Documentary Educational Resources - Geography / Central America / Nicaragua / All Films

A Family in History

Wed, 29 Aug 2018 14:52:00 GMT

A Family in History
Buy Now: $320.00

Digitally Remastered 2-DVD Set

Living at Risk: The Story of a Nicaraguan Family, made in 1984-85 at the height of the Contra war, brings us inside Sandinista Nicaragua five years after the revolution that overthrew the dictator Anastasio Somoza. It centers on five siblings of the privileged, well-connected Barrios family, all deeply committed to the revolution and working for it in various capacities, often at considerable risk to themselves.

The second DVD, The Barrios Family 25 Years Later, including a group of 20 short films made in 2009-10, long after the historical opportunity for large-scale social transformation in Nicaragua had passed. This collection of works carry forward the story of the Barrios family and their country, tracing their multi-generational struggle to find ways to live and work according to the ideals that inspired their youth.

This chronicle, unusual for its depth and completeness, is a case study in the opportunities and frustrations history offers to the individuals who live through it. It will be of special interest to students of Latin America, politics, history, sociology and biography.

Disc 1 - Living at Risk: The Story of a Nicaraguan Family (59 min, 1985, 4:3 fullscreen)

The film centers on five brothers and sisters who commit themselves to remaining and working with the revolutionary government in various professional capacities: medicine, community organizing, agricultural reform. This valuable documentary provides a dimension lacking in other films about Nicaragua: a sense of the fabric of everyday life, of the ways in which perpetual danger and tension are incorporated into the ongoing vital routines of doing one's job, raising one's family, going to market, finding entertainment, treating the sick, feeding the hungry. Level-headed and deeply felt, Living At Risk conveys above all an impression of quiet, believable heroism, most vividly in a dramatic sequence of a doctor delivering a vaccine to a remote village where his predecessor was recently executed by the counter-revolutionaries.

Disc 2 - The Barrios Family 25 Years Later (131 min, 2011, 16:9 anamorphic)

Made in 2009-2010, long after the historical opportunity for large-scale social transformation in Nicaragua had passed. This set of 20 short films — portraits, interviews, short documentaries — carries forward the story of the Barrios family, tracing their multi-generational struggle to find ways to live and work according to the ideals that once inspired them to put their lives at risk.

Film Festivals, Awards, Screenings

6th International Festival of Anthropology Film Festival, University of British Columbia, Canada, 2012
Film Forum, New York
Red Ribbon, American Film Festival
Vancouver Film Festival
Festival dei Popoli, Florence, Italy
Robert Flaherty Seminar
Melbourne Film Festival
Cinéma du réel, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris
Tyneside Film Festival, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England
Telecast by WNET, New York and other public television stations

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Java Jive

Wed, 29 Aug 2018 11:12:00 GMT

Java Jive
Buy Now: $295.00

"Hot as hell, strong as sin, and black as the devil". However you take it - or even if you don't - coffee has a special status in society. Fast-paced and lively, Java Jive explores the vitality of cafe culture, the conditions of coffee production and the links between the two.

Traveling through Latin American coffee plantations, the NY Coffee Exchange, espresso-making and the old-fashioned coffee house now being taken over by corporate chains and franchises, the film mixes the serious with the silly, the entertaining with the informative. Java Jive is a caffeinated journey into a surprisingly complex world that is part stimulant, part ritual, part fun and all business.

Recommended for Cultural Studies, Communication, Western/American Culture/ Latin American Studies, Economics/World Economy/US Economy.

SELECTED SCREENINGS & AWARDS

Honorable Mention, 47th Columbus International Film & Video Festival

Latin American Studies Association, selection September 2001

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A Life Without Words

Wed, 29 Aug 2018 06:41:00 GMT

A Life Without Words
Buy Now: $320.00

What would life be like without language? For too many deaf people raised in rural outposts, access to a sign-language community is denied and they are condemned to a life without words.

Such injustice deserves our attention and is explored with care in this haunting story of two deaf siblings, Dulce Maria (28) and Francisco (22), who have been raised their entire lives without access to any written, spoken, or signed language on a farm in northern Nicaragua. They are visited by a Deaf sign-language teacher who works for a local NGO and is determined to teach the siblings their first words. As the two begin their awakening to language, their resistance is clear, but so is their marvel at the teacher and this process.

Their stories are interwoven with the economic and familial history of their family. As we enter their isolated world, uncomfortable questions arise about education, psychology, language, ethics, class, and NGO work. With an unsettling mix of tragedy and hope, this moving work avoids hard and fast answers to the challenging questions it poses.

“The film, flowing with sublime images, is as poignant as it is captivating. We follow the awakening of Dulce Maria and Francisco with our heart hurting and a tight smile on our lips. Their "lives without words" reveal more than thousands of books. Not to be missed for anything.” — La Dépêche du Midi

“A masterpiece of aesthetic images and a plea for language as a fundamental human right.” — DOK.fest Munich

“A film of beautiful images and deep pain. It delves into
the world of rural Latin America with a view that is neither anthropological nor paternalistic.” — El Otro Cine

“It makes you think about how extraordinary it is to have language… It's beautifully done.” — Faye Ginsburg, anthropologist

SELECTED SCREENINGS & AWARDS

Winner, Best Documentary, Maine Deaf Festival, USA, 2014

Winner, Best Film, CINEDEAF Rome International Deaf Film Festival, Italy, 2013

Winner, Margaret Mead Filmmakers Award, Margaret Mead Film Festival, New York, 2012

Winner, Prix Documentaire, Cinélatino Rencontres de Toulouse, France, 2012

Winner, Prix Lycéen, Cinélatino Rencontres de Toulouse, France, 2012

Special Mention - Emerging International Filmmaker, Open City London Documentary Film Festival, U.K., 2012

Eyes and Lenses Film Festival, Poland, 2014

Maine Deaf Film Festival, USA, 2014

ETHNOCINECA, Austria, 2014

Days of Ethnographic Film, Slovenia, 2014

The Archaeology Channel International Film and Video Festival, USA, 2014

CINEDEAF Rome International Deaf Film Festival, Italy, 2013

HumanDOC International Film Festival, Poland, 2013

Intimate Lens Ethnographic Film Festival, Italy, 2013

Havana Film Festival, Cuba, 2012

DOK.fest International Documentary Film Festival, Germany, 2012

Istanbul International Film Festival, Turkey, 2012

Douarnenez Film Festival, France, 2012

Beeld voor Beeld Film Festival, Netherlands, 2012

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