Summary: It is a timely tale of what can happen when engaged citizens fight the power for the sake of a better world. Arguably, no one did more to shape our understanding of the modern American city than Jane Jacobs, the visionary activist and writer who fought to preserve urban communities in the face of destructive development projects. The film vividly brings to life Jacobs' 1960s showdown with...

Format: moving image

Publisher / Publication Date: MPI Media Group 2017

Copies Available at Woodmere

Summary: Tells the riveting, behind-the-scenes story of Cantor Fitzgerald. On September 10, 2001, financial firm Cantor Fitzgerald was headquartered on the top 5 floors of the World Trade Center. On September 11, 2001, 658 of their 960 employees were missing, presumed dead, in the nation's worst terrorist attacks. Tells twin stories' the saga of the ravaged business and surviving employees, and an...

Format: moving image

Publisher / Publication Date: 2014

Copies Available at Woodmere

Summary: This is the true-life story of a junkie turned multimillionaire drug lord. With the first hand testimony of the Godfather himself, Nicky Barnes, who was the most powerful black drug kingpin in New York City history. From humble beginnings, he came to dominate the heroin distribution business. Trusted and trained by the Italians, he set up his own crime family --The Council.

Format: moving image

Publisher / Publication Date: Distributed by Magnolia Home Entertainment 2008

Copies Available at Woodmere

Summary: The story of Craig Castalso, better known as Radioman for the stereo boombox worn around his neck. This New York film set mascot overcame homelessness and alcoholism to become a fixture of the New York film industry, with over 100 small parts to his name.

Format: moving image

Publisher / Publication Date: 2022

Copies Available at Woodmere

Summary: The documentary portrait of theater operator Nicolas "Nick" Nicolaou moves from the 1970s Times Square adult film houses through decades of city regulation, chain takeovers, and cultural shifts, charting a charming odyssey through the history of film exhibition and New York City. Abel Ferrara traces the life and work of friend and fellow cinephile Nicolaou, a Cypriot immigrant who began working...

Format: moving image

Publisher / Publication Date: 2021

Copies Available at Woodmere

Summary: Portrait of the relationship between two eccentric recluses, Edith Bouvier Beale and her grown daughter, Little Edie. The aunt and cousin of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis feed their cats and raccoons and talk about their past behind the walls of their East Hampton mansion.

Format: moving image

Publisher / Publication Date: 2013

Copies Available at Woodmere

Summary: Documents the monumental move of renowned photographer and artist, Jay Maisel, who, in February 2015 after forty-eight years, sold his home, the 36,000 square-foot, 100-year-old landmark building in Manhattan known simply as "The Bank." Through the intimate lens of noted artist and photographer Stephen Wilkes, the viewer is taken on a remarkable journey through Maisel's life as an artist,...

Format: moving image

Publisher / Publication Date: 2019

Copies Available at Woodmere

Summary: A fiery and urgent documentary portrait of downtown New York City artist, writer, photographer, and activist David Wojnarowicz. As New York City became the epicenter of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, Wojnarowicz weaponized his work and waged war against the establishment's indifference to the plague until his death from it in 1992 at the age of 37. Exclusive access to his breathtaking body of...

Format: moving image

Publisher / Publication Date: 2021

Copies Available at Woodmere

Summary: "On June 12, 1970, Dock Ellis threw a no-hitter for the Pittsburgh Pirates. In 136 years of baseball history, only 276 no-hitters have been recorded. Dock is the only pitcher to ever claim he accomplished his while high on LSD. During his 12 years in the major leagues, Dock lived the expression "Black is Beautiful!" He wore curlers on the field. He stepped out of his Cadillac wearing the widest...

Format: moving image

Publisher / Publication Date: 2014

Copies Available at Woodmere

Summary: Christina Clausen's documentary offers an affectionate, deeply personal glimpse into Haring's life, from his early years growing up in a small, conservative Pennsylvania town to his heyday as a world-renowned artist, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Madonna and others. Includes audio excerpts of original interviews with Keith Haring conducted by his biographer, John Gruen.

Format: moving image

Publisher / Publication Date: Arts Alliance America 2008

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Summary: After being brutally attacked outside a bar and in spite of recovering from a coma and extensive physical injuries, Mark Hogancamp suffered brain damage and nearly total memory loss. Unable to afford therapy he spent the next few years building a scale model, World War II-era town, Marwencol, populated with dolls, where he lived out his fantasy life, and which he documented in photographs. When...

Format: moving image

Publisher / Publication Date: Cinema Guild 2010

Copies Available at Woodmere

Summary: "The gripping true story of Stanislav Petrov, a man who single-handedly averted a fullscale nuclear world war, but now struggles to get his life back on track ... before it is too late. An epic and grand Cold War thriller that sends shivers down your spine and shows us just how close we came to apocalypse ... and it's not over yet! With a new Cold War rising and thousands of nuclear weapons on...

Format: moving image

Publisher / Publication Date: 2019

Copies Available at Woodmere

Summary: Chef, writer, adventurer, provocateur: Anthony Bourdain lived his life unabashedly. Director Morgan Neville offers an intimate, behind-the-scenes look at how an anonymous chef became a world-renowned cultural icon. This unflinching look at Bourdain reverberates with his presence, in his own voice and in the way he indelibly impacted the world around him.

Format: moving image

Publisher / Publication Date: 2021

Copies Available at Woodmere

Summary: The six Angulo brothers have grown up in their Manhattan apartment, home schooled by their parents, rarely if ever leaving their apartment. Their only connection to the outside world is television and the movies they watch and act out, complete with homemade costumes, in the apartment. When one of the brothers sneaks out for a few days on his own, the whole family dynamic is changed when he...

Format: moving image

Publisher / Publication Date: Magnolia Home Entertainment 2015

Copies Available at Woodmere

Cunningham, Bill

Summary: Profiles New York Times fashion photographer and columnist, Bill Cunningham.

Format: moving image

Publisher / Publication Date: Zeitgeist Films 2011

Copies Available at Woodmere

Summary: Now, Serpico tells his story in his own words: from his Italian-American roots in Brooklyn to his disillusionment with the NYPD to his riveting account of a dramatic drug bust, and possible set-up that ended with him being shot in the face.

Format: moving image

Publisher / Publication Date: IFC Films 2018

Copies Available at Woodmere

Summary: Conductor and violinist Scott Yoo is on the road again, for Season 4 of Now hear this. Join him in Buenos Aires, to learn the tango and Piazzolla's conflicted relationship with it. In Scotland and Germany, explore the connection between mental health and creative genius. In the boroughs of New York, meet a dynamic new composer pointing classical in a new direction. And in Spain, discover the...

Format: moving image

Publisher / Publication Date: 2023

Copies Available at Woodmere

Summary: The true-life story of Janet Frame, New Zealand's most distinguished author. The film follows Frame along her inspiring journey, from a poverty-stricken childhood to a misdiagnosis of schizophrenia and electroshock therapy to, finally, literary fame.

Format: moving image

Publisher / Publication Date: 2019

Copies Available at Woodmere

Summary: In New York City in 1969, nineteen-year-old art student Noriko fell in love with 41-year-old avant-garde artist Ushio Shinohara and put her career on hold to marry and support this rising star of the Manhattan art world. But 40 years later and still struggling, Ushio remains consumed with reinforcing his legacy via his 'boxing' paintings, while Noriko is now finding her own creative voice...

Format: moving image

Publisher / Publication Date: 2014

Copies Available at Woodmere

Summary: Profiles Junior Alcantara, a 34-year-old man recovering from heroin addiction and dealing with the effects of chronic hepatitis C. Also looks at two other recovering addicts with hepatitis C. Medical doctors discuss the realities of heroin addiction and ways of treating it.

Format: moving image

Publisher / Publication Date: 2014

Copies Available at Woodmere

Gibney, Alex

Summary: Explores the former New York State governor's rise to power and his political and personal downfall in the wake of a prostitution scandal.

Format: moving image

Publisher / Publication Date: Magnolia Home Entertainment 2011

Copies Available at Woodmere

Summary: Portrait of the relationship between Edith Bouvier Beale and her grown daughter, Little Edie, once and aspiring actress in New York who left her career to care for her aging mother in their East Hampton home, and never left again. The aunt and cousin of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis feed their cats and raccoons and rehash their pasts behind the walls of their decaying mansion, Grey Gardens.

Format: moving image

Publisher / Publication Date: Home Vision Entertainment 2001

Copies Available at Woodmere