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Humanities Resource Center
Film List
THE AMERICAN SHORT STORY
Made possible by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. This series includes seventeen filmed short stories by great American authors. They have been chosen to include artistic merit, character development and impact of the underlying theme. Although some of the stories were written a hundred years ago, they nonetheless reflect feelings, conflicts and events with which we all can identify today. Some of the nation's most gifted producers. directors and performers were involved in this series and the result is a stunning series, unique in scope. For a description, see individual titles.
Born Again: Life in a Fundamentalist Baptist Church
This film provides an intimate look at the foundation of the "Religious Right" movement -- the close-knit community church. Cutting beneath the headlines preoccupied with the "holy wars" involving TV evangelists like Jimmy Swaggart, Jerry Falwell, Jim and Tammy Bakker, and Oral Roberts, Born Again Focuses on one independent Baptist congregation and its Christian school in central Massachusetts. The film offers a remarkably candid exploration of fundamentalism's appeal by showing how the church serves its members' needs and what it demands of them in return. As an anthropological study, Born Again is perhaps unprecedented in its approach to this subject. The camera acts as observer, showing the church members' beliefs, and the consequences of those beliefs, firsthand.
Born Again, Jim Ault and Michael Camerini, 1986, 16mm, 90 minutes.
Cambodians in America: Rebuilding the Temple
In the 1970s, 150,000 Cambodians fled to the United States to escape the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge, Cambodians in America tells the story of this unique group of immigrants and their struggle to survive between two worlds: the Cambodian world shaped by centuries-old traditions and a gentle Buddhist faith - and the fast-paced American world of the present.
1/2" VHS
Citizens: An American Film Portrait of Polish Solidarity
A quietly moving and deeply felt portrait of the most human aspects of this important moment in Polish history. By focusing on actual men and women who took part in it -- from intellectuals to blue-- collar unionists -- the film conveys the power with which revolutionary ideals can sweep through an entire citizenry. (Ten million Poles out of a total population of 36 million signed on as registered members of Solidarity, reasoning that if enough people stood together, even a totalitarian state could not arrest them all.) Citizens utilizes music, graphic arts, photographs and selected film footage from before, during, and after the imposition of martial law, emphasizing enduring values of the Solidarity period that are too often obscured by Cold War rhetoric. The film is remarkable for its ability to five a sense of the causes of the unrest which led to Solidarity without obscuring the account of personal involvement which is its strongest point.
Citizens, Richard Adams, 1986, 16mm, one hour.
Code Gray
A 1984 Oscar nominee for Best Documentary Short Subject, "Code Cray" explores four ethical dilemmas faced by nurses and other health care professionals practicing modern medicine. How much should a handicapped newborn be allowed to suffer for the sake of life? How much can you restrain patients for their own good but against their expressed wishes? During shortages of staff or equipment, which patients will receive the best care? Which takes precedence, responsibility to a dying patient or help for the grieving family?
Code Gray, Fanlight Productions, 1984, l6mm, color, 30 minutes.
The Combat Sport: Boxing Yesterday and Today
This film traces the origin and evolution of boxing over a 6000 year period, focusing on three principal eras: ancient boxing, bare-knuckle boxing in 17th and 18th century England and boxing in the 20th century America.
16mm and 1/2" VHS
Emily Dickinson: Vesuvius at Home
A remarkably engaging study of one of America's most popular and enigmatic poets.
Emily Dickinson: Vesuvius At Home was produced as part of the PBS series "Voices and Vision." This film features interviews with Joyce Carol Oates, Adrienne Rich and Anthony Hecht.
Emily Dickinson, New York Center for Visual History, 1986, 16mm, color, 60 minutes.
Ethnic Notions
A one-hour video documentary examining the relationships between popular culture and ethnic attitudes. The program traces the evolution of black caricatures from colonial America to the present, demonstrating how popular culture has both molded and mirrored changing attitudes and beliefs about black Americans.
Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Years, 1954-1965
Represents a significant event in the assembly and communication of black American history and demonstrates the usefulness of the documentary form in producing that history. Structured into six episodes, the series presents the twelve year period of the civil rights movement from 1954-1965 using archival material and contemporary interviews with participants in the movement which are then highlighted through voice-over narration. In employing the traditional documentary format, the considerable strength of the series lies in the extensive archival footage and in moving the series forward through the recollections of individuals whose own personal histories are interwoven with the political and social events of the period. The episodes are:
Episode 1: Awakenings, 1954-1956
Episode 2: Fighting Back, 1957-1962
Episode 3: Ain't Scared of Your Jails, 1960-1961
Episode 4: No Easy Walk, 1961-1963
Episode 5: Mississippi - Is This American? 1962-1964
Episode 6: Bridge to Freedom, 1965
Eyes on the Prize, Henry Hampton, Blackside Productions, 1987, 1/2" VHS, six one-hour episodes.
Figure in a Landscape
Is a fascinating presentation of the work of J.B. Jackson, historian of the American manmade landscape. Jackson is widely regarded as the founder of landscape studies in the United States, and its most engaging interpreter. In the film, Jackson himself is the guide for an interpreted tour of America's vernacular landscape. Jackson's approach encourages the viewer to think more deeply about the places they have been and to understand their cultural history. By showing the forces which are now at work in shaping the land, he encourages us to become more self-conscious and critical inhabitants of our time and place.
Figure in a Landscape, Janet Mendelsohn, 1987, 16mm, 58 minutes.
FIT: Episodes in the History of the Body
The history of physical fitness in the United States, the film explores "natural" concepts of fitness and health. It reveals that the body itself had different meanings, functions and effects in different historical circumstances.
1/2" VHS
Jack Levine: Feast of Pure Reason
In this critical reassessment of the social realist Jack Levine, filmmaker David Sutherland ("Paul Cadmus: Enfant Terrible at 80," 1984) provides another stunning portrait of an American artist An acerbic but compassionate observer of his tumultuous times, the Boston-born Levine in this film not only explains his creative impulses, but demonstrates them. "Glib, philosophical, engagingly self-deprecating and always compelling …" (Nat Segaloff, Boston Herald).
Jack Levine, David Sutherland Productions, 1986, 16mm color, 60 minutes.
A Jumpin' Night in the Garden of Eden
A documentary on the revival of Klezmer music--Yiddish dance-band music which has survived centuries of migratory permutations. The film also looks at assimilated young American Jews unearthing their links to a buried cultural heritage. The film's uncomplicated presentation and musical vitality make it entertaining as well as educational. Literally "instruments of song," Klezmer is an emotionally irrepressible, free-wheeling music propelled by horns, violins and bouncy syncopation. During its evolution, this party music of Eastern European Jewry became overlain with Turkish and Balkan influences. The skilled young musicians featured in the film, including Hankus Netsky of the Boston-based Klezmer Conservatory Band, have used the inherently improvisational freedom of Klezmer to reinvent the old-time music with modern arrangements while retaining the boisterous character that accompanied it on its emigration from the shtetls of the old world to the Yiddish theater of early 20th century America.
A Jumpin' Night in the Garden of Eden, by Michal Goldman, 1988, VHS, 80 minutes.
Kerouac
The author of nineteen books and the central figure in the cultural movement known as the "Beat Generation," Jack Kerouac had an impact on younger generations throughout the world. Produced on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the publication of On The Road, this film biography examines the intricacies of Kerouac's nonconformity. his unorthodox writing style and the generation he helped to spawn: from his childhood in Lowell, Mass., to his short college career and anti-military behavior during World War II, through the Beat Movement, and finally his rebellion against the generation he inspired. Includes interviews with Kerouac's wife and fellow "beatniks" Allen Ginsburg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti and William Burroughs.
Kerouac, Wonder Productions. 1984, VHS, color, 60 minutes.
A Little Rebellion Now and Then
Specially commissioned to commemorate the bicentennial anniversary of the United States Constitution, "A Little Rebellion Now and Then" dramatizes the causes and effects of the farmers' insurrection in western Massachusetts which came to be known as Shays' Rebellion. The rebellion of 1786-87 gave expression to tensions in the state which are still in evidence today and provided a catalyst for the creation of a stronger federal government "... achieves a miracle of balance between dramatic tension and historical fidelity. As a longtime student of Shays' Rebellion and the Constitutional era, I suddenly saw these historic events come alive beyond all my expectations. I recommend it with enthusiasm ..." James MacGregor Burns, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian.
A Little Rebellion Now and Then, Calliope Film Resources, Inc., 1986, 16mm, color, 30 minutes.
Mary Lyon: Precious Time
A biographical portrait of Mary Lyon, a pioneer in American and international education. Narrator Julie Harris guides viewers in this exploration of Lyon's efforts to establish one of the first permanent institutions of higher education for women in the world--Mount Holyoke. To achieve her goal, Lyon had to surmount traditional opinion about a proper "woman's sphere," and she had to raise large sums of money in difficult times. She made education accessible to women of the middle class and saved many women from the drudgery of farm and factory. The subtitle, "Precious Time," points to the period between girlhood and womanhood. Lyon utilized these golden moments--time which had often been wasted embroidering, gossiping, or idling--by preparing for her students for teaching careers. It alludes as well to Lyon's brief life. She died at 52, only twelve years after founding Mount Holyoke in 1837.
Mary Lyon: Precious Time, Jean Mudge, 1987, 16mm, 30 minutes.
The Massachusetts Story
Energy and food may be the modern world's most basic needs, and nowhere do they come into starker conflict than off the coast of Massachusetts. This hour-long documentary probes opposing positions in the heated controversy over oil-drilling on Georges Bank. which produces approximately 20% of the world's fish protein. Nominated for three Emmy Awards.
The Massachusetts Story, by Gordon Massingham. 1977, l6mm, color, 60 minutes.
The Mashpee Conflict
In August of 1976, the Wampanoag Indians of Mashpee filed a land claims suit in federal district court that set off a period of social and economic turmoil in the town. The suit, which was decided against the Wampanoags and upheld by the Supreme Court on appeal, claimed that three-fourths of the town had been taken from the Wampanoags in violation of the 1790 Federal Indian Non-Intercourse Act. This documentary examines the historical development of this confrontation and its effects on the small Cape Cod town of Mashpee.
The Mashpee Conflict, By Mark Gunning and Maureen McNamara, 1984, VHS, color, 60 minutes.
Monterey Lights The Way
The small town of Monterey, Massachusetts was transformed for three days in the fall of 1980 into a national news event as a result of its participation in the First International Energy Days Competition. This hour long documentary looks behind all the media coverage to show how one American town moved beyond the divisions and conflicts of the 1 960s and early 70s to a new sense of community cooperation.
Monterey Lights The Way, Blue Sky Productions, 1983, VHS, color, 60 minutes.
Old Quabbin Valley
Boston's history has included a long reach for adequate water supplies. The city controls a complex system of aqueducts and reservoirs stretching 8O miles into western Massachusetts and culminating in the large Quabbin Reservoir, which was created in the 1930s by flooding four towns and six villages. This documentary focuses on Boston's latest, bitterly controversial scheme to meet its growing need for water--to skim floodwaters of the Connecticut River and divert them via an aqueduct to Quabbin. The centuries-old struggle between the state's urban east and rural west is investigated, highlighting especially the question of home rule.
Old Quabbin Valley, Florentine Films, 1981, 16mm, color, 30 minutes.
Once Upon a Choice
A humorous, original fairy tale in which an unconventional princess faces the conventional dilemma of deciding which prince to marry. In striking contrast to the passive princesses of traditional lore, this princess is eager to explore the outside world. Her delightful and unexpected solution stimulates discussion about sex-role stereotyping, marriage and career, and parent-child relationships.
Once Upon a Choice, by Liane Brandon. 1980, VHS, color, 15 minutes. Available in 16mm from New Day Films.
Sentimental Women Need Not Apply: A History of the American Nurse
A History of the American Nurse is a remarkably revealing examination of the only professional field that has been consistently dominated by women. As a subject of investigation, nursing invites inquiry into women's history, into cultural archetypes, into the practice and effects of institutionalized racism and sexism, into society's deepest understandings of caring and service. Sentimental Women Need Not Apply leads us through an illuminating analysis of the nursing profession, focusing on the first century of nursing in this country (1873-1973) and the events that have shaped both the image and the reality of the nurse in her own time.
Sentimental Women Need Not Apply, Diane Garey and Lawrence R. Hott, Florentine Films, 1988, 16mm, 1/2" VHS, 58 minutes.
The Shakers: Hands To Work, Hearts To God
The Shakers are known for the simple beauty of their furniture and their practice of celibacy. But from a spiritual perspective, with beliefs that carried over into every part of their daily routine, the sect had a significant impact on American culture in the 18th and 19th centuries. This beautiful and sensitively photographed film explores the history, philosophy and daily life of the utopian sect which Thomas Jefferson described as "destined eventually to overthrow all other religions." Includes interviews with two of the last six surviving eldresses of the Shaker religion. Produced by Oscar Award nominees Ken Burns and Amy Stechler Burns.
The Shakers, Florentine Films, 1984, 16mm, color, 60minutes
Significant Hazards
In 1980, a Harvard molecular biologist named Mark Ptashne proposed the development of a commercial recombinant-DNA laboratory on Beacon Street in Somerville. This documentary offers an historical and philosophical analysis of the controversy which ensued, focusing particularly upon the clash of values between the residents of the community and the scientists, a conflict of class, language and life-styles.
Significant Hazards, Gallileo Studios, 1984, l6mm, color. 30 minutes.
Voices and Visions
A landmark series that features the brilliant tradition of modern American poetry from Whitman and Dickinson to Plath and Lowell. The series chronicles and interprets the collective achievements of America's great poets and their contributions to our cultural heritage. The thirteen programs focus on works of poetry rather than on biography and convey poetry as a dynamic, living art form in this country. Documentary, dramatic, and experimental film techniques are skillfully combined. Scholars and critics discuss the predominant concerns addressed by each poet, enabling the viewer to recognize how poems work, what poems mean, and how an individual poem relates to the larger tradition of American poetry. Voices and Visons includes one-hour programs about each of the following poets:?Robert Frost
Ezra Pound
Langston Hughes
Walt Whitman
Hart Crane
William Carlos Williams
Emily Dickinson
Marianne Moore
T.S. Eliot
Wallace Stevens
Elizabeth Bishop
Robert Lowell
???
Voice and Visions, New York Center for Visual History, 1987, 1/2" VHS, thirteen on-hour programs. (Note--Emily Dickinson: Vesuvius At Home is also available in 16mm).
Ware U.S.A.
When Otis Textile, the town's major employer, failed in 1938, Ware became nationally famous for the unique civic spirit which saved the town. Public subscription bought the mills and formed Ware Industries, a nonprofit company. When Ware Industries declared bankruptcy and was sold for back taxes, Ware faced economic catastrophe for a second time. This moving documentary of a factory town, from its agricultural beginnings to the present, brings its unique history to bear on a classic contemporary problem.
Ware U.S.A., Morgan Wesson, 1984, 16mm, color, 70 minutes.
You May Call Her Madam Secretary
This is an imaginative, entertaining and historically accurate film dramatizing the life of Frances Perkins, Franklin D. Roosevelt's Secretary of Labor and the first woman ever to sit in the Cabinet. The story is told mostly in Perkin's own words, culled from her extensive oral history transcripts at Columbia University. Actress Frances Sternhagen gives a thoughtful and glowing portrayal of a basically private person from Worcester, Massachusetts thrust into public life. The film firmly establishes the primary role Perkins played in such key New Deal programs as Social Security, unemployment insurance, the minimum wage and 40-hour week, child labor regulation, and federal relief programs.
You May Call Her Madam Secretary, Marjory and Robert Potts, 1987, 58 minutes, 16mm, 1/2" VHS; Winner, CINE Golden Eagle; American Library Association Booklist, Outstanding Non-Print List 1987.
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