Documentary Educational Resources - Geography / North America / United States / New York / All Films

Ciao Babylon

Tue, 29 Jan 2019 06:43:00 GMT

Ciao Babylon takes us to New York where Dan Kaufman is committed to preserving endangered languages. The film also follows Giancarlo Malchiodi from Brooklyn to the Swiss Alps on his way to rediscover his mother tongue Romanish, a language that may die out within a few decades. Experts believe that by the end of the century half of the 6,500 languages spoken today will have vanished; and with every language dies a unique way of perceiving the world. Ciao Babylon calls attention to this dramatic development.

In New York City roughly 800 languages are spoken, more than in any other city. In order to uncover these linguistic treasures and record the diverse range of idioms, linguist Dan Kaufman established the Endangered Language Alliance (ELA). Amalia Malchiodi is an ELA regular who records stories in an old Romontsch Sursilvan dialect. Her son Giancarlo spoke perfect Romansh as a boy, but later, as he says, decided out of youthful exuberance to only speak English. He now regrets that he is no longer proficient in the language of his forefathers. This is why he has started to relearn the language and eventually embarks on a trip with Amalia to Sagogn, his mother’s hometown. There they meet a Portuguese family whose children are growing up with the Romansh language, which they are learning with relative ease given its similarity to their mother tongue. As a result, the many Portuguese immigrants in Grisons are becoming the new hope for the preservation of Romansh in Switzerland.

Precisely these kinds of surprising, unpredictable twists in the evolution of languages are fascinating to Dan Kaufman. He says that no one can predict which languages will still be spoken in 200 years and which ones will only survive in the archives of the ELA.

"One of the film’s strengths is its glimpse on historical language survival. Where the film shines, is in exploring the individual reactions to language death and those fighting to preserve language at individual and/or community levels."
-Amanda Jo Melchor, Reference & Instruction Librarian, Texas A&M University, Kingsville

SELECTED SCREENINGS

Margaret Mead Film Festival, New York, 2018

Shanghai International Film and TV Festival, China, 2018

Solothurner Filmtage, Switzerland, 2018

Le Grand Bivouac festival du film documentaire & du livre, France, 2019

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Da Feast!

Thu, 30 Aug 2018 07:04:00 GMT

Da Feast!
Buy Now: $295.00

“Uaglio ! (Boys!); Aizati i spalli" (Lift your shoulders); Acconge i cosce" (Tighten your legs); "Aggiet!" (Throw it!).” Each summer for the past one hundred years, local residents on an otherwise tranquil block in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn turn their lives upside down for two weeks in order to host the reenactment of a centuries-old religious pageant. The annual feast of San Paulino di Nola has its roots in an archaic fertility rite with exotic pagan undertones. Italians from the Campanese village of Nola, who emigrated to Williamsburg in the 1880's, brought their blessed saint statues, fig trees and traditional values to New York. Soon after they arrived to a new world of stoops and storefronts, they formed a special “society,” dedicated to maintaining the annual feast of their hometown saint in their new-world neighborhood. But what makes this display so spectacular is an 85-foot, 3-ton obelisk known as the Giglio, which, along with a full brass band and church pastor, is hoisted on the shoulders of 100 neighborhood men and carried aloft through the streets. The blocks-long procession provokes many moods, alternating between reflective piety and frenzied hysteria, around which fireworks are set off and everyone receives a fertility blessing. Da Feast! celebrates a very special day in the life of the Giglio, on its 100th anniversary in the streets of Williamsburg. While the intimate documentary features the neighborhood's dynamic young priest, Father Fonti; the ceremony's Capo Paranza, Phil Galasso; an appearance by Brooklyn's colorful Borough president, Marty Markowitz; and a swinging original jazz score by Joe Magnarelli, the real star is filmmaker (and Williamsburg resident) Artemis Willis' 96-year-old landlord, Massimino — who built the Giglio in Italy and brought his craft and his soul to Brooklyn. More than a block party or a church social, the Feast continues to unfold on personal, political, communal, familial, and cosmic levels in this constantly changing community. Today, zeppole carts are likely to stand adjacent to henna tattoo parlors, and the area's young hipsters observe a lesson in community from the local Italian Americans, and they both embrace a soundtrack that ranges from ancient folksongs to “Gonna Fly Now” (the theme from Rocky).

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Fashioning Faith

Wed, 29 Aug 2018 14:53:00 GMT

Fashioning Faith
Buy Now: $295.00

When most Americans think of the Islamic veil, the image of Afghan women in blue burkas or the black chador of the Islamic Republic of Iran may come to mind. But what about the Muslim-American woman who easily combines her headscarf with jeans or haute couture gowns?

Fashioning Faith takes a behind the scenes look at the emerging world of Islamic fashion and US-based clothing designers who make it possible. The film interweaves interviews and verité footage from a diverse array of Muslim women with one goal in common – to express their faith through fashion.

Nzinga Knight is a young Brooklynite who has won fashion accolades for her modest evening dresses – a first for the Islamic style market in America. Jenneh Williams has been in the Islamic retail business for decades, recently opening up her own boutique in Queens that caters to the growing number of black converts to Islam. Sabrina Enayatulla is a blogger fashionista with a mission – to change negative stereotypes of Islam through stylish creations. Brooke Samad hopes that her pious clothing collection will hit home with young professional Muslims looking for new alternatives to traditional garb, while the designers of the Eva Khurshid label seek to attract all Americans — regardless of creed — to their stylish clothing by making modesty the new mainstream.

Through these women's stories, Fashioning Faith takes viewers on a colorful exploration of a world where fashion and faith fuse with often surprising results.

“An excellent film for introductory anthropology courses. At one level, Fashioning Faith is a primer on Muslim women in the United States and the fact that they actually freely choose to wear modest clothing. But at a deeper level, for anthropology courses this film offers teachers an opportunity to explore more deeply how gender empowerment does not necessarily equate to encouraging women to compete with men. …Fashioning Faith shows us how gender segregation sanctions women's economic empowerment through means that most Americans would mistakenly consider singularly repressive.”
— Carolyn Rouse, Current Anthropology, Vol. 53, No. 3 (June 2012), pp. 368-366

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Five Films on Police

Wed, 29 Aug 2018 14:53:00 GMT

Five Films on Police
Buy Now: $320.00

These films are a view of police officers as instruments for social service for all rather than just law enforcement bringing down on criminals the punishment of the law. They were made for use during group discussions where the police could share their immediate experiences with one another and with the people from hospitals in their communities. Written material supplemented the films during these discussions, which encouraged the participants to cite their own experiences. Instead of just blaming the police and making them feel guilty, this dialog created some understanding. The first four of these films were produced through the Louisiana Association for Mental Health in collaboration with its executive director, Dr. Loyd Rowland (1902-1981).

The series was co-sponsored by International Association of Chiefs of Police, with support from the National Institute for Mental Health. The fifth film was made last with the New York Police Department. George C. Stoney, producer of the projects, recalls, "I think they had a real effect on the medical professionals and the police. These group screenings brought them together and helped them recognize their common problems." The same problems are facing communities now. Perhaps these films can inspire further dialog, as they did when they were originally released.

Booked for Safekeeping (1960, 32 min) Designed to help police officers understand how to respond to situations involving people with mental illnesses. Made with New Orleans Police Dept.

The Cry for Help (1962, 33 min) Teaches police officers how to interact with suicidal individuals. Made with the Chicago Police Dept.

The Mask (1963, 33 min) A film designed to make police officers aware that alcohol can disguise or mask serious physical and mental illnesses. Made with the Cleveland Police Dept.

Under Pressure (1964, 32 min) Targeted toward police officers, this film discusses personal and emotional problems related to the job. Made with Cleveland Police Dept.

The Man in the Middle (1966, 22 min) Shows police how they can work more sensitively with the communities they serve. Made with New York City Police Dept.

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Hudson Shad

Wed, 29 Aug 2018 13:27:00 GMT

Hudson Shad
Buy Now: $295.00

Folk music legend and environmental activist Pete Seeger, in despair over the pollution of his beloved Hudson River, launched a project to clean it up in the sixties. In Hudson Shad, Seeger and others in the "River Keepers," make a statement about our responsibility for keeping the waters of the river clean enough for the shad to thrive.

Co-director James Brown, who grew up near the banks of the river, felt a responsibility for sharing through this film a general concern for the relationship between contamination of the river and the survival of its natural inhabitants. Showing the film to people concerned with the Hudson River helped them garner colleagues and supporters towards the cause. Seeger has continued the work, with the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater.

Hudson Shad has been restored with a grant from the National Film Preservation Foundation.

Also included on the DVD: Planning for Floods (color, 29 min, 1974)

A documentary commissioned for distribution and use by the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), an organization founded by Dennis Puleston and others, to raise awareness around conservation issues and promote public environmental responsibility. Though focused on the immediate community of the Mississippi River, the film's message applies well beyond that region, also anticipating by more than 30 years present-day concerns about global warming. Significantly, it suggests positive action rather than just "ain't it awful."Today this film is applicable to our environmental concerns especially if it is used to promote public action, legislation and education. Planning for Floods is used courtesy of EDF.

This DVD is part of the George C. Stoney Collection

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Love Iranian-American Style

Wed, 29 Aug 2018 06:41:00 GMT

Love Iranian-American Style
Buy Now: $320.00

Sexual purity, money and a mother's worries come together in this humorous guided tour of America's status-obsessed Iranian Jewish community. The film follows Tanaz, the narrator, a hip New Yorker whose Iranian family attempts to marry her off now that she's reached the age of 25. Tanaz vacillates between soppy American ideas of romance, and a more business-like Iranian approach, and in the end may be unable to execute either.

Her mother was proud of her for going to college and being independent, but now that Tanaz remains single she fears that her daughter is too liberal, Americanized and confused. Trying to bring her back into the fold, her mom arranges dates with conservative Iranian suitors who expect Tanaz to be demure and virginal. Though she feels some shame about her transgressions, she is still repelled that a man would care about purity, especially after she encounters a doctor in Beverly Hills specializing in hymen reconstruction.

When Tanaz breaks from her family's expectations and dates American men, she can't help bringing with her the immense pressure to get married, and the American boys tell her that this obsession kills love. Tanaz fantasizes about simply finding another Iranian "weirdo" like herself - who is caught between two cultures and two very different marital traditions.

"Love Iranian-American Style provides a powerful insight to how family and culture influence how we live our lives and interact in our relationships... If you have ever had problems finding a lasting relationship, you can relate to her in her journey."
— Elizabeth Stannard Gromisch, Feminist Review

SELECTED SCREENINGS & AWARDS

New York Jewish Film Festival, January 2006

India International Women Film Festival, New Delhi, 2007

American Psychological Association Convention, Boston, 2008

Iranian Diaspora Film Screening, Philadelphia, PA, 2009

Iranian Diasporic Film Series, University of Leeds, UK, 2010

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Nothing to Lose

Tue, 28 Aug 2018 14:11:00 GMT

Nothing to Lose
Buy Now: $295.00

In a culture obsessed with obesity and weight loss, there are groups of "fat activists" who attempt to change a fatphobic world into a size-accepting world. These fat activists span the political and religious spectrum, yet come together around their commitment to ending size discrimination."

Nothing to Lose presents the activities of the local New York chapter of the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance (NAAFA) as they advance their platform through engagements with mass-media, dissemination of information, and creative local actions. By adopting the provocative position that linking fat with ill-health is misguided and legitimizes prejudicial attitudes and behavior toward those with fat bodies, Nothing to Lose is a film that encourages its viewers to rethink the stereotypes and assumptions they hold about body size.

“…an excellent introduction to fat oppression and the need to challenge it. The short length (only 18 min) makes it easy to use in the classroom, where it would make a good basis for a discussion of looksism, sizism, and fat oppression in women's studies, sociology, and psychology courses. It is also a good introduction to activism in general, as viewers will appreciate the importance of taking action, the camaraderie of working collectively, and the creativity of the activist projects.”
— Joan C. Chrisler & Elyse R. Lebel, Fat Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Body Weight and Society, Volume 1, Issue 2, 2012

SELECTED SCREENINGS & AWARDS

5th Samsung Women's International Festival, India, 2012

International Festival of Ethnographic Film, Quebec, Canada, 2009

Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival, Ithaca, NY, 2008

American Psychological Association Convention, Boston, 2008

European Association of Social Anthropologists' Film, Video & New Media Festival, Slovenia, 2008

Popular Culture Association & American Culture Association National Conference, Boston, 2007

Tremblant Film Festival, Montreal, Canada, June 2006

Society for Visual Anthropology/American Anthropological Association Conference, San Jose, California, 2006

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On Broadway

Tue, 28 Aug 2018 13:51:00 GMT

On Broadway
Buy Now: $320.00

This work is a subtle investigation of the ordinary spaces that transform and transition between the playful and the sacred as individuals enter and perform routine acts of worship or leisure. In this work consisting of several long takes, the viewer experiences the rhythms of folding and unfolding as a visual metaphor for the boundary between these seemingly disparate acts.

As in the recent case of the "Ground Zero mosque," On Broadway questions the relationships between religion, public spaces and memory in contemporary American society. It unsettles various conservative yet established ideas about the role of the "secular" in a multicultural society and asks its viewers to rethink the term's fluidity. This work is a structural account that provides subtle yet political commentary on the case.

Recorded during fall 2008 inside "a mosque" in downtown Manhattan, On Broadway asks: what does it mean to be Muslim in Manhattan? What does it mean to be a "multicultural Muslim"? This film reassembles this issue through a return to the moving image's core, namely temporality. Such an attempt endeavors to reexamine the relation between time and space, in turn transforming cinema into a stage.

As its title alludes to, On Broadway is a "song" of transformations in space and piety. Conceived as an investigation of the spatiality of religion and identity, the twist at the end of the work questions the boundaries between the spiritual and the mundane, the collective and the individual, the everyday and the political.

“Somewhere underground in New York, we witness a traditional Moslem service. The how and why of the service remains a fascinating puzzle until the end of the film. A film about dedication, faith and overcrowding in New York City.”
— Rotterdam International Film Festival

“. . . the film asserts the idea that camera placement is a creative practice in itself and, second, the recorded output confirms that the audience is invited along to enjoy the event and draw its own interpretations of the event. Pure cinema? In theory, this film may be classified as such, but the appeal of watching the event unfold over the course of its duration is akin to watching a flower come into full bloom.”
— Eric Sasono, Indonesian Film Critic

SELECTED SCREENINGS & AWARDS

Aperture Asia Pacific International Ethnographic Documentary Festival, Australia, 2013

International Film Festival Rotterdam, Netherlands, 2010

Indonesian Documentary Film Festival, Indonesia, 2010

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Race or Reason

Tue, 28 Aug 2018 08:59:00 GMT

Race or Reason
Buy Now: $320.00

“If you get involved in the community when growing up, and adults listen, you'll feel empowered and never forget it.” — Betty Puleston

In 1969-70, when race riots were sweeping across America in the wake of the civil rights movement, Bellport, a small town on Long Island, NY, was caught in the storm. The town was divided between its poor African-American and Puerto Rican population and affluent whites. The local high school became the scene of angry confrontations, resulting in its temporary closure and a police presence.

The house of community resident Betty Puleston was being used as a meeting place where black, white and Latino students could air their grievances. To help out, she gave the students two port-a-pac video cameras following a concept introduced by the National Film Board of Canada. The hope was that media could be used to facilitate dialog. That hope was realized, as the students recorded their concerns and felt empowered by being able to question adults in their community.

Thirty years later, these same students regroup to view the tapes. Despite the crude production values of these early black and white tapes, the images clearly reveal the passion of the young activists who felt that minority rights could no longer be ignored. We learn that the students have gone on to lead productive lives -- a social worker, lawyer, community organizer and a policeman are among them.

This film will introduce today's youth to the civil rights problems of the 70's, where suburban schools, even in the North, did not employ African-American teachers nor teach black history. It will inspire students, learning that they can make a difference as their predecessors did, and it will show how effective media can be to facilitate conflict resolution.

SELECTED SCREENINGS & AWARDS

Margaret Mead Film Festival, 2002

Museum of Modern Art, George Stoney Retrospective screening, 2009

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The Shepherd of the Night Flock

Tue, 28 Aug 2018 07:47:00 GMT

The Shepherd of the Night Flock
Buy Now: $320.00

The Shepherd of the Night Flock is a documentary about a jazz ministry at St. Peter's Lutheran Church in Manhattan which was led by Father John Garcia Gensel.

Gensel formed the Jazz Vespers for those musicians of his growing night ministry who couldn't make it to Sunday morning service after playing late Saturday night gigs. The ministry became the church home for many musicians, including Zoot Sims, Billy Strayhorn and Billy Taylor, and even the legendary jazz great Duke Ellington. Ellington called Pastor Gensel "the shepherd who watches over the night flock," eventually inspiring the title for this film.

The church's community and programming were incredibly varied, often creating a divide among parishioners. While elderly German church members ran a traditional morning service, the Jazz Vespers sang and worshipped in the evening. More traditional church-goers perceived the Jazz Vespers as a group starkly different from them, far disconnected from what their idea of what a congregation should be. Thus, The Shepherd of the Night Flock evolved into a tool to introduce different parts of the congregation to each other.

Stoney quickly realized the unifying potential of the film: "And so, we started making stuff about the Jazz Vespers, and then combining 10 minutes of the morning service and 10 minutes of the Jazz Vespers. And we found that the morning people didn't realize that the Jazz Vespers was actually a religious experience, and the Jazz Vespers people saw that the morning service people really cared about the traditions of the church. And it began to pull the congregation together."

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