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Independent Lens is broadcast on most PBS stations on Tuesdays at 10:00 p.m.
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THE AMASONG CHORUS: Singing Out
THE AMASONG CHORUS: Singing Out
by Jay Rosenstein
Co-presented by WILL-TV, Urbana IL
June 15, 2004

When lesbian music student Kristina Boerger moved to a small Illinois college town, she didn’t find a ready-made community. So she created one with what she loved best: choral singing. Assembling a ragtag group of volunteers, she created the area’s first lesbian choir. Showing the choir’s evolution into a nationally accepted and recognized award-winning ensemble, THE AMASONG CHORUS documents how the spirit and dedication of one person can help transform a community.

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A middle-aged  man with a beard faces the camera with his hands joined together and his fingers pointing out. A paper sculpture is in the foreground.
BETWEEN THE FOLDS
December 8, 2009

Think origami is just paper planes and cranes? Meet a determined group of theoretical scientists and fine artists who have abandoned careers and scoffed at hard-earned graduate degrees to forge new lives as modern-day paper folders. Together they reinterpret the world in paper, creating a wild mix of sensibilities towards art, science, creativity and meaning.

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Billy Strayhorn sits at the piano
BILLY STRAYHORN: Lush Life
by Robert Levi
February 6, 2007

As Duke Ellington's co-composer, arranger, and right-hand man, Billy Strayhorn wrote some of the greatest American music of the 20th century. But as a gay man in the '40s and '50s, Strayhorn had to lead a discreet existence, while Ellington played to thunderous applause on center stage. BILLY STRAYHORN: Lush Life tells the story of the unheralded man who changed jazz and popular music forever, maintaining artistic and personal integrity, while challenging prejudice along the way.

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BIRD BY BIRD WITH ANNIE
BIRD BY BIRD WITH ANNIE
by Freida Lee Mock
Co-presented by the Center for Asian American Media
April 22, 2003

She's a best-selling author with dreadlocks. A single mother and "sober alcoholic" who is both a born-again Christian and a liberal activist. Anne Lamott shares her own moving story of a survivor and iconoclast, offering wise and funny insights into everything from loss and faith to retail therapy and gorillas.

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Actors playing Zora Neale Hurston and Bruce Nugent in period costume
BROTHER TO BROTHER
by Rodney Evans
Co-presentation with the National Black Programming Consortium
June 14, 2005

After being rejected by his family, Perry (Anthony Mackie), a struggling young artist, befriends an elderly stranger—Bruce Nugent (Roger Robinson), the black gay writer who co-founded the revolutionary journal Fire!! Through Nugent’s memories, Perry discovers the legacies of the gay and lesbian subcultures within the Harlem Renaissance.

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painting of a cat looking over a hill at a pond with a fish in it and a flower growing out of it
THE CATS OF MIRIKITANI
by Linda Hattendorf and Masahiro Yoshikawa
May 8, 2007

Eighty-year-old Jimmy Mirikitani survived the trauma of internment camps, Hiroshima and homelessness by creating art. But when 9/11 threatens his life on the New York City streets and a local filmmaker brings him to her home, the two embark on a journey to confront Jimmy's painful past. THE CATS OF MIRIKITANI is an intimate exploration of the lingering wounds of war and the healing powers of friendship and art. Produced in association with ITVS and CAAM.

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An archival photo of the Chavez Ravine neighborhood overlooking the freeway
CHAVEZ RAVINE
by Jordan Mechner, Don Normark, Andrew Andersen and Mark Moran
June 7, 2005

Narrated by Cheech Marin and scored by Ry Cooder, CHAVEZ RAVINE captures how a community was betrayed by greed, political hypocrisy and good intentions gone astray. Don Normark’s haunting photographs bring back to life a Mexican American village—razed in the 1950s to build Dodger Stadium—in the heart of downtown Los Angeles.

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An archival photo of the COMPAÑERAS neighborhood overlooking the freeway
COMPAÑERAS
by Elizabeth Massie and Matthew Buzzell
April 1, 2008

COMPAÑERAS profiles America's first all-female mariachi band, Mariachi Reyna de Los Angeles. Founded in 1994, the 12 members of Reyna shatter age-old stereotypes while expanding the popularity of mariachi music. In a culture and a musical tradition that has always been male-dominated, these women are true pioneers, literally giving voice to Latinas.

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THE COOL SCHOOL
THE COOL SCHOOL
by Morgan Neville
June 10, 2008

For a decade—1956 to 1966—the Ferus Gallery was the catalyst of a nascent modern art scene, grooming idealistic beatniks into competitive, often-brilliant artists. It also helped to solidify the careers of many of New York's shining stars including: Lichtenstein, Warhol and Johns. What was lost and gained is a complex web of egos, passions, money and art.

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Photo of a youngish man with large frizzy hair and a mustache, standing with his head turned in profile; an illustration of lungs, heart and kidneys and a dotted line connecting them is superimposed over his body.
D TOUR
by Jim Granato
November 20, 2007

Pat Spurgeon has big dreams to make it as an indie rock musician. Just as his career is about to take off, he suffers an incredible setback when one of his kidneys begins to fail. Follow Pat on his emotional search for a living organ donor. But can he balance his health with a rock 'n’ roll lifestyle?

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A black and white photo of a man wearing a suit, sitting in an easy chair holding a closed book to his forehead and looking off into space
DOC
by Immy Humes
December 9, 2008

A biography of literary figure Harold Louis "Doc" Humes by his daughter, DOC tells the story of a life crammed full of ideas about politics, literature and protest. Exploring Doc's paranoia and mental illness, this homemade, improvisational piece sheds light on an original mind as well as the cultural history of postwar America.

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The stuntwoman double for Wonder Woman stands next to the “real” actress
DOUBLE DARE
by Amanda Micheli
May 31, 2005

As Hollywood stuntwomen for Wonder Woman and Xena: Warrior Princess, Jeannie Epper and Zoë Bell have been set on fire, thrown off buildings, dragged by wild horses and hit by cars. Who are the real women behind these two television icons? DOUBLE DARE follows their daily struggles to stay employed, stay thin and stay sane in this notoriously macho profession.

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DOUBLE EXPOSURE
DOUBLE EXPOSURE
by Kit-Yin Snyder
May 4, 2004

An artist and self-proclaimed “old Chinese lady” sets out to explore her own identity and prove that it’s never too late to take a risk by making her first film in her 60s. The result? An experimental program that expresses her roots in two countries through self-effacing humor, double-exposed images and an immigrant’s long look back at her native China.

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downsideup
DOWNSIDE UP
by Nancy Kelly
Co-presented by WMHT/Schenectady
February 25, 2003

How does a dying working class town end up betting its future on art? With 80 percent of its downtown buildings closed, North Adams, Massachusetts united blue-collar locals with art world luminaries to transform economic failure into America's largest center for contemporary art, MASS MoCA. A film by North Adams native Nancy Kelly, DOWNSIDE UP is about the tentative, dangerous notion of hope in a city widely viewed as hopeless.

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An archival photo of Johnny Ramone sitting in the back of a car peering at the camera
END OF THE CENTURY: The Ramones
by Jim Fields and Michael Gramaglia
April 26, 2005

In 1974, a new sound hit New York City’s underground music scene: a band of misfits called The Ramones. Follow this quartet of unlikely rock stars, known as the progenitors of punk, through more than two decades of touring, recording and bickering—from their shared childhood in Queens to their 2002 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

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EROICA!
EROICA!
by Alan Miller
December 9, 2003

Three young and sexy musicians are changing the face of classical music. One of the first all-female chamber ensembles to reach the top echelons of their field, the Eroica Trio is helping to break an age-old gender barrier. The film follows the group and the composer of their latest work as they scramble to finish preparations for the debut while balancing their busy lives as spouses and parents.

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EVERY CHILD IS BORN A POET: The Life and Work of Piri Thomas
EVERY CHILD IS BORN A POET: The Life and Work of
Piri Thomas

by Jonathan Robinson
Co-presented by Latino Public Broadcasting
April 6, 2004

In his life and his work, acclaimed Afro-Cuban-Puerto Rican poet Piri Thomas has used creative expression as a means to confront and overcome poverty, racism, violence and isolation. Author of the acclaimed autobiographical novel Down These Mean Streets, Thomas, through poetry, stories and performances, chronicles his journey from Spanish Harlem to prison to life as an author, educator and activist.

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A woman stands on a stage with her hands on her hips, wearing a brown head wrap and an animal print strapless dress
GREY GARDENS: From East Hampton to Broadway
by Kelly and Lou Gonda with Albert Maysles
December 23, 2008

The 1975 Maysles brothers cult classic Grey Gardens told the story of the eccentric and often humorous mother-daughter relationship between Edith Beale and her daughter Edie—aunt and cousin to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. GREY GARDENS: From East Hampton to Broadway looks at how their lives set the stage for the Maysles film and later the Broadway musical, both of which have impacted the art, entertainment and fashion communities.

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HANSEL MIETH
HANSEL MIETH: Vagabond Photographer
by Nancy Schiesari
May 27, 2003

Her Depression-era pictures stunned 1930s audiences with their beauty, intimacy and unflinching visions of the poor, the unlucky and the oppressed. HANSEL MIETH traces the journey of one of America's great photographers from provincial Germany to the pages of Life magazine, where she set the standard for socially concerned artists.

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An elderly  man and woman sit together at a small kitchen table with a colorful abstract painting on the wall behind them.
HERB & DOROTHY
by Megumi Sasaki
October 13, 2009

He was a postal clerk. She was a librarian. With modest means, this couple managed to build one of the most important modern art collections in history. Meet Herbert and Dorothy Vogel, whose shared passion and commitment defied stereotypes and redefined what it means to be an art collector.

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HELVETICA
HELVETICA
December 16, 2008

You can't escape if you try—it's on your computer, the subway, U.S. mailboxes, IRS tax forms, and spells out countless corporate logos from Target to Fendi. No doubt, Helvetica is the king of fonts. But why? To find the answer, first-time Director Gary Hustwit meets with historians and designers whose passion for typefaces run high, and discovers the secrets behind the fonts we use and read every day.

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Man with a green hat speaks strongly looking away from the camera
HIP HOP: Beyond Beats and Rhymes
by Byron Hurt
February 20, 2007

HIP-HOP: Beyond Beats and Rhymes takes an in-depth look at machismo in rap music and hip-hop culture—where creative genius, poetic beauty and mad beats collide with misogyny, violence and homophobia. Produced in association with ITVS and NPBC.

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JIMMY SCOTT: If You Only Knew
JIMMY SCOTT: If You Only Knew
by Matthew Buzzell and Brian Gerber
February 24, 2004

Jazz balladeer Jimmy Scott informs his art with lessons learned from 78 hard-lived years of failure and redemption. Through international concert footage, portraiture and intimate interviews, this oft-sidelined jazz immortal, whose soft sensuality and impossibly high voice are legendary, recounts his stranger-than-fiction odyssey through poverty and obscurity to worldwide recognition as one of the most distinctive and revered vocalists of our time.

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Joe Strummer playing the guitar
JOE STRUMMER ROCKS AGAIN
by Dick Rude
April 26, 2005

King rocker and legendary front man of the Clash Joe Strummer is hot on the comeback trail, touring America and Japan via concert footage and interviews before his untimely death in 2002.

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An archival photo of Milt Hinton and friend
KEEPING TIME: Milt Hinton
by David Berger and Holly Maxson
April 12, 2005

Legendary jazz bassist Milt Hinton (1910–2000) was also a skilled photographer and storyteller. Using archival footage, hundreds of photographs and interviews with Hinton and fellow musicians such as Branford Marsalis and Quincy Jones, KEEPING TIME is an insider’s view of jazz and life in 20th-century America.

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A sepia-toned photograph of a woman wearing a V-necked sleeveless dress with her eyes closed and her hands in her short, curly hair
LA LUPE QUEEN OF LATIN SOUL
by Ela Troyano
June 5, 2007

Legendary Afro-Cuban pop singer Lupe Victoria Yoli, was crowned "The Queen of Latin Soul" by New York's Latin music scene in the 1960s. Renowned for her emotional performances, La Lupe remains the quintessential bad girl, dying tragically, virtually unknown in 1992. Shot in Cuba, Puerto Rico and the U.S., LA LUPE tells her story through interviews and rare archival footage from the groundbreaking musical era. Produced in assocation with ITVS and LPB.

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A male bowler wearing a polo shirt gives a “victory” gesture: fist clenched elbow bent, saying “yes!”
A LEAGUE OF ORDINARY GENTLEMEN
by Bill Bryan, Alex Browne and Chris Browne
April 26, 2006

Tracing the history of professional bowling in America, from its glory days in the 1950s to its near extinction by the late 1990s, A LEAGUE OF ORDINARY GENTLEMEN follows four pro bowlers as Professional Bowlers Association CEO Steve Miller sets out to modernize the sport.

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A South African musician singing and playing guitar
A LION'S TRAIL
by Francois Verster, Dan Jawitz and Mark J. Kaplan
April 5, 2005

How was an illiterate Zulu musician responsible for one of America’s most popular songs? Although Solomon Linda’s “Mbube” provided the melody for the pop classic “The Lion Sleeps Tonight,” Linda never received a penny for his efforts. Traveling between South Africa and America, A LION’S TRAIL celebrates the song’s timeless power while revealing injustices within the international recording industry.

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LIVERMORE
LIVERMORE
by Rachel Raney and David Murray
November 25, 2003

Part history, part mystery, part comedy, LIVERMORE is an offbeat look at one eccentric California town. Meet a memorable cast of local armchair historians who describe some of Livermore's legends—a super-natural light bulb, a cursed totem pole, a scandalous book of photographs and the ominous nuclear lab. In an age of sprawl and coast-to-coast homogenization, LIVERMORE is a celebration of old-fashioned civic pride.

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LOADED GUN: Life, and Death, and Dickinson
LOADED GUN: Life, and Death, and Dickinson
by Jim Wolpaw and Steve Gentile
Co-presentation with WGBH/Boston, MA
December 16, 2003

A frustrated filmmaker who is captivated by Emily Dickinson’s poetry searches for “flashes of insight” beyond those offered by experts such as actress Julie Harris and U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins. He turns to shrinks, a stand-up comic, a rock band and dozens of actresses who recite poems and improvise Dickinsonian answers to questions about God, death and love—resulting in a playful rethinking of the elusive belle of Amherst.

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TA young man with long hair parted in the middle, moustache and goatee wears an open collar striped shirt, and looks directly into the camera with little expression on his face
THE LOSS OF NAMELESS THINGS
by Bill Rose
February 28, 2006

In 1978, Oakley Hall was a promising playwright on the verge of national recognition when a mysterious fall violently transformed his life. THE LOSS OF NAMELESS THINGS is the haunting story of a young man's decline, the vibrant artists who surrounded him and what happens when—decades later—a theater company discovers the very play he was writing the night he fell.

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MAKE ’EM DANCE: The Hackberry Ramblers’ Story
MAKE ’EM DANCE: The Hackberry Ramblers’ Story
by John Whitehead and Ben Sandmel
Co-presented by WYES/New Orleans
January 13, 2004

Since 1933, The Hackberry Ramblers have played an infectious, toe-tapping blend of Cajun music and Western swing. Part biography, part road movie, this documentary captures the poignant and funny exploits of these “agin’ ragin’ Cajuns,” from a Bayou crawfish boil to MTV to their first appearance at the Grand Ole Opry.

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Two twin girls pose in ballet costumes and tutus in an old black-and-white studio portrait.
MIRROR DANCE
by Frances McElroy and Maria T. Rodriguez
Co-presentation with Latino Public Broadcasting
November 15, 2005

Identical twins Margarita and Ramona de Saá were acclaimed ballerinas with the National Ballet of Cuba. Once inseparable, their relationship disintegrated as one sister left for America while the other embraced the Cuban Revolution. MIRROR DANCE is the story of two women forever linked by birth and dance, struggling to overcome rifts not only between sisters, but also between nations.

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A Navajo woman stands in front of a rock formation dressed in a royal blue velvet dress with a turquoise necklace and moccasins
MISS NAVAJO
by Billy Luther
November 13, 2007

For more than 50 years, the Miss Navajo Nation beauty pageant has given its contestants opportunities to showcase not only their beauty but also their skills in dance, music and sheep slaughtering. Following contestants in their quest for the crown, and featuring personal stories of recent winners, MISS NAVAJO is a celebration of womanhood.

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Two twin girls pose in ballet costumes and tutus in an old black-and-white studio portrait.
MUSIC FROM THE INSIDE OUT
by Daniel Anker
May 2, 2006

The intersection of art and life are at the core of MUSIC FROM THE INSIDE OUT, a musical journey featuring the 105 musicians of The Philadelphia Orchestra. The film focuses on the mystery and magic of music itself, creating a mosaic of the stories, ideas and experiences that form the heart of these musicians’ lives inside and outside the concert hall.

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A middle-aged heavy-set Caucasian woman sits on a couch holding a large tiara, smiling; a deer head is mounted on the wall to her right
MUSKRAT LOVELY
by Amy Nicholson
October 31, 2006

Every year, the residents of Dorchester County, Maryland look forward to the biggest weekend of the year: The National Outdoor Show. On the same stage as the muskrat-skinning contest, high school girls compete to win the title of queen of the show. This portrait of a close-knit Chesapeake Bay community traces the events leading up to the 50th crowning of Miss Outdoors.

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NA KAMALEI: The Men of Hula
NA KAMALEI: The Men of Hula
by Lisette Marie Flanary
May 6, 2008

Following legendary teacher Robert Cazimero and the only all-male hula school in Hawaii, NA KAMALEI: The Men of Hula goes beyond deep-rooted stereotypes of "grass skirt girls" and reveals a story of Hawaiian pride through the exploration of male roles in the hula tradition—past and present.

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Black and white photo of two  men with short beards; one is taller and more heavy-set and wears dark sunglasses; the other wears a baseball cap. Both are looking at and putting their hands on something off camera. Behind them is a building with a porch.
NO SUBTITLES NECESSARY: Laszlo & Vilmos
by James Chressanthis
November 17, 2009

They took Hollywood by storm—escaping the brutal Soviet oppression of the Hungarian Revolution and rising to fame with classic films like Easy Rider, Deliverance, Close Encounters of the Third Kind and The Deer Hunter. Cinematographers Laszlo Kovacs and Vilmos Zsigmond pioneered the “American New Wave,” defining innovative ways to tell stories. This is an intimate portrait of the 50-year journey of two giants of modern image making and their deep bond of brotherhood that transcended every imaginable boundary.

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A balding man in plain gray T-shirt sits at a desk and holds a computer keyboard up, as if showing it to the camera.
OBJECTIFIED
by Gary Hustwit
November 24, 2009

How does the design of your cell phone, toothbrush or couch impact your life? Did you ever stop to think about it? Director Gary Hustwit (HELVETICA) looks at our complex relationship with manufactured objects, the people who design them and the creative process behind their work. Step inside the offices of the world’s most influential product designers to see how these objects influence us—oftentimes without us even knowing it.

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OFF THE CHARTS
OFF THE CHARTS: The Song-Poem Story
by Jamie Meltzer
February 11, 2003

You write a poem—they'll make a song out of it. Welcome to the little known underworld of the song-poem, where make-your-own record companies churn out some of America's strangest music, transforming amateurs' heartfelt and often bizarre words into professionally-produced recordings.

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OFF THE MAP
OFF THE MAP
An Electric Shadows / ITVS Interactive Project

Using multimedia tours to look into backyard paradises created by visionary artists around the world, OFF THE MAP uses the Web to explore an astounding phenomenon--the drive for untrained artists to permanently transform their environment by creating monumental art.

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ON THIS ISLAND
ON THIS ISLAND
by Stephanie Slewka
February 18, 2003

On an isolated Maine island of 350 people, a clash over arts education spins out of control into vandalism and death threats, tearing apart friends and neighbors. John Wulp, a former Broadway producer who retired to the island, creates an original musical about the island's life, attempting to heal the community's wounds through songs about lobstering, loneliness and the beauty of the sea. Narrated by Sigourney Weaver and featuring performances by three generations of islanders.

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ONE NIGHT AT THE GRAND STAR
ONE NIGHT AT THE GRAND STAR
by Natasha Uppal
May 4, 2004

In Los Angeles, there’s only one place where you can celebrate the synchronicity of an old-school Chinatown establishment, classic jazz, DJ culture and the underground dance scene: the Grand Star. Find out how this restaurant became one of the city’s liveliest and most intergenerational and culturally integrated neighborhood nightclubs.

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Liev Schreiber and Muthana Mohmed stand next to each other, smiling into the camera
OPERATION FILMMAKER
by Nina Davenport
December 30, 2008

In this surprising allegory of America's involvement in Iraq, an Iraqi film student, Muthana Mohmed—whose school was destroyed by American bombs—lands a dream job working on a Hollywood movie in the West. On set, idealistic expectations and cultural misunderstandings collide launching Muthana on a journey more complicated than either he or his American benefactors ever anticipated.

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George Clinton of Parliament Funkadelic smiling for the camera with a head full of long, multi-colored dreadlocks.
PARLIAMENT FUNKADELIC: One Nation Under a Groove
by Yvonne Smith
Co-presentation with the National Black Programming Consortium
October 11, 2005

George Clinton: mastermind behind the band Parliament Funkadelic. Find out how he expressed the cultural alienation of young African Americans, creating an alternate universe of “aliens” who brought the redemptive power of funk to a world sorely in need of a new point of view.

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THE POLITICAL DR. SEUSS
THE POLITICAL DR. SEUSS
by Ron Lamothe
October 26, 2004

Most Americans don’t know that Dr. Seuss (1904-1991) drew editorial cartoons for a left-wing New York newspaper during World War II. How many of his readers know that Yertle the Turtle was modeled on Hitler, or that Horton Hears a Who! is a parable about postwar Japan? This film explores a little-known side of Dr. Seuss and his works.

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POLKA TIME
POLKA TIME
by Lisa Blackstone
November 9, 2004

Each July for more than 30 years, polka lovers from around the United States have descended on the tiny rural town of Gibbon, Minnesota for the Gibbon Polka Fest. Meet numerous “polka people” and performers as they demonstrate their love and hope for the future of polka through dance, music, personal stories and observations.

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An old drawing of a racist caricature of a black boy with large, cartoon-sized red lips, white hands and red shorts.
RACE IS THE PLACE
by Rick Tejada-Flores and Ray Telles
Co-presentation with the National Minority Consortia and KERA/Dallas
November 22, 2005

How do American artists address our nation's most pressing social issue? Using spoken, sung and chanted word, African American, Latino, Asian American, Pacific Islander and Native American afuthors, performance artists, poets and singers explore the pain, frustration and humor of racism in America.

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Moody blue-grey photo shows the silhouette of a man facing the ocean: storm clouds fill the sky and a band of light on the horizon separates the clouds from the dark sea
REVOLUCION: Five Visions
by Nicole Cattell
December 19, 2006

REVOLUCION tells the story of five Cuban photographers whose lives and work span more than four decades and whose perspectives on photography are as varied as their opinions about the Cuban Revolution. From Epic-era photographers whose lens portrayed the heroic masses to more contemporary photographers who seek to portray individual truths, their stories discover the power of art to liberate.

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1970s photo of author John Fante, a Caucasian man sitting at a typewriter, yellow curtains behind him
A SAD FLOWER IN THE SAND
by Jan Louter
December 12, 2006

In his preface to John Fante’s 1939 novel, Ask the Dust, Charles Bukowski wrote, “...that book was a wild and enormous miracle to me.” Based on the 1939 masterpiece, the documentary A SAD FLOWER IN THE SAND illustrates Fante’s deep-rooted love of the city of Los Angeles—a film about a dream and a city of dreamers.

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Animation still shows a small white dog with a brown head, lying on the front stairs of a gray building
STILL LIFE WITH ANIMATED DOGS
by Paul Fierlinger
October 24, 2006

This autobiographical Peabody Award-winning film traces Paul Fierlinger’s tumultuous life from Stalinist Czechoslovakia to the U.S., as seen through his relationships with his dogs. Sustained by loyalty and caring for these animals—even in an atmosphere of oppression and suspicion—each dog serves as a marker of its master's personal growth, from a misanthrope to an artist who appreciates the divine powers of nature.

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STOLEN
STOLEN
by Rebecca Dreyfus and Susannah Ludwig
March 20, 2007

In 1990, two thieves dressed as police officers gained entrance to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, successfully executing the largest art heist in modern history. Among the 13 priceless works lifted was Vermeer's The Concert, thought to be the world's most valuable stolen painting. STOLEN thoroughly explores the theft and the fascinating, disparate characters involved.

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STRANGE FRUIT
STRANGE FRUIT
by Joel Katz
April 8, 2003

Radio stations banned it, but when Billie Holiday sang "Strange Fruit" the whole world listened anyway. Drawing on courage, genius and luck, a little-known Jewish songwriter and African American icon created the song that not only altered the course of their own lives but changed America forever.

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SUMO EAST AND WEST
SUMO EAST AND WEST
by Ferne Pearlstein and Robert Edwards
Co-presented by the Center for Asian American Media
and Pacific Islanders in Communications
June 8, 2004

In recent years, the ancient art of sumo has witnessed the rise of an increasing number of foreigners to the top of its professional ranks. From Hawaii to Atlantic City, the experiences of American wrestlers provide an entertaining glimpse at the past, present and future of sumo, revealing how this former bastion of Japanese tradition is grappling with globalizing Western forces.

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John Trudell sits in a wooden rocking chair in the middle of a field, one leg crossed over the other; he has a moustache and short beard, wears sunglasses, blue jeans, a black T-shirt, a black leather jacket and black cap
TRUDELL
by Heather Rae
Co-presentation with Native American Telecommunications Association
April 11, 2006

Native American activist and poet John Trudell fuses his radical politics with music, writing and art. Combining images and archival footage with interviews and performances, this biography reveals the philosophy and motivations behind Trudell's work and his relationship to contemporary Indian history.

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WATER FLOWING TOGETHER
WATER FLOWING TOGETHER
by Gwendolen Cates
April 8, 2008

WATER FLOWING TOGETHER offers an intimate portrait of a remarkable dancer, Jock Soto, who retired from the New York City Ballet at age 40, after a 24-year career. Soto's journey as an openly gay man of Navajo Indian and Puerto Rican descent provides a rare glimpse into the life of a dancer and the disparate worlds which have shaped this important artist.

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A woman leans against a set prop of an atomic bomb
WONDERS ARE MANY: The Making of Doctor Atomic
by John Else
December 16, 2008

WONDERS ARE MANY tells the story of making a grand opera about the birth of the atomic bomb. This behind-the-scenes documentary follows Composer John Adams and Director Peter Sellars over the course of a year as they work to forge the tale of J. Robert Oppenheimer into a music drama like no other: the strange and beautiful Doctor Atomic.

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Side view of a man in a book-lined room with a grin on his face and a pencil in his hand
WORDPLAY
by Patrick Creadon and Christine O'Malley
October 16, 2007

The New York Times crossword puzzle is considered one of the most difficult in America. Every day millions of people attempt to solve the mind-boggling game. WORDPLAY presents an entertaining and informative look at the editor of the crossword, Will Shortz, and the puzzle constructors with whom he collaborates. This acclaimed film is an engaging portrait of a community of crossword lovers everywhere.

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Three colorful Muppet puppets and two children are set against the backdrop of a big world globe; one of the children makes a peace sign with his hand
THE WORLD ACCORDING TO SESAME STREET
by Linda Goldstein Knowlton and Linda Hawkins Costigan
October 24, 2006

Exploring the drama and complexities behind producing international versions of the world’s most popular children’s television program and created in cooperation with the show itself, THE WORLD ACCORDING TO SESAME STREET illustrates how social impact can come from the most seemingly unlikely sources, including a team of Muppets.

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WORST POSSIBLE ILLUSION: The Curiosity Cabinet of Vik Muniz
WORST POSSIBLE ILLUSION:
The Curiosity Cabinet of Vik Muniz

by Paige West and Anne-Marie Russell
October 14, 2003

An exhilarating look at the work of the Brazilian-born contemporary conceptual artist and rising star Vik Muniz — sculptor, photographer and self-proclaimed magician. Muniz, best known for his book Seeing Is Believing, uses his knowledge of and interest in the history of photography to demonstrate how we, as viewers, can easily be deceived by the images around us.

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