Summary: Director Robert J. Flaherty journeyed with his wife, Frances, and their children to the South Seas island of Savai'i to capture on film the exotic lifestyles of the Samoan people. In doing so, they resurrected and dramatized the recently vanished customs and struggles of the people just before modernization permanently altered the cultural landscape of the island. In 1975, nearly 50 years after...

Format: moving image

Publisher / Publication Date: 2015

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Summary: Darwin meets Hitchcock in this true-crime tale of paradise found and lost. A extraordinary documentary portrait of a 1930s murder mystery as strange and alluring as the famous archipelago itself. Fleeing conventional society, a Berlin doctor and his mistress start a new life on uninhabited Floreana Island. But after the international press sensationalizes the exploits of the island's 'Adam and...

Format: moving image

Publisher / Publication Date: 2014

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Summary: In 1971, author and film scholar Donald Richie published a poetic travelogue about his explorations of the islands of Japan's Inland Sea, recording his search for traces of a traditional way of life as well as his own journey of self-discovery. Twenty years later, filmmaker Lucille Carra undertook a parallel trip inspired by Richie's by-then-classic book, capturing images of hushed beauty and...

Format: moving image

Publisher / Publication Date: 2019

Copies Available at Woodmere

Farrell, Colin

Summary: The story of Simon Fitzmaurice, an Irish filmmaker who suffers from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Format: moving image

Publisher / Publication Date: Music Video Distributors 2018

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Summary: Explores the nature of Islam and unfolds many of its inner-dimensions. It dispels many myths and discusses contributions to science and math.

Format: moving image

Publisher / Publication Date: Institute of Arabic and Islamic Studies 2014

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Summary: The definitive documentary on one of the most iconic and sought after special effects artists in horror film history, whose genre-defining creations earned him the title "The King of Splatter." We follow Savini from his childhood in Pittsburgh and his tour of duty during the Vietnam War, leading into his legendary collaboration with George Romero (Dawn of the Dead, Creepshow) and beyond. Here....

Format: moving image

Publisher / Publication Date: 2022

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Summary: An exploration of Sinead O'Connor's rise and fall and her enduring cultural impact. By the age of 20, O'Connor was one of Ireland's brightest rising stars but her decision to use her fame as a platform to speak out on several controversial issues shifted her narrative from global stardom to worldwide condemnation. In a new interview, O'Connor reveals the abusive upbringing that left her feeling...

Format: moving image

Publisher / Publication Date: 2023

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Summary: A captivating exploration of Alvar Aalto: the defining figure in Scandic design and one of Europe's greatest modern architects focuses on his remarkable and loving partnership with wife, Aino. Theirs was a profoundly humanist vision that put people at the centre of design, and ranged from work in furniture design through to huge architectural projects. They mixed with, and influenced, major...

Format: moving image

Publisher / Publication Date: 2021

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Summary: The fifteen year realization of a cinematic dream that presents the profound and life-changing journey of innovative Western thinkers who travel to India to meet with the Dalai Lama to solve many of the world's problems.

Format: moving image

Publisher / Publication Date: 2016

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Summary: Jan and Antonina Zabinski, the keepers of the Warsaw Zoo in Poland, saved nearly 300 Jews during the Second World War. This is a poignant documentary that is an extraordinary true story about the humanitarian spirit, as exemplified by two people who, with enormous personal risk to themselves, faced the most challenging circumstances with bravery and decency. In 1965, Jan and Antonina Zabinski...

Format: moving image

Publisher / Publication Date: 2022

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Summary: Documentary covering the formative years of the pub rock group Dr. Feelgood in 1970s Canvey Island, Essex, England.

Format: moving image

Publisher / Publication Date: 2013

Copies Available at Woodmere

Summary: Profiles a two-spirit genderqueer Narragansett teenager from Rhode Island who competes in traditional dance at regional powwows.

Format: moving image

Publisher / Publication Date: 2023

Copies Available at Woodmere

Summary: How far do you have to travel to find yourself? And what sacrifices are you willing to make to get there? Veiga Grétarsdóttir is the first person in the world to attempt to kayak over 2,000 kilometers around Iceland, counter-clockwise and "against the current." This achievement has been said to be comparable to climbing the mountain K2. Veiga's journey is no less remarkable. She was born 44...

Format: moving image

Publisher / Publication Date: 2021

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Summary: The story of cinematography as seen through the lenses of the world's greatest filmmakers and captured in classic scenes from over 125 immortal movies. Traces the evolution and innovations of cinematography beginning in an era when the movie camera was a marvelous invention, and examines how the filmmaking process was complicated by new cinematic trends and technologies.

Format: moving image

Publisher / Publication Date: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment 2000

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Summary: Viewers will see the nail-biting behind-the-scenes story that traces the marriage equality movement's historic progress and reveals the masterminds who fought.

Format: moving image

Publisher / Publication Date: 2019

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Summary: Tying The Knot: The Union That's Dividing America poignantly explores the ferocious political battle in the U.S. over equal marriage rights. It uncovers the meaning of marriage, focusing appropriately on rights, privilege, and love.

Format: moving image

Publisher / Publication Date: Docurama 2005

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Summary: Ten questions are posed to His Holiness the Dalai Lama by filmmaker and explorer Rick Ray. Ray examines some of the fundamental questions of our time by weaving together observations from his own journeys throughout India and the Middle East, and the wisdom of an extraordinary spiritual leader.

Format: moving image

Publisher / Publication Date: Monterey Video 2007

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Summary: "This captivating documentary film tells the story of the Russian all-girl punk rock band Pussy Riot, who stood up to the Russian government's human rights oppression and paid the price by being incarcerated in 2011. But rather than silencing their voices, the incident only amplified them, turning the band into a global symbol of feminist political activism, culminating in their widely seen...

Format: moving image

Publisher / Publication Date: 2018

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Summary: In October 1942, Esther Stermer, the matriarch of a Jewish family in the Ukraine, leads her family underground to hide from the pursuing Nazis and stays nearly a year and a half. Their harrowing story of survival living in near total darkness in two cold, damp caves is one like no other ever told.

Format: moving image

Publisher / Publication Date: Magnolia Home Entertainment 2013

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Summary: From the first smartphones to social media, eBay to emojis, the ideas that dominate lives were born at a 1989 tech startup never heard of. It is a tale of how a great vision and an epic failure changed the world.

Format: moving image

Publisher / Publication Date: 2019

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