Summary: Unlike the primarily east-to-west conquest of the Americas, European incursions into sub-Saharan Africa proceeded south-to-north-an approach, climatically speaking, that did not favor the invaders. Cattle and crops failed to thrive, and indigenous diseases decimated the newcomers, yet still that vast region was subdued. How? This program tells a story of colonization and exploitation that shows...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2010
View online at AVOD
Summary: Exploring Kenya's multifaceted urban and rural settings, this program looks at the various cultures found within the nation today. Viewers will experience the country's spectacular diversity-and the difficulty of providing education and mass communication for a population that speaks well over 40 languages. Highlighting the challenges of conflicting cultural traditions and beliefs, the program...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: For centuries, cotton has influenced the relationship between America and Africa. It drove the slave trade, and today it epitomizes the uneven playing field created by farming subsidies. This program examines the lopsided nature of the global cotton industry-in which U.S. and European producers enjoy massive government support while independent African farmers struggle to remain competitive....
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: During its campaign of terror in northern Uganda, the Lord's Resistance Army has abducted thousands of children of the Acholi tribe and forced them to kill among their own people. This powerful, award-winning documentary examines the tragic aftermath of a brutal practice by following the lives of two boys and two girls between the ages of 8 and 14 who escape their captors. Their plight is seen...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: Nelson Mandela spoke of the past haunting the present. This program explores the rebirth of South Africa, demonstrating that a national history racked with oppression can guide and instruct those working for a better future. Studying the moving and provocative art of the apartheid era, the program also visits Robben Island, where Mandela was imprisoned, and examines Cape Town's historic...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: From the Great Rift Valley to the shores of the Indian Ocean, Kenya contains extraordinary diversity in culture, landscape, and wildlife. This program surveys the history of the country, its difficult transition out of colonial rule, and its wide variety of ethnic groups and languages. Visits to a Nairobi high school, a Masai village, and two wildlife conservation areas underscore the...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: East Africa's wild beauty may also be its greatest challenge. This program describes the ecological issues arising when a finite amount of land is needed for ever-growing human and animal populations. Where will Kenya's varied wildlife go when cities expand into age-old migration paths? How will farmers and cattle ranchers protect their land from invading animals? And how can a developing...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: In sub-Saharan Africa, water is the focus of daily life. This program seeks to understand its centrality by investigating the situation at Lake Ganvie, Benin, an "African Venice" where survival is threatened by environmental changes, improper sanitation, and water-related illnesses; a perceived correlation among Dogon elders between their people's shift away from the worship of Nommo and an...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
View online at AVOD
Summary: Determined to march to its own beat, Uganda has made a clean break with tried-and-failed top-down approaches to economic progress. Filmed on location, this program illustrates the progress of Uganda's antipoverty and debt-reduction crusade being carried out through its Poverty Eradication Action Plan and Poverty Action Fund, under the guidance of the IMF. By setting national priorities based on...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: In 1532, 168 Spanish conquistadors arrived in Peru. They were exhausted, outnumbered, and terrified, and ahead of them were camped 80,000 Incan troops. And yet within just 24 hours, more than 7,000 Inca warriors were slaughtered, the Incan emperor languished in chains, and the victorious Europeans began what would become a brutal reign that would leave its marks throughout the Americas. This...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2010
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: 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: 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: When seasonal rains sweep across South America, the Amazon River and its tributaries overflow their banks to create an ecosystem unlike any other-a place where, for six months out of each year, land-dwellers and water-dwellers mingle. This program joins an expert Amazon biologist in a journey into the flooded forests of the Amazon Basin to film dolphins navigating through treetops, a male...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
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: 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