Participant Media
21) Food, Inc
Language
English
Description
Lifts the veil on our nation's food industry, exposing how our nation's food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profits ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and our own environment. Reveals surprising - and often shocking truths - about what we eat, how it's produced and who we have become as a nation.
Language
English
Description
For the one hundred and twenty-six people aboard the Deepwater Horizon offshore oil rig, April 20, 2010, began like any normal day. Before day's end, the world would bear witness to one of the greatest man-made disasters in U.S. history. It reveals the brave acts of the men and women who rose to the challenge and risked everything to lead others to safety.
Language
English
Description
This book explores politically charged topics through a series of essays by thinkers at the leading edge of educational innovation. It shows how failing schools destroy neighborhoods--not the reverse--and how research reveals that dedicated, attentive teachers are what help at-risk kids succeed. Inspired the film directed by "An Inconvenient Truth"'s Davis Guggenheim.
Language
English
Appears on list
Description
50 million people in the U.S. - one in four children - don't know where their next meal is coming from, despite our having the means to provide nutritious, affordable food for all Americans. Directors Kristi Jacobson and Lori Silverbush examine this issue through the lens of three people who are struggling with food insecurity: Barbie, a single Philadelphia mother who grew up in poverty and is trying to provide a better life for her two kids; Rosie,...
25) Final account
Language
Deutsch
Description
An urgent portrait of the last living generation of everyday people to participate in Adolf Hitler's Third Reich. Over a decade in the making, the film raises vital, timely questions about authority, conformity, complicity and perpetration, national identity, and responsibility, as men and women ranging from former SS members to civilians in never-before-seen interviews reckon with their memories, perceptions and personal appraisals of their own roles...
Language
English
Description
"On Black Friday 2012, four African-American teenagers stopped at a gas station to buy gum and cigarettes. One of them, Jordan Davis, argued with Michael Dunn, a white man parked beside them, over the volume of music playing in their car. The altercation turned to tragedy when Dunn fired 10 bullets at the unarmed boys, killing Davis almost instantly. 3 1/2 minutes, ten bullets explores the danger and subjectivity of Florida's Stand Your Ground self-defense...
27) The soloist
Language
English
Description
In 2005, the only thing hurting Los Angeles Times columnist and recent bike accident victim Steve Lopez more than his banged-up face was his pressing need for story ideas. He soon discovers Nathaniel Ayers, a skid row schizophrenic street musician, who possesses extraordinary talent - even though he only has half-broken instruments to play. Inspired by Nathaniel's story, Lopez writes an acclaimed series of articles about him and attempts to do more...
28) The help
Language
English
Description
In 1960s Mississippi, Skeeter, a southern society girl, returns from college determined to become a writer, but turns her friends' lives, and a small Mississippi town, upside down when she decides to interview the black women who have spent their lives taking care of prominent southern families. Aibileen, Skeeter's best friend's housekeeper, is the first to open up, to the dismay of her friends in the tight-knit black community.
Language
English
Description
"The nightmare of war is seen through the eyes of one of its most tragic casualties--a child soldier--in this harrowing vision of innocence lost from Cary Joji Fukunaga. Based on the acclaimed novel by Uzodinma Iweala, Beasts of No Nation unfolds in an unnamed, civil-war-torn West African country, where the young Agu (Abraham Attah), in a haunting debut performance) witnesses carnage in his village before falling captive to a band of rebel soldiers...
30) City so real
Language
English
Description
Academy Award nominated filmmaker Steve James' fascinating and complex portrait of contemporary Chicago delivers a deep, multifaceted look into the soul of a quintessentially American city, set against the backdrop of its history-making 2019 mayoral election, and the tumultuous 2020 summer of COVID-19 and social upheaval following the police killing of George Floyd.
31) Dark waters
Language
English
Description
Inspired by a shocking true story, a tenacious attorney uncovers a dark secret that connects a growing number of unexplained deaths due to one of the world's largest corporations. In the process, he risks everything, his future, his family, and his own life to expose the truth.
32) Aquarela
Language
Russian
Description
A deeply cinematic journey through the transformative beauty and raw power of water. Filmed at a rare 96 frames-per-second, the film is a visceral wake-up call that humans are no match for the sheer force and capricious will of Earth's most precious element. From the precarious frozen waters of Russia's Lake Baikal to Miami in the throes of Hurricane Irma to Venezuela's mighty Angels Falls, water is the main character, with director Victor Kossakovsky...
33) The prophet
Language
English
Description
Set in a Mediterranean sea-side village, Kamila cleans house for exiled artist and poet Mustafa, but the more difficult job is keeping her free-spirited young daughter, Almitra, out of trouble. The three embark on a journey meant to end with Mustafa's return home, but first they must evade the authorities who fear that the truth in his words will incite rebellion.
34) Flee
Language
Danish
Description
Animated documentary about Amin Nawabi, who decides to reveal a secret from his past before marrying his husband and share his story about fleeing from Afghanistan to Denmark as a young child with his mother and siblings.