Latin-American Studies

Recounts the larger-than-life but true story of Arno P. Calderari--professional adventurer, jungle explorer, deep sea diver, treasure hunter and wildlife filmmaker-interweaving Arno's reminiscences with rare film footage of his many adventures.

This docudrama explores the little known situation of African slaves in Latin America in the 19th century, depicting life in runaway slave communities.

Introduces viewers to the step show, an exciting dance style popular among black fraternities and sororities. In addition to many rousing, crowd-pleasing performances, the program examines the cultural roots of steppin' in African dancing, military marching and hip-hop music, and discusses its contemporary social significance on college campuses.

Examines the use in the Third World of pesticides banned in the U.S., such as DDT, and the consequences--poisoned workers, contaminated crops and water supplies, decimation of wildlife, development of pesticide-resistant insects, and the ecological boomerang effect--when contaminated foreign goods, from coffee to beef and cotton, are imported into the U.S.

Focuses on the work of dedicated physicians, scientists and environmentalists who hope to heighten awareness of the ongoing destruction of one of the world's largest medicine chests, the Amazon rainforest.

Filmed in the heart of Brazil's Amazon River Basin, this video focuses on the work of the National Institute of Amazon Research, and shows how encroaching development poses a threat to the region's fragile eco-system.

This provocative animated film, featuring a voracious mongrel dog and an evocative synthesizer score by Kasandra Woodring, uses allegorical and documentary images, maps and texts to explore and deconstruct the history of the conquest of the Americas.

Examines the history of photography in Brazil, dating from 1839, and simultaneously traces the history of the development of Rio de Janeiro as one of the world's major cities and a political and cultural center of Brazil. The video discusses the experiences of photographers of the period, showing the evolution of photography as an art and a trade.

Profiles the life and work of Martin Chambi (1891-1973), a full-blooded Indian, who ran his own photographic studio in Cuzco, Peru's ancient Inca capital, where he photographed many of Peru's wealthy European families.

Examines the new Cuban art movement and its social and cultural roots, featuring interviews with artists and students at Cuba's top art school, who discuss Cuban national identity, censorship and self-expression, and how one makes a living as an artist in a socialist society.

Surveys the work of plastic artists in Puerto Rico during the 20th century, as well as significant forerunners in the 18th and 19th centuries, focusing on the artists' expression of national identity. The video combines illustrations of hundreds of art works with interviews with a dozen major contemporary artists and commentary by art critics.

Documents the Fall 1993 construction at Cornell University of site-specific installations by eight acclaimed Hispanic artists, featuring interviews with the artists, scenes of the exhibit, as well as the controversy and protest it engendered on campus.

This music and dance spectacular, sung and danced by members of the award-winning Beija Flor Samba School and photographed during the Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, dramatizes the legend of genesis according to Yoruba mythology.

A colorful and entertaining survey of protest music in Central America, from Mexico City to Managua, where popular music has become a forum for social commentary and political protest.

Takes us to the heart of the Andes to capture the atmosphere of the annual music festivals, showing ceremonies of the Aymara Indians who dress as devils, bears and sacred spirits that come to life at carnival time.

This contemporary portrait of folkloric traditions in Cuba, focusing on the everyday life of musicians and dancers.

This video, which documents one of the oldest cultural festivals in the Western Hemisphere, celebrates the vitality of calypso music today on the island of Barbados.

Examines the life and work of the Nobel Prize-winning poet. In an interview conducted shortly before his death, Neruda discusses his worldview and explains his writing methods.

This docudrama portrays the life and work of the great Puerto Rican poet, from her impoverished childhood in Puerto Rico, to her political involvement as a young woman in the nationalist movement, to her subsequent exile in Cuba and New York where she died in 1953.

Profiles the life and work of one of the world's greatest contemporary novelists, who in 1990 campaigned unsuccessfully for the Presidency of Peru.