American Documentary, Inc. | Outreach . Film Library: Health & Aging

FILM LIBRARY: HEALTH & AGING

What happens if you fall sick and are one of 47 million people in America without health insurance? "Critical Condition" by Roger Weisberg ("Waging a Living," P.O.V. 2006) puts a human face on the nation's growing health care crisis by capturing the harrowing struggles of four critically ill Americans who discover that being uninsured can cost them their jobs, health, home, savings, even their lives. Filmed in vérité style, "Critical Condition" offers a moving and invaluable expose at a time when the nation is debating how to extend health insurance to all Americans. A production of Public Policy Productions in association with Thirteen/WNET New York and American Documentary | P.O.V.

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Borrow a DVD & Host a Screening | Buy the Film | Visit P.O.V. Film Website

Downloadable materials:
Discussion Guide | Further Reading List | Lesson Plan

The English Surgeon
by Geoffrey Smith

What is it like to have power over life and death, and yet to struggle with your own humanity? This is the story of acclaimed British neurosurgeon Henry Marsh, who has traveled to Ukraine for 15 years to treat patients who have been left to die; of his friend and medical colleague in Kyiv who carries on the fight despite official hostility and archaic surgical conditions; and of a young patient who hopes that Henry can save his life. Tense, heartbreaking and humorous, The English Surgeon is a remarkable depiction of one doctor's commitment to relieving suffering and of the emotional turmoil he undergoes in bringing hope to a desperate people. A BBC/ITVS International Production.

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Borrow a DVD & Host a Screening | Buy the Film | Visit P.O.V. Film Website

Downloadable materials:
Discussion Guide | Further Reading List | Lesson Plan

In the Family
by Joanna Rudnick

How much would you sacrifice to survive? When Chicago filmmaker Joanna Rudnick tested positive for the "breast cancer gene" at age 27, she knew the information could save her life. And she knew she was not only confronting mortality at an early age, but also was going to have to make heart-wrenching decisions about the life that lay ahead of her. Should she take the irreversible preventive step of having her breasts and ovaries removed or risk developing cancer? What would happen to her romantic life, her hopes for a family? "In the Family" documents Rudnick's efforts to reach out to other women while facing her deepest fears. A co-production of Joanna Rudnick, Kartemquin Films and Independent Television Service (ITVS).

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Borrow a DVD & Host a Screening | Buy the Film | Visit P.O.V. Film Website

Downloadable materials:
Discussion Guide | Further Reading List | Lesson Plan

Libby, Montana
by Drury Gunn Carr and Doug Hawes-Davis

Nestled below the rugged peaks of the Northern Rockies in Montana — as iconic a representation of America's "purple mountain majesties" as one can find — lies the worst case of community-wide exposure to a toxic substance in U.S. history. In the small town of Libby, many hundreds of people are sick or have already died from asbestos exposure. "Libby, Montana" takes a long working day's journey into a blue-collar community, and finds a different reality — one where the American Dream exacts a terrible price.

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Borrow a DVD & Host a Screening | Buy the Film | Visit P.O.V. Film Website

Downloadable materials:
Discussion Guide | Further Reading List | Lesson Plan

Life. Support. Music
by Eric Daniel Metzgar

A film still from 'Life. Support. Music'

In 2004, Jason Crigler's life was taking off. He was one of New York's hottest young guitarists, his new CD was due for release and his wife, Monica, was pregnant with their first child. Then, at a gig in Manhattan, Jason suffered a near-fatal brain hemorrhage. His doctors doubted he would ever emerge from his near-vegetative state. The astonishing journey that followed, documented by friend and filmmaker Eric Daniel Metzgar (The Chances of the World Changing, P.O.V. 2007), is a stirring family saga and a portrait of creative struggle in the face of overwhelming tragedy.

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Borrow a DVD & Host a Screening | Buy the Film | Visit P.O.V. Film Website

Downloadable materials:
Discussion Guide | Further Reading List | Lesson Plan

The Way We Get By
by Aron Gaudet

On call 24 hours a day for the past five years, a group of senior citizens has made history by greeting nearly 800,000 American troops at a tiny airport in Bangor, Maine. The Way We Get By is an intimate look at three of these greeters as they confront the universal losses that come with aging and rediscover their reason for living. Bill Knight, Jerry Mundy and Joan Gaudet find the strength to overcome their personal battles and transform their lives through service. This inspirational and surprising story shatters the stereotypes of today's senior citizens as the greeters redefine the meaning of community. A co-production of Dungby Productions and ITVS in association with WGBH and Maine Public Broadcasting Network (MPBN) with funding provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB).

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Borrow a DVD & Host a Screening | Buy the Film | Visit P.O.V. Film Website

Downloadable materials:
Discussion Guide | Further Reading List

This Way Up
by Georgi Lazarevski

This is a story about a wall — the separations it's meant to enforce, and the unintended ones it gives birth to. The security wall being constructed by Israel on the West Bank has divided Palestinian families and communities. It has also isolated the Catholic-run Our Lady of Sorrows nursing home outside of Jerusalem, leaving its feisty residents to face old age in the throes of one of the world's most bitter conflicts. With beautiful imagery, moments of laughter and use of a quietly eccentric older guide, This Way Up examines the social, economic and religious barriers that arise from physical ones.

Work with this film:
Borrow a DVD & Host a Screening | Visit P.O.V. Film Website

Downloadable materials:
Discussion Guide | Further Reading List | Lesson Plan

FILMS FROM THE ARCHIVE

Films that are currently unavailable in our free lending library but that we recommend for group and classroom screenings.

Freedom Machines
by Jamie Stobie and Janet Cole

"Freedom Machines" takes a new look at disability through the lens of assistive technology. The experiences of a group of unforgettable people let us re-examine ideas about ability and disability grounded in our culture and attitudes. Engineers, designers and users challenge barriers inherent in our built environments, and reveal the gap between the promises of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act and everyday reality for 54 million Americans with disabilities. Whether mainstream technology or extraordinary inventions such as stair-climbing wheelchairs, "Freedom Machines" reveals both the power and limitations of technology to change lives. An Independent Television Service (ITVS) co-presentation.