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New Streaming Videos (March-April 2022)
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Chinese in the Frontier WestThis film documents the large-scale migration of Chinese to California during the Gold Rush of the 1850s and the central role that these immigrants played in developing the American West by building the first Transcontinental Railroad and transforming California into the breadbasket of the nation. Their landmark legal battles to overcome discrimination helped to develop U.S. civil rights law, setting key precedents and expanding the definition of what it means to be an American.
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Dangerous LiaisonsLes Liaisons Dangereuses, starring Jeanne Moreau (Jules and Jim) and Gérard Philipe (La Ronde), is a provocative adaptation of the classic novel by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos. Updated to present-day France by director Roger Vadim (Barbarella), the film follows Valmont (Philipe) and Juliette (Moreau) as they manipulate each other into having extra-marital affairs. Juliette points Valmont towards the 16-year-old Cécile (Jeanne Valérie), since she has eyes on Cécile's prospective fiancé Court (Nicolas Vogel). Sex becomes sport in this deliciously backstabbing drama which notably features a score by jazz legend Thelonious Monk.
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Fireburn, the DocumentaryAlthough the Fireburn took place in the 1800s, and on an island in the Caribbean, it is globally relevant today. The Fireburn addresses the heart of humanity and shows us what happens when people are robbed of their inalienable rights. In 1848 the current day US Virgin Islands were Danish territory and were called the Danish West Indies (DWI). On July 3, 1848 all enslaved in the DWI were emancipated and proclaimed free by the governor of the islands. However, 30 years later, the freed workers were still suffering under the oppressive rules of the landowners and government. Inhumane treatment and poor work conditions existed for the laborers who had difficulty earning a decent living. On October 1st, 1878, four female laborers rose up as leaders and what ensued was a bloody labor revolt. This revolution became known as the Fireburn, as almost half of the islands' plantations and sugar cane fields were burned in the process. The documentary examines the labor revolt, as well as the women who were called "Queens" due to their leadership. The documentary features historians, cultural ambassadors and educators as they look at the folklore, art and history surrounding the Fireburn. The Fireburn is a story that must be told because not only is it Virgin Islands' history, it is also African Diaspora history, Danish history, US history, and Caribbean history...as such, it is World history! Yet, the Fireburn is little known outside the Virgin Islands.
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Pidgin: The Voice of Hawai'iWhat if you are made to feel ashamed when you speak your "mother tongue" or ridiculed because of your accent? "Pidgin: the Voice of Hawai'i" addresses these questions through its lively examination of Pidgin - the language spoken by over half of Hawai'i's people. "This film poignantly explains how language creates a sense of belonging in a society pressured to conform to the dominance of English. It is essential viewing for language educators, parents, and college students, especially in linguistics and Asian-Pacific Studies." Christina M. Higgins, Associate Professor, Second Language Studies, University of Hawai'i.
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Soul Food JunkiesAward-winning filmmaker Byron Hurt offers a fascinating exploration of the soul food tradition, its relevance to black cultural identity, and its continuing popularity despite the known dangers of high-fat, high-calorie diets. Inspired by his father's lifelong love affair with soul food even in the face of a life-threatening health crisis, Hurt discovers that the relationship between African-Americans and dishes like ribs, grits, and fried chicken is deep-rooted and culturally based. At the same time, he moves beyond matters of culture and individual taste to show how the economics of the food industry have combined with socioeconomic conditions in predominantly black neighborhoods to dramatically limit food choices. The result is an absorbing and ultimately inspiring look at the cultural politics of food and the complex interplay between identity, taste, power, and health. Features soul food cooks, historians, doctors, and food justice movement activists who are challenging the food industry, creating sustainable gardens, and advocating for better supermarkets, more farmers' markets, and healthier takes on soul food.
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Strike = СтачкаThe first feature film by the director of Battleship Potemkin, Sergei Eisenstein's Strike is a visual tour-de-force that employs dynamic editing and experimental camerawork to dramatize the saga of a bitterly-fought factory strike in 1903. Triggered by the suicide of a worker unjustly accused of theft, a strike is called by the laborers of a Moscow factory. The managers, owner, and Czarist government dispatch infiltrators in an attempt to break the workers' unity. Unsuccessful, they hire the police and, in the film's most harrowing and powerful sequences, the unarmed strikers are slaughtered in a brutal confrontation.
New Streaming Videos (February 2022)
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Assessment and Engagement in Family TherapyWhether you're new to family therapy or seeing a new family client, you need a clear and effective framework to navigate this often treacherous terrain. In this new video, legendary family therapist and genogram innovator Monica McGoldrick demonstrates how to engage and assess a family in the initial stage of treatment.
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A Good Day to DieA GOOD DAY TO DIE chronicles a movement that started a revolution and inspired a nation. By recounting the life story of Dennis Banks, the Native American who co-founded the American Indian Movement (AIM) in 1968 to advocate and protect the rights of American Indians, the film provides an in-depth look at the history and issues surrounding AIM's formation. From the forced assimilation of Native Americans within boarding schools, to discrimination by law enforcement authorities, to neglect by government officials responsible for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, AIM sought redress for the many grievances that its people harbored. Banks' personal struggle culminated in major armed confrontations at Custer, South Dakota and Wounded Knee -- climactic flash points which saw him standing steadfast as a leader for his cause. Bittersweet and compelling, A GOOD DAY TO DIE charts the rise and fall of a movement that fought for the civil rights of American Indians.
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Harnessing the Power of Genograms in PsychotherapyThis is a rare opportunity to watch the therapist who developed and popularized genograms demonstrate how to actually create and utilize them in a therapy session. In this video, you will see Monica McGoldrick in action as she masterfully conducts an initial interview with a new client, demonstrating the step-by-step process of gathering historical information, creating the genogram, and contextualizing the client's presenting problem within a multigenerational family systems framework. John is a 39-year-old African-American graphic designer who is having marital problems. Mystified and distressed by his pattern of distancing from his wife who is six months pregnant, he desperately wants to understand why he is pulling away. McGoldrick's focused interest in John's family story gently guides him in a thorough investigation of the social and historical context of his current struggles. With McGoldrick as an ally, John makes fascinating discoveries as he uncovers surprising coincidences, poignant tragedies and inspiring sources of resilience. Watching McGoldrick engage a client in exploring the connection between his presenting problem and his family-of-origin issues is a treat in and of itself, but a bonus feature of this video is following McGoldrick's step-by-step creation of John's genogram on the spot. It makes for a compelling and highly educational experience. By watching this video, you will learn how to: utilize the genogram to place clients' presenting problems in a historical and social context; respond when a client resists exploring family issues; explain to clients why exploring family background is relevant. Keywords: genogram, genograms, family therapy, family systems, Monica Mcgoldrick, intergenerational, Counseling, counselling, Social Work, Social Worker, Therapy, Psychotherapy, Psychotherapy.net, Therapist.--Supplied by publisher.
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Miss RepresentationWritten and directed by Jennifer Siebel Newsom, Miss Representation exposes how mainstream media and culture contribute to the under-representation of women in positions of power and influence in America. The film draws back a curtain to reveal a glaring reality we live with every day but fail to see - how the media's limited and often disparaging portrayals of women and girls makes it difficult for women to feel powerful and achieve leadership positions. In a society where media is the most persuasive force shaping cultural norms, the collective message we receive is that a woman's value and power lie in her youth, beauty, and sexuality, and not in her capacity as a leader.While women have made great strides in leadership over the past few decades, the United States is still 33rd out of the 49 highest income countries when it comes to women in the national legislature. And it's not better outside of government. Women make up only 4.6% of S&P 500 CEOs and 17% of directors, executive producers, writers, cinematographers, and editors working on the top 250 domestic grossing films. Stories from teenage girls and provocative interviews with politicians, journalists, entertainers, activists, and academics, like Katie Couric, Rosario Dawson, Gloria Steinem, Margaret Cho, Condoleezza Rice, Rachel Maddow, and Nancy Pelosi, build momentum as Miss Representation accumulates startling facts and statistics that will leave the audience shaken, but armed with a new perspective.
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What Happened to HerWHAT HAPPENED TO HER is a forensic exploration of our cultural obsession with images of the dead woman on screen. Interspersing found footage from films and police procedural television shows and one actor's experience of playing the part of a corpse, the film offers a meditative critique on the trope of the dead female body. The visual narrative of the genre, one reinforced through its intense and pervasive repetition, is revealed as a highly structured pageant. Concurrently, the experience of physical invasion and exploitation voiced by the actor pierce the fabric of the screened fantasy. The result is recurring and magnetic film cliché laid bare.
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Woman With an Editing BenchInspired by a true story, WOMAN WITH AN EDITING BENCH pays homage to the creativity of Elizaveta Svilova - the unsung editor behind Dziga Vertov's 1929 documentary masterpiece "Man with a Movie Camera" (No 1 on the 'Sight and Sound' list of Best Documentaries of all time). It uses her revolutionary editing techniques to reveal her thoughts and recuperate her legacy in the history of cinema. WOMAN WITH AN EDITING BENCH is about sustaining creativity and fighting repression. In 1930s Russia, Dziga Vertov and Elizaveta Svilova make radical, groundbreaking films. Stalin, threatened by their innovations, wants his henchmen to suppress them. Vertov, unhappy and artistically constrained, is inept at working with the bureaucracy. Svilova knows how to work the system laterally and from behind the scenes - as all great editors do. She is also adept at working with Vertov's mind, understanding what he wants to say and how he wants to say it. Svilova's editing makes Vertov's genius possible. Vertov's eccentricity makes Svilova's editing genius indispensable.
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