Health


A COMMON SEQUENCE
A COMMON SEQUENCE

2023  Anthropology  Biology  Cinema Studies  Cultural Studies  Directed by Women  Health  Indigenous Studies  Latino Studies  Religion & Spirituality  Science  Sociology  Spanish Language 

Within the human struggle to live and work on a changing planet, questions of value, extraction, and adaptation echo across seemingly disparate worlds. A Common Sequence examines shifts of life and labor through a critically-endangered salamander and plant patents in the apple industry. Weaving the stories of Dominican nuns running a conservation lab, a group of fisherman attempting to live off of a depleting lake, engineers developing AI-driven harvesting machines, and an indigenous biomedical researcher resisting the commodification of human DNA, the film becomes a meditation on the shifting border between the natural and unnatural world, and the dynamics of power at play.

OUR BODY
OUR BODY

2023  Aging / Gerontology  Children & Young Adult  Cultural Studies  Directed by Women  Biology  Family Relations  Health  LGBTQ  Medicine  Science  Human Sexuality  Women's Studies 

In Our Body, veteran documentarian Claire Simon observes the everyday operations of the gynecological ward in a public hospital in Paris.  In the process, she questions what it means to live in a woman’s body, filming the diversity, singularity and beauty of patients in all stages of life. 

ANY GIVEN DAY
ANY GIVEN DAY

2022  American Studies  Directed by Women  Family Relations  Health  Psychology & Psychiatry  Sociology  Criminal & Law 

A filmmaker with mental illness follows three defendants through a specialized mental health probation program. While sharing their rarely seen struggles, she faces her own challenges, making clear just how precarious the ties between people with mental illness, their families and society can be.  From Margaret Byrne, the director of Raising Bertie.



THE KITCHENISTAS
THE KITCHENISTAS

2021  American Studies  Business  Cultural Studies  Family Relations  Gastronomy  Health  Latino Studies  Latin-American Studies  Women's Studies  Sociology  2022 

What started as a 7-week nutrition program for women seeking healthier diets, has become a Latina-led movement to enact change in their own communities. Known as Kitchenistas, these women are showing how healthy food traditions can lead to physical, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing as well as big change in the home, at schools, within city hall, and in the healthcare system.

TO KID OR NOT TO KID
TO KID OR NOT TO KID

2020  American Studies  Cinema Studies  Cultural Studies  Directed by Women  Women's Studies  Health 

Filmmaker Maxine Trump turns the camera on herself and her close circle of family and friends as she confronts the idea of not having kids, and explores the cultural pressures and harsh criticism childfree women regularly experience.

LAILA AT THE BRIDGE
LAILA AT THE BRIDGE

Asian Studies  Cultural Studies  Directed by Women  Health  Middle Eastern Studies  Cinema Studies  Women's Studies  2018  2019 

Laila at the Bridge takes the viewer on a harrowing journey to Kabul’s dark underpass, following a woman who attempts to save as many drug addicts as she can.


IN PURSUIT OF SILENCE
IN PURSUIT OF SILENCE

Environmental Studies  Health  Religion & Spirituality  Science  2017  Music 

In Pursuit of Silence is a meditative exploration of our relationship with silence, sound and the impact of noise on our lives. This critically acclaimed documentary takes us on an immersive cinematic journey around theglobe.

ALMOST THERE
ALMOST THERE

Kartemquin Films  Art History  Aging / Gerontology  Psychology & Psychiatry  Disabilities  Cinema Studies  Media Studies  Family Relations  Criminal & Law  Health  American Studies  Photography  Human Sexuality  2017 

Humorous and candid, Kartemquin Films' documentary Almost There is a fascinating portrait of eccentric "outsider" artist Peter Anton. Living in a home that has been consumed by mold and filth, the octogenarian has produced a startling collection of unseen paintings, drawings, and notebooks. The film’s remarkable journey follows this witty and gifted artist through startling twists and turns.

THE ABORTION HOTLINE
THE ABORTION HOTLINE

2016  Women's Studies  Latin-American Studies  Health  Human Sexuality  Medicine  LGBTQ  Criminal & Law  Spanish Language 

The Abortion Hotline allows viewers inside the lives and tireless grassroots efforts of a group of young lesbian and feminist activists who put their lives at risk to run an underground abortion hotline in Chile, one of six countries in the world where abortion is prohibited under any circumstance, even in cases of rape or risk to the life of the mother.

MIRIAM: HOME DELIVERY
MIRIAM: HOME DELIVERY

New York City  Jewish Studies  Family Relations  Labor Studies  Children & Young Adult  Medicine  Directed by Women  Human Sexuality  Health  Women's Studies  2016 

An intimate observation of the complete process of home birthing - a trend on the rise in many communities, including Jewish communities practicing Orthodoxy - Miriam: Home Delivery follows a charismatic, Brooklyn-based, home birth midwife who has helped mothers giving birth at home for more than two decades, as she’s on call, and provides care to mothers in various stages of their pregnancies.

CITY OF TREES
CITY OF TREES

2016  Kartemquin Films  Environmental Studies  American Studies  Labor Studies  Criminal & Law  African-American Studies  Urban Studies  Political Science  Sociology  Health  Business 

A complex tale of social justice, urban forestry and community politics, City of Trees portrays the struggles of a DC non-profit to challenge the cycle of poverty and violence in blighted urban areas by implementing an ambitious "green jobs" program that hires 150 unemployed residents to plant trees in underserved parks.

JOANNA
JOANNA

Eastern Europe  Family Relations  Health  Death & Dying  Women's Studies  2015  Academy Award Winners & Nominees  Short Films  Medicine  Directed by Women 

2015 Academy Award Nominee for Best Documentary Short Subject, Joanna is a tender and heartbreaking portrait of a young wife and mother facing terminal cancer who, wishing to leave something behind for her eight-year-old son, begins writing an online journal that resonates with and becomes embraced by millions of devoted readers.

PRISON TERMINAL: the last days of private jack hall
PRISON TERMINAL: the last days of private jack hall

Short Films  2014  Academy Award Winners & Nominees  Psychology & Psychiatry  Health  Death & Dying  Criminal & Law  American Studies  Aging / Gerontology  African-American Studies 

2014 Academy Award nominee for Best Documentary Short Subject, Prison Terminal is an extraordinary chronicle of death and dignity behind bars, an incredibly moving story of a terminally ill prisoner's final days and the hospice volunteers (prisoners themselves) who care for him. Issues surrounding America's aging prison population and the profound impact hospice programs can have on the lives of the incarcerated are explored in this remarkable film.

IN THE SHADOW OF THE SUN
IN THE SHADOW OF THE SUN

African Studies  Health  Anthropology  2014 

Like many instances of discrimination faced by people with disabilities around the world, the troubling escalation of violence against people with Albinism in Tanzania has been fueled by societal prejudices, lack of education and deep-rooted superstition. In The Shadow of the Sun follows the efforts of two individuals who are risking their lives to combat this virulent prejudice.

BEAUTIFUL FACES
BEAUTIFUL FACES

Latino Studies  Health  Latin-American Studies  Children & Young Adult  2013  Medicine 

A profoundly moving and compelling portrait of one of the world's most remarkable hospitals, located in the bustling heart of Mexico City, which provides affordable, life-saving and life-transforming facial reconstructive surgery for local children. A truly remarkable documentary from the producer of Two Spirits .

RESTORING THE LIGHT
RESTORING THE LIGHT

Anthropology  Asian Studies  Disabilities  Health  Economics  Cultural Studies  Children & Young Adult  2013  Medicine  Directed by Women 

A heart-wrenching documentary, Restoring the Light observes the work of a dedicated ophthalmologist who operates a non-profit mobile eye clinic in one of China's poorest regions, as well as the lives of his patients. It captures the adversities and hopes of a population that has been left behind in the wake of China's dizzying economic boom.

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.

PEOPLE IN WHITE
PEOPLE IN WHITE

Psychology & Psychiatry  Health  Sociology  2011  Directed by Women 

An extremely insightful examination of the psychiatrist-patient relationship, this innovative documentary uses role-playing techniques that allow patients to express their innermost thoughts about their psychiatrist and experience in mental institutions. People in White offers a fresh look at the mental health industry and the treatment methods used by mental health care professionals.

ROTHSTEIN’S FIRST ASSIGNMENT
ROTHSTEIN’S FIRST ASSIGNMENT

Photography  Health  American Studies  Anthropology  Art History  2011 

When FSA photographer Arthur Rothstein came to Virginia in 1935, his assignment was to photograph local residents displaced by Shenandoah National Park. But as this documentary uncovers, Rothstein would play a role in the forced institutionalization and sterilization of many of the area's residents, establishing a disturbing connection between the American eugenics movement and Depression-era documentary work.

BHOPALI
BHOPALI

Environmental Studies  Health  Disabilities  Criminal & Law  Asian Studies  2011 

On December 2, 1984, forty tons of poisonous gas leaked from a Union Carbide (DOW Chemical) pesticide plant in Bhopal, India, killing over 20,000 people. Today, hundreds of thousands continue to suffer from chronic diseases and disabilities. Bhopali is an invaluable examination of the world's worst environmental disaster.

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