Arts & Humanities
Showing all 58 results
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All About Looking
Renowned American artist Jim Dine teaches drawing (from male and female nude models) at the famed Internationale Sommerakademie fur Bildene Kunst in Salzburg, Austria.
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Archeology of Memory: Villa Grimaldi
This beautifully crafted, poignant, and timely documentary explores the power of art to heal the trauma of torture. The film follows exiled Chilean musician Quique Cruz from the San Francisco Bay Area to Chile and back as he creates a multimedia installation and musical suite in an effort to heal the emotional wounds inflicted on him by the state-sponsored torture of the Pinochet regime.
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The Art of Regret
This brilliant and keenly observed documentary, by renowned ethnographic filmmaker Judith MacDougall, explores the digital revolution in China, where photography is known as the “art of regret.”
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Autumn’s Work
This is the third of the four films that make up the series, Mr. Coperthwaite: A Life in the Maine Woods. This beautifully shot and edited film follows Bill Coperthwaite as he prepares for winter in the woods.
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The Ballad and the Source
The tradition of unaccompanied ballad singing is very old and still cherished in Great Britain, though only a few traditional singers are still alive.
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Beijing
Conveys the texture and flavor of the venerable Chinese capital through a close-up look at a number of its inhabitants, both young and old, with varied and fascinating backgrounds. Their stories unfold against the backdrop of a timeless but rapidly changing metropolis.
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Between Light and Shadow: Maya Women in Transition
This vibrant, wide-ranging documentary examines the impact on contemporary Maya culture of changes in the lives and expectations of Maya women in Guatemala.
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Carnival in Q’eros
This groundbreaking documentary, by renowned filmmaker and musician John Cohen, shows the remarkable Carnival celebrations — never before seen by outsiders — of a remote community of Indians high in the Peruvian Andes.
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Dancing with the Incas
This extraordinary film documents the most popular music of the Andes — Huayno music — and explores the lives of three Huayno musicians in a contemporary Peru torn between the military and the Shining Path guerrillas.
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Daughters of Ixchel: Maya Thread of Change
This illuminating documentary explores the lives of Maya women today, portrays their ancient weaving processes, and examines the economic, political, and cultural forces that are profoundly affecting the women and their weaving.
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Diya
This innovative ethnographic documentary by renowned filmmaker Judith MacDougall follows the life history of an important cultural object through the everyday experiences of the people who make, sell, and use it.
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The End of an Old Song
Filmed in the mountains of North Carolina, this acclaimed documentary by renowned filmmaker John Cohen revisits the region where English folklorist Cecil Sharp collected British ballads in the early 1900s.
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Festive Land: Carnaval in Bahia
This perceptive and engaging documentary examines one of the largest and most extraordinary popular celebrations in the world, the week-long Carnaval that brings more than two million people to the streets of Salvador, the capital of Bahia, in northeastern Brazil.
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Fifty Miles from Times Square
A colorful portrait of life in Putnam County, New York, with its "old-time fiddlers, farmers, commuters, and hippies," where an earlier, more traditional, relaxed style of life continues.
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Funny Old Guys
Frank Tarloff was a man for whom there were "no more victories." This poignant and deeply affecting documentary, filled with the sparkling humor of its subjects and a perceptive eye for compelling moments of revelation, follows Frank and his friends through the last months of his life.
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The Great Ceremony to Straighten the World
Caught between the seduction of prosperity and the threat of cultural disintegration, the people of Bali engage in ceremonies. Through them, the Balinese attempt to maintain balance with God, nature, and one another, and also to turn the recent prosperity from the booming tourist trade into a way of invigorating their culture.
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Gypsies Sing Long Ballads
Scotland’s Gypsies have lived outside mainstream society for more than 500 years. This remarkable documentary, by renowned filmmaker and musician John Cohen, celebrates their traditional music.
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The High Lonesome Sound
This classic documentary, by renowned filmmaker John Cohen, evocatively illustrates how music and religion help the rural poor of Appalachia maintain their dignity and traditions in the face of change and hardship.
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In and Out of Africa
This extraordinary documentary is one of the most intelligent, perceptive, and engaging films ever made on African culture and art. It explores with irony and humor issues of authenticity, taste, and racial politics in the transnational trade in African art.
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Jim Dine: A Self-Portrait on the Walls
This Academy-Award nominee for “Best Short Documentary” records eight days of intense work and quiet rumination as internationally renowned artist Jim Dine produces an exhibition of huge, bold charcoal drawings directly on the walls of the Ludwigsburg Kunstverein near Stuttgart, Germany.
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Kamakha Through Prayerful Eyes
This "finely crafted, lyrical exploration of a sacred site" creatively captures the complexity and mystery surrounding Kamakhya Temple, an ancient place of fertility worship in India’s northeastern state of Assam. This temple is unique among Hindu temples of the Devi (the Goddess) in that it enshrines no image of Her.
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Looking for Me
This classic and universally acclaimed documentary demonstrates the importance and the delights of experiencing one’s body. It provides a unique record of dance therapist Janet Adler working to develop movement awareness with normal and emotionally disturbed children and with a group of teachers.
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Losing Knowledge: 50 Years of Change
This profound ethnographic documentary explores the myriad of ways in which centuries-old indigenous knowledge is rapidly vanishing in the southern Mexican village of Talea, Oaxaca, and by extension throughout the world.
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Mas Fever: Inside Trinidad Carnival
Carnival in the New World is a synthesis of European elements — Christian traditions and the masquerade — and African elements — primarily music and dance. In Trinidad, Carnival is a colorful, exuberant celebration of national focus and pride.
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Mi Puerto Rico
This wide-ranging and much-honored documentary explores Puerto Rico’s rich cultural traditions and untold history, revealing the remarkable stories of its revolutionaries and abolitionists, poets and patriots.
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Monkey Dance (PBS Version)
This extraordinary documentary provides an illuminating and richly discussible case study of immigrant acculturation in contemporary America.
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Monkey Dance (Director’s Version)
This extraordinary documentary provides an illuminating and richly discussible case study of immigrant acculturation in contemporary America.
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Mountain Music of Peru
This classic documentary on the centuries-old music of the Andes demonstrates the importance or the region’s musical heritage in preserving the cultural identity of the impoverished native peoples.
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Mr. Coperthwaite: A Life in the Maine Woods
An eloquent and thought-provoking meditation on time and process, this “intense, revelatory” four-part series presents an unforgettable portrait of a remarkable life – one shaped by nature, work, poetry, and the rhythm of changing seasons.
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Musical Holdouts
This classic, entertaining documentary on American traditional music features varied individuals and groups who have not become part of the “melting pot” of American society.
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The Myth of the Buddha’s Birthplace
This fascinating and thought-provoking documentary explores the process by which a modern myth is created. The film illustrates how the people in a small village in eastern India have come to believe that the Buddha was born in their village, despite ample evidence to the contrary.
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Pericles in America
This musical portrait of immigrant clarinetist Pericles Halkias and the Epirot-Greek community explores the aspirations and ambivalences of Greek-Americans.
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Peruvian Weaving
This informative documentary examines warp pattern weaving in Peru, an ancient Andean Indian tradition handed down from woman to woman for some 5,000 years.
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Photo Wallahs
Renowned ethnographic filmmakers David and Judith MacDougall explore the many meanings of photography in this profound and award-winning documentary set in India.
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The Pilgrimage to the Sanctuary of the Lord of Qoyllur Rit’i: The Walk Experience
Once a year in the Cuzco region of Peru, the former center of the Inca empire, some 50,000 pilgrims flock to the highest sanctuary of the world to participate in the largest pilgrimage of the Andean region.
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Pomo Basketweavers: A Tribute to Three Elders
This remarkable documentary provides an in-depth introduction to the history, culture, and basketweaving traditions of the Pomo Indian women of northern California.
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Popol Vuh: The Creation Myth of the Maya
This much-honored animated film employs authentic imagery from ancient Maya ceramics to create a riveting depiction of the Popol Vuh, the Maya creation myth and the foundation of most Native American religious, philosophical, and ethical beliefs.
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Popol Vuh: The Creation Myth of the Maya (Spanish Version)
This much-honored animated film employs authentic imagery from ancient Maya ceramics to create a riveting depiction of the Popol Vuh, the Maya creation myth and the foundation of most Native American religious, philosophical, and ethical beliefs. This is the Spanish-language version.
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Post-Industrial Fiddle
This deceptively simple but profound film explores the importance of music-making in the life of a pulp mill worker in rural Maine. His "Down East" fiddling style is homemade music, influenced largely by local traditions.
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Q’eros: The Shape of Survival
This classic documentary, by renowned filmmaker John Cohen, provides a multifaceted exploration of the way of life of the Q’eros Indians of Peru, who have lived in the Andes for more than 3,000 years.
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Record Store
As the American music industry struggles to find its place in the digital world, many music enthusiasts continue to buy and collect vinyl records, sometimes to their financial and emotional detriment. This remarkable documentary explores the various urban subcultures at an independent record store in Philadelphia, focusing on the store’s owners, employees, and customers.
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Roman Restaurant Rhythms
This delightful and mouth-watering documentary provides a "backstage," behind-the-scenes foray into the rhythms of food preparation in four traditional restaurants in Rome.
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Salsa in Japan: A Japanese and Latino Mix
This remarkable documentary on multiculturalism explores the growing subculture of salsa dancing in Japan, where salsa dancing and salsa clubs serve as a source of interaction and cultural mingling between native Japanese and Latino immigrants to Japan.
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Sand Painting: Sacred Art of Tibet
In this beautifully photographed and fascinating documentary, Tibetan monks from the Dalai Lama’s personal monastery, Namgyal, create the mandala of Kalachakra, the most sacred of all Buddhist sand paintings.
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Sanpachando: St. Pacho Is for the Revelers
This exceptional and engaging documentary is an important contribution to the growing body of work on the African Diaspora and Latin America. It perceptively explores the intertwined cultural, religious, political, and afro-ethnic meanings of a vibrant festival honoring St. Francis of Assisi in Quibdo, Choco, on the northwest Pacific coast of Colombia.
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Sara and Maybelle
A rare filmed performance of two members of the original Carter family, whose recordings helped found the country music industry. Here Sara and Maybelle demonstrate their famous guitar picking and harmony singing on "Sweet Fern" and "Solid Gone."
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Sexism in Language: Thief of Honor, Shaper of Lies
Designed for use in a broad range of educational settings and disciplines, this lively and provocative video analyzes the gender bias that permeates our everyday language.
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Singing Sentiment
This "beautifully evocative portrait" documents the life and activities of elderly quan ho folk singer, Nguyen Thi Ban, in Diem Village, Bac Ninh Province, northern Vietnam.
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Spring in Dickinson’s Reach
This is the first of the four films that make up the series, Mr. Coperthwaite: A Life in the Maine Woods. This film establishes, literally and metaphorically, the scope of Bill Coperthwaite’s world as it explores the unique environment that he has crafted in the Maine forest.
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Still Looking
This film documents the recent work of Janet Adler, the noted movement therapist whose earlier work was profiled 20 years ago in the classic film,“Looking for Me.”
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A Summer Task
This is the second of the four films that make up the series, Mr. Coperthwaite: A Life in the Maine Woods. This tightly-focused film examines the rhythm and tempo of work in the forest. It follows Bill Coperthwaite and his cousin, Steve, as they fell and haul trees to build a bridge and begin charting a new trail through the woods.
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Suzhou
Known for centuries as the center of Chinese culture and aesthetics, this Yangzi delta city has often been called the "Venice of the East" because of its many canals and bridges. This beautifully filmed portrait of the city leads the viewer through markets and teahouses, sweet shops and bookstores, rice paddies and fish stalls, and two of Suzhou’s exquisite gardens.
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Taksu: Music in the Life of Bali
This sensitive documentary is an American musician’s unique portrait of Balinese life, art, and spirituality.
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Trobriand Cricket: An Ingenious Response to Colonialism (Digitally Remastered Version)
One of the world’s best-known and most honored ethnographic films, this classic documentary depicts the many modifications made by Trobriand Islanders, in Papua New Guinea, to the traditional British game of cricket.
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Under the Palace Wall
Noted ethnographic filmmaker David MacDougall here employs a masterful series of precisely observed scenes to explore the local primary school and contemporary village life of Delwara, in southern Rajasthan, India.
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Visions of Mary Frank
This intimate and revelatory documentary, by the noted filmmaker, photographer, and musician John Cohen, profiles the life and art of New York artist Mary Frank. In the words of Tom Huhn, Chair of Art History and Visual and Critical Studies at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, “This beautiful film is a profound demonstration of the continuity from art to life to art-making…” and “one of the most powerful and intimate portraits of an artist that we had ever seen.”
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Winter Days
This is the fourth of the four films that make up the series, Mr. Coperthwaite: A Life in the Maine Woods. This evocative film reveals the stillness and quietness of the forest in winter.
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Xian
This wide-ranging documentary presents a cultural history of the ancient Chinese imperial city, once the greatest capital in the world and the Eastern terminus of the famed Silk Road.
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