Films with: Maggio, John

Boy in the bubble

When David Vetter died at the age of 12, he was already world famous: the boy in the plastic bubble. Here, serious questions are answered. Did doctors, in a rush to save a child, condemn the boy to a life not worth living and instead kill him?

DVD 6512

Growing up online

A look at the impact of the world created on line by teens, from kids who are bullied, to those whose only friends are online, to the newest crop of celebrities on YouTube and MySpace.

DVD 5432

Into the Amazon

Into the Amazon tells the remarkable story of the journey taken by President Theodore Roosevelt and legendary Brazilian explorer Cândido Rondon into the heart of the South American rain forest to chart an unexplored tributary of the Amazon. Two of the most celebrated men from their respective nations, Roosevelt and Rondon set out with twenty other adventurers in 1914. Over eight eventful weeks in one of the most remote places on earth, the ill-equipped expedition navigated deadly rapids in crude dugout canoes. Hunger and exhaustion were compounded by the rain forest's unforgiving topography, which forced the men to carry heavy canoes long distances. What was anticipated to be a relatively tranquil journey turned out to be a brutal test of courage and character. Before it was all over, one member of the expedition had drowned and another had committed murder. Roosevelt would badly injure his leg and beg to be left behind to die. More than a dramatic adventure story, Into the Amazon shines a light on two of the Western Hemisphere's most formidable men, and the culture and politics of their two formidable nations.

DVD 12742

Italian Americans

Through extensive archival materials and interviews with scholars and notable Italian-Americans, viewers will learn the story of those who played vital roles in helping to shape a unique Italian-American identity.

DVD 10907

Lobotomist

The medical procedure, lobotomy, was considered a groundbreaking procedure that promised hope to the most distressed mentally ill patients and their families. What began as an operation of last resort was soon being performed at some fifty state asylums, often with devastating results. The neurologist, Walter Freeman, in little more than a decade after his rise to fame, was decried as a moral monster, and that the lobotomy was one of the most barbaric mistakes of modern medicine. Through interviews with former patients and their families, students, and medical historians, get an unprecendented look at one of the darkest chapters in psychiatric history.

DVD 6398