Performing Arts


BELLA
BELLA

Dance  American Studies  American History  Cinema Studies  Cultural Studies  Directed by Women  Performing Arts  2024 

Bella, is about the life, influence and impact of California-based artist and activist Bella Lewitzky. Designated one of America's Irreplaceable Dance Treasures by the Dance Heritage Coalition Lewitzky’s life demonstrates how a “uniquely Californian” artist with vision and tenacity can change the lives of her fellow citizens.

RECORDIALLY YOURS, LOU CURTISS
RECORDIALLY YOURS, LOU CURTISS

2023  American History  Business  Music  Performing Arts  Sociology 

Filmmaker Yale Strom explores the life and work of Lou Curtiss - creator of the San Diego Folk Festival, Adams Ave. Unplugged Festival, audiophile, folklorist, author, raconteur, radio host and proprietor of Folk Arts Rare Records, a mecca for some of the most celebrated American roots musicians in America.

IN FRONT OF YOUR FACE
IN FRONT OF YOUR FACE

2023  Cinema Studies  Narrative Films  Asian Studies  Performing Arts  Films of Hong Sangsoo 

In her first role for Hong, Lee Hyeyoung, a prominent theater and screen actress in South Korea, makes a captivating return to the big screen. With In Front of Your Face, Hong suggests that perhaps the most important things in this life are also the most immediate.

CLAIRE'S CAMERA
CLAIRE'S CAMERA

2017  Asian Studies  Cinema Studies  Cultural Studies  Europe  Narrative Films  Performing Arts  Photography  Films of Hong Sangsoo 

 A refreshingly sunny performance from Isabelle Huppert (The Piano Teacher, Elle) is at the center of this comic charmer from South Korean Master Hong Sangsoo. Intricately plotted with wit and charm to spare, CLAIRE'S CAMERA explores the power of images to transform us. 

499
499

2021  Cinema Studies  Cultural Studies  Media Studies  Latin-American Studies  Sociology  Spanish Language  Performing Arts  Peace & Conflict 

Mixing fictional and nonfictional elements, 499 is a creative documentary that explores the brutal legacy of colonialism in contemporary Mexico, nearly five-hundred years after Cortez conquered the Aztec Empire.


UN FILM DRAMATIQUE
UN FILM DRAMATIQUE

Cinema Studies  Cultural Studies  Europe  Performing Arts  Education  2021 

Un Film Dramatique is a lively portrait of the first class to attend the newly constructed Dora Maar middle school, filmed over the course of four years. The group of 21 middle schoolers discuss the drama of their daily lives and experiment with cameras and equipment. They are the film’s subjects, and also its makers.

NEIL GAIMAN: DREAM DANGEROUSLY
NEIL GAIMAN: DREAM DANGEROUSLY

2018  Performing Arts  Cultural Studies 

Follow Neil Gaiman, author of Sandman, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book, on his final signing tour. Featuring interviews with Amanda Palmer, George RR Martin, Bill Hader, and Michael Sheen, Neil Gaiman: Dream Dangerously chronicles the author’s journey from myth-loving child to one of the most popular writers in the world.



GHOSTS OF OUR FOREST
GHOSTS OF OUR FOREST

African Studies  Music  Anthropology  Indigenous Studies  2017  Dance  Environmental Studies  Performing Arts  Loud Roar Productions 

Forcefully removed from their ancestral home by the Ugandan government to protect the endangered gorilla population, the indigenous Batwa people start a music club in hopes to preserve their culture through song and story.

JOE'S VIOLIN
JOE'S VIOLIN

Academy Award Winners & Nominees  Music  New York City  Performing Arts  Jewish Studies  2017  Education  Directed by Women 

2017 ACADEMY AWARD® Nominee for Documentary Short Subject In Joe’s Violin, a donated musical instrument forges an improbable friendship between a 91-year-old Holocaust survivor and 12-year-old Bronx school girl, showing how the power of music to bring light in the darkest of times and how a small act can have a profound impact.

YUMEN
YUMEN

Asian Studies  Anthropology  Performing Arts  Cinema Studies  2014  Sensory Ethnography Lab 

A collaboration between two Chinese artists, Xu Ruotao and Huang Xiang, and acclaimed American filmmaker J.P. Sniadecki, Yumen is a documentary-fiction hybrid that tells the story of a ghost town, a once-thriving oil-rich community in China's western Gansu province, through a series of wandering characters and inventive vignettes. Produced with the support of SEL

BAM150
BAM150

Performing Arts  Art History  New York City  Dance  Music  American History  2013 

A fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the staging of a major operatic production, Verdi's masterpiece, "La Traviata," starring world-famous French coloratura soprano Natalie Dessay and directed by the celebrated Jean-Francois Sivardier.

MUSICWOOD
MUSICWOOD

Environmental Studies  Native American Studies  Music  Performing Arts  2013  Business  Directed by Women 

For hundreds of years, the acoustic guitar has been made from the same species of Spruce. Today, due to an extreme logging practice known as clear-cutting, this tree is in danger of disappearing - and with it, the acoustic guitar. In this captivating documentary, owners of the top guitar makers unite with Greenpeace and travel to the largest forest in the US to meet with Native American landowners in the hope of finding a sustainable solution.

BECOMING TRAVIATA
BECOMING TRAVIATA

Music  Performing Arts  2013 

A fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the staging of a major operatic production, Verdi's masterpiece, "La Traviata," starring world-famous French coloratura soprano Natalie Dessay and directed by the celebrated Jean-Francois Sivardier.

ANDRE GREGORY: BEFORE AND AFTER DINNER
ANDRE GREGORY: BEFORE AND AFTER DINNER

Performing Arts  Literature  New York City  American Studies  2013  Directed by Women 

A wonderful exploration of the life and work of groundbreaking director, actor and artist Andre Gregory. A witty and often hilariously funny raconteur, Gregory looks back on a career that spanned decades, from his influential theatre work to the making of the Louis Malle-directed classic My Dinner with Andre, in which he starred and co-wrote.

THE WELCOME: a healing journey for war veterans and their families
THE WELCOME: a healing journey for war veterans and their families

Psychology & Psychiatry  American Studies  Native American Studies  Performing Arts  2013  Directed by Women 

An up-close and emotionally resonant look at a diverse group of veterans, from Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq, who come together to participate in a healing retreat. The Welcome offers an intimate view of life after war: the fear, anger and isolation of post-traumatic stress that affects veterans and family members alike.

PLANET OF SNAIL
PLANET OF SNAIL

Asian Studies  Health  Disabilities  Literature  Performing Arts  2012 

Winner of the prestigious Best Documentary prize at the International Film Festival Amsterdam, Planet of Snail is a mesmerizing, critically-acclaimed documentary about an accomplished young poet who can no longer hear or see and his relationship to the world around him.

SHAKESPEARE HIGH
SHAKESPEARE HIGH

Performing Arts  Literature  Urban Studies  Latino Studies  Education  2012 

Executive produced by Kevin Spacey, Shakespeare High is an uplifting documentary that follows a diverse group of California high school students as they prepare for and compete in an annual Shakespeare Festival - a unique program that counts many of Hollywood's biggest stars among its alumni. A celebration of theater and performance, Shakespeare High illustrates the life-changing effect drama programs such as this can have on young people.

BROOKLYN BOHEME
BROOKLYN BOHEME

African-American Studies  Performing Arts  Cinema Studies  Urban Studies  New York City  2012  Directed by Women 

In this inspiring documentary, filmmaker Nelson George explores a singular neighborhood in Brooklyn that gave rise to an African-American arts movement in the late 20th century as vibrant as the Harlem Renaissance. Through interviews with Spike Lee, Chris Rock, Lisa Jones Chapman, Branford Marsalis, Lorna Simpson, and many others, Brooklyn Boheme celebrates the rise of a new kind of African-American artist.

AL-HALQA – IN THE STORYTELLER’S CIRCLE
AL-HALQA – IN THE STORYTELLER’S CIRCLE

Anthropology  Cultural Studies  Literature  Performing Arts  Islamic Studies  2011 

For centuries, Marrakech's historic Djemaa el-Fna square has been home to the world's greatest storytellers; their craft even recognized by UNESCO as an "Intangible Heritage of Humanity." This wonderful documentary examines this age-old tradition and considers its place in the modern world.

PUPPET
PUPPET

Performing Arts  American Studies  LGBTQ  Photography  Art History  Psychology & Psychiatry  2011 

Centered around the development and staging of a complex work of modern puppet theater, this illuminating documentary offers a look at the fascinating history of American puppetry - its cultural roots and influence - as well as its current renaissance.

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