Films tagged "American Studies"

The 99%: Occupy Everywhere

Narrated by Lou Reed, this film documents how private money in politics has undermined democracy and transferred income from 99% of Americans to multinational corporations and the wealthy.

American Arab

Iraqi-American filmmaker Usama Alshaibi shares his own story of experiencing racism in post-9/11 America and sparks a frank conversation about identity and perception, arguing for giving people "the space to be complicated." 

American Farm

In this moving portrait of a vanishing way of life, a heartland family struggles to hold onto a small dairy farm.​

Beyond the Wall

Beyond the Wall offers a stirring portrait of life after prison, as it follows formerly incarcerated men who are attempting to rebuild their lives on the outside, with little support from our criminal justice system.

​Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin

This award-winning documentary illuminates the life and work of Bayard Rustin, who has been described as "the unknown hero" of the civil rights movement.

City of Trees

Since 1990, nonprofit Washington Parks & People has tried to reduce poverty and violence in Washington, D.C. neighborhoods by improving parks. At the height of the recession, the organization received a stimulus grant to create a "green" job-training program in communities hardest hit.

Delay, Deny, Hope You Die

Thousands of American soldiers returned from the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan with severe illnesses. They are not the victims of ruthless enemy warfare, but of decisions made by their own military commanders.​

General Orders No. 9

Awarded for its visionary cinematography, GENERAL ORDERS No. 9 breaks from the constraints of the documentary form as it contemplates the signs of loss and change in the American South.

Grounded

The high-flying story of Pittsburgh brothers Jimmy and Terry Dougherty, who became marijuana smugglers in the 1970's.

Home Page

Filmed in 1996, Home Page follows pioneering personal blogger Justin Hall over the course of a pivotal, transformational year in his life and in the early life of the internet.

Inside Buffalo

They were called "Buffalo Soldiers." These men fought two wars at the same time, one against the Nazis, the other against racial discrimination. Those who survived found that their contributions went unnoticed upon their return to United Stated of America.

The Last Laugh

World famous comedians including Mel Brooks, Sarah Silverman, and Gilbert Gottfried pitch in with their own views on the boundaries of comedy.

Look Away, Look Away

After an avowed racist murders nine black churchgoers in South Carolina, battle lines are drawn in Mississippi to determine the fate of the state flag with the most powerful and divisive symbol of the Confederacy.

Mossville: When Great Trees Fall

Founded by former slaves, Mossville, Louisiana was a thriving haven for African Americans until petrochemical plants began poisoning residents and forcing them off their land. One man refuses to abandon his family’s home.

One October

Filmed on the eve of Obama's historic 2008 election and an unprecedented economic crisis, this portrait of NYC follows a reporter as he talks to fellow New Yorkers about their lives, their dreams, and their relationship with a transforming city.

Saving Brinton

When a small-town collector discovers the showreels of the man who brought moving pictures to the Heartland, he begins a journey to restore the legacy of America’s greatest barnstorming movieman and save these cinematic treasures from turning to dust.

Sickies Making Films

A love letter to film history that looks at our urge to censor movies. Focusing on the Maryland Board of Censors, the nation's longest lasting censor board, we discover reasons both absurd and surprisingly understandable.

The Long Shadow

From New Orleans to Virginia, Mississippi and Canada, two filmmakers travel the roads of oppression, suppression, and even hope to reveal the connections of slavery and strong-arm Southern politics to the current racial strife in America.

United We Fan

Intertwining the extraordinary stories of television fan activists and sprinkling in a selection of similarly inspiring crusades, United We Fan goes beyond the headlines to give viewers deeper insights into fandom, identity, and community.​

A Year in the Blue

A Year in the Blue portrays the life inside the Academy - the heartbreaks and triumphs of balancing military training, a rigorous four-year college education, mandatory athletics, and more.

After the American Dream

Take the voyage across rivers, deserts and borders into the United States. This film is as humanizing as it is shocking, with never-before-seen footage that provides an unvarnished examination of human migration.

Anthem: An American Road Story

A captivating, cross-country adventure brought to life by two young women who take the road to explore and expose the American Dream. 

Big Charity

This documentary film includes never-before-seen footage and exclusive interviews to tell the story of Charity Hospital, from its roots to its controversial closing in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Burn

BURN is an action-packed, award-winning film exploring human struggles, hope and personal courage in the face of overwhelming odds.

Country School: One Room. One Nation.

Country School: One Room. One Nation examines the history, transformation and rebirth of the one room American school.

Fear of a Black Republican

Follow a non-partisan journey over four years and two Presidential Elections exploring why there are so few Black Republicans and what that means for the future of the Two-Party Political System.​

George Tice: Seeing Beyond the Moment

​ Long recognized for his deeply penetrating photographic record of America, George Tice shares his life and work spanning six decades and eighteen books projects.

Heist: Who Stole the American Dream?

This compelling documentary traces the worldwide economic collapse to a 1971 secret memo entitled Attack on American Free Enterprise System.

Ice Eagles

Aviation in Antarctica is the most challenging and dangerous flying short of combat. This is the story of Americans who dared to do it.

Island Soldier

A documentary that interweaves the personal stories of Micronesian soldiers serving in the US military at high rates per capita, and the experiences of their families back home in the islands.

Life After Life

After decades behind bars, three men set out to prove success can lie on the other side of tragedy.

Lost Nation: The Ioway

Lost Nation: The Ioway guides viewers on a dramatic and unforgettable journey into America's Native past and present.

The Most Dangerous Year

As a dark wave of anti-transgender bathroom bills began sweeping across the nation, The Human Rights Campaign called 2016 the most dangerous year for transgender Americans.

Pennhurst

A story of segregation, abandonment, and the meaning of home as told by the people that lived in, worked at, and crusaded for one of the largest and oldest Intellectual and Developmental Disability Institutions in the United States.

Saving Jamaica Bay

The story of how one community fought government inaction and overcame Hurricane Sandy to clean up and restore the largest open space in New York City, which had become a dumping ground for garbage, sewage and bullet-riddled mobsters. ​

Starving the Beast

The story of a little known and misunderstood ideological fight, the outcome of which will change the future of public higher education. The film vividly illustrates these issues in unfolding dramas at six public research universities.

The Politics of Hate

The inspiring the story of a former white supremacist leader who now combats hate. This insightful and expansive film highlights a historical pattern of people working for a more inclusive and equal society and a better future.

Women of '69, Unboxed

Women who were both electrified and pummeled by the turbulent surf of the 1960s look back and ahead as they turn 65. They ruminate on their heartaches and triumphs and evaluate the "dowry" they'll leave for future generations.

Above All Else

An intimate portrait of a group of landowners and activists in East Texas who tried to stop construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, a $7 billion dollar project slated to carry tar sands oil from Canada to refineries on the Texas Gulf Coast.

After Auschwitz

Hoping to find a sense of normalcy, six female Holocaust survivors immigrate to America, get married and raise children.

Between the Shades

Fifty conversations exploring the many different shades of being “gay” in America.  ​

Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story

Loved by his friends, hated by his enemies, Lee Atwater wrote the GOP playbook. Witness Atwater mentoring Karl Rove and helping Reagan and the Bush family win with controversial, racially charged tactics.

Carb-Loaded

Carb-Loaded traces the origins of common beliefs about (un)healthy eating through guidance from worldwide experts who offer short and long term solutions and challenge the status quo. ​

Decade of Fire

​Bronx-born Vivian Vazquez exposes the truth about how her neighborhood was destroyed by fires and neglect in the 1970s, and reveals how her maligned community chose to resist, remain and rebuild.

Food Stamped

​Food Stamped is an informative and humorous documentary film following a couple as they attempt to eat a healthy, well-balanced diet on a food stamp budget.

Going Attractions: The Definitive Story of the American Drive-In Movie

In light of the recent resurgence of drive-in theaters, GOING ATTRACTIONS studies the factors that affected the drive-in’s dramatic rise, decline and rebirth, and examining how American culture and family have evolved in the last 60 years.

Home Front

HOME FRONT gives a face and voice to wounded soldiers and their families, told intimately through the Feldbusch family of western Pennsylvania, and their wounded son, Jeremy.

Intelligent Lives

Young adults who have intellectual disabilities challenge perceptions of intelligence while navigating high school, college and the workforce.

Kathy Griffin: A Hell of a Story

On May 30, 2017 an image of Griffin holding a mask that resembled the severed head of President Trump was released – the image went global and everything she had worked for in her life, vanished overnight.

Little Miss Westie

Little Miss Westie chronicles a year in the life of two transgender siblings as they navigate puberty, a local beauty pageant, and transitioning in the Trump era.

Mississippi Son

An award-winning documentary film that tells the heart wrenching and heartwarming stories of the people, the culture and the future in the wake of hurricane Katrina. 

Olompali: A Hippie Odyssey

The story of an ordinary man caught up in extraordinary times, whose life is forever changed by the social upheaval going on around him.

Ruthie and Connie

Set in working class Jewish Brooklyn — RUTHIE AND CONNIE follows two very funny, if rather traditional housewives. Like many young women in the 1950s, they got married. Then, like many young women in the 1970s, they got divorced.​

Semper Fi: Always Faithful

Follow Jerry Ensminger’s mission to expose the Marine Corps, as his fight reveals a grave injustice at North Carolina’s Camp Lejeune and a looming environmental crisis at military sites across the country.

Stock Shock

This documentary reveals the down and dirty schemes behind the glitter of Wall Street. Follow the wild ups and downs of the American stock market through the eyes of stunned Sirius XM investors.

Too Hot for Burn

​Watch the Detroit Fire Department at work, and see through their eyes the incredible fire load these firefighters face every day in one of the toughest cities in America.

Working Man

When the last factory in a small Rust Belt town closes, an unlikely hero emerges. Against the advice of his wife (Shire), a career employee (Gerety) forms a friendship with his neighbor in order to revive the defunct factory.