Summary: In this documentary, Che Smith (a.k.a. Rhymefest, the Grammy-winning rapper) reunites with his father, an alcoholic living on the streets of Chicago, and struggles to deliver him to safety and an existence that is productive and meaningful, in essence, taking responsibility for the man who had abandoned him as a young child.

Format: moving image

Publisher / Publication Date: 2016

Copies Available at Woodmere

Summary: This documentary follows two inner-city basketball phenoms' lives through high school as they chase their dreams of playing in the NBA.

Format: moving image

Publisher / Publication Date: 2015

Copies Available at Woodmere

Summary: It tells the shocking story of Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb; wealthy college students who had planned to abduct and kill a child at random just to prove they were smart enough to get away with it.

Format: moving image

Publisher / Publication Date: 2016

Copies Available at Woodmere

Summary: Examines the roadside murder of a Dallas police officer, and the subsequent arrest and conviction of drifter Randall Adams, who was given a death sentence despite overwhelming evidence of his innocence.

Format: moving image

Publisher / Publication Date: 2015

Copies Available at Woodmere

Summary: The 1960s was defined by a common effort to fight against injustice. Mike Gray, a Chicago filmmaker, used his camera to document the politics of the streets from the riots in the social upheaval, to the rising of two prolific groups fighting prejudice.

Format: moving image

Publisher / Publication Date: Facets Video 2007

Copies Available at Woodmere

Summary: In 1962, three prisoners escaped from Alcatraz, a prison surrounded on all sides by the waters of San Francisco Bay, and disappeared. The fates of the three men have remained unknown to the present day. In this program, three scientists from the Netherlands employ 3D modeling technology to reconstruct the water currents of the day of the prison break in an attempt to uncover whether or not it...

Format: moving image

Publisher / Publication Date: 2016

Copies Available at Woodmere

Summary: A groundbreaking documentary series sheds new light on real-estate icon, Robert Durst, while unraveling one of the most notorious unsolved crimes in New York history.

Format: moving image

Publisher / Publication Date: HBO Home Entertainment 2015

Copies Available at Woodmere

Summary: In a continuous monologue, former death-row inmate Nick Yarris tells the story of how he was charged with the murder of a woman in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, sentenced to death, and, after twenty-one years behind bars, exhonerated based on DNA evidence.

Format: moving image

Publisher / Publication Date: 2016

Copies Available at Woodmere

Summary: "Before the Menendez brothers, O.J. and Ted Bundy, Charles Manson's name loomed large in modern stories of murder and crime. Over 50 years have passed since Manson and his devoted followers committed their horrific acts, yet the public remains in the dark about the Manson family and their journey into the abyss. How has this legendary story, the stuff of sensational headlines, criminal culture,...

Format: moving image

Publisher / Publication Date: 2021

Copies Available at Woodmere

Summary: An investigation into the disputed cause of death of black activist Sandra Bland, who died in police custody in Waller County, Texas, after a routine traffic stop by state trooper Brian Encinia.

Format: moving image

Publisher / Publication Date: 2019

Copies Available at Woodmere

Summary: Inspired by the Jesuit saying, "Give me a child until he is 7 years old, and I will give you the man," in 1964 Granada Television commissioned a short documentary wherein producers profiled 14 7-year-old children, and loosely speculated on what sort of lives they might lead. It was meant and received as an indictment of the British class system, which seemed most inflexible in 1964. Almost as...

Format: moving image

Publisher / Publication Date: Granada Television Ltd. 2006

Copies Available at Woodmere

Summary: "Look up toward the sky as Geoffrey Baer takes us on an exciting new journey through the skyscraper canyons of Chicago's downtown loop, revealing the secrets behind the city's most iconic landmarks and showing us why Chicago is considered the birthplace of the skyscraper...."--Container box.

Format: moving image

Publisher / Publication Date: WTTW11/Window to the World Communications 2011

Copies Available at Woodmere

Summary: "A documentary examining the 2014 shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald by Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke and the cover-up that ensued"--Container.

Format: moving image

Publisher / Publication Date: 2019

Copies Available at Woodmere

Summary: Investigates the 2011 Penn State child molestation scandal, in which Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky was accused of several accounts of child sexual abuse and head coach Joe Paterno and university administration were implicated in a coverup. Looks at the effects of the scandal on the Penn State student body, Penn State alumni, and residents of State College, Pennsylvania. Covers...

Format: moving image

Publisher / Publication Date: 2015

Copies Available at Woodmere

Artist Not Provided

Summary: Profiles three "violence interrupters" who work to protect their Chicago communities by intervening in disputes before they become violent.

Format: moving image

Publisher / Publication Date: PBS Distribution 2012

Copies Available at Woodmere

Summary: In the late 19th century, as America's teeming cities grew increasingly congested, the time had come to replace the nostalgic horse-drawn trolleys with a faster, cleaner, safer, and more efficient form of transportation. Ultimately, it was Boston, a city of so many firsts that overcame a litany of engineering challenges, the greed-driven interests of businessmen, and the great fears of its...

Format: moving image

Publisher / Publication Date: 2017

Copies Available at Woodmere

Summary: This documentary begins as a profile of the Children's Organization of Southeast Asia, which provides shelter to child victims of human trafficking in Northern Thailand, and its leader, Mickey Choothesa. As the filmmakers pursue their subject, suspicions arise as to whether Choothesa and COSA are truly what they represent themselves to be.

Format: moving image

Publisher / Publication Date: Cinema Guild 2017

Copies Available at Woodmere

Summary: Based on a best-selling book, a five-part true crime docu-series investigates the unsolved murders of eight women whose bodies were discovered in drainage canals and on desolate back roads in and around Jennings, Louisiana. In examining the lives of the young victims the series uncovers secrets of the troubled town.

Format: moving image

Publisher / Publication Date: 2020

Copies Available at Woodmere

Summary: Examines "hyper-masculinity" as a destructive force in the personal development and socialization of boys and young men. Discusses the roles of popular culture and peer pressure in influencing boys to adopt a masculine pose.

Format: moving image

Publisher / Publication Date: Virgil Films 2016

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Summary: Explores the little-known history of some of Chicago's hidden treasures.

Format: moving image

Publisher / Publication Date: Window to the World Communications, Inc. 2008

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Summary: At 83, Chicago legend Buddy Guy remains the standard-bearer for the blues, an icon determined to see the art form live on long after he's gone. Enter young guitar phenom Quinn Sullivan, who has been mentored by Guy since he was a kid. This stirring documentary, amplified by electrifying musical performances, charts the guidance Guy himself received from the likes of Muddy Waters and Howlin'...

Format: moving image

Publisher / Publication Date: 2022

Copies Available at Woodmere

Summary: Discover the stories, ideas, and methods behind today's most compelling artists; features sixteen artists from North America (Chicago, Mexico City, Los Angeles, and Vancouver).

Format: moving image

Publisher / Publication Date: 2016

Copies Available at Woodmere

Summary: "Every year, over a million babies are born worldwide with a hereditary disease; most are serious, and many are fatal. For most of the history of medicine, doctors could only treat symptoms. Now an elite cadre of pioneers, gene doctors, is starting to target root causes. Through intimate stories of families whose lives are being transformed, the film takes viewers to the frontlines of a medical...

Format: moving image

Publisher / Publication Date: PBS 2017

Copies Available at Woodmere