Appreciating Diversity Film Series Lending Library

Appreciating Diversity Film Lending Library
The following is a list of films that are available for "free rental" through the Appreciating Diversity Film Lending Library.

Those interested in borrowing films will need to complete a short registration form and leave a deposit of $25/film on file in either the form of a check or credit card. There is no charge for borrowing films though borrowers may need to cover any shipping charges incurred. Films will be loaned for 1-2 weeks.

We encourage you to take advantage of this resource, view the films, share them with friends and neighbors, and continue supporting the creation of important documentaries like the following.

An American Love Story
This extraordinary 10 hour series is about a black man and a white woman who have struggled for 30 years against racial stereotypes and societal prejudice to keep their family together. An American Love Story series follows Bill Sims and Karen Wilson, their family and friends through a dramatic two year period in their lives. With over one thousand hours of footage recorded, An American Love Story is one of the most profound films ever created about love, race and family in America. "There's never been a more intimate study of the everyday significance of race and racism in American life" -- Amy Taubin, Village Voice (Though the film series screened only a portion of the series, we own the whole series.) back to top

Americanos
A documentary about the segment of American citizenry most rapidly transforming the face of our nation today. Latinos have become the largest, single minority group in the United States, and Americanos explores their complex and multifaceted legacy. Americanos contests the myth of a monolithic Latino culture and explores the diverse group of people in this country designated Latino. Carlos Santana, Tito Puente, and the first Puerto Rican female presidential cabinet member, Aida Alvarez, present their views alongside Nuyorican Poets Café performance artists, Little Havana doctors, midwestern lowriders, East L.A. Harvard-bound youth, and Chicano border-patrol officers. A cornucopia of truths emerges, including the highly contested nature of Latino identity, the rising power of Latinos in business, the paradoxes of United States immigration policy, and the important role diasporic communities play in preserving age-old cultural traditions while creating new ones for the future.back to top

Blink
Examines the dramatic story of one-time white supremacist leader Gregory Withrow, who. At the height of his involvement in the movement in 1988, fell in love with a woman whose parents had fled Nazi Germany. His own subsequent flight from the militant White Aryan Resistance captured the imagination of the national media when Withrow was found beaten and "crucified", his hands nailed to a board. Now, more than a decade later, Withrow is married to Maria, a Mexican-American woman, and lives a low-key, semi-isolated rural existence. Unlike simplistic stories about "evil racists turned model-citizens," "Blink" explores the complex middle ground where Withrow still battles his demons, at times questioning the possibility of fundamental personal change. The painful irony of his predicament is that when he renounced the world of racial hared he was left with the same enraged, alienated, masculine self that once propelled him into the movement. A stereotyped enemy no longer provides an easy target for his gnawing anger. And the mythic power he once enjoyed has been replaced by a silent, uneasy emptiness. [60 mins] back to top

Boys Will Be Men
Combines visits with boys at different ages and discussions with psychologists and other professionals about how men develop emotionally. The film opens with a gathering of young adult ex-offenders who are participating in an unlearning violence program. They tell us how, as boys, they learned to be tough, to enforce one's control and authority over others, often with violence, were lessons they learned at an early age. Boys visits a first grade classroom, where we see developmental differences between boys and girls that educators (including local teacher, Jamie Carlson) hypothesize affects the fit between some boys and school, and boys ability to communicate their needs verbally. Boys are also filmed in 3-week therapeutic wilderness program, where angry and resentful teens learn self-sufficiency and cooperation. The film also captures highlights from a coming-of-age program for 20 boys from two very different Chicago high schools, and a ropes course. As Michael Thompson concludes, near the end of the film: "The greatest thing that feminism did for girls was to say there are many different ways to be a woman. We have to show boys that there are many… different ways to be a man." [57 mins] back to top

Breathing Lessons
A documentary by award-winning filmmaker Jessica Yu, explores the unique world of Mark O'Brien, the Berkeley poet-journalist who has lived for four decades paralyzed in an iron lung. Incorporating the vivid imagery of O'Brien's poetry and his candid, wry, and often profound reflections on work, sex, death and God, this provocative documentary asks: "What is a life worth living?" By presenting O'Brien's life from his point of view, the film provides an intimate window into the reality of a life of severe disability, as well as an illuminating portrait of a remarkable artist. Winner of the 1996 Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject. [~30 min] back to top

Brothers & Others: The Impact of September 11th on Arabs, Muslims, and South Asians in America
This documentary on the impact of the September 11th tragedy on Muslims and Arabs living in America follows a number of immigrants and American families as they struggle in the heightened climate of hate, FBI and INS investigations and economic hardships that erupted in America following the attacks. By jailing thousands of Arabs, Muslims, and South Asians without evidence or due process, is America perpetuating the cycle of hate and ignorance which claimed so many innocent lives? "The filmmaker has really captured the human cost and real-life consequences of the 9/11 arrests... Very compelling." Lucas Guttentag, American Civil Liberties Union [~ 1 hour] back to top

Daddy & Papa
A one-hour documentary exploring the personal, cultural, and political impact of gay men who are making a decision that is at once traditional and revolutionary: to raise children themselves. Taking us inside four gay male families, DADDY & PAPA traces the critical issues that inevitably intersect their private lives -- the ambiguous place of interracial families in America, the wonder and precariousness of surrogacy and adoption, the complexities of marriage and divorce within the gay community, and the legality of their own parenthood. Warm, humorous, inspirrational. [60 mins] back to top

Disability Culture Rap
Bold and controversial, featuring Cheryl Marie Wade, the self-proclaimed "Queen Mother of Gnarly", takes a fresh look at what it means to be disabled in America. Through hundreds of images and a high-energy delivery, this is disability through the eyes of the disabled -- telling us who they are in their own words instead of the usual anthropological study of disabled people as specimens. DISABILITY CULTURE RAP addresses issues of freedom of choice, disability pride, independent living, the power of language and images, sexuality, community, and the right to live with dignity. Silver Screen Winner at the US International Film and Video Festival and Best of Festival at SUPERFEST XX. [~30 min] back to top

Dying to be Thin
Chronicles the struggles of girls & women who have had, or currently have anorexia or bulimia. Review the medial complications associated with prolonged starvation, explains that an estimated 8 million people suffer from eating disorders – at least 3 out of every 100 adolescent girls – even some men. Investigates why eating disorders are growing, examines how culture contributes by reinforcing "thin is beautiful", highlights important aspects of successful treatment, including psychotherapy in live-in programs. (from NOVA) [~ 60 mins] back to top

Family Name
by Macky Alston (9/10/98)
Macky Alston is the son of a Southern minister committed to civils rights ideals. But when he "came out" to his family as a gay man, he recalled that there were some things he had been trained not to talk about. His ancestors’ ownership of a large plantation with slaves was among those things. Macky chronicles his efforts to have real conversations about these topics with his nuclear family and with the African American Alston’s who were descended from the same roots. After Family Name was previewed in Piedmont and at Glide Church in San Francisco, PBS placed the film first in their Television Race Initiative. (Study Guide available) back to top

First Person Plural
by Deann Borshay Liem (November 30, 2000)
Ever wondered, "What does my cultural heritage have to do with me?" In 1966, Deann Borshay Liem was adopted by an American family and was sent from Korea to her new home. Growing up in California, the memory of her birth family was nearly obliterated until recurring dreams lead Borshay Liem to discover the truth: her Korean mother was very much alive. Bravely uniting her biological and adoptive families, Borshay Liem's heartfelt journey makes Fist Person Plural a poignant essay on family, loss, and the reconciling of two identities. back to top

Follow Me Home
by Peter Bratt (September 2000) (we don’t have a copy of this film)
Peter Bratt, of South American Indian ancestry, wrote and directed Follow Me Home: a defiant, humorous, poetic tale exploring race and identity in America. By weaving together traditons of Native, Aftrican and Latin cultures, the film tells the story of four artists and their journey across the American landscape. Among other honors, FOLLOW ME HOME won the Best Feature Film Audience Award at the San Francisco International Film Festival. The film is part narrative, part dream, part myth. Angela Davis describes it as " a wonderful gift....It is a breathtaking journey through the present, the past, and toward the future....To whatever extent 'American' fits into -- or collides with -- your identity, you must see this film." back to top

Girls Like Us
Examines the impact of class, sexism and violence on the dreams and expectations of teenage girls. This film follows adolescent girls from a poor section of urban Pennsylvania through four years of their lives – and chronicles their hopes and experiences. The film concentrates on the in-depth stories of 4 girls from varied ethnic backgrounds, along with their families and friends. (1 hour) back to top

Kiss My Wheels
You've never seen basketball like this. Kiss My Wheels follows the Zia Hot Shots, a nationally ranked junior wheelchair basketball team, through a season of training and tournament competition. This under-funded coed team in apoverty-stricken area of New Mexico soak you in their sweat, tears, fears, wins and losses, ultimately exposing their gritty grasp on what's important in life and bringing a special meaning to the idea of teamwork. The scene-stealers are an immigrant girl from India and a boy from a local reservation. Hollywood would have submerged it in sentiment. This one stays real all the way. [57 mins] back to top

Long Night's Journey Into Day
Winner of the Grand Prize for Best Documentary at the 2000 Sundance Festival, and ALA Booklist’s Editor’s Choice Award for Best Video of 2000. A LONG NIGHT'S JOURNEY INTO DAY is a documentary that tells the story of the hearings in South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). When apartheid collapsed after forty years, the victims wanted justice, and the apartheid enforcers wanted amnesty for their crimes. The TRC investigated the crimes of apartheid and brought together victims and perpetrators to relive South Africa’s brutal history, in an effort to build a better foundation for the future. Come to consider the relative success of the TRC and our own possibilities in the U.S. of healing from crimes as historic as slavery and internment. What is the role of information in producing justice? What is the role of forgiveness where the crimes are unthinkable? What enables a community torn by violence to move forward? [94 mins] back to top

Mai's America
An intimate portrait of Mai, a spunky, mini-skirted daughter of Ho Ch Minh's revolution who leaves cosmopolitan Hanoi on a high school exchange program. Anticipating Hollywood, Mai crash lands in rural Mississippi...where her relationships with white Pentecostal and black Baptist host families, self-proclaimed rednecks, transvestites, and South Vietnamese immigrants challenge her long-held ideas about herself, about freedom, about America, and even about Vietnam. back to top

Misunderstood Minds
Imagine going to work and not being able to do your job. Now imagine that you can’t leave your job. Imagine having to do that every day. This is what life is like for children with learning disabilities." Dr. David Urion For one in five students, learning is an exhausting and frustrating struggle. Kids are sometimes mistakenly called "lazy" or "stupid" by their teachers, classmates, or even parents. But these children with misunderstood minds .can be successful in school and on the playground if the correct, specific learning strategies can be discovered and practiced. This documentary follows the fascinating stories of five children and their families as they try to solve the mysteries of their children’s learning difficulties. [90 min] back to top

The Personals: Improvisations on Romance in the Golden Years
by Keiko Ibi
The Personals is an Academy-Award Winning documentary by Keiko Ibi, a 30-year-old film student at NYU. The film tells the story of a play produced by the Alliance Stage Company at the Educational Alliance. Through it, Ibi explores the stories of single older people looking for love. On stage, a group of seniors perform their roles with energy and laughter. As the rehearsal progress, the camera turns to the individual members of the group at home, in an attempt to uncover both the joys and the sorrows of growing old in America. About making the film, Ibi has written: "I don’t deny that they’ve given me a glimpse of the aging process that is sometimes scary…maybe even threatening. But they have constantly surprised and inspired me, just by being themselves….We made a connection. We became friends." back to top

Promises
A documentary film which explores the Middle East conflict as seen through the eyes of Israeli and Palestinian children living in and around Jerusalem. Rather than focusing on hard news and political events, the film looks at the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and prospects for peace by drawing viewers into the hearts and minds of Jerusalem’s children.The film focuses on seven Palestinian & Israeli children. Each child offers dramatic, emotional, and sometimes hilarious perspectives on issues that lie at the heart of the Middle East conflict. The children in PROMISES are between the ages of 9 and13, an age group that rarely speaks for itself. Neither as self-conscious as teen-agers nor as polite as adults, they communicate without self-censorship. Although they live nomore than 20 minutes apart, the children are locked in separate worlds. PROMISES explores the boundaries that lie between these children and tells the story of a few who dared to cross the lines to meet their neighbors. back to top

Rabbit in the Moon
by Emiko Omori
A visually stunning and emotionally compelling account of the filmmaker’s family experience in a Japanese internment camp. The documentary by San Francisco filmmaker Emiko Omori has received critical acclaim at the Sundance Film Festival. back to top

Raymond's Portrait
by Donald Young
Traces the personal and artistic development of this talented young Chinese-American brush painter, including his family’s experience when Raymond was one of the first full-inclusion students with Down Syndrome at San Ramon High School. Raymond Hu’s phenomenal paintings were exhibited in the Piedmont schools and at the screening, and he led an engaging discussion about the effect of his childhood on his art. (In addition to the film, the schools also own The Eyes of Raymond Hu, a book of Raymond’s paintings with more information about his life.) back to top

Scout's Honor
"To be physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight," this is the Boy Scout Oath. Since 1910, millions of boys have joined. But today, if you are openly gay, you can't. Witness how Steven Cozza, a 13-year-old Boy Scout, launches a grassroots campaign to overturn the ban on gays. "Scouting for All" is the movement built by Cozza with the help of a long-time scout leader, community members, and his own family. Moving from Petaluma, California to the Supreme Court, the film chronicles a modern interpretation of the scouting ideals of courage and honor. back to top

Sound & the Fury
Imagine: Your child is born deaf, but a miraculous new operation can restore the baby's hearing. So given the limited risk, of course you decide to understake the procedure. Right? Therein lies the intriguing premise ofthis fascinating portrait of deaf families and deaf culture. The battle over cochlear implants, a medical technology welcomed by soem as a cure for deafness and reviledby others as a cruel procedure which will result in the end of American Sign Language and deaf culture, threatens to divide the deaf community and define the future of those who are hearing impaired. Two branches of the Artinian family, each headed by a brother, are at the center of a passionate and elucidating debate. The anguish of parents, grandparents, children and many others as they negotiate the emotional travails that color these issues and choices is vividly on display. One of the most talked about films at this year's Sundance and San Francisco Film Festivals. Nominated for Best Documentary in this year's upcoming Academy Awards. [60 mins] back to top

Strange Fruit
"Part of our history, part of our heritage. Strange Fruit captures with vivid imagery the history of a song that created immediate controversy as a grim reminder of a necessarily painful and ugly chapter in American history. The song retains its force, because the issues it raises about the legacy of racial terrorism in American society still resonate. Except for Strange Fruit, none of the victims were ever memorialized, their stories & legacies are all but forgotten. This is a fascinating story about a song that compelled its audiences to confont the past in ways that could be genuinely disturbing. It is no less disturbing today." --Leon F. Litwack, A.F. & May T. Morrison Professor of History, University of California, Berkeley [58 mins] back to top

Twitch and Shout
by Laurel Chiton
Only a filmmaker who herself suffers from Tourette’s syndrome could get away with titling a documentary about the disorder so irreverently. Twitch and Shout introduces us to a professional basketball player, an artist, an actress, and a Mennonite lumberjack among others with Tourette’s. We make contact and are completely absorbed in this sometimes unsettling, ultimately uplifting film about people who must contend with a society that often sees them as crazy or bad – because their bodies and minds won’t do what they’re told. (Study Guide available) back to top

The Way Home
by Shakti Butler
Shows what happened when 8 ethnic councils of women came together to talk honestly about race, gender and class in the U.S. Over the course of 8 months, 65 women, representing a cross-section of culture in the U.S., met in councils separated by ethnicity. Their candid conversations offer rare access into multi-dimensional cultural worlds mostly invisible to outsiders. The result is a wondrous collection of stories that present an inspiring picture of women moving beyond the duality of race. (Study Guide available) [92 min] back to top

What Do You Believe?
Is a documentary that captures a diverse group of young people as they share their most personal beliefs and feelings about spirituality, god, morality, prayer, death, the purpose of life, and freedom of religion in the US. These young people’s insights and experiences challenge our biases and stereotypes, and shed light on Smerica’s new religious pluralism. The What Do You Believe Project was conceived in 1998 in order to promote tolerance and understanding among American teenagers from different religious and spiritual backgrounds. 200 teenagers were interviewed, and their beliefs and experiences incorporated – interviewees included Muslim, Pagan, Athiest, Hindu, Buddhist, Agnostic, native American, Mormon, Jewish, Catholic, Baptist, Christian, Latino, Black, White and Asian American youth. By weaving 6 teenagers’ in-depth stories with commentary from 20 others, this doc paints a broad picture of religious and spiritual life for Bay Area teens. (~ 60 mins) back to top