Videos on Global Conditions

500 years later c2005

Owen Alik Shahadah, Ako Osayaba Mitchell, Molefi K Asante, Afrikan Holocaust (Firm), Halaqah Media, Idnyc Filmworks, Souljazzfunk (Firm), and Lift Every Voice (Firm)

Filmed in five continents, this documentary film chronicles the struggles of people of African descent throughout the globe as they strive for basic freedoms and self-determination. 1 videodisc (106 min.)

MEDIA 10-1572

 

Casa mia c2007

Debora Scaperrotta, George Zeller, Petronel Popa, Alex Baalan, and ZeLIG School for Documentary, Television and New Media

Explores the thoughts and memories of two 14-year-old boys living on their own without their families. Follows them as they reveal their dreams and set out for two different destinations. [Romani people]. 1 videodisc (64 min.)

MEDIA 10-1437

 

Chronicles of a refugee a documentary series 2010

Perla Issa, Aseel Mansour, Adam Shapiro, and Palestine Online Store

"A 6-part documentary series that looks at the Palestinian refugee experience, in its global context, over the last 60 years ... Filmed in 17 countries, 18 refugee camps, 36 cities, with more than 300 interviews, Chronicles of a Refugee gives voice to Palestinian refugees displaced in 1948, as well as to their descendants."--Container. "Episode 1, the Nakba Dailies, tells the stories of those who were born and raised in Palestine. In episode 2, Palestinians tell the stories of 13 other expulsions they have lived through. Episode 3 looks at the primary experiences of Palestinian refugees: discrimination, whether legal, political, economic, or social. Episode 4 looks at questions around identity formation for new generations of Palestinian refugees--the impace of camps, of citizenship, and of living in the diaspora. Episode 5 focuses on the right of return, but not U.N. resolutions, international law, or how we have this right; the questions are about what do we want, how do we get it, how individuals and communities have organized. Episode 6 deals with leadership and representation: What is the relationship between the represented and our representatives?"--Narration, disc 1, series introduction. 4 videodiscs :

MEDIA 10-2386

 

Don't fence me in c2004

Ruth Gumnit, Gail Huddleson, and Documentary Educational Resources (Firm)

Chronicles the life of 70 year-old freedom fighter Major Mary and her people's struggle for self-determination, with rare, clandestine footage smuggled out of refugee camps along the border between Burma and Thailand. 1 videodisc (30 min.) :

MEDIA 10-2787

 

Forward home the power of the Caribbean diaspora 2011

"A documentary film, shot in 9 countries, revealing the economic power of the people of the Caribbean Diaspora living in global cities, the significance of their contribution to their homeland, as travelers and entrepreneurs"--Container. 1 videodisc (ca. 52 min.)

MEDIA 10-5215

 

Frontiers of dreams and fears children of Shatila c2009, 1998

Mai Masri, Jean Khalil Chamoun, Nour Chamoun, Nour Productions, Independent Television Service, and Arab Film Distribution

Frontiers of Dreams and Fears: "This heartfealt documentary ... explores the enduring friendship that evolves between two Palestinian girls--Mona who was born and raised in the economically marginalized Shatila refugee camp in Beirut, and Manar, who lives in the Dheisha refugee camp under Israeli control. The two girls begin their friendship as penpals, sharing the similarities and differences of life in the two refugee camps. Mona and Manar are finally able to meet face-to-face at the Lebanese-Israeli border during Israel's withdrawal from South Lebanon. But when the second intifada suddenly erupts around them shortly thereafter, both girls must face heart-breaking changes in their lives."--Container. Children of Shatila: "The Shatila refugee camp in Beirut first gained international attention after the Sabra and Shatila massacre took place there in September of 1982. Located in Beirut's "belt of misery," the Shatila camp is home to 15,000 Palestinians and Lebanese who share a common experience of displacement, unemployment and poverty. Fifty years after the exile of their grandparents from Palestine in 1948, the children of the Shatila share their dreams of a better future, even as they attempt to come to terms with the reality of being refugees in a camp that has survived masacre, siege and starvation."--Container. 1 videodisc (103 min.) :

MEDIA 10-2721

 

God grew tired of us c2007

Molly Bradford Pace,  Christopher Quinn, Tommy Walker, Nicole Kidman, Panther Bior, John Bul Dau, Daniel Abol Pach, Jamie Saft, Newmarket Films, Silver Nitrate (Firm), National Geographic Films, and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (Firm)

Presents the plight of Sudanese refugees being displaced to foreign countries due to civil war in their homeland. Known as "Lost Boys", the film tells the story of three of these "Lost Boy" refugees who struggled to come to the United States for a better life, while still attempting to assist the family and friends they have left behind. 1 videodisc (90 min.)

MEDIA 10-1296

 

Japigia Gagai Roma stories c2007

Gianni Princigalli, Universitaa di Bari, Dipartimento di scienze storice e sociali, Bari (Italy : Province), Dipartimento di solidarietaa sociale, Princigalli Produzioni, and Documentary Educational Resources (Firm)

"In Japigia, a neighborhood in the periphery of Bari, Italy, a small community of Roma (Gypsies) carve out an existence in an illegal, ramshackle encampment. The local church has offered them a piece of land with prefabricated houses, but the town hall is preventing this offer due to their own plans for a future a railway station. Continually in danger of evacuation and making a living primarily by begging for money, the Roma still manage to foster a strong community and lively social atmosphere."--Container. 1 videodisc (60 min.)

MEDIA 10-1473

 

Karen refugees fleeing Burma's forgotten war c2006

Patrick Brown, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, CBC News, and Fanlight Productions

The Karen are a Christian ethnic group who have been persecuted for years by the army of Myanmar. An estimated 100-150,000 Karen refugees have fled the country and are now living in camps across the border in Thailand. This documentary follows one Karen woman and her family as they leave behind their refugee camp and embark on the journey from Burma to North America. 1 videodisc (21 min.)

MEDIA 10-1649

 

The longing the forgotten Jews of South America 2007

Gabriela Böhm, Filmakers Library, inc, and Böhm Productions

A small group of South Americans are eager to affirm their Jewish faith. Their ancestors - Spanish Jews - were forced to convert during the Inquisition.  'The longing' tells the story of a group of "conversos" attempting to regain their birthright. 1 videodisc (75 min.)

MEDIA 10-1137

 

Looking for my gypsy roots c2008

Antónia Mészáros, Steve Bradshaw, Árpád Bogdán, Television Trust for the Environment, BBC World Service, and Bullfrog Films

Árpád Bogdán, a prize-winning Hungarian filmmaker of Roma ancestry, attempts to locate the biological parents who abandoned him as a child. 1 videodisc (27 min.)

MEDIA 10-2187

 

Opre Roma Gypsies in Canada 2000

Tony Papa, Sharon Gibbon, Gillian Darling Kovanic, National Film Board of Canada, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation , and Documentary Educational Resources (Firm)

Documents the history of the Roma and explores their music and culture borne out of centuries of exile. Includes scenes of flamenco dances, and songs from Turkey, Romania, Spain, the Czech Republic and Slovakia that portray the Roma experience. 1 videodisc (ca. 53 min.)

MEDIA 10-1903

 

Out of infamy Michi Nishiura Weglyn c2009

Nancy Kapitanoff, Sharon Yamato, Sandra Oh , Michi Weglyn, and Synk

Documentary about Japanese American costume designer, Michi Nishiura Weglyn, who wrote about the forced incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II and advocated for their redress. 1 videodisc (17 min., 16 sec) :

MEDIA 10-2669

 

Porraimos Europe's Gypsies in the Holocaust c2001

Alexandra M Isles, Douglas Rossini, Fred Goldey, Dearbhla Molloy, Robert McDuffie, and Chalice Well Productions

"This historical video chronicles the Roma (Gypsy) Holocaust--Porraimos, or "the devouring." It is the first American documentary to expose how the pseudo-science of eugenics was used to persecute not only the Jews, but also Gypsies. To the Nazis, Gypsies' dark skin and nomadic ways made them "lives not worthy of life." Using interviews with Austrian, Czech and German Gypsy survivors (including the Jewish artist who was ordered by Joseph Mengele to paint portraits of Gypsy prisoners at Auschwitz), as well as photographs and films from the Reich Department of Racial Hygiene, this video reveals the oppression of the Gypsies--their registration and segregation, their sterilization, the medical experiments, and their eventual murder. Porraimos remembers Gypsy victims of the Holocaust--victims whose persecution has been all but forgotten."--Container. 1 videodisc (57 min.)

MEDIA 10-1904

 

Die Reise des Leowen 2009

Fritz Baumann, Howard Anthony Trott, Irey Trott, Makeba Trott, Fritz Baumann Filmproduktion, ArtMattan Productions, and Facets Video (Firm)

Brother Howie is a Jamaican Rastafari who feels disconnected from his ancestral birthplace of Africa. Following his need to find connection with his roots, he returns to his homeland, travelling first through England, then to the Northern coast of Africa, and eventually to Ghana, making observations and unexpected discoveries along the way. This docudrama represents an ongoing effort by the director to present questions of place and identity via the lives and beliefs of a Jamaican family. 1 videodisc (90 min.)

MEDIA 10-1687

 

Roots in the sand c1998

Through a combined use of extensive archival material and personal interviews, this documentary examines the lives of the Sikh, Moslem and Hindu immigrants of the early 20th century who farmed California's desert regions, particularly the Imperial Valley. There they had to circumvent racism, miscegenation laws, barriers to land ownership and citizenship and even Anglo farmers seeking vengeance. This Punjabi version of the "taming of the Wild West" addresses what media has omitted from history books and the western genre. 1 videodisc (56 min.)

MEDIA 10-5266

500 years later c2005

Owen Alik Shahadah, Ako Osayaba Mitchell, Molefi K Asante, Afrikan Holocaust (Firm), Halaqah Media, Idnyc Filmworks, Souljazzfunk (Firm), and Lift Every Voice (Firm)

Filmed in five continents, this documentary film chronicles the struggles of people of African descent throughout the globe as they strive for basic freedoms and self-determination. 1 videodisc (106 min.)

MEDIA 10-1572

 

Afroargentinos Afroargentines c2002

Jorge Fortes, Diego Ceballos, Filmagen Producciones, Lagartija Muda Producciones , and Latin American Video Archives

Examines the hidden history of black people in Argentina and their contributions to Argentine culture and society. 1 videocassette (75 min.)

MEDIA 2-6627

 

All points of the compass 2006

Judy Rymer, Bevan Childs, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, BBC Scotland, Film Finance Corporation Australia, Bymer Bayly Watson (Firm), and Filmakers Library, inc

Nine children of Tr ŕn Van Lâam, former foreign minister of South Vietnam, talked about their experience of dislocation, of their lives in new countries: America, the U.K., Canada, France, and Australia. 1 videocassette (55 min.)

MEDIA 2-7478

 

Atlantico negro na rota dos Orixás = Black Atlantic : on the Orixás route 2001?

Renato Barbieri and João Acaiabe

"The waters of the Atlantic brought the slaves from Africa to Brazil, their bodies in chains but their souls still tied to mother Africa. This Brazilian-made film takes us to both shores, to how spiritual life, dance and song came with the captive people and took root in the new soil. Among the many traditions were the language and gods of Yoruba and Jejes from the Republic of Benin. Today, when Brazilians revisit Africa, they teach the Africans the culture that these descendants of slaves keep alive in Brazil. The documentary is a testimony to some of the ironies of the diaspora"--Container. 1 videocassette (55 min.)

MEDIA 2-5572

 

Black Israel 2003

Maurice Dorčs, Dominique H Masson, Films Esdés, and Filmakers Library, inc

Documentary presents scenarios of Africans and African Americans who live in the Jewish communities of Israel, and are Jewish by birth or by conversion. The positive and the negative ways in which people are affected by their heritage makes for a vibrant portrait of pluralistic 21st-century Jewish identities. 1 videocassette (88 min.)

MEDIA 2-6772

 

Casa mia c2007

Debora Scaperrotta, George Zeller, Petronel Popa, Alex Baalan, and ZeLIG School for Documentary, Television and New Media

Explores the thoughts and memories of two 14-year-old boys living on their own without their families. Follows them as they reveal their dreams and set out for two different destinations. [Romani people]. 1 videodisc (64 min.)

MEDIA 10-1437

 

The crucible of Europe 1984

Krainin Julian, Michael Joseloff, Abba Solomon Eban, and WNET (Television station : New York, N.Y.)

Focuses on the migration of Jews from Moorish Spain to Lithuania and Poland during the 9th to the 15th centuries. 1 videocassette (59 min.)

MEDIA D-179

 

Dark passages 1995

Tanya Hart, Valerie F Whitmore, Wally Ashby, Louis Gossett, and Margaret Avery

Employs a mixture of interviews, slave narratives, and dramatization. Tells the story of the impact of the Atlantic slave trade. 1 videocassette (50 min.)

DANA 1831

 

Exodus 1947 c2004

Elizabeth Rodgers, Robby Henson, Morley Safer, Maryland Public Television, and Cicada Films

Tells the story of a ship that had been a luxury steamship called the President Warfield.  It was used as a transport ship during World War II but shortly after the war it was renamed Exodus 1947 and was used to carry Jewish refugees from Europe to Palestine to help found Israel. This mass migration was orchestrated by the Jewish organization, Haganah. 1 videocassette (57 min.)

MEDIA 2-6751

 

God grew tired of us c2007

Molly Bradford Pace,  Christopher Quinn, Tommy Walker, Nicole Kidman, Panther Bior, John Bul Dau, Daniel Abol Pach, Jamie Saft, Newmarket Films, Silver Nitrate (Firm), National Geographic Films, and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (Firm)

Presents the plight of Sudanese refugees being displaced to foreign countries due to civil war in their homeland. Known as "Lost Boys", the film tells the story of three of these "Lost Boy" refugees who struggled to come to the United States for a better life, while still attempting to assist the family and friends they have left behind. 1 videodisc (90 min.)

MEDIA 10-1296

 

Japigia Gagai Roma stories c2007

Gianni Princigalli, Universitaa di Bari, Dipartimento di scienze storice e sociali, Bari (Italy : Province), Dipartimento di solidarietaa sociale, Princigalli Produzioni, and Documentary Educational Resources (Firm)

"In Japigia, a neighborhood in the periphery of Bari, Italy, a small community of Roma (Gypsies) carve out an existence in an illegal, ramshackle encampment. The local church has offered them a piece of land with prefabricated houses, but the town hall is preventing this offer due to their own plans for a future a railway station. Continually in danger of evacuation and making a living primarily by begging for money, the Roma still manage to foster a strong community and lively social atmosphere."--Container. 1 videodisc (60 min.)

MEDIA 10-1473

 

Karen refugees fleeing Burma's forgotten war c2006

Patrick Brown, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, CBC News, and Fanlight Productions

The Karen are a Christian ethnic group who have been persecuted for years by the army of Myanmar. An estimated 100-150,000 Karen refugees have fled the country and are now living in camps across the border in Thailand. This documentary follows one Karen woman and her family as they leave behind their refugee camp and embark on the journey from Burma to North America. 1 videodisc (21 min.)

MEDIA 10-1649

 

Legado Legacy c2001

Vivian Imar, Marcelo Trotta, Fundacion Internacional Raoul Wallenberg, and Latin American Video Archives

In August 1889, the steamship Wesser docked in Argentina, carrying the country's first group of Jewish immigrants, who were fleeing the Tsarist regime in Russia. They bought agricultural land, built schools, synagogues, and became the "Jewish gauchos." The granddaughter of one of those immigrants describes the struggles of her ancestors in the new world. This documentary recounts the story of those pioneers, based on interviews with the oldest members of today's Jewish community. 1 videocassette (72 min.)

MEDIA 2-7224 2-7225

 

The longing the forgotten Jews of South America 2007

Gabriela Böhm, Filmakers Library, inc, and Böhm Productions

A small group of South Americans are eager to affirm their Jewish faith. Their ancestors - Spanish Jews - were forced to convert during the Inquisition.  'The longing' tells the story of a group of "conversos" attempting to regain their birthright. 1 videodisc (75 min.)

MEDIA 10-1137

 

Ports of destiny 1998

Mitzi Goldman

"The documentary, Ports of Destiny,tells of one Jewish family's dispersal throughout the world to escape the Holocaust. It captures the emotional reunion of 76 year old Bernard Goldman with long lost family members who had fled Germany to Buenos Aires while he had escaped to Sydney. The film lends a new dimension to the Diaspora, as well as the significance of family"--Container. 1 videocassette (52 min.)

MEDIA 2-5574

 

Die Reise des Leowen 2009

Fritz Baumann, Howard Anthony Trott, Irey Trott, Makeba Trott, Fritz Baumann Filmproduktion, ArtMattan Productions, and Facets Video (Firm)

Brother Howie is a Jamaican Rastafari who feels disconnected from his ancestral birthplace of Africa. Following his need to find connection with his roots, he returns to his homeland, travelling first through England, then to the Northern coast of Africa, and eventually to Ghana, making observations and unexpected discoveries along the way. This docudrama represents an ongoing effort by the director to present questions of place and identity via the lives and beliefs of a Jamaican family. 1 videodisc (90 min.)

MEDIA 10-1687

 

Roads from the ghetto 1984

Eugene Marner, John G Fox, Abba Solomon Eban, WNET (Television station : New York, N.Y.), and Educational Broadcasting Corporation

Discusses the complexity of Jewish life forced by the end of the closed ghetto societies between 1789 and 1917.  Spans the era between the Industrial Revolution and the Belfour declaration. 1 videocassette (59 min.)

MEDIA D-176

 

Sepharad 1993

Tzipora H Jochsberger, Asher Tlalim, and Martin Bookspan

Over 500 years have passed since the expulsion of the Jews from Spain. Despite having been scattered to the far corners of the globe, Sephardic Jews have preserved their rich musical heritage. This unusual film enables the viewer to hear and learn about the rich tradition and beautiful music of the Romanceros (Ladino love songs), as well as lullabies, wedding tunes, songs of mourning and melodies from the synagogue. 1 videocassette (27 min.)

MUSIC 404