Summary: In the 1990s, thousands of Salvadoran nationals living illegally in the U.S. were deported to their homeland. Some took Los Angeles gang culture with them. This Wide Angle report documents six months spent inside the transnational gang known as "18"-a Salvadoran permutation of L.A.'s notorious 18th Street gang. Following teenage "homeboys" as they patrol their turf in the streets of San...
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: 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
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: He has survived U.S. hostility, an invasion, several CIA assassination attempts and an economic embargo. His face, with its trademark beard, has become an iconic image worldwide, yet the man himself remains an enigma to all but a few. Fidel Castro, from the PBS American Experience collection, attempts to answer a singular question—what really happened in Cuba under the rule of Fidel Castro?...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
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: More than a decade after NAFTA went into effect, many Mexicans are worse off than before. What went wrong, and why? Focusing on the clothing industry, this program goes straight to the experts south of the border-a shop owner, a factory manager, employees under constant threat of layoff, and an economics professor-to find out. A general inability to compete with Chinese manufacturing is blamed,...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
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: This is the story of Mexican women who have fought, and continue to fight, for equality and women's rights. They are women looking for children kidnapped during political pogroms, journalists, writers, and political activists. Machismo and the resulting sexism, as well as Catholicism and its perpetuation of the myth of the Virgin Mary as the standard for feminine behavior, are discussed as...
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: 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 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 2008
View online at AVOD
Summary: Stratification of women in Guatemalan society is the subject of this program. It examines the submissiveness of upper-class women; a new emerging middle class who are defying tradition and cultural expectations to fight for their equal rights; and the indigenous population, who are segregated and discriminated against. Scenes and descriptions of sexual abuse among lower economic groups are...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
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: This program examines the work of the resolute women of the Puerto Rican independence movement. The first woman mayor of San Juan, Felisa Rincon, discusses problems of delinquency and crime within the culture, and how women are contributing to a solution. Feminism and women's rights in the areas of divorce, abortion, and employment are examined, along with racism experienced by Puerto Ricans in...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Rigoberta Menchu has become widely known as a leading advocate of Indian rights and ethno-cultural reconciliation-and also a center of controversy-not only in her native Guatemala, but throughout the western hemisphere. In this program, Menchu, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize and other international awards, talks about her life both at home and in exile, her autobiographical I, Rigoberta...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: One of the strongest buildings on the planet, Torre Mayor is constructed to withstand seismic movement that would obliterate the average skyscraper. Built in the wake of Mexico City's devastating 1985 earthquake, the tower is both a monument to engineering and a haven of safety in one of the world's most active seismic zones. This program focuses on the brilliant safety solutions behind Torre...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
View online at AVOD
Summary: Mexican citizens working in the United States and Canada can face difficult conditions, even when they are employed legally. Filmed over an entire growing season, El Contrato documents the experiences of a group of laborers contracted to work in a sprawling tomato greenhouse. Tensions between workers, growers, and government officials reveal disturbing aspects of the hugely profitable...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: This short adaptation of a play by Trinidad's foremost black writer is a metaphorical exploration of relations between black and white in the postcolonial world. The plot concerns a retired white actor and his black factotum; presumably they will perform a pantomime version of Robinson Crusoe, but roles become reversed, much to the white man's bewilderment and discomfort.
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: The numbers alone are stunning: 8 million inhabitants, 70 percent of whom live below the poverty line; a life expectancy of 50 years; a 65 percent illiteracy rate; and a 70 percent unemployment rate. Such is the recent population in Haiti, which ironically had its origins cast in optimism: the Haitians were the first people to abolish slavery in 1797 and establish a black republic. Yet the...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: For many teenagers in Mexico, heading across the U.S. border after high school is much more common than heading off to college. But as law enforcement continues to tighten security, that journey is growing more and more hazardous. Filmed on both sides of the border, this program briefly examines issues surrounding illegal immigration-particularly how much more a person can earn in America than...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: If a single individual may be said to have embodied the development of the Cuban secessionist movement, that person was surely Jose Marti. Set within the context of the turbulent relations between Cuba, Spain, and the U.S.A., this program spotlights Marti-a striking orator, sagacious propagandist, and inspiring leader-and the movement that he founded, Cuba Libre. Although killed during a...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Since NAFTA, goods flow more freely from Mexico-but not people, although a million try to slip across the U.S. border each year. In this program, children of desperately poor families share the stories of their hardships and the choices they have made. For some, childhood means heavy labor as migrant workers in northern Mexico, while for others it means gang life on the streets of Tijuana. Yet...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
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