American Studies

Features interviews with retired artists' film and theater actors and actresses, set designers, cinematographers, casting directors, script supervisors, and so on—who reside in the Motion Picture Country Home in Los Angeles or in the Performing Arts Lodge in Toronto.

What do daughters learn from their fathers about men? This video is an intimate family view of how adult love is often shaped by what a child learns at home.

Tells the story of the Open Admissions policy at the City University of New York, the third largest university system in the U.S., with the largest minority population.

Focuses on the Russian city of Ekaterinburg as a case-study illustration of the former Soviet Union's difficult transition from a socialist to a capitalist economy.

The Cuban Excludables is about the thousands of Cuban detainees held in prisons throughout the U.S. With no due process or legal redress, some of them spent years behind bars and cannot be sent back to Cuba by INS due to lack of agreements between the US and Cuba. These Cuban 'excludables' are thus in a legal limbo that leaves them imprisoned indefinitely.

Examines the situation of women coal miners in the U.S., their struggle to be hired, their day-to-day lives in the mines, the economic necessity that first made them seek work as miners, and the opposition they face from their families, the community and their male coworkers.

This cinema-verite documentary examines one of America's most exclusive and enduring social traditions--the debutante ball. The film focuses on the National Debutante Cotillion at the Washington Hilton, following the preparations of Jill Schweitzer, one of the new generation of debs who see beyond the traditional ritual to the valuable career and business connections that can be made.

Examines beauty pageants and the images of women they promote, allowing both pageant supporters and protestors to express their viewpoints. The film focuses on the Miss California Beauty Pageant and the emotionally charged debate that has occurred in recent years.

Offers a lively mixture of contemporary interviews and archival film footage in a thoughtful examination of the social phenomenon of the `flapper,' the provocative `New Woman' of America's Roaring '20s.

A biographical profile of Laura Clay (1849-1941), a key figure in the Women's Rights Movement who devoted her life to the struggle for equal educational opportunities, child custody rights, equal pay for equal work, and the right to vote.

The storytelling tradition of the southern Appalachians comes to life through actress/writer Clarinda Ross's portrayal of four generations of her maternal ancestors.

Portrays religious terrorism in Pensacola, Florida, which has become the epicenter of the national debate over abortion, including a 1984 clinic bombing, the 1993 murder of a clinic physician, and the 1994 murder of another clinic physician and his escort.