Excerpt 2: Prelude

Excerpt 3: Vigil

At a time when domestic violence is surging through the US, the film explores the shocking persistence of violence against women, as refracted through the story of Kim, a Duluth, MN mother of three.

Directed and produced by filmmaker Peter Cohn. More at powerandcontrolfilm.com and http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1549023/.

Excerpt 2: Ending

A documentary that explores the question: Is there life after death? And if so, can we communicate with the dead? Includes personal stories from everyday people who claim they have made contact with deceased friends and relatives, to self-proclaimed mediums, to philosophers and scientists who have dedicated their lives to these issues.

Directed and produced by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Lisa Jackson. More at jacksonfilms.com.

Excerpt 2: “Hair”

Excerpt 3: Finale

Acclaimed writer/performer Eve Ensler is the star of this innovative special that features some of the candid, funny, painful, yearning insights of women talking about their no-longer-so-private part. Based on Ensler’s award-winning stage show of the same name, the special includes all-new interviews and behind-the-scenes commentary added to the original performance material. The end result is a daring and refreshingly liberating experience filled with compassion, humor, intelligence and honesty that will leave you thinking inside the box!

Vocals by Cathy Richardson.

More at www.hbo.com/docs/programs/vagina_monologues/

“Baby Steps” stars Kathy Bates as Rose, a homophobic adoption agency director, and chronicles her encounter with Robert, a gay schoolteacher who is looking to adopt a child. Winner Outstanding Narrative Short Film, LA Outfest, and finalist for the Second Annual PlanetOut.com Short Movie Award.

Written, directed and produced by Geoffrey Nauffts.

Music features Todd Reynolds on violin.

(1999, USA) Director: Nauffts, Geoffrey Producer: Burkhart, Jonathan Starring: Kathy Bates ; Geoffrey Nauffts ; Ria Pavia

Until the Violence Stops features playwright and activist Eve Ensler in a powerful film that documents how The Vagina Monologues grew into an international grassroots movement called V-Day to stop violence against women and girls. In 2002, eight hundred cities around the world participated in V-Day by staging benefit performances of The Vagina Monologues. Until the Violence Stops shows women from Harlem to Ukiah, California; from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation to the Philippines and Kenya, uniting and courageously revealing their intimate and deeply painful experiences with abuse ranging from rape to female circumcision. Director Abby Epstein takes us on a poignant journey into the hearts of women and includes revealing testimonies from men, who expose social and cultural attitudes that perpetuate the pervasive violence against women. In emotionally charged interviews and performances, everyday women and celebrities like Rosie Perez, Salma Hayek, Tantoo Cardinal, Jane Fonda, and LisaGay Hamilton embrace their bodies, reconcile their past, and bond together to break the silence that surrounds abuse.

More at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0326425/

This PBS documentary takes a look at the ancient art of fresco. Fresco is the classic art of painting on wet plaster. Narrators Susan Sarandon and Richard Kiley take viewers through its history and its modern-day revival.

This video shows how this very old artistic style of painting is being reborn in the modern art world. The work of artist Mark Balma is also highlighted. Balma and a team of artists created a fresco at the University of St. Thomas. The video provides a first-hand look at the creative process, from ancient to modern times. Beth Deki, All Movie Guide. Narrated by Susan Sarandon.

Excerpt 2: “The Truth About Whisky”

Excerpt 3: “Epilogue”

The swift rise in federally funded, abstinence-only sex education under the Bush administration is in the headlines today, sparking an intense national debate about our responsibility to teach teens the facts of life. Those supporting an abstinence-only approach say that teaching anything but abstinence just encourages teens to experiment with sex. Opponents say that withholding information about condom use and birth control will only lead to unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases.

Into the culture wars steps 15-year-old Shelby Knox of Lubbock, Texas. A self-described “good Southern Baptist girl,” Knox herself has pledged abstinence until marriage. When she finds that Lubbock has some of the highest rates of teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases in the state, and her county’s high schools teach abstinence as the only safe sex, she becomes an unlikely advocate for comprehensive sex education, profoundly changing her political and spiritual views along the way. “I think that God wants you to question,” Shelby says, “to do more than just blindly be a follower, because he can’t use blind followers. He can use people like me who realize there’s more in the world that can be done.” Here is a story for our times, where the combustible mix of politics, family and faith aren’t as predictable as the red state/blue state divide would suggest.

Awards:

• 2005 Sundance Film Festival (Excellence in Cinematography, Documentary Category)
• 2005 SXSW Film Festival (Audience Award)
• 2005 Sonoma Valley Film Festival (Jury Prize)
• 2005 Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival (Jury Prize, Best Documentary)
• 2005 Full Frame Documentary Film Festival (Emerging Pictures Audience Award)
• Council on Foundations (2005 Henry Hampton Award for Excellence in Film & Digital Media)
• 2005 Fresno Reel Pride Film Festival (Audience Award, Best Feature)
• 2006 The Index on Censorship’s Freedom of Expression Film Award (Nominee)

Produced by PBS and Incite Pictures

More info at www.imdb.com/title/tt0427206 and wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Education_of_Shelby_Knox

Excerpt 2: “Witold In Bed”

More info at imdb.com/title/tt1462533

Dorothy Lawson, cello; Tom Chiu, violins; Rick Baitz, piano

TV Special narrated by Linda Hunt. Winner, Best Commercial Film, Jackson Hole International Film Festival; Christopher Columbus Award; Genesis Award.

National Geographic draws viewers into the looking glass where eyes, much like our own, reflect playfulness, grief, loneliness, rage and above all, intelligence. Scientists continuing the work of legendary chimpanzee advocate Jane Goodall make startling revelations about chimps in the wild.

More info at imdb.com/title/tt0323394

Theme song by Rick Baitz & Ian Ellis James; score by Rick Baitz.

Vocals by Beth Blankenship.

Animated children’s special, written & directed by 7-time Emmy Award-winning writer Ian Ellis James (AKA William Electric Black).  Produced by National Institutes of Health.

More info at kids.niehs.nih.gov/weight.htm