Summary: Perennially popular in China, paper-cutting is treasured for its ability to transform ordinary paper into intricately patterned, brilliantly colored works of art. This program, filmed in Hubei Province, charts the evolution of Chinese paper-cutting from traditional cutouts representing luck and health to modern visual art as it illustrates the designing, cutting, and coloring processes. Tsuwoo...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
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Summary: This program enters the world of Beijing opera through the traditional art of mask-making-and through the eyes of 76-year-old Xiang Qi Shang, a celebrated mask maker who has devoted his life to preserving a custom that may yet be lost in China's rush to modernization. Master Xiang demonstrates his remarkable brushwork as he comments on a range of topics, including the use of facial expression...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
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Summary: Mehndi is traditional painting of intricate patterns drawn on hands and feet with natural dye extracted from henna leaves, says mehndi artist Smarahjit Jana. In addition to numerous demonstrations of mehndi being applied, this program shows the gathering and preparation of henna leaves, discusses types of mehndi patterns and their significance, and describes different purposes of mehndi. More...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
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Summary: There is an old Japanese adage that "the best food is that which is least prepared." This program looks at Kyoto-style sushi both as a delicacy and as a symbol of Japanese cultural aesthetics. Footage of Kitamura Norio and Kitakura Hiroyuki-two of Japan's foremost sushi chefs-illustrates their specialized approaches to oshi sushi and nigiri sushi while capturing the care they put into every...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
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Summary: The city of Rishikesh, a center of great spiritual energy, is home to the renowned yogi Swami Chaitanya. This program introduces both hatha and raja yoga while observing Chaitanya meditate; perform a fire ritual by the Ganges; engage in shatkriyas, internal purification methods, including sutra neti and dhouti; and visit with sadhus and other spiritual seekers. He also warns against false...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
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Summary: More than 80 years of unstinting devotion to his craft have made 98-year-old Yatsujiro Yamaguchi one of the best textile artists in Japan-and perhaps the world. Filmed at the Nishijin Textile Center and other locations, this program showcases the obi, the key component of traditional female garb and the epitome of Japanese elegance and refinement, as woven by Mr. Yatsujiro. Noh costumes are...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
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Summary: With the abyss of the Cultural Revolution far behind it, cinema in the People's Republic of China is as vital and complex as any in the world. This program examines the so-called Fifth and Sixth generations of Chinese filmmakers, exploring their thematic and stylistic differences and their varying approaches to domestic and international markets. It also looks at underground auteurs who use...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
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Summary: Forbidden to depict sex, obscenity, or violence, Iranian filmmakers carefully choose their subjects and practice skillfully indirect, allegorical storytelling. Movies featuring children-filled with intimacy and social commentary that would be harder to realize using adults-have become common. This program examines the evolution and enduring individuality of Iran's film industry while...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
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Summary: While northern India's 100-year-old film industry is best known for flamboyant dance sequences and romantic plot lines, its directors have begun to step outside established formulas and explore grittier subject matter. This program surveys the world of Bollywood filmmaking, examining the personalities as well as the commercial and thematic concerns that drive central Asia's answer to...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
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Summary: While often dealing with pointedly Korean issues, South Korean movies and television shows have pushed beyond their domestic market and are now highly respected by audiences across Asia and the world. This program studies ways in which South Korean films have changed over the decades, profiling a new generation of Korean filmmakers and their industry's tightrope walk between a blockbuster...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: Impoverished, sparsely populated, and still recovering from the Vietnam War, Laos exists on the edge of the abyss. This program considers the cultural and economic impact on Laotians and Hmong alike of initiatives designed to improve the country, such as the new highway being built by Swedish engineers. Although the regime's "reeducation camps" show no signs of being closed and antigovernment...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
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Summary: Renamed Myanmar by its ruling junta, Burma is one of the world's poorest nations due to decades of iron-fisted military control and despite its valuable natural resources and priceless national treasures. This program presents an intriguing glimpse of Burmese life, ranging from washing the sacred Buddha at the Maha Muni Pagoda and the initiation of young Buddhist novices amid the ruins of Bagan...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
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Summary: Situated in western Asia, Pakistan occupies a region of political and economic tension. This program looks at Pakistan's complex relations with Iran, India, and the United States and the contributions of its multicultural population. The influences of Punjabi and Pathan, Sindhi and Baluchi, and Ismaili and Buddhist are all captured, set against the background of life both in cities and in rural...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
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Summary: Containing nearly a sixth of the world's population, India is home to almost a billion people, more than half of whom live in rural villages. This program provides an overview of topics such as the caste system as it exists in the holy Hindu town of Varanasi and the massive pilgrimages to Allahabad, where millions of Hindus come to ritually bathe at the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: In Iran, even laughter is considered sinful by the nation's strict Shiite regime. Yet after revolution and war, Iranians cherish hopes of a freer future. This program describes the impact of life in a modern fundamentalist society on Iran's diverse population, which includes Muslims, Christians, and Jews. It also spotlights the joyful celebration of Sizdah Bedar, which welcomes the spring; the...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
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Summary: As China continues to experiment with Western-style economics, many city dwellers already enjoy the prerogatives of a market economy. But how will China feed itself as more and more farmers flee their land for the allure of urban living? This program seeks to understand the effects of economic reform on Chinese society, from the villages to the cities. Will cultural values and the traditional...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Unlike its neighbors, Thailand has never been colonized or annexed-but keeping it that way has been a stern challenge. This program examines Thailand's political independence, which is based on democratic and generally peaceful rule by a culturally supported monarchy. However, growing dissatisfaction has caused grass-roots dissent, as demonstrated by the lyrics of pop music idol d Karabao, who...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
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Summary: With the five-part Cremaster Cycle of films, multi-award-winning artist Matthew Barney invented a densely layered and interconnected sculptural world that surreally combines sports, biology, sexuality, history, and mythology as it organically evolves. In this program, Barney, Guggenheim curator Nancy Spector, and others deconstruct the Cycle's filming and subsequent translation into sculptural...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
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Summary: Art historian Andrew Graham-Dixon continues his travels from southern to northern Spain, revealing a stunning and informative array of artworks. In this program, he journeys to the provinces surrounding Madrid-where, during the 16th and 17th centuries, many of the world's great artists flourished against a backdrop of imperialism and fervent Catholicism. In Toledo, El Greco's mystical style is...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
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Summary: Influenced by the works of Cezanne, African tribal art, and the art of the Iberian peninsula, Cubism-the most influential style of the early 20th century-offered European artists unfamiliar, nonclassical ways to represent form and space. This program examines: Juan Gris' The Breakfast Table
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
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Summary: This program focuses on Berlin, where Hannah Hoch, George Grosz, and John Heartfield politicized the anarchist Dada movement, uniting it with the extreme Left. Nearby, the newly formed Bauhaus School, led by founder Walter Gropius and other influential architects and artists, encouraged students to reject history and embrace new techniques, materials, and styles. The film also features Gerhard...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2010
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Summary: Backed by a Church struggling to connect with the faithful, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio painted images imbued with physical immediacy and in-your-face drama. As this program shows, there was a trade-off: Caravaggio's biblical scenes frequently eschew, in the words of presenter Simon Schama, "any vision of consolation or redemption." Exploring the artist's humble origins, penchant for...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: In a health care setting, intricate ethical, moral, and professional obligations make the workplace particularly prone to conflict. Focusing specifically on aged care, this program examines the typical conflicts that can occur at work and the most productive ways to handle them. First, conflict is defined, and situations in which it is more likely to arise as well as indicators of forthcoming...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
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Summary: The Italian Renaissance, which embraces both the Early Renaissance and the High Renaissance, stands as the central tradition in European art-and continues to be a powerful source of artistic influences.This program examines:&8226; Masaccio's Profile Portrait of a Young Man
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006