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: 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: The 20,000-year-old caves of Altamira are among the greatest and the least known of the monuments of prehistory. Closed to visitors to prevent disintegration through pollution, the caves are known only through a replica located in the Archaeological Museum in Madrid. This tour of Altamira shows the cave paintings in their extraordinary power as they depict the daily life of Magdalenian people...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
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Summary: Forced to flee Chile after the military coup in 1973, Ariel Dorfman has focused his writing on the trials of tyranny and exile. This program looks at how he has fought for human rights as a novelist, playwright, essayist, journalist, and professor of literature and Latin American studies. Many of the works of this multi-genre author are examined, including Death and the Maiden, his successful...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: The reign of Augusto Pinochet was the darkest period in Chilean, and possibly South American, history. This biography studies the defining events of the dictator's life and notorious rule, from his birth in 1915, through the development of his military career and his connections to fascist leaders, to his overthrow of the Allende government in 1973 and subsequent imposition of a murderous...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: The plight of women in this poverty-ridden nation is examined on varying social and economic levels. A congresswoman discusses her fight against cocaine production and use; a teacher struggles against government apathy toward education; a peasant women reveals the harsh details of her existence. Progress made by women in the area of home business, art, and music is examined, as well as the...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
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Summary: Am I black or am I white? New affirmative action quotas for higher education in Brazil-one of the world's most racially diverse nations-launch a controversial dialogue about race and identity as this Wide Angle report follows five college candidates from diverse backgrounds competing for a spot at the University of Brasilia. In addition, lawyers from the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: Told in flashback during the final days of Charles III's life, this program scrutinizes that enlightened monarch's reign, a period of moderate reformism that required balancing innovation with the heavy weight of tradition. Successful domestic initiatives such as the renovation of Madrid, controversial incidents including the reform riot of 1766 and the expulsion of the Jesuits, and disastrous...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: The Mexican writer and journalist Carlos Monsivais has frequently examined social and political issues at the heart of Latin American culture-and, in the process, the spiritual dilemmas of 21st-century modernity. This program introduces Monsivais' views on the growing disconnect between urban and rural life, the destructive impact of pervasive technology on language and conversation, and the...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
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
View online at AVOD
Summary: This program examines Chile under martyred socialist President Salvador Allende, and the subsequent Pinochet regime that followed. Allende's niece and novelist, Isabel Allende, exile Hortensia Bussi, Nobel Prize-winning author Gabriela Mistral, and others discuss women's role in the eventual toppling of Pinochet, and the formation of the Latin American Federation of Associations of Families of...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: This program provides a portrait of Cortez and his world-the real world and the imaginary one painted by theologians, mystics, imaginative travelers, poets, and liars; of the New World as seen by a small number of Spaniards; and of the civilizations of Mesoamerica before they were "discovered"-the world of the Mayas and Aztecs, the nature of Aztec religion and politics. It describes the Battle...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: In this spirited program, one of Mexico's most beloved actors, Ignacio Lopez Tarso, tells in song of the struggles and triumphs of the Mexican Revolution. The songs tell the stories of battles fought and lives lost, and of the men who changed the course of Mexican history.
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
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: Spain's Golden Age is recognized as the most fertile and glorious era in Spanish arts and letters. Miguel de Cervantes, Francisco de Quevedo, Calderon de la Barca, Diego Velazquez, and many others created works of enduring renown.even as their country fell into ruin. This program contrasts the marvels of the Siglo de Oro through dramatizations, film clips, artwork, and visits to important...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: The leading painter of the Spanish Baroque period, Diego Velazquez covered a wide range of subjects, from royal portraits of King Philip IV and his family to perhaps the most celebrated of all self-portraits, Las Meninas. Filmed on location at The Escorial, The Prado, and in Velazquez's native Seville, this program chronicles the life of the artist through his work, examining his Classical...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: From the death of Almanzor and the breakup of Moorish al-Andalus into taifas to Christian victory at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa, this program depicts the continuous transformation of the Iberian Peninsula as rival powers shaped the land's destiny. The alliances and struggles among Christians, Moors, Almoravides, and Almohads are captured through numerous dramatizations and maps. Key...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: The program examines the Dominican Republic that tourists rarely see-a nation of sex markets, prostitution, poverty, and lack of educational opportunities. The current economic crisis and its effect on middle-class life are discussed, along with efforts currently under way to alleviate the social and economic problems. We hear from women on all levels of society, from prostitutes to the Vice...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Isolated in jungles, or crowded into large cities, Latin American Indians constitute the most exploited sector of society. This program traces the harsh life of indigenous women from several tribes, including the Otavalan, Puruha, and Quechua of Ecuador, from pre-Columbian times to the present. Topics discussed include rape as an ongoing practice; labor exploitation; the effects of...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
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Summary: Articulating his profound and compelling worldview, Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano imbues this program with a poetic sensibility and an unconstrained intellectual curiosity. Ruminations on prehistoric gender roles, global warming, and the twilight of socialism underscore Galeano's notion of disabled memory-his term for the reshaping of history according to one's fears and prejudices-as well...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: This program delves into a period of violence and catastrophe in Spanish history as civil war and ongoing campaigns against the Moors, on the one hand, and the Black Death and economic and agricultural crises, on the other, ravaged the Iberian Peninsula. Dramatizations and maps, architecture and art, bring to life a narrative that spotlights pivotal events such as the Battle of Rio Salado and...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Philip II ruled over Spain at its peak of world influence.and at the start of its long slide from prominence. This program depicts the life and times of this absolutist monarch through dramatizations, artwork, and maps. High-profile topics, including the Inquisition, the Armada, and the Battle of Lepanto, are presented while addressing controversies such as the imprisonment and death of the...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: The coronation of Juan Carlos I marked the third restoration of Spanish Bourbon rule. This program tracks the mixed fortunes of post-Franco Spain as it transitioned into a parliamentary monarchy and moved forward into the 21st century. News footage of policymakers and events addresses free elections, economic restructuring, membership in the E.U., educational reforms, and social security as...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: In just 25 years, Chile has gone from a Marxist state to a dictatorship to a democracy. The transition has strengthened Chile's economy, but not all Chilean citizens have shared in the prosperity. In fact, the divisions between rich and poor have widened, causing critics to question whether democratic capitalism is the right solution. As the scenario unfolds, so do the moral issues surrounding...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008