Films with: Cutler, Miriam

American promise

"The American Promise journey began in 1999, when filmmakers Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson enrolled their son Idris in the Dalton School on the Upper East Side of Manhattan after the private institution boldly strengthened its commitment to cultivating a diverse student body. Michèle and Joe decided to turn the camera on themselves to film the experiences of 5-year-old Idris and his best friend and classmate Seun. The documentary captures the stories of Idris, Seun, and their families from the first day of kindergarten all the way to their 2012 high school graduation"--Container.

DVD 10988

Death a love story /

A colorful and thought provoking portrait of the greatest challenge we must all one day face. Married to Michelle LeBrun for only two years, Mel Howard was diagnosed with terminal liver cancer. Howard at first rejected traditional cancer treatments in favor of alternative therapy, and then embraced chemotherapy and liver transplants as last-ditch attempts to save his life. The film's ultimate focus is on Howard's spiritual progression as he adjusts to the notion of his passing.

DVD 4177

Desert of forbidden art

"How does art survive in a time of oppression? During the Soviet rule artists who stay true to their vision are executed, sent to mental hospitals or gulags. Their plight inspires young Igor Savitsky. He pretends to buy state-approved art but instead daringly rescues 40,000 forbidden fellow artists' works and creates a museum in the desert of Uzbekistan, far from the watchful eyes of the KGB."--Container.

DVD 7822

Downside up

How does a dying working class town end up betting its future on art? With 80% of its downtown buildings closed, North Adams, Massachusetts united blue-collar locals with art world luminaries to transform economic failure into America's largest center for contemporary art, MASS MoCA. It opened in the abandoned Massachusetts factory where director Nancy Kelly's grandparents and parents once worked. The documentary explores whether something as ephemeral as contemporary art can breathe life into a dying city.

DVD 7592

Family affair

"At 10 years old, Chico Colvard shot his older sister in the leg. This seemingly random act detonated a chain reaction that exposed unspeakable realities and shattered his family. Thirty years later, Colvard ruptures veils of secrecy and silence again. As he bravely visits his relatives, what unfolds is a personal film that's as uncompromising, raw, and cathartic as any in the history of the medium. Driving the story forward is Colvard's sensitive probing of a complex dynamic: the way his three sisters survived severe childhood abuse by their father and, as adults, manage to muster loyalty to him"--Container.

DVD 8705

Finding Kukan

"Filmmaker Robin Lung investigates the forgotten story of Li Ling-Ai, the un-credited female producer of Kukan, an Academy Award-winning color documentary about World War II China that has been lost for decades."--Container.

DVD 13177

Ghosts of Abu Ghraib

Interviews with perpetrators, witnesses, and victims examining the abuses that occurred in the fall of 2003 at the notorious Iraqi prison. Probes the psychology of how typical American men and women came to commit these atrocious acts.

DVD 5002

Hunting ground

An exposé of rape crimes on U.S. college campuses, their institutional cover-ups, and the devastating toll they take on students and their families. Weaving together verité footage and first-person testimonies, the film follows survivors as they pursue their education while fighting for justice--despite harsh retaliation, harassment and pushback at every level.

DVD 10987

Lost in La Mancha

Tracks maverick filmmaker Terry Gilliam's madcap mission to film "The man who killed Don Quixote". He struggles to complete his masterpiece, all the while beset by obstacles of such epic proportions that not even Hollywood could have concocted them. Capturing the mayhem on camera, filmmakers Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe are granted unlimited, behind-the-scenes access to Gilliam's frantic but inspired creation.

DVD 3003

Straightlaced how gender's got us all tied up /

"Meet 50 incredibly diverse students who take us on a powerful, intimate journey to see how popular pressures around gender and sexuality are shaping the lives of today's American teens ... Demonstrates how gender-based expectations are deeply intertwined with homophobia, and also are impacted by race, ethnicity and class. From girls confronting popular messages about culture and body image, to boys who are sexually active just to prove they aren't gay, STRAIGHTLACED reveals the toll that deeply-held stereotypes and rigid gender policing have on all of our lives, and offers both teens and adults a way out of anxiety, fear, and violence" -- Container.

DVD 7082