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Issues 08 - Education The U.S. is the single largest national economy in the world, and yet American students consistently rank far behind many of the world's industrialized nations in basic proficiency in core subjects. In a world-wide test of scholastic performance administered in 2006, the U.S. did not place among the top 20 countries in reading, mathematics, or science. These documentaries offer both heart-warming stories of teacher who--despite the odds--manage to make a difference in the lives of children, as well as heart-wrenching portraits of those who are spit out by a broken system. For two years, Kartemquin filmmaker Maria Finitzo follows five strong young women between the ages of 13 and 17. Unlike the mainstream media who portray young women as passive, powerless or mean, 5 Girls explores the ways these girls navigate adolescence. It focuses on the positive ways that girls learn to adapt to challenges in their lives by understanding and exercising choices, by resisting powerful cultural messages and by believing in their strength when others do not. Latest Comment
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From the creators of Super Size Me comes a funny, provocative yet heart-felt story of drama teacher extraordinaire, Jay W. Jensen, who has touched the lives of thousands of students over the years. CLASS ACT is set against the specter of No Child Left Behind and documents how the arts are disappearing from the American classroom, giving us a report card on what lies ahead for America’s kids. Latest Comment
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Many challenges are ahead for Peter Kohn, a beloved collegiate lacrosse field manager who is believed to be autistic. As the team seeks a national championship, Peter must choose between his allegiance to the student athletes and his devotion to a cancer-stricken friend, all while reacting emotionally to his upcoming retirement. Can anyone, let alone Peter, negotiate such dramatic changes? Latest Comment
Posted 11/21/08 by Andy McDonald
Great stuff! Pete’s dedication to his friends and the game of lacrosse is truly inspirational. I have great memories of Pete from Hobart Lacrosse camp as a kid in the eighties. The camp would often fall on July 4th, and Pete would walk the halls of the dormitory making sure every kid was awake, hollering, “Time to get up boys, Time to make your country proud, time to get up!” and he meant it. thanks for the memory Whitwell Middle School in rural Tennessee is the setting for this documentary about an extraordinary experiment in Holocaust education. Struggling to grasp the concept of six-million Holocaust victims, the students decide to collect six-million paper clips to better understand the extent of this crime against humanity. The film details how the students met Holocaust survivors from around the world and how the experience transformed them and their community. Latest Comment
Posted 12/24/08 by Eva B.
This documentary was excellent both in its content and its production. It conveyed a very powerful message about the importance of remembering the lives of those killed in the Holocaust, and honoring their memories, and reminding the world of what happened and that we must never forget.
What can be said of a justice system that sentences a young mother of three to life in prison for a first-time and non-violent drug-related offense? Latest Comment
Posted 09/10/08 by Chris Kitchens
It is very disheartening, this “war on drugs” that is supposedly to protect the American people. There are deadheads in prison for selling LSD and were charged with attempted poisoning or attempted murder, even though neither ever occured from using LSD. I am not condoning the use of illegal drugs. Addiction sucks, and should not be made easier to fall into by legalization. The law should punish people based on how much they hurt society and others. Not by which particular portion of the crime they committed, or whether a certain drug was present at the time of arrest. Hopefully, laws will be ammended to be more reasonable, and practical in their application. Allow low risk prisoners the chance to serve in the Armed Forces instead of prison time. That way, we will be improving them as they work to serve their country. Just my 2 cents. Hope I don’t get 20 years for expressing them. PRISON LULLABIES is the remarkable portrait of four young women living on the bad side of luck, struggling with drug addiction, arrested for dealing, prostitution, grand larceny and serving prison time with one common bond; they were all pregnant at the time of their arrest, and all have given birth behind bars. For these women who are on intimate terms with sexual abuse and assault, destitution, poverty and addition, the Taconic Corrections Facility in New York State offers a rare glimmer of hope. Taconic allows the women to keep their babies for the first 18 months of their lives while insisting that the mothers participate in a rigorous series of classes that range from basic child care to anger management, and drug counseling. Each woman is released in the course of filming, and each must choose, minute to minute, whether to find a job, break the cycle of relapse and re-arrest, or to pick up the crack-pipe, abandon the child and return to the streets. Shot in cinema verite style, PRISON LULLABIES addresses these issues by allowing the audience the opportunity to observe and listen as the stories of the inmate mothers unfold- in their own time and their own words. Latest Comment
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Members of Congress may not come to the floor armed with pistols as they did in the days leading up to the Civil War, but their words are as toxic as any time since then. And we are — in many ways — a more divided nation than any time since then. In interviews with political leaders, media analysts, and people in communities around the country, ABC News found what appears to be a new phenomenon: the polarization is feeding on itself. It’s not just politicians, business or religious leaders, liberals or conservatives — or the media: It’s each of us. And it’s alarming. Bill Bishop, a reporter for the Austin-American Statesman newspaper in Texas, conducted a three-year investigation into America’s divide. Bishop reached back over the last 14 presidential election cycles and counted Republican and Democratic votes in all 3,100 American counties. The research yielded some startling information. “There’s a steady trend line of the country pulling apart, becoming more politically segregated. We call this “The Big Sort,” said Bishop. Latest Comment
Posted 08/03/08 by Simone
I disagree with the premise of the film completely. I’ve spent the past 4 years researching and producing a documentary called “American Feud: A History of Conservatives and Liberals” (http://www.americanfeud.org) that takes a non-partisan look at the history of liberalism and conservatism. More often than not we found most people have views far more nuanced and complex then this simplistic view would profess. We may be poorly served by ideologues, but we are not being torn apart. |
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