American Documentary

At the foot of the majestic snow-capped Sierras, Manzanar, the WWII concentration camp, becomes the confluence for memories of Payahuunadü, the now-parched “land of flowing water.” Intergenerational women from Native American, Japanese American and rancher communities form an unexpected alliance ...

Fueled by a desire to safeguard thousands of acres of pristine land near national parks, Tim DeChristopher outbid industry giants and disrupted a controversial oil and gas lease auction as bidder #70. Redefining patriotism for a new generation, Tim sparked ...

In Maniitsoq, Greenland, the US aluminum giant Alcoa Corporation has been planning to build a smelting plant for years. Pictured against immense, isolating landscapes, the people await their plant and with it, the nation's possible first steps towards economic renewal ...

One of only a handful of African American falconers in the country, Rodney Stotts is on a mission to build a bird sanctuary and provide access to nature for his stressed community. This is a story of second chances: for ...

A Navajo coal miner, Lawrence, struggles with his part in the irreversible destruction of their sacred mountain at the hands of America's largest coal producer. This deep spiritual sacrifice has caused him decades of emotional turmoil while providing for his ...

At the Arctic edge of America, Native Alaskan teenagers strive to be both modern American kids, and the inheritors of an ancient whaling culture, language and tradition. Children of the Arctic is a year-in-the-life portrait of Native youth coming of ...

Set among the beautiful hills and hollers of Appalachia, Oceana, West Virginia looks like a rural paradise. But this community is under siege: a raging epidemic of prescription drug abuse is so deadly that residents have nicknamed the town “OXYANA ...

Divide in Concord is an engaging tale about a contemporary debate: individual freedom vs. collective responsibility, and how this relates to American democracy. Driving the debate is a fiery 84-year-old grandmother, who presents a bylaw to ban the sale of ...

Passionate teenage innovators from around the globe create cutting-edge solutions to confront the world’s environmental threats—found right in their own backyards—while navigating the doubts and insecurities that mark adolescence. These inspiring teens prepare their projects for the ...

A multinational natural gas drilling company is believed to be responsible for the displacement of 60,000 people in an East Java village left submerged by a tsunami of mud. Fed up with the company's delayed cleanup, Dian, a politically ...

Dignity Harbor is a homeless encampment along the Mississippi River, just north of the St. Louis Arch - the residents say it is more than a shelter from the elements but a home and self-sustaining community. Meanwhile, winter approaches and the ...

In its 60th year of business, Washington D.C.’s Men’s Fashion Center represents identity, legacy and redemption for its salesmen and owner. But business has crawled to a halt in the face of a tough economy and changing ...

Musician & psychiatrist Clark Wang prepares for his own green burial while battling lymphoma, determined that his last act will be a gift to the planet. Boldly facing his mortality, Clark and his partner Jane have inspired a local cemeterian ...

Tina Garnanez, a Navajo veteran returning from duty with the U.S. Army, realizes that her home on the Navajo Reservation has become a battleground in a protracted war over nuclear proliferation. As she seeks to learn about her own ...

A feature documentary about a visionary and charismatic cattleman, Kirk Hanna. Through memories and intimate anecdotes, we learn about Hanna and his life from family members, colleagues and friends. Hanna Ranch was built in the 1940s by Kirk Hanna’s ...

In Narragansett, Rhode Island, Zachary was having the time of his life—surfing on the beach, enjoying bonfires with friends until the night he and best friend, Timmy, got into an accident. Zachary was rushed off to the hospital. Timmy ...

In Missouri, social innovator Marcin Jakubowski’s Global Village Construction Set provides free blueprints to fabricate everything needed for a self-sustaining village. In New Orleans, Nat Turner teaches kids how to work the land, but has limited resources and broken ...

During the recession, City of Trees follows three trainees and the director of a stimulus-funded green job-training program designed to put unemployed people back to work by planting trees in DC. The documentary provides an authentic look at one community's ...

Each September, the town of Chemult, Oregon is flooded with mushroom hunters. Many are immigrants from Laos, Cambodia and Thailand who entered the U.S. as refugees in the 1980s. Here, veterans Kouy Loch and Roger Higgins find more than ...