2014


KILLING TIME
KILLING TIME

Criminal & Law  African-American Studies  Death & Dying  2014 

Neither advocating for the death penalty nor against it, Killing Time is a devastating investigation into the futility of taking a life - both a murder and a state sanctioned execution. It is an honest look at the private, logistical and business-as-usual aspects of capital punishment in today's America.

THE ART OF OBSERVING LIFE: conversations with documentary filmmakers
THE ART OF OBSERVING LIFE: conversations with documentary filmmakers

Cinema Studies  2014  Directed by Women 

In the wonderful Art of Observing Life, renowned documentarian Marina Goldovskaya delivers a master class in cinema verité and an appreciation of the filmmakers who transformed the Documentary. Composed of intimate conversations with Robert Drew and Richard Leacock (Primary), Allan King (A Married Couple), Albert Maysles (Grey Gardens), Chris Hegedus and D.A. Pennebaker (The War Room), Lionel Rogosin (On The Bowery) & others.

AMERICAN ARAB
AMERICAN ARAB

Islamic Studies  American Studies  Middle Eastern Studies  Religion & Spirituality  Kartemquin Films  2014  Immigration 

A provocative look at the complexities of Arab identity in post 9/11 America, American Arab interweaves filmmaker Usama Alshaibi's own story, and that of his family, as well as other Arab Americans to thoughtfully explore the values, passions, hopes and perceptions of his community, from inside and out.

MANAKAMANA
MANAKAMANA

Asian Studies  Cinema Studies  Anthropology  Cultural Studies  2014  Sensory Ethnography Lab  Directed by Women 

Produced by the directors of Sweetgrass and Leviathan, Manakamana is an exhilarating, one-of-a-kind documentary experience. Filmed entirely inside the narrow confines of a cable car, high above a jungle in Nepal, that transports villagers to an ancient mountaintop temple, it is an acute ethnographic investigation into culture, religion, technology and modernity.

OFF THE REZ
OFF THE REZ

Native American Studies  Women's Studies  Family Relations  Children & Young Adult  2014 

An unforgettable story about a young Native American woman and her family and their determined pursuit of the American Dream, Off The Rez is an award-winning documentary that follows one of the country's top high school basketball prospects, 16-year-old Shoni Schimmel, who leaves the reservation in order to play in a competitive, nationally-recognized basketball league.

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.

KARAMA HAS NO WALLS
KARAMA HAS NO WALLS

Middle Eastern Studies  Political Science  World History  Media Studies  Peace & Conflict  Short Films  2014  Academy Award Winners & Nominees  The Arab Spring  Directed by Women 

2014 Academy Award nominee for Best Documentary Short Subject, Karama Has No Walls is a gripping, eye-witness account of a tragic day that changed the course of the revolution in Yemen; when pro-government snipers opened fired on a peaceful gathering of protesters, sparking national outrage and ultimately leading to the end of 33 years of autocratic rule.

CELLULOID MAN
CELLULOID MAN

Art History  Cinema Studies  Asian Studies  2014 

An enthralling journey through the history of Indian cinema, Celluloid Man is a portrait of P.K Nair, the legendary founder-director of the National Film Archive of India. Featuring extensive interviews and film clips, this is a gorgeous cinematic tribute to 'India's Henry Langlois' and to the importance of preservation.

SUITCASE OF LOVE AND SHAME
SUITCASE OF LOVE AND SHAME

American Studies  Human Sexuality  Media Studies  Anthropology  Psychology & Psychiatry  Sociology  Women's Studies  2014  Directed by Women 

A forbidden love story played out in a decade that would soon spawn the sexual revolution, Suitcase of Love and Shame reconstructs a mesmerizing and erotic narrative from 60 hours of reel-to-reel audiotape discovered in a suitcase purchased on eBay. A fascinating, one-of-a-kind documentary, it addresses issues of morality, sexism, privacy vs. exhibitionism, and the impact of technology in yesterday's America as well as today's.

FINDING HILLYWOOD
FINDING HILLYWOOD

African Studies  Cinema Studies  Peace & Conflict  2014  Directed by Women 

A stirring documentary about the very beginning of Rwanda's film industry, Finding Hillywood looks at the people - the filmmakers, festival organizers, and audience - that are part of this blossoming film community and shows how it has become a beacon of hope and healing for a country still grappling with its past.

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

TARR BELA: I USED TO BE A FILMMAKER
TARR BELA: I USED TO BE A FILMMAKER

Cinema Studies  2014 

An illuminating and extremely rare documentary profile of one of the great filmmakers of our time, Bela Tarr. Filmed during the production of The Turin Horse, his final film, Tarr Bela: I Used To Be A Filmmaker features clips, behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with longtime collaborators such as Mihaly Vig, Erika Bok and Tarr's wife and co-director Agnes Hranitzky.

YOUR DAY IS MY NIGHT
YOUR DAY IS MY NIGHT

Asian-American Studies  Asian Studies  American Studies  Urban Studies  Women's Studies  New York City  2014  Directed by Women  Immigration 

Blending autobiographical monologues, intimate conversations, and staged performances, Lynne Sachs' Your Day Is My Night documents the lives of Chinese immigrants sharing a "shift-bed" apartment in the heart of New York City's Chinatown, offering a deeply felt portrait of the Asian-American immigrant experience.

COUSIN JULES
COUSIN JULES

Cinema Studies  Anthropology  Europe  2014 

A lost masterpiece, now exquisitely restored, Dominique Benicheti's Cousin Jules is a beautiful, immersive documentary portrait of a farmer living with his wife in the French countryside. One of the earliest documentaries to be shot in CinemaScope with stereo sound, it is a record of a time and a way of life that has long ago vanished.

MUSEUM HOURS (narrative)
MUSEUM HOURS (narrative)

Narrative Films  2014 

Acclaimed filmmaker Jem Cohen's new feature, Museum Hours, is a mesmerizing tale of two adrift strangers who find refuge in Vienna's grand Kunsthistorisches Art Museum. A chance meeting sparks a deepening connection that draws them through the halls of the museum and the streets of the city. The exquisitely photographed Museum Hours is an ode to the bonds of friendship, an exploration of an unseen Vienna, and the power of art to both mirror and alter our lives.

CENTRO HISTORICO (narrative)
CENTRO HISTORICO (narrative)

2014  Narrative Films 

With contributions from four master filmmakers—Aki Kaurismäki, Pedro Costa,Victor Erice and Manoel de Oliveira—Centro Historico is a remarkable omnibus film using the historic city of Guimarães in Northern Portugal, the European CulturalCapital of 2012, as inspiration.

VIOLA (narrative)
VIOLA (narrative)

Narrative Films  2014  Spanish Language  Cinema Studies 

A dazzling and delightful mystery about love and its follies from filmmaker Matías Piñeiro - named one of "20 Directors to Watch" by The New York Times - VIOLA follows a young woman who joins a small Shakespeare theater company in Buenos Aires and becomes entangled in a seductive roundelay of romantic dalliances, intrigue and revelation.

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.

TIME ZERO: the last year of polaroid film
TIME ZERO: the last year of polaroid film

Photography  Media Studies  Art History  2014  Business 

An in-depth chronicle of the birth, death and resurrection of Polaroid instant film, Time Zero is an illuminating documentary that looks at the impact this iconic American product has had photographers, families and popular culture over the decades - as well as the recent efforts to save it from obsolescence.

PEOPLE'S PARK
PEOPLE'S PARK

Anthropology  Asian Studies  Cinema Studies  Cultural Studies  2014  Sensory Ethnography Lab  Directed by Women 

Produced at Harvard's groundbreaking Sensory Ethnography Lab (Sweetgrass, Leviathan, the upcoming Manakamana), People's Park is an exhilarating single shot documentary that immerses viewers in an unbroken journey through an urban park in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, offering a fresh gaze on public interaction, leisure and self-expression in China.

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