Summary: In spite of mounting ecological damage, the Amazon Basin continues to nurture age-old stories and beliefs. This documentary illustrates the importance of indigenous narratives to those who dwell near the city of Iquitos, Peru, and view their natural surroundings in mythical terms. Concerning a young man who has recently gone missing in the forest, the film depicts his mother's attempts to find...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
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Summary: Presented by sculptor Antony Gormley, this program was created to complement the 2002-3 exhibition of Aztec culture at London's Royal Academy. Many of the incredible works loaned to the exhibit are shown, along with sculptures and artifacts filmed in Mexico City and at important Aztec sites. Leading scholars and curators explore how the nomadic Aztecs drew inspiration from earlier cultures. The...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
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Summary: In Nicaragua, a growing awareness of domestic violence and its consequences has spurred grassroots activism. This program documents the efforts of two groups, the Xochitl-Acatl Center and the Association of Men Against Violence, both of which confront gender and sexual abuse. Arguing that economic and political oppression influence male tendencies to exercise physical authority within the home,...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Coffee is second only to oil as the world's most valuable traded commodity, but small-scale producers rarely profit from it. This program reveals the hardship and uncertainty faced by coffee farmers in Guatemala, and how many are taking steps to obtain better prices and build better lives. Analyzing the country's traumatic history and the lingering effects of its civil war, the video sheds...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Journeying to a remote land high in the Andean mountains, this program follows a team of adventurers and scientists on a perilous rescue mission. Their goal is not to save lost tourists or injured hikers but to rediscover forgotten cultures, ancient Inca ruins, and rare species of plants and animals. All of this work must be done before a massive highway, which will crisscross the South...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2010
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Summary: Urban punks with green hair and green thumbs, the members of Tierra Viva transform toxic Mexican earth into vegetable gardens. Their actions make up one remarkable part of this wide-ranging Mexican odyssey. Depicting Michoacan farmers who are fighting the trend to move to the cities-and preserving the winter home of the monarch butterflies-the program also journeys to Magdalena Bay,...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: Home to more biodiversity than either Europe or North America, Costa Rica has shown the world how to benefit from the environment without destroying it. This program treks across the Central American nation with a spotlight on ecotourism and how it fits into Costa Rica's overall economy. Visits to a banana farm, a coffee plantation, the Monteverde Cloud Forest, and the Tortugero National Park...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: A city shouldn't be a problem, says Jaime Lerner, the former mayor of Curitiba. "It should be a solution." This program explores innovative planning, engineering, and conservation at work in the Brazilian metropolis as it transcends many of the problems plaguing other South American cities. The film spotlights fully modernized public transportation and recycling systems, a "Citizenship Street"...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2010
View online at AVOD
Summary: When an 11-year-old Paraguayan boy named Silvino Talavera died from pesticide poisoning in 2003, his name became a rallying cry in the fight against intensive soya production. This program recounts the tragedy and the legal, political, and economic impact of "agritoxins" in Latin America. Opening with a poetically filmed reenactment and moving on to feature key players in the story, the film...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2010
View online at AVOD
Summary: The mariachi sound is the heart and soul of Mexico-and a form of music that today is enjoyed throughout the world. In this down-to-earth program, mariachi aficionado Cornelio Garcia introduces viewers to the music, history, and cultural importance of mariachi bands in Mexico and elsewhere. Whether they are marching in a parade, performing onstage in a restaurant or at a fiesta, or even...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: The mariachi sound is the heart and soul of Mexico-and a form of music that today is enjoyed throughout the world. In this down-to-earth program, mariachi aficionado Cornelio Garcia introduces viewers to the music, history, and cultural importance of mariachi bands in Mexico and elsewhere. Whether they are marching in a parade, performing onstage in a restaurant or at a fiesta, or even...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
View online at AVOD
Summary: This beautifully filmed program looks at the wall paintings of some of the most famous Mexican muralists-Diego Rivera, Juan O'Gorman, Jose Clemente Orozco-and at the work of Luis Barragan, the greatest Mexican architect of the 20th century. Their common medium is the wall. The muralists sought to return art to the people, by putting it on the walls of public buildings, just as it had been in...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
View online at AVOD
Summary: For guidance northward, illegal immigrants from Latin America frequently enlist mercenary escorts known as "coyotes." This program examines one such charming and unseemly figure and the three Guatemalans who have placed their trust in him. Viewers follow the nervous foursome through checkpoints and river crossings as they employ unreliable forged documents and take on false identities-while...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: This program documents a visit by Brazilian government officials to the Korubo people, hunter/gatherers of the Javari River Valley. Transcending a history of mutual distrust and violence with other groups, especially Caucasians, the Korubo warm to the camera team after receiving medical help for their malaria-stricken leader. The team's unprecedented access leads to breathtaking, revelatory...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Stretching over 4,000 miles across South America, the Amazon River has long defied human efforts to tame it. Not a single bridge crosses it, and not one dam halts its flow. This program visits urban centers on the banks of the Amazon and examines new attempts to harness-or exploit-the river's energy and natural abundance. The journey begins at Iquitos-a Peruvian city blighted by poverty and...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: With the arrival of the conquistadors, many ancient Mesoamerican rituals were absorbed into Christian holidays. This program examines a collection of sacred, social, and artistic traditions that survived European assimilation and now compose one of Mexico's most important annual festivals. The film follows the travels and experiences of a young Purepecha artisan, her grandmother, and their...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: Since the United Nations prohibited coca cultivation in 1961, a battle has raged around the simple, versatile plant. In the West, coca is synonymous with violence and terror. For the people of the Andes, however, coca represents a viable and ancient livelihood. This program follows their resistance to the sweeping illegalization and eradication measures instituted by Latin American governments,...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: This program defines Mexico City's globalization in terms of winners and losers, examining how, in the world's largest metropolis, immigration challenges are linked to poverty and population influx from surrounding rural areas. Contrasting the city's high-tech facilities and fashionable neighborhoods with its sprawling slums and their struggling inhabitants, the program outlines the...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: A 36-year civil war has left over 150,000 dead and more than 1 million displaced in Guatemala. This program presents stirring portraits of three Mayan women and their efforts on behalf of peace. Adela, a widow, bravely sustains her refugee family. Justina tirelessly travels the countryside explaining the human rights movement to fellow villagers. Francesca, a Mayan priestess, reaffirms the...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
View online at AVOD
Summary: The life of Cuba's Communist leader reveals much about the Cold War, 20th-century Latin American history, and the political and military dimensions of revolutionary movements. This program reaches into all those subjects as it explores the rise and decades-long rule of Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz. Interviews with Latin American experts-including Argentine columnist Oscar Raul Cardoso, historian...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: The works of Frida Kahlo, one of the 20th century's most prominent artists, are included in museums and private collections the world over. This documentary incorporates archival material, readings from journals and letters, and interviews with friends and scholars to retrace the life and work of one of Mexico's most highly recognized painters.
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: Focusing on the life and career of Pedro Lascurain, this program scrutinizes the turbulent beginning and violent ending of democracy in 20th-century Mexico. The events leading up to Lascurain's noble moment as president are thoroughly examined, as is the heavy-handed American interference in Mexican politics. Political analyst Arnaldo Cordova, professor of history Eugenia Meyer, and other...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Although Hernan Cortes hardly considered himself the reincarnation of Quetzalcoatl, the Aztecs did-and his conquest of Mesoamerica utterly destroyed their world, exactly as prophesied. In this program, Spanish historian and Oxford University professor Sir John Elliott and cultural historian Dr. Elizabeth Baquedano survey political, cultural, and religious aspects of Aztec civilization; analyze...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Ernesto "Che" Guevara was both a romantic and a rebel, honored by many for his commitment to liberation yet vilified by others as a rogue. This compelling program traces the life of a man whose idealism and determination gripped the imagination of an era. Interviews with family members, partisans, enemies, and others-including the photographer who immortalized him-share their recollections and...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005