimes, frustration. "Big Enough" provides a unique perspective on a proud and active community that many people know only from cultural stereotypes.

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Bill's Run: A Political Journey in Rural Kansas
by Richard Kassebaum

When documentary filmmaker Richard Kassebaum learned that his younger brother, Bill, a rancher and country lawyer, had decided to run for the Kansas House of Representatives, he left Los Angeles and spent seven weeks on the campaign trail chronicling his brother's first run for public office. The film captures Bill's journey through the primary: a comical and sometimes painful quest of quixotic proportions, as he takes on the Republican incumbent and fights to preserve a lifestyle quickly disappearing from rural America. A strong supporter was his mother, former U.S. Senator Nancy Landon Kassebaum, who proved both a rose and a thorn to his campaign. The exciting outcome shows, once again, that every vote counts. A 2004 Election Issue Special.

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Boomtown
by Bryan Gunnar Cole

Blink Stars and Grim Reapers. Thunderkings and Predators. Do you know your fireworks? Just in time for July 4th comes "Boomtown," a lively visit to the Suquamish Nation near Seattle, where selling fireworks has become a tradition for some Suquamish tribal members. For 30 years, this part of Indian country has sold fireworks that are officially banned off the reservation, attracting non-Indian buyers from near and far. And then on July 4th, the Suquamish tribe plays host to one of the most enjoyable and unpredictable fireworks shows around. In a place where federal, state and local policies routinely collide with Native sovereignty, "Boomtown" focuses on this animated enterprise, offering a special glimpse into contemporary Indian life, where Native tradition meets today's economic realities with uniquely successful results. A Native American Telecommunications (NAPT) Co-presentation.

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P.O.V.'s Borders | Environment

The 2004 Webby Award-winning episode of P.O.V.'s online series focused on the environment with short films about hybrid cars, alternative fuel, bottled water and the largest oil spill in US history (it's not the Exon Valdez). These videos vary in length from 2 to 10 minutes and are all available on DVD.

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The Boys of Baraka
by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady

African-American boys have a very high chance of being incarcerated or killed before they reach adulthood. In Baltimore, one of the country's most poverty-stricken cities for inner-city residents, the Baraka School project was founded to break the cycle of violence through an innovative education program that literally removed young boys from low-performing public schools and unstable home environments. "The Boys of Baraka" follows four boys as they travel with their classmates to rural Kenya in East Africa, where a teacher-student ratio of one to five, a strict disciplinary program and a comprehensive curriculum form the core of an extraordinary new journey in their transformation to men. Winner of an NAACP Image Award. A co-presentation with the Independent Television Service (ITVS). Produced in association with American Documentary | P.O.V.

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Bright Leaves
by Ross McElwee

What legacy is passed down to generations when a family is a giant tobacco producer? Filmmaker Ross McElwee (Sherman's March, "Time Indefinite" — P.O.V. 1994), whose great-grandfather created the famous Bull Durham brand in his native North Carolina, takes viewers on an autobiographical journey across that state's social, economic and psychological tobacco terrain. Wise and wry, this meditation on the allure of cigarettes looks at loss and preservation, addiction and denial. "Bright Leaves" also examines filmmaking itself, as McElwee grapples with home movies, a vintage Hollywood melodrama and his own efforts to document North Carolina and his family.

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The Brooklyn Connection
by Klaartje Quirijns

It's common knowledge that buying weapons in the United States is surprisingly easy. But what about outfitting a foreign guerilla army? Meet Florin Krasniqi, one of the driving forces behind Kosovo's fight for independence. He lives in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he runs a successful roofing company. But he is leading a double life. "The Brooklyn Connection," based on material from Stacy Sullivan's book, Be Not Afraid, For You Have Sons in America, shows the terrifying ease with which this charming businessman raised $30 million during the Kosovo War, purchased weapons across the USA, and shipped them legally to Albania to be smuggled into Kosovo. The war ended in 1999, but Krasniqi warns that there could be another struggle — with arms provided by this Brooklyn roofer.

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The Camden 28
by Anthony Giacchino

How far would you go to stop a war? "The Camden 28" recalls a 1971 raid on a Camden, New Jersey draft board office by "Catholic Left" activists protesting the Vietnam War and its effects on urban America. Arrested on site in a clearly planned sting, the protesters included four Catholic priests, a Lutheran minister and 23 others. "The Camden 28" reveals the story behind the arrests — a provocative tale of government intrigue and personal betrayal — and the ensuing legal battle, which Supreme Court Justice William Brennan called "one of the great trials of the 20th century." Thirty-five years later, the participants take stock of their motives, fears and the costs of their activism — and its relevance to America today.

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The Chances of the World Changing
by Eric Daniel Metzgar and Nell Carden Grey

A decade ago, after an epiphany at a New York restaurant, Richard Ogust began dedicating his time and resources to rescuing endangered turtles, confiscating hundreds bound for Southeast Asian food markets. When the filmmakers catch up with the 50-year-old writer, he is sharing his Manhattan loft with 1,200 turtles, including five species extinct in the wild. But his growing "ark" and preservation efforts are threatening to exhaust him, both mentally and financially. With luminous images and a haunting musical score, "The Chances of the World Changing" documents two years in the life of a man who finds himself struggling to save hundreds of lives, including his own.

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CHISHOLM '72 - Unbought & Unbossed
by Shola Lynch

In 1968, Shirley Chisholm becomes the first black woman elected to Congress. In 1972, she becomes the first black woman to run for President. Shunned by the political establishment, she's supported by a motley crew of blacks, feminists, and young voters. Their campaign-trail adventures are frenzied, fierce, and fundamentally right on! After the 2004 elections, her story reminds all Americans that, in Chisholm's words, "the institutions of this country belong to all of the people who inhabit it." An Independent Television Service (ITVS) and National Black Programming Consortium (NBPC) co-presentation. "Rather than seeming dated, Chisholm's moxie and commitment is a refreshing antidote to the opportunism and cynicism that rules the political roost today ... It's not only a historical document but an inspiring tale of someone who made a difference." - James Greenberg, The Hollywood Reporter

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Discovering Dominga
by Patricia Flynn with Mary Jo McConahay

When 29-year-old Iowa housewife Denese Becker decides to return to the Guatemalan village where she was born, she begins a journey towards finding her roots, but one filled with harrowing revelations. Denese, born Dominga, was nine when she became her family's sole survivor of a massacre of Maya peasants. Two years later, she was adopted by an American family. In "Discovering Dominga," Denese's journey home is both a voyage of self-discovery and a political awakening, bearing searing testimony to a hemispheric tragedy and a shameful political crime. An Independent Television Service (ITVS) and Latino Public Broadcasting (LPB) co-presentation. An Active Voice Selection.

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The Education of Shelby Knox
by Marion Lipschutz and Rose Rosenblatt

What's it like to be a Christian teenage girl today? "The Education of Shelby Knox" profiles a young native of Lubbock, Texas, on the rocky road through high school. At 15, Shelby pledges celibacy until marriage, but because Lubbock has one of the highest teen pregnancy and STD rates in the state, she also spearheads a campaign for comprehensive sex education in the high schools, opposing the established "abstinence-only" curriculum. When the campaign broadens with a fight for a gay-straight alliance club in the high school, Shelby confronts her parents and her faith as she begins to understand how deeply personal beliefs can inform political action. A co-presentation with the Independent Television Service (ITVS).

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Escuela
by Hannah Weyer

A moving follow-up to P.O.V.'s "La Boda (The Wedding)," the saga of the Luis family continues as Liliana and Elizabeth, two of the Luis family daughters, try to make their way in 21st century America. For Liliana who begins her freshman year in high school, this means dealing with the harsh demands of work in the fields, constant travel and endlessly changing schools, classes and friends as she migrates with her farm-worker family between California, Texas and Mexico. For Elizabeth, a limited education and the struggle to secure citizenship for her husband combine to create an uncertain economic outlook. In this compassionate portrait, "Escuela" continues the story of one Mexican-American family's drive towards a better future.

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Every Mother's Son
by Tami Gold and Kelly Anderson

In the late 1990s, three victims of police brutality made headlines around the country: Amadou Diallo, the young West African man whose killing sparked intense public protest; Anthony Baez, killed in an illegal choke-hold, and Gary (Gidone) Busch, a Hasidic Jew shot and killed outside his Brooklyn home. "Every Mother's Son" profiles three New York mothers who unexpectedly find themselves united to seek justice and transform their grief into an opportunity for profound social change. An Independent Television Service (ITVS) co-presentation.

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