Videos/DVDs for American Studies classroom use available at Public Affairs Office, U.S. Embassy Tallinn

All video tapes listed below have educational rights, which permit the use of these videos to groups, provided no admission is charged for viewing. Some of the videos also have broadcast rights (indicated by BR).

American Studies documentaries

Art

Cinema

Geography (only DVD-s)

History

Literature

Music

African-American life and history in contemporary film

Documentaries on current issues

English Teaching - Thematic Classroom Activities



American Studies Documentaries


Art

WORLD OF ART - WORKS IN PROGRESS

10 parts, each 30 minutes.

World of Art: Works in Progress was produced in 1997 for Annenberg/CPB. Although seven years old, it remains fresh and vibrant. Each program in this series is devoted to a contemporary artist who creates one or more works of art, oftentimes from start to finish. Unfortunately abstract expressionist painter Milton Resnick died recently.

1. Lorna Simpson, photographer, explores the ambiguous terrain connecting words and images in large-scale landscapes silkscreened on felt.
2. Guillermo Gsmez-Peqa, Mexican performance artist, poet, journalist, and activist, calls attention to relations between the U.S. and Mexico.
3. Bill Viola, video artist, combines video and sound in intriguing ways, as seen in The Greeting, a piece created for the Venice Biennale.
4. Hung Liu, painter, comments on traditional Chinese society as she paints a series of works on the Last Emperor and his court.
5. Beverly Buchanan, photographer, sculptor, and painter, focuses on an important symbol of rural Southern culture: the shack.
6. June Wayne, printmaker and painter, reveals her interest in science and scientific discovery as she works on a new print in New York City.
7. Milton Resnick, died in 2004, one of the longest living members of the New York School of painters, also known as the Abstract Expressionists, creates five large oil paintings over eight months.
8. Judy Baca, painter and activist known for her mile-long mural in Los Angeles depicting Chicano history, works on two public art projects in Southern California.
9. Goat Island, a performance group that uses visual imagery, music, dance, and narrative, rehearses and performs a new piece on a U.K. tour.
10. Mierle Ukeles, artist-in-residence at the New York City Department of Sanitation, works on an installation at the Fresh Kills landfill.


Cinema

AMERICAN CINEMA (BR)

This is an instructional series for colleges and high school and has 10 one-hour and 3 half-hour video programs, using clips from more than 300 of the greatest movies ever made. This series explores film history and American culture through the eyes of over 150 Hollywood insiders, including Clint Eastwood, Steven Spielberg, Michael Eisner, and many others.

Titles of the series:
1. The Hollywood Style
2. The Studio System
3. The Star
4. The Western
5. Romantic Comedy
6. The Combat Film
7. Film Noir
8. Film in the Television Age
9. The Film School Generation
10. The Edge of Hollywood
11. Film Language (30 min)
12. Writing and Thinking About Film (30 min)
13. Classical Hollywood Today (30 min)


History

A HISTORY of the U.S.
Eight 60-minute videos (chapter descriptions available) An excellent junior high/ high school level history of the U.S. in 16 episodes, each about 23 minutes, 2 per tape:

1. Independence
2. Revolution
3. Liberty for All?
4. Wake Up America
5. A Fatal Contradiction
6. A War to End Slavery
7. What Is Freedom?
8. Whose Land Is This
9. Working For Freedom
10. Yearning to Breathe Free
11. Safe For Democracy
12. Depression and War
13. Democracy and Struggles
14. Let Freedom Ring
15. Marching to Freedom Land
16. Becoming Free

THE CIVIL WAR, a film by Ken Burns. Five DVDs of 99 - 157 minutes in length.

Hailed as a film masterpiece and landmark in historical storytelling, Ken Burns's epic documentary brings to life America's most destructive - and defining - conflict. With digitally enhanced images and 5.1 surround sound, here is the saga of celebrated generals and ordinary soldiers, a heroic and transcendent president and a country that had to divide itself in two in order to become one.

Disc 1
Episode one
The Cause
1861

Disc 2
Episodes two and three
A Very Bloody Affair
Forever Free
1862

Disc 3
Episodes four and five
Simply Murder
The Universe of Battle
1863

Disc 4
Episodes six and seven
Valley of the Shadow of Death
Most Hallowed Ground
1864

Disc 5
Episodes eight and nine
War is All Hell
The Better Angels of Our Nature
1865

JFK: YEARS OF LIGHTNING DAY OF DRUMS
85 minutes, produced in 1966 by George Stevens Jr.; written and directed by Bruce Herschenson, narrated by Gregory Peck
A historic documentary, structured around the "six faces" of the New Frontier: the Peace Corps, conquest of space, Alliance for progress, civil rights, freedom, peace.

THE NATIVE AMERICANS

The Tribes of the Southeast (50 minutes)

The Tribal People of the Northwest (50)

The Nations of the Northeast (50)

The People of the Great Plains, Part I (50)

The People of the Great Plains, Part II (50)

The Natives of the Southwest (50)

SCOTTSBORO An American Tragedy
90 minutes, produced in 2001
A documentary about an incident in 1931, one of the most significant legal fights of the 20th century, the Scottsboro story is at its core a riveting drama about the struggles of nine innocent young men for the lives, and a cautionary tale about using human beings as fodder for political causes.

THE STATUE OF LIBERTY
Produced by Ken Burns in 1985 65 minutes
Ken Burns explores both the history of America's premier symbol and the meaning of liberty itself.

UNITED STATES PRESIDENTS

Volume I, 1789 – 1841 (Washington, John Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, John Q. Adams, Jackson, Buren, Harrison) (60 minutes)

Volume II, 1841 – 1877 (Tyler, Polk, Taylor, Fillmore, Pierce, Buchanan, Lincoln, Johnson, Grant) (60)

Volume III, 1877 - 1913 (Hayes, Garfield, Arthur, Cleveland, Harrison, Cleveland, McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, Taft) (60)

Volume IV, 1913 – 1969 (Wilson, Harding, Coolidge, Hoover, Franklin Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson) (60)

THE WEST, by Stephen Ives

The People (82 minutes)

Empire Upon Trails (84)

The Speck of the Future (84)

Death Runs Riot (84)

Fight No More Forever (85)

The Geography of Hope (84)

Ghost Dance (58)

One Sky Above Us (62)

A BIOGRAPHY OF AMERICA (BR)
26 parts, 30 minutes each, produced 2000 by WGBH Boston for Annenberg/CPB.

This is a university level survey course in American history that can serve as a telecourse, a video reference for libraries, and supplementary material for regular classwork.

1. New World Encounters
2. English Settlement
3. Growth and Empire
4. The Coming of Independence
5. A New System of Government
6. Westward Expansion
7. The Rise of Capitalism
8. The Reform Impulse
9. Slavery
10. The Coming of the Civil War
11. The Civil War
12. Reconstruction
13. America at Its Centennial
14. Industrial Supremacy
15. The New City
16. The West
17. Capital and Labor
18. TR and Wilson
19. A Vital Progressivism
20. The Twenties
21. FDR and the Depression
22. World War II
23. The Fifties
24. The Sixties
25. Contemporary History
26. The Redemptive Imagination

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS, EXPLORER OF THE NEW WORLD, 46 minutes, PAL DVD.
Christopher Columbus was determined to find a western route to Asia. After years of trying, he convinced King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella to fund his journey. Although evidence now proves that the Vikings and perhaps other Europeans were in the Americas long before he came, Columbus is credited as the first European to see the Americas because of the profound impact his first contact with the Americas had on history. His voyage marked the beginning of European exploration and colonization of the Americas. This BIOGRAPHY documentary uses period accounts, art and artifacts and interviews with world-renowned historians to tell Columbus's often-reinterpreted story. Throughout his live Columbus never gave up believing that he had reached Asia. Despite his accomplishments, he died a broken, largely forgotten man.
Public performance and educational rights.

The Founding of a Nation: BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, 100 minutes, DVD PAL, produced by Cosgrove/Meurer Productions for The History Channel.
While most of us have a view of Benjamin Franklin as the little chubby, balding man with glasses, this is not the view captured in this documentary. The History Channel has done something that has been sorely needed, a factual, unvarnished account of a spirited man of many talents, one of the most pivotal men in American history. Franklin was a man of genius that transcended the centuries and this profile does a remarkable job of showing us the true man behind the odd haircut and glasses. This production by The History Channel tells the full story, even the less politically correct aspects of his life. In this documentary, history comes alive, entertaining while educating. We are presented with a mixture of talking head experts laying the foundation of the story with re-enactments that are historically accurate and enjoyable to watch. Franklin, the exemplification of an American Renaissance man, helped to build a nation and shape the modern world. Here we finally have a documentary film about his life that Franklin himself would have approved of. Public performance and educational rights .

The four-part PBS series, THEY MADE AMERICA, presents a sampling of the stories included in a book of the same name by Sir Harold Evans.

a. REVOLUTIONARIES "The most important thing for an innovator isn't necessarily being first," notes author Harold Evans. "It's being able to put together a combination that works." Lewis Tappan certainly did just that, using the profits of a successful store that he and his brother ran in New York City to further the anti-slavery cause. Then, after the business went bankrupt, he used his network of abolitionist lawyers to systematically report on the credit worthiness of out-of-town retailers who wanted to buy goods in New York -- an enterprise that later became Dun & Bradstreet. Innovators profiled in "Revolutionaries": Robert Fulton's passion was to blow up warships, but his enduring triumph was in the creation of the world's first successful steamboat services. John Fitch, a frontiersman whose life was often at risk, escaped with an idea that became the Delaware River's first steamboat. Lewis Tappan, an evangelist crusader, pioneered the credit rating and reporting system. Samuel Colt, a reckless spendthrift, created his own myth, a legendary weapon -- and a mass market.

b. NEWCOMERS focuses on recent immigrants to America, their diligence and desires and the often harsh reality of their lives. The success stories among them imbued whole communities with pride in the face of rampant prejudice. When Amadeo Giannini's idea -- a bank that gave working people a chance to secure and earn from their savings -- blossomed into Bank of America, the largest private bank in the world, many shared the wealth. "Giannini's great thing is to start saying we're going to open our doors to everybody; we're going to judge loans, not on what they've got in the bank, but what they've got in their soul," says author Harold Evans. Also uplifting is the story of a Russian seamstress who became a lingerie tycoon. With the creation of Maidenform, Ida Rosenthal mass-produced a bra that was the perfect fit for the new, corsetless American woman. Innovators profiled in "Newcomers": Samuel Insull, Thomas Edison's apprentice, realized the dream of serving all America with cheap electricity. Amadeo Giannini, a big man on the side of the little people, became the people's banker. Ida Rosenthal liberated women from centuries of constriction with her Maidenform bra.

c. GAMBLERS details the people whose iconic products connected the world in the second half of the 20th century, popularizing the act of flying in an airplane or using a computer. Every passenger whisked across countries or continents today can thank Juan Trippe, the founder of Pan Am who in the 1950s pushed Boeing and Pratt & Whitney to come up with a jet that would carry 200 people across the Atlantic Ocean in less than seven hours. By making international travel accessible, he allowed ordinary people to do the extraordinary -- like the woman who boarded the first 707 on October 4, 1958, and traveled to Paris, just to have lunch. Innovators profiled in "Gamblers": Juan Trippe, an air taxi pilot with a single-engine seaplane, flew the whole world into the jet age. Ruth Handler created Barbie, the most successful doll of the twentieth century. Thomas Watson, Jr., turned a tiny company into the great icon of the information age.

d. REBELS profiles two 21st-century magnates who have built bridges to different communities and countries through today's dominant American exports: information and entertainment. Russell Simmons has created a multimillion-dollar empire and an international following through rap music and hip hop culture, once the sole province of inner-city America. And Ted Turner turned a lens on the world with CNN, a 24- hour news station launched in 1982 -- and destined for failure, predicted most news executives. But like all innovators, he didn't listen to the naysayers. "If you've got an innovative idea," Turner says in THEY MADE AMERICA, "and the majority does not pooh-pooh your idea, then you must not have a very good idea." Innovators profiled in "Rebels": Ted Turner introduced the world to the world with 24-hour electronic news. Russell Simmons created a cultural movement in fashion, movies, comedy, poetry, television -- and social action. He's the marketing maestro of hip-hop.


Literature

AMERICAN PASSAGES (BR)

The series includes 16 half-hour programs about American literature, connecting major writers to those less often taught; explores works of fiction, prose and poetry within historical, social and cultural contexts. The videos are coordinated with the Norton Anthology of American Literature, and are used in the U.S. as the basis of a one or two-semester university level course on American literature.

1.Native Voices - Native American oral traditions through the work of three contemporary authors: Leslie Marmon Silko (Laguna Pueblo), Simon Ortiz (Acoma Pueblo), and Luci Tapahonso (Navajo).
2.Exploring Borderlands - the Chicano borderlands and the literature of Spanish colonization.
3. Utopian Promise - the Puritans and Quakers, and the lasting influence they had upon American identity.
4. Spirit of Nationalism - self-made man in Benjamin Franklin's autobiography, and in the writings of Romanticist Ralph Waldo Emerson.
5. Masculine Heroes - three key writers of the early national period - James Fenimore Cooper, John Rollin Ridge, and Walt Whitman
6. Gothic Undercurrents - Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, and Emily Dickinson
7. Slavery and Freedom - the classic slave narratives of Harriet Jacobs and Frederick Douglass and the fiction of Harriet Beecher Stowe.
8. Regional Realism – Mark Twain's depiction of Southern vernacular culture compared to that of Charles Chestnutt and Kate Chopin
9. Social Realism - authors of the American Gilded Age, such as Edith Wharton, and Anzia Yezierska
10. Rhythms in Poetry - the modernist lyrics of two poets: William Carlos Williams and Langston Hughes, and how did these poets start a revolution that continues until this day?
11. Modernist Portraits - Hemingway, Stein, and Fitzgerald forged a new style: one which silhouetted the geometry of language, crisp in its own cleanness.
12. Migrant Struggle - the social fiction of three key American voices: John Steinbeck, Carlos Bulosan, and Helena Marma Viramontes.
13. Southern Renaissance - uncovers the revisioning of Southern myths during the modernist era by writers William Faulkner and Zora Neale Hurston.
14. Becoming Visible - ethnic writers from 1945-1965 (Ralph Waldo Ellison, Philip Roth, and N. Scott Momaday)
15. Poetry of Liberation - the innovations made in American poetry in the 1960s by Allen Ginsberg, Amiri Baraka, and Adrienne Rich.
16. Search for Identity - Maxine Hong Kingston, Sandra Cisneros, and Leslie Feinberg


Music

BROADWAY: THE AMERICAN MUSICAL is a new six-part, total of six hours, documentary series that chronicles the Broadway musical throughout the 20th century and explores the evolution of this uniquely American art form. The series, created by filmmaker Michael Kantor, draws on a wealth of archival news footage, lost and found television moments, original cast recordings, still photos, feature films, diaries, journals, intimate first-person accounts, and on-camera interviews with many of the principals involved in creating the American musical.

a. Episode One: When Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. first hit New York in 1893, the intersection of Broadway and 42nd was nobody's idea of "the crossroads of the world." But by 1913, "'The Ziegfeld Follies' really were an amalgamation of everything that was happening in America, in New York, at that time," says writer Philip Furia. "Flo Ziegfeld was like the Broadway equivalent of the melting pot itself." Ziegfeld's story introduces many of the era's key figures: Irving Berlin, a Russian immigrant who became the voice of assimilated America; entertainers like Jewish comedienne Fanny Brice and African American Bert Williams, who became America's first "crossover" artists; and the brash Irish American George M.Cohan, whose song-and-dance routines embodied the energy of Broadway. This is also the story of the onset of World War I and the Red Summer of 1919, when labor unrest swept the nation -- and Broadway. The episode culminates in Ziegfeld's 1927 production of Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II's far-sighted masterpiece, "Show Boat." With the Great Depression, the Ziegfeld era became a memory.

b. Episode Two: Gossip columnist Walter Winchell gave Broadway a nickname that becomes synonymous with all of New York: "It is the Big Apple, the goal of all ambitions, the pot of gold at the end of a drab and somewhat colorless rainbow." With the advent of Prohibition and the Jazz Age, America convulsed with energy and change, and nowhere was the riotous mix of classes and cultures more dramatically on display than Broadway. While brash American women flapped their way to newfound freedoms, heroines of Broadway like Marilyn Miller became a testament to pluck and luck. It was the age of "Whoopee" and the "Charleston," "Runnin' Wild" and the "George White Scandals." In 1921, a jazz show like no other arrived: "Shuffle Along," which featured a rich, rousing score by Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake, reopening Broadway's doors to black artists. Unique talents like the Marx Brothers and Al Jolson -- a Jewish immigrant and Prohibition's biggest star -- rocketed to stardom. The Gershwin brothers, the minstrels of the Jazz Age, brought a "Fascinating Rhythm" to an entire nation. Innovative songwriting teams like Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart ignited a new age of bright melodies and clever lyrics with the massive hit "Manhattan." But as the Roaring Twenties came to a close, Broadway's Jazz Age suffered the one-two punch of the "talking picture" and the stock market crash, triggering a massive talent exodus to Hollywood and putting an end to Broadway's feverish expansion.

c. Episode Three: The Great Depression proved to be a dynamic period of creative growth on Broadway, and a dichotomy in the musical theater emerged. Productions like Cole Porter's "Anything Goes" offered glamour and high times as an escape, while others -- such as "Of Thee I Sing," which satirized the American political system, and the remarkable WPA production of "The Cradle Will Rock," about a steel strike -- dealt directly with the era's social and political concerns. When Bing Crosby recorded "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime," the doleful Broadway ballad took the hit parade by surprise. "This song spoke to the hearts, and to the minds, and to the emotions and thoughts, of everybody who lived during that depression," says lyricist Yip Harburg's son, Ernie. Rodgers and Hart created a string of new shows, including the sexually frank "Pal Joey," a genuine departure that starred newcomer Gene Kelly. In the gloom of the depression, Porter offered Broadway audiences such unforgettable songs as "You're the Top," which served as an effervescent tonic to a weary nation. In 1935, George Gershwin created his epic masterpiece, "Porgy and Bess" singing a hybrid style of folk opera to Broadway. The onset of World War II galvanized the country and America's troubadour, Irving Berlin, rallied the troops with "This Is the Army."

d. Episode Four: The new partnership of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II changed the face of Broadway forever, beginning with the record-breaking "Oklahoma!" in 1943, featuring a landmark ballet by Agnes de Mille. "Carousel" and "South Pacific" then set the standard for decades to come by pioneering a musical where story is all-important. For challenging the country to confront its deep-seated racial bigotry, "South Pacific" won the Pulitzer Prize. In "On the Town," an exuberant team of novices -- Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden, Adolph Green, and Jerome Robbins - - captured the energy, humor, and pathos of New York City during World War II. Irving Berlin triumphed again with "Annie Get Your Gun," featuring Ethel Merman and the unofficial anthem of the American musical theater, "There's No Business Like Show Business." In shows like "Guys and Dolls," "My Fair Lady," and "Kiss Me, Kate," sophisticated adaptations of literary material prevailed. "Cole Porter led the way in writing adult songs about love and sex," says theater historian Robert Kimball. "He defied the censors. He, probably more than any other songwriter in this century, made it possible for the openness that we have in all popular music." In 1956, Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe triumphed with "My Fair Lady," featuring an 18-year-old Julie Andrews. TV's THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW became the most important showcase for Broadway musicals. Yet with the death of Oscar Hammerstein II soon after the premiere of "The Sound of Music" in 1959, the curtain began to lower on a golden age.

e. Episode Five: "West Side Story" not only brought untraditional subject matter to the musical stage, it ushered in a new breed of director/choreographer who insisted on performers who could dance, sing and act. But by the time Jerome Robbins' last original musical, "Fiddler on the Roof," closed after a record run of 3,242 performances in 1972, the world of Broadway had changed forever. Rock 'n' roll, civil rights, and the Vietnam War ushered in new talents, many trained by the retiring masters, taking musical theater in daring new directions with innovative productions like "Hair"," the first Broadway musical with an entire score of rock music. The adult narrative of Stephen Sondheim's "Company" plunged the musical into a new era. Hal Prince's conceptual staging showcased John Kander and Fred Ebb's dynamic score for "Cabaret." Bob Fosse captured a sexuality and cynicism ahead of its time with "Chicago," but it was director/choreographer Michael Bennett who spearheaded the biggest blockbuster of all - "A Chorus Line." "It totally changed the musical theater," says Shubert Organization chairman Gerald Schoenfeld. By the end of the 1970s, Broadway became the centerpiece of a remarkably successful public relations campaign that would lure tourists to New York for years to come.

f. Episode Six: Legendary as the "Abominable Showman," notorious producer David Merrick reconquered Broadway in 1980 with a smash adaptation of the movie musical "42nd Street." But soon the biggest hits were arriving from an unexpected source -- London. Producer Cameron Mackintosh redefined the business of show business as "Cats," "Les Misirables," "The Phantom of the Opera," and "Miss Saigon" became international blockbusters. Sondheim's "Sunday in the Park with George" defied categorization while Jerry Herman's crowd-pleasing "La Cage aux Folles" had two men sing a love song to each other for the first time on the stage -- a breakthrough soon overshadowed by the decimation of Broadway by AIDS. Yet with the reimagining of "The Lion King," Disney led an astonishing resurrection of 42nd Street. Composer Jonathan Larson scored a bittersweet victory with the rock-flavored "Rent," and the old-style musical was reborn in Mel Brooks' "The Producers," which became the first must-see musical comedy in decades. After 9/11, Broadway -- like the rest of America -- emerged from the darkness. Broadway's corporate dominance continues to grow, as evidenced by new shows such as "Wicked," the biggest hit of the 2003-04 season, with 10 Tony nods.

EROICA! - produced by Art Access, 57 minutes, PAL DVD format
EROICA! follows the Eroica Trio, three New York based musicians who are changing the face of classical music, through one eventful year. Violinist Adela Pena, pianist Erika Nickrenz and cellist Sara Sant'Ambrogio. Friends since they were young prodigies at music camps and then as students at Juilliard, the women of the Trio juggle a demanding international tour schedule while handling music, marriage and motherhood.
The Trio commissions composer Kevin Kaska to write a tailor-made triple concerto. But as the deadline grows closer and personality conflicts clash with creative processes, the stakes become increasingly higher.
EROICA! offers a suspenseful look at collaborating artistically as well as a glimpse into the stressful world of the classical music composer. Tracking the tensions involved in the everyday lives of the Trio, EROICA! tells the story of the first all-female chamber ensemble to reach the top of its field. Rights: public performance and educational.

THE BLUES, executive produced by Martin Scorsese consists of seven feature-length films, by seven different directors, each exploring the blues through their own personal style and perspective.

1. FEEL LIKE GOING HOME, directed by Martin Scorsese, pays homage to the Delta blues. Musician Corey Harris travels through Mississippi and on to West Africa, exploring the roots of the music. The film celebrates the early Delta bluesmen through original performances and rare archival footage. Performers in this film are: Corey Harris, John Lee Hooker, Son House, Salif Keita, Habib Koite, Taj Mahal, Ali Farka Toure, and others.

2. THE SOUL OF A MAN, written and directed by Wim Wenders (Buena Vista Social Club; Paris,Texas; Wings of Desire) explores the lives of his favorite blues artists - Skip James, Blind Willie Johnson, and J.B. Lenoir - in a film that is part history and part personal pilgrimage.

3. THE ROAD TO MEMPHIS, directed by Richard Pearce, traces the musical odyssey of blues legend B. B. King in a film that pays tribute to the city that gave birth to a new style of blues.

4. WARMING BY THE DEVIL'S FIRE, written and directed by Charles Burnett, presents a tale about a young boy's encounter with his family in Mississippi in the 1950's, and intergenerational tensions between the heavenly strains of gospel and the devilish moans of the blues.

5. GODFATHERS AND SONS, directed by Marc Levin, travels to Chicago with hip-hop legend Chuck D (of Public Enemy) and Marshall Chess to explore the heyday of Chicago blues.

6. RED, WHITE & BLUES joins musicians such as Van Morrison, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Tom Jones performing and talking about the music of the early sixties British invasion that reintroduced the blues sound to America.

7. PIANO BLUES, directed by piano player and Hollywood director/actor Clint Eastwood, explores Eastwood's life long passion for piano blues, using a treasure trove of rare historical footage in addition to interviews and performances by such living legends as Pinetop Perkins and Jay McShann, as well as Dave Brubeck and Marcia Ball.

MOUNTAIN STAGE combines well-known artists with some of the best new talent from around the world. It was produced before a live audience in Charleston, West Virginia.

In the first package of MOUNTAIN STAGE programs, consisting of four 60-minute programs, produced in 2003, we have:

Program One: Mountain Stage Blues Special - An all blues program with John Mayall, Buddy Guy, Pinetop Perkins and others.

Program Two: Joan Baez with Josh Ritter

Program Three: Guy Clark with Kelly Willis and Jack Ingraham

Program Four: Asleep at the Wheel, a dominant force in Western swing for 30 years, progressive bluegrass of Robinella and the Ccstringband and contemporary folk singer Steve Forbert.

Happy Holidays in Pittsburgh - a special one hour program that looks at the social, religious and ethnic activities that make the end of the year and the start of the new one special times in Pennsylvania.

When winter arrives people around Pittsburgh have ways of coping with the gloom. Like people everywhere, they celebrate special holidays: Christmas, Hanukah, Kwanzaa, Ramadan and Eid, among other things.

It's a season of parties, decorating with lights - lots of lights, shopping, celebrating, going to worship services, renewing friendships and jumping in the frozen river.


African-American life and history in contemporary film
AMISTAD, 1997 (2 hrs 35 minutes)

BOOKER T.WASHINGTON: HIS LIFE AND LEGACY (copy)

DO THE RIGHT THING (1989 120 min.)

FREDERICK DOUGLAS: AN AMERICAN LIFE (copy)

GLORY (1989, 122 min.)

GET ON THE BUS (1996, 121 min.)

INTRODUCING DOROTHY DANDRIDGE (1999, 115 min.)

JAMES BALDWIN: EVENING EXCHANGE (copy)

MALCOLM X (1992, 201 min.)

ROSEWOOD (1997, 142 min.)

SATCHMO: LOUIS ARMSTRONG (copy)

WAITING TO EXHALE (1995, 127 min.)

The four-part PBS Series AFRICAN AMERICAN LIVES, (240 minutes ) is hosted by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., chair of African and African American Studies at Harvard University. AFRICAN AMERICAN LIVES takes Alex Haley's Roots saga to a new level through stories of personal discovery. Using genealogy, oral history, family stories and DNA analysis to trace lineage through American history and back to Africa, the 4 part series provides a life-changing journey for a diverse group of highly accomplished African Americans: Dr. Ben Carson, Whoopi Goldberg, Bishop T.D. Jakes, Dr. Mae Jemison, Quincy Jones, Dr. Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, Chris Tucker and Oprah Winfrey.

Public Diplomacy officers who reviewed the film had the following comments: a. "Wow, what a moving documentary! I strongly recommend this documentary for several reasons." b. "The documentary would give worldwide viewers a glimpseinto the rich cultural heritage of African-Americans, and their contributions to American society." c. "The documentary would help to dispel some of the negative myths of African-Americans held by others in the world." d. "This would be great for viewers in WHA and AF in particular, expanding the knowledge of those who are part of the African Diaspora, but do not understand the depth and interconnectivity." e. "PBS also offers free online lesson plans on science/genealogy, for educators grades 6-8, and 9-12 that goes with the film. Web address: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/aalives/educators.html

The documenraty We have educational and public performance rights. We do not have broadcast rights.


Documentaries on current issues

SATURN'S TITAN: VOYAGE TO THE MYSTERY MOON PAL DVD, 56 minutes.

This program on DVD was produced by NOVA, the pre-eminent science series. The documentary follows the story of NASA and the European Space Agency's Cassini-Huygens mission, designed for multiple flybys past Saturn and one of its moons, Titan; as well as an actual landing on the mysterious orange moon. We see striking images of these fascinating planetary bodies nearly a billion miles from Earth. Saturn's broad rings hold myriad mysteries, and Titan, whose soupy atmosphere is similar to the one that enshrouded our planet billions of years ago, may hold clues to the origins of life.

The design, construction, testing, and launch of Cassini-Huygens offers an inside look at the intricacies of space engineering and science. The Cassini satellite is built to orbit Saturn, using its 12 instruments and sophisticated cameras to capture images from orbit. The Huygens space probe is carried by Cassini. Seven years after its launch, the Cassini satellite reaches its destination. In addition to its investigation of Titan, Cassini is to help answer the most basic questions about Saturn's rings: what are they made of and how were they formed. Once Cassini is in position, the Huygens space probe separates and prepares to touch down. As the time arrives, the film crew NOVA is at mission control. It is an excruciating wait for contact, and the tension is palpable as screens remain blank long past the expected communication point. For many of these scientists, this mission is the culmination of their careers. When at last the numbers appear, a cheer goes up from the crowd. Data pour in along with the first surprising pictures from Titan's surface.

THE CASE AGAINST SADDAM This documentary was first broadcast nationwide in early June, 2005, on the Discovery-Times channel.

Viewers are taken on a powerful trip to present day Iraq. Producer Tresha Mabile and her New York Times/Discovery camera crew provide an in-depth presentation about the dangerous and difficult work of building a legal case against Saddam Hussein.

ENDANGERED PLANET: THE ENVIRONMENTAL COST OF GROWTH, produced 1999.

This documentary is an umbrella overview, a compelling history of the environmental movement, from the "awakening" of the environmental movement, the major incidents that caused this awakening - beginning with the Minimata poisoning in Japan, DDT in the U.S., to incidents in England, Switzerland, Bhopal India, Chernobyl, Love Canal, - and on.

This documentary stands as a primer for understanding the environmental concerns today. But even as the West adopts more earth-friendly environmental policies, the nations of the Third World continue to industrialize - and pressure to set high environmental priorities is sometimes rejected. Over time, it will become painfully clear that threats to the environment are threatening to all humanity.

CRAPSHOOT, THE GAMBLE WITH OUR WASTES, 60 minutes, produced 2003 by the National Film Board of Canada. This is a macro look at sewage systems today - the billions of gallons of water - combined with unknown quantities of chemicals, solvents, heavy metals, human waste and food - where does it all go? And what does it do to us?

The filmmaker takes us on an eye-opening journey around the world to explore different approaches to sewage, starting at the 2,500 year old Roman Cloaca Maxima, where it all began. Filmed in Italy, India, Sweden, the United States and Canada, this documentary questions whether the sewer is actually compounding our waste problems. What are the alternatives?

DEEP SEA INVASION, 58 minutes, produced 2000 by NOVA. "It's like out of a horror movie...but it's real," claims one marine biologist about the innocent-looking algae that is actually threatening ecosystems from the Mediterranean Sea to the California coast.

Bred for its beauty, fast growth, and tolerance for cold, the "aquarium strain" of Caulerpa taxifolia, a bright green seaweed with fernlike fronds that is used to decorate saltwater aquariums, "escaped" from human control in the 1980s and has spread like a cancer through the Mediterranean, overwhelming native species and habitats.

When the "killer algae" were first noticed, divers easily could have hand-pulled all of the seaweed up, nipping in the bud what has become an explosive bioinvasion. Regrettably, this was not done.

Today, the noxious weed covers vast areas around the globe, causing many marine experts to dub it an ecological disaster. This documentary tracks the past, present, and future of this killer algae.


SHE SAYS: WOMEN IN NEWS, examines how American women in the news business have changed journalism, the culture and the world. Ten of America's most powerful and innovative television, radio and print journalists are featured - from Helen Thomas, the first female dean of the White House Press Corps, to Anna Quindlen, Pulitzer Prize winning columnist at the New York Times.

The documentary follows the lives of women like Judy Crichton, who started her career in 1948, the first woman producer for the acclaimed CBS REPORTS documentary unit; Nina Totenberg, the legal affairs correspondent for national Public Radio who broke the Anita Hill - Clarence Thomas story; Carole Simpson, the first woman anchor for ABC World News Tonight Sunday.

These 10 women, along with others, helped change the landscape of news throughout the past four decades.

The documentary also shows the personal lives of women who have had to learn how to balance their careers in journalism with their family responsibilities. It follows the life of CNN anchor Judy Woodruff as she cares for her handicapped son, as well as the difficult choices Washington Post columnist Geneva Overholser made. When she was editor of the Des Moines Register, she ran a series of stories that included the name of a rape victim. The series won the newspaper a Pulitzer Prize.

Winner of the 2002 EMMY Award, SHE SAYS: WOMEN IN NEWS was produced by Joan Konner, former dean of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.


THE MOST DANGEROUS WOMAN IN AMERICA explores the legacy of one of history's most infamous disease carriers, an Irish immigrant who as "Typhoid Mary" would become a notorious symbol of a public health menace. This docudrama is from the NOVA science series.

Mary Mallon's ordeal took place at a time when the new science of bacteriology was shaping public health policies in America for the first time, and her case continues to hold lessons amid today's heightened concerns about communicable diseases. The program is based on TYPHOID MARY: CAPTIVE TO THE PUBLIC'S HEALTH, by Judith Walzer Leavitt, which was praised as "an indelible picture of early 20th-century New York, when modern knowledge and sensibilities collided with ancient terrors." The story, which unfolds like a detective novel, opens with a mysterious cluster of typhoid fever cases in August 1906 in a very unlikely setting: a summer house in wealthy Oyster Bay, Long Island. Typhoid fever is a bacterial disease spread by poor sanitation. At the turn of the 20th century, it was associated with slums and poverty. About 10 percent of those infected died.

Mallon was what's known as a healthy carrier-a person who is contagious but has no symptoms. She had probably come down with a mild, undetected case of typhoid fever at some point in her past and had retained active germs ever since. While preparing food, she shed bacteria from her hands, and it never occurred to her that she was spreading disease. When her condition was explained to her, she refused to believe it and fought back by secretly hiring a private laboratory, whose results reportedly showed that she was free from infection.

Nonetheless, her tests in quarantine continued to show typhoid bacteria, and she was detained until 1910, when authorities released her on condition that she not work in food handling and that she check in regularly with health officials. Mallon returned to freedom. But that was not the last the public would hear of "Typhoid Mary," who would turn up again in circumstances that shocked even those who sympathized with her plight.


WIDE ANGLE: DYING TO LEAVE
2004; 60 minutes

The documentary explores the current worldwide boom in illicit migration and human trafficking. Focusing on eight major stories and shot in 13 countries, from Argentina to Australia and Mexico to Moldova, DYING TO LEAVE examines the circumstances that drove these migrants from their homes, describes the difficulties involved in their journeys, and reveals what awaits them in their new world.

REMEMBERING SADDAM
Produced by Don North in 2004; 50 minutes
A story of seven Baghdad merchants who incurred the wrath of Saddam

SEARCHING FOR THE ROOTS OF 9/11WITH THOMAS FRIEDMAN
Produced by Discovery in 2003,; 50 minutes

COMMANDING HEIGHTS: The Battle for the World Economy 2002
Total running time: about 360 minutes
A series of documentaries based on the book by Daniel Yergen. Filmed on five continents, the series is built around dramatic stories and interviews with world leaders and thinkers from twenty countries, and it explores the great debate over globalization.

FRONTLINE: CHASING THE SLEEPER CELL
Produced by OBS; 60 minutes
This video is an in-depth examination of a major, on-going domestic terrorism case involving Al Qaeda operatives and American Citizens they trained.

FRONTLINE WORLD: Episode 202
May 2003
60 minutes
Lebanon: Hezbollah has become part of society with products like Hezbollah perfume and postcards; Highlands of Guatemala and southern Mexico: coffee growers are driven off their land and turn to coffee importers in the U.S. for help;
Nepal: Sherpa women's attempt to climb Mount Everest.

FRONTLINE special: HARVEST OF FEAR
2001
120 minutes
Are genetically modified foods a breakthrough to end world hunger or "Frankenfoods" that ruin health and environment? The report presents both sides of the debate.

PANDEMIC: FACING AIDS (BR)
A 5-part documentary (each ca. 30 minutes) produced by Moxie Firecracker Films, HBO and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 2003, narrated by Elton John, music by John Cage. The documentary takes a unique look at the worldwide AIDS epidemic, melding intimate personal stories with a global perspective.

Titles of the parts:
1. Thailand
2. Uganda
3. Russia
4. Brazil
5. India

SURVIVING AIDS
A 60-minute documentary from 1999, that looks at some of the scientific and medical research in the U.S., which hopefully will achieve the ultimate goal: transforming AIDS patients into long-term survivors.

TRADING WOMEN
A 77-minute documentary, which shatters western myths about the southeast Asian sex trade and shows the relationship between the trade in drugs and the trade in women. Director/Writer: David A. Feingold; Producer: Dean W. Slotar and David A. Feingold; Narrated by Angelina Jolie

AFRICAN AMERICAN LIVES ( two video tapes, 240 minutes); educational and public performance rights.  No broadcast rights.

  The documentary is hosted by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., chair of African and African American Studies at Harvard University.  AFRICAN AMERICAN LIVES takes Alex Haley's Roots saga to a new level through stories of personal discovery. Using genealogy, oral history, family stories and DNA analysis to trace lineage through American history and back to Africa, the 4 part series provides a life-changing journey for a diverse group of highly accomplished African Americans: Dr. Ben Carson, Whoopi Goldberg, Bishop T.D. Jakes, Dr. Mae Jemison, Quincy Jones, Dr. Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, Chris Tucker and Oprah Winfrey.

Public Diplomacy officers who reviewed the film had the following comments:

 "Wow, what a moving documentary! I strongly recommend this documentary for several reasons."

 "The documentary would give worldwide viewers a glimpse into the rich cultural heritage of African-Americans, and their contributions to American society."

 "The documentary would help to dispel some of the negative myths of African-Americans held by others in the world."

"This would be great for viewers in WHA and AF in particular, expanding the knowledge of those who are part of the African Diaspora, but do not understand the depth and interconnectivity."

"PBS also offers free online lesson plans on science/genealogy, for educators grades 6-8, and 9-12 that goes with the film.  Web address: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/aalives/educators.html"


FRONTLINE: SEX SLAVES, a 57-minute video, produced 2006 by Frontline, WGBH Boston. The film has public performance and educational rights, No broadcast rights.

  Twenty-one-year-old Katia left home on what she believed would be a trip to buy goods in Turkey, but instead she was sold into sexual slavery for $1,000 by the man who agreed to take her there.  "He didn't look like a person who would do something like that," said Katia's husband. "He sold my wife for $1,000 because she'd given birth before, . . . as merchandise she was only worth $1,000. Girls who haven't had children are more expensive.
Frontline follows Katia's husband on an extraordinary journey deep into the world of sex trafficking to try to find his wife, who was four months' pregnant when she left home, and then free her from the violent pimp who now "owns" her.  Along the way, the production teams takes a hidden-camera look at the various traffickers, pimps and middlemen who illegally buy and sell hundreds of thousands of women each year.  Lured by traffickers who prey on their dreams of employment abroad, many of the women are then kidnapped and "exported" to Europe, the Middle East, the United States and elsewhere.  During this process, they may be sold to pimps, locked in brothels, drugged, terrorized and raped.

As Katia's husband searches for her, we learn what she might be enduring from interviews with other trafficked women.  "We worked for as long as we had clients.  They didn't see us as human beings, but just as flesh that they could use."  Another responded: "There were 22 girls in a three-bedroom apartment, and each girl got beaten up at least once a day.  One girl ran away and went to the police for help, but she was taken back to her pimp.   Policemen .. . used our services."

As the story of Katia is brought to an extraordinary conclusion, SEX SLAVES exposes the government indifference that allows the global sex trade to continue.  The SEX SLAVES producer states: "The prosecution rate is abysmal in most of these countries." She continues: "The official line is that we're doing as much as we can; we have a counter-trafficking unit; we're trying to  prosecute . . . we know that there is a level of corruption; we know that there is bribery.  But without the political will to address this, traffickers will continue to operate with impunity.  That's why we set out to investigate this story."    

English Teaching - Thematic Classroom Activities

CONNECT WITH ENGLISH,
50 episodes, each 15 minutes long.
Produced in 1998 by WGBH Boston. It is an Annenberg/CPB program.

For students learning English, who are at the high beginning through low and high intermediate. Each episode comes in two parts. The first part is a continuing story about Rebecca, an aspiring singer on a journey across America. Each episode touches on life's important issues: leaving home, parenting, education, work, love, success, and loss. In the second part of each episode we meet real-life immigrants and students who discuss the similarities between Rebecca's experiences and their own.

(ET/Classroom Activities)
 PLAYERS IN PIGTAILS, 12 minutes DVD in PAL, story by Shana Corey, illustrated by Rebecca Gibbon This is an animated video about a girl who played a part in American history by showing people that stereotypes that they believed about girls and sports were untrue. People thought Katie Casey was an unusual girl. She didn't keep her clothes neat, she was a disaster on the dance floor, but strangest of all, she loved baseball. Katie was baseball mad. She had the fever and had it bad. This story celebrates a brave girl's love of the game as she works to become a player in the first-ever All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Narrated by actress Zooey Deschanel, with music by Joel Goodman and song vocals by Sherry Goffin Kondor.
Public performance and educational rights

(ET/Classroom Activities)
ROBERTO THE INSECT ARCHITECT, 11 minutes, DVD PAL, story by Nina Laden, illustrator: Nina Laden A termite named Roberto pursues his dream of becoming an architect. As a young termite, he played incessantly with his "food," using it to design castles and skyscrapers. Finally, he moved to the big city to pursue his dream. Once there, he is influenced by the great architects such as Hank Floyd Mite and Fleas Van der Rohe. As Roberto adjusts to life in the city, he finds ways both to help his community and use his talents. This witty and humorous story will take young viewers along for the ride on Roberto's quest to make his dreams come true. ALA Notable Video, Smithsonian Notable Book
Public performance and educational rights.

(ET/Classroom Activities)
INSPIRING FIGURES: DUKE ELLINGTON AND ELLA FITZGERALD
DUKE ELLINGTON, 17 minutes, DVD PAL story by Andrea Davis Pinkney, illustrated by Brian Pinkney As a young boy, Duke Ellington started taking piano lessons, but soon baseball became his first love - that is until her heard ragtime music. Ragtime pulled him back to the piano - and as he studied music, he started creating his own made-up melodies. He was a smooth talkin,' slick-steppin,' piano playin' kid with his "fine as pie looks and flashy threads" - thus earning him the name "Duke." During his career, he wrote, played and painted music with his band's fine sounds. This is the story of one of America's greatest composers and performers. Caldecott Honor Book ELLA FITZGERALD: THE TALE OF A VOCAL VIRTUOSA, 18 minutes, DVD PAL, story by Andrea Davis Pinkney, illustrated by Brian Pinkney Told in the voice of a cool cat named Scat, this dramatic story tells how Ella got her sound on the way to a most remarkable career.
Public performance and educational rights

(ET/Classroom Activities)
THE MAN WHO WALKED BETWEEN THE TOWERS, 10 minutes, DVD PAL, story by Mordicai Gerstein Inspired by the true story of Philippe Petit, a young French aerialist, this animated adaptation brings to life the excitement and suspense of his daring 1974 high wire walk between the two towers of the World Trade Center.
Public performance and educational rights.


DVD-s Reader's Digest - America's Most Scenic Drives (4 Discs)

Enjoy Breathtaking Beauty at Every Turn in this 4 Disc Scenic Drives Collection - Disc 1: From Maine to Key West Cruise down the most scenic routes of the Eastern Seaboard, driving along Maine's rocky coast, stopping to admire the views at Acadia National Park.
Disc 2: From Texas to Yellowstone Journey through the ever-changing, beautiful American Heartland, crossing the romantic Bridges of Madison County in Iowa.
Disc 3: From Arizona to Alaska Coast across the dazzlingly diverse American West.
Bonus Disc: America the Beautiful Musical Tribute - Sing the priases of the world's most beautifully diverse land! Nineteen songs (including Oklahoma!, New York, New York, Shenandoah, Rocky Mountain High, My Old Kentucky Home, Ol Man River, Chicago, Take Me Out to the Ballgame) provide an all musical backdrop in this rousing tribute to America's diverse landscapes, landmarks, institutions, and people.

Grand Canyon - The World's Great Natural Wonder

National Parks - Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Yosemite

This 3 DVD special collection includes:
Disc 1: Marvel at Yellowstone's many scenic wonders: See the steamy balconies and terraces nature sculpted in Mammoth Hot Springs. Witness the grandeur of magnificent Old Faithful. Be mesmerized by the beauty of Yellowstone Lake, Hayden Valley, and the petrified trees on Specimen Ridge. Visit sputtering, bubbling, hissing Norris Geyser Basin, scene of the park's greatest thermal activity. View the awesome Grand Canyon of Yellowstone from the commanding prospects of Inspiration Point and Artist Point. Discover the rich history of Yellowstone's earliest days, including the original Indian inhabitants, and first explorers. Encounter the wildlife as only a camera can capture it, and relive the variety of summer and winter activities that bring visitors back again and again.

Disc 2: And from soaring rock formations to the raging whitewater rapids of the Colorado River, marvel at the majesty of the Grand Canyon! For an exhilarating experience, try whitewater rafting or take the slow and steady route on a pack-mule trip. Day trips to the Havasupai Indian Reservation, Lake Powell, and Zion National Park are also included. More than 2,000 years ago, the Anasazi Indians lived in this region. This program includes an exclusive segment on Shaman's Gallery, where many Anasazi rock paintings have been preserved. Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed the Grand Canyon a national park in 1908, saying "do nothing to mar its grandeur, keep it for your children, for your children's children, and all who come after you."

Disc 3: Immortalized by photographer Ansel Adams and championed by naturalist John Muir, Yosemite is the most awe-inspiring national park of them all! In addition to fishing, cross-country skiing and even golfing, the park offers exciting rock-climbing opportunities on the faces of such peaks as Half-Dome and El Capitan. Visit Devil's Postpile National Monument and two more national parks - Sequoia and King's Canyon - just a few hours away. The program also captures many images of the diverse wildlife that roams the vast 1,170 square miles of Yosemite National Park: mile deer, mountain lions, black bears, coyotes, bighorn sheep and the rare peregrine falcon. With all these natural riches, it is small wonder that Yosemite continues to thrive as one of America's most popular national parks.

America's National Parks

Visit all 55 American National Parks and see why each is treasured as an irreplaceable part of our national legacy. From Alaska and Hawaii to Florida and Maine, this unique collection celebrates the protected wilderness areas and the amazing recreational opportunities offered by our national parks. No two vistas are alike in this stunning program, but every park has one thing in common. Each of them is a living symbol of the untamed American spirit. Disc 1 - American Samoa; Arches; Biscayne; Bryce Canyon; Canyonlands; Carlsbad Caverns; Crater Lake; Denali; Everglades; Glacier; Glacier Bay; Grand Canyon; Grand Tetons; Great Basin; Great Smoky Mountains; Haleakala; Hawaii Volcanoes; Lake Clark; Mount Rainier; North Cascades; Olympic; Redwood; Rocky Mountains; Saguaro; Virgin Islands; Yellowstone; Yosemite; Zion Canyon. Disc 2 - Acadia; Badlands; Big Bend; Black Canyon/Gunnison; Capitol Reef; Channel Islands; Death Valley; Dry Tortugas; Gates of the Artic; Guadalupe Mountains; Hot Springs; Isle Royale; Joshua Tree; Katmai; Kenai Fjords; King's Canyon; Kobuk Valley; Lassen Volcanic; Mammoth Cave; Mesa Verde; Petrified Forest; Sequoia; Shenandoah; Theodore Roosevelt; Voyageurs; Wind Cave; Wrangell-St. Elias.

America's Scenic Rail Journeys

From the rugged beauty and pioneer spirit of Alaska to British Columbia's majestic peaks, Mexico's colossal canyon, the autumnal splendor of the Adirondacks, and the Pacific Ocean's rugged coastline, these rail journeys tour some of the most spectacular and breathtaking scenery in the world.

Visiting both renowned and less traveled areas, the series explores the remarkable natural beauty and rich history of the continent. So climb aboard for six incredible adventures.

The Alaska Railroad: Anchorage to Seward
The Alaska Railroad: Anchorage to Fairbanks
The Canadian Rockies: Jasper to the coast of British Columbia
The Copper Canyon: Northwest Mexico through the Copper Canyon
The Adirondack: New York to Montreal
The Coast Starlight: Los Angeles to Seattle
DVD special features include trip profiles, route map insert, Alaska archival rail gallery, and tour information for each journey.

Alaska's Inside Passage

Discover Alaska's true treasures along its magnificent marine highway, the Inside Passage. Navigate 1,000 miles of pristine coastline, with unforgettable stops that capture the region's rich history, fascinating wildlife, and timeless traditions. Observe coastal Indians carve totem poles in the gateway city of Ketchikan. Explore Sitka's Russian roots. Visit Petersburg, "Alaska's Little Norway" and quaint Wrangell, and recapture the pioneer era in the capital city of Juneau. Drive to America's most accessible glacier—the Mendenhall, and fly over the frozen wilderness of the Juneau Icefield. From Glacier Bay National Park to the historic gold rush town of Skagway, this award-winning program is a mesmerizing portrait of this special place in the vastness of Alaska.

Globe Trekker - San Francisco

Follow Justine Shapiro through the communities of Chinatown, Mission, The Castro, Haight Ashbury and North Beach that make up this unusual and thriving cosmopolitan metropolis.

Along the way...
- Visit the Castro neighborhood, a mecca for the gay community
- Meet authentic hippies in Haight Ashbury
- Sample hardcore vegan food
- Visit the famous prison island of Alcatraz
- Take a day trip to see the Giant Redwoods

Globe Trekker: Washington DC

Join Globe Trekker traveler Justine Shapiro as she goes beyond the myths and mystique to get at the real DC and the real Washingtonians, from the corridors of the power to the bluegrass bars. She also discovers the history of the first settlers and the founding of the nation at Williamsburg, Yorktown and Jamestown.

Along the Way:

- Meet the Senate Majority Leader in his office.
- Experience the Smithsonian's American History Museum, where famous objects from popular culture such as the ruby slippers from the Wizard of Oz take up permanent residence.
- Join in a 'step' dance rehearsal at U street. Witness a realistic Civil War re-enactment at Cedar Creek.
- Visit Mount Vernon, home to the founder of Washington DC, George Washington himself.

Globe Trekker - California

Traveler Justine Shapiro begins her journey in Palm Springs, a sparkling oasis in the middle of the desert. From there she travels to sprawling Los Angeles and tours the Hollywood Hills. Heading north she continues to beautiful Big Sur before heading inland to the Sierra Nevada Mountains. She ends her journey in Humboldt County - home of the Giant Redwoods.

Along the way...

Celebrity spot in Hollywood
- Marvel at some of the worlds tallest trees
- Enjoy the music at Garberville Reggae Festival
- Take a hike in the breathtaking Yosemite National Park
- Enliven your taste buds in Gilroy - the self proclaimed garlic capital of the world

The Real Las Vegas - The Complete Story

It's a city that's larger than life. A city without limits. A glittering mecca of excess and forbidden desires. THE REAL LAS VEGAS tells the fascinating story of this fabled city and the people who created it. From the mobsters who made Vegas into their version of the American Dream to the tycoons of today's family mega-resorts, this is the ultimate insider's tour of America's neon oasis.THE REAL LAS VEGAS features never-before-seen film footage and rare interviews with luminaries like Alan King, Milton Berle and Debbie Reynolds, writer Nick Pileggi, entrepreneur Steve Wynn and Howard Hughes frontman Robert Mayheu. Tour the world's most incredible casinos--and even learn expert tips on how to beat the odds.Disc 1: BOOMTOWN giGAMBLE IN THE DESERTDisc 2: TARNISHED DREAM giHOUSE OF CARDS

Sensational Cities - New York

The world's greatest city is the subject of this lively documentary narrated by actor James Woods and featuring appearances by a number of historians as well as New York lovers Joan Rivers, Janeane Garofalo, Steve Allen, Donald Trump, actor Brian Dennehy, and former mayor Ed Koch. The history of the city, going way back to the glacier that formed the great harbor of New York, is provided in an informative overview. Life in the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam is illustrated with vintage woodcuts and paintings, and the surrender of the city to the English, who named it New York, is ably explained. Contributions by notables, including Alexander Hamilton and Washington Irving, are covered, as is the plundering by legendary corrupt politician "Boss" Tweed. The waves of immigration that have made New York the world's great melting pot are chronicled, and the startling ethnic diversity of the city becomes a major theme of the film. The cultural life of the city is also detailed, with experts on the city providing numerous anecdotes about writers and artists who have drawn inspiration from the city's streets. Problems faced by New York in the modern era, including crime, racial tensions, and fiscal problems, are give appropriate mention in this energetic and visual celebration of the city. --Robert J. McNamara

Globe Trekker - New York

Globe Trekker travelers Ian Wright and Megan McCormick tour New York's five boroughs: Staten Island, the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan, home to the famous skyline and Central Park.

Along the way…..

- Ride the Staten Island Ferry out to the Statue of Liberty
- Take in the views from the top of the Empire State Building
- Visit Ground Zero - The site of the World Trade Center terrorist attacks
- Dent your wallet in a serious shopping spree along 5th Avenue
- Soak away the cares of the city on Coney Island Beach

National Geographic's Inside the White House

Step inside the imposing gates of the White House for a revealing visit to the most famous, yet mysterious building in America. Discover the human side of this legendary house in candid interviews with Presidents and First Ladies, and peek inside the families' rarely-seen private living quarters. Follow along as a small army of employees whirls behind the scenes in a frenzy of activity surrounding a major state dinner.

National Geographic Video - Inside the Pentagon

The Pentagon encompasses the military nerve center of the United States, reaching out to far-flung battlefields, formidable weaponry, and a culture that permeates more of America and the world than many realize. Inside the Pentagon interweaves stories covering the sweep of the Pentagon's 58-year history, taking viewers into the restricted inner workings of the American military machine, including the new war on terrorism and coverage of the historic response following the attack of September 11, 2001.

National Geographic - Air Force One

National Geographic takes you on an exclusive tour inside Air Force One, part luxury hotel, part super-secret military command post. From its beginnings with President Roosevelt making a secret wartime flight in 1943 - to the historic flight that returned President Kennedy's body to Washington after his assassination - to the closing months of the Clinton administration, Air Force One takes you through the history of the world's most powerful plane. Features exclusive interviews with Presidents George W. Bush, William Jefferson Clinton, George H. W. Bush, and Jimmy Carter.

National Geographic: Inside the U.S. Secret Service