American Documentary

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Palawan is one of Asia's tourist hotspots. But for a small network of environmental crusaders struggling to protect its spectacular forests and seas, it is more akin to a battlefield. Delikado follows three land defenders as they try to stop ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 New Color- The Art of Being Edythe Boone focuses on the life and work of muralist, activist and educator, Edyth (Edy) Boone, a self-taught artist in the San Francisco Bay Area. Filmed over five years, filmmaker Marlene "Mo" Morris ...

For filmmaker Matthew Hashiguchi, growing up half Japanese/half Italian in a white Irish-Catholic neighborhood in Cleveland, Ohio, was a difficult experience. In Good Luck Soup, Hashiguchi sets out on a journey to discover how the rest of his multi-racial ...

Turkey Creek residents are descendants of former slaves who settled on the Gulf Coast in the 1860s. They have been stewards of the creek's rich wetland habitat for generations. Now, developers have set their sights on this prime real estate ...

70 Acres in Chicago: Cabrini Green explores the effects of the Plan for Transformation, an order requiring the demolition of Chicago's public housing high rises, and the building of mixed-income condominiums. Filmed over two decades, 70 Acres in Chicago illuminates ...

Bill Nye is a man on a mission: to stop the spread of anti-scientific thinking across the world. The former star of the popular kids' show "Bill Nye the Science Guy" is now advocating for the importance of science, research ...

Today, the Inupiaq Eskimo must navigate an uncertain future 80 miles above the Arctic Circle on a fragile barrier island disappearing due to climate change. Kivalina is a quiet but stirring portrait immersing viewers into the rarely seen lives of ...

On the barrier island of Sapelo off the coast of Georgia, two brothers, JerMarkest and Johnathan, are growing up in the last remaining enclave of the Saltwater Geechee people. Their greatest joy is exploring the island like their adoptive mother ...

Filmed in Kosrae, Micronesia, Island Soldier follows the Nena family as they grieve the loss of their son, Sapuro “Sapp” Nena. His death in Afghanistan makes waves through the community where nearly everyone is connected to the U.S. Military ...

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 ...