LA PRISION INSOMNE

Title: LA PRISION INSOMNE
Description: This documentary gives the viewer the unfortunate important facets of life and the controversial work of the poet Gabriel de la Concepción Valdés, Plácido, during the first half of the turbulent and contradictory colonial nineteenth century in Cuba. The audiovisual speech reveals different nuances and mysteries about the identity of the bard and the essential features and significance of the poetry staff. The film also delves into their participation in the so-called Escalera Conspiracy against the Spanish government in power at the time.
Type: Documentary
Year: 2009
Director: Regino Olivar
Country: Cuba
Film ID: 757
Comments:
Created: 11/30/2011
Copy: M   Format: DVD   Language: Spanish   Subtitles: English   Length: 47 min.   Copy ID: 1389   Comments:    Source: M. Barret   Price: 0   Acquired: 11/1/2011

JOGO DE CENA

Title: JOGO DE CENA (PLAYING)
Description: In this film, ordinary Brazilian women who have responded to a newspaper ad tell part of their life stories to director Eduardo Coutinho. In September of the same year, actresses interpret, in their own way, the stories told by those chosen. There are three levels of representation in the film. First, real people tell of their real lives. Second, these characters serve as a challenge to the actors. And third, some of these actors then act out or speak about their own real lives. This film was donated by Duke University Visiting Instructor Aaron Lorenz.
Type: Documentary
Year: 2007
Director: Eduardo Coutinho
Country: Brazil
Film ID: 795
Comments:
Created: 10/23/2013
Copy: 1   Format: DVD   Language: portuguese   Subtitles: English & Spanish   Length: 107minutes   Copy ID: 1424   Comments:    Source: Aaron Lorenz   Price: 0   Acquired: 10/21/2013

BETTY Y PANCHO

Title: BETTY & PANCHO
Description: A portrait of the 50 year marriage of Elizabeth Catlett, the renowned African American sculptor, and the Mexican painter, Francisco Mora. Now in their eighties, the couple share the same studio in Cuernavaca, and exhibit their work in New York, Mexico City, London, and Berlin. The granddaughter of North Carolina slaves, Catlett has been presented the key to the city of New Orleans on the occasion of its bicentennial, and won many other awards. Some of her work is included in the Museum of Art at NC Central.
Subject: Art, Music/Dance, Biography
Type: Documentary
Year: 1998
Director: Juan Mora Catlett
Country: Mexico
Film ID: 359
Comments: Possibly something wrong with the DVD and/or the VHS original.
Created:
Copy: 1   Format: DVD-R   Language: English and Spanish   Subtitles: English and Spanish   Length: 57 Minutes   Copy ID: 658   Comments: Bad copy, a few seconds of tv recorded over the original VHS.   Source: MVP   Price: 10   Acquired: 2/4/2008
Copy: M   Format: VHS   Language: English and Spanish   Subtitles: English and Spanish   Length: 57 Minutes   Copy ID: 335   Comments: Bad copy, a few seconds of tv recorded over the original VHS.   Source:    Price: 40   Acquired: 9/9/9999

DIOSES ROTOS, LOS (BROKEN GODS)

 

Description: Laura, a professor, conducts research for a PhD dissertation that delves into the Havana underworld in search of Albert Yanini, the most famous Cuban pimp from the turn of the twentieth century. Shot to death by his French rivals for control over the Havana prostitution business, Yarini’s power of seduction captivate the soul of a culture that both criticizes and reveres him. Recently submitted by Cuba for the Best Foreign Film Oscar, the film is an exploration of Cuban sexuality and masculinity.

 

Copies: 1 (DVD)

Length: 96 minutes

 

 

JOSÉ MARTÍ: EYE OF THE CANARY (JOSÉ MARTÍ: EL OJO DEL CANARIO)

 

Description: This new feature-length film by Cuba’s most recognized filmmaker, Fernando Pérez, won the most collateral awards at the 32nd International Festival of New Latin American Cinema. The film focuses on the childhood and adolescence of Cuba’s nineteenth-century hero José Martí, covering the years he lived in Cuba before being sent into exile for political sedition at the age of seventeen. The film has already obtained two awards at the Ibero-American Festival in Huelva, Spain. It has received top awards on the island and was named the best movie of 2010.

Copies: 1 (DVD); 1 (DVD+R)

Length: 115 minutes

BENEDITA DA SILVA

 Description: A profile of the first black woman ever to be elected city councilor and member of the Brazilian Parliament from the favelas of Rio de Janeiro. Bene, as she prefers to be called, has lived her entire life in the favelas and worked for twenty-five years as a domestic servant before beginning her public life in 1982, when she won a post as city councilor and was elected a federal MP in 1986. She now devotes her efforts to fighting the racism and discrimination faced by Rio’s slum dwellers, and comments from community leaders and residents show the love and respect she has earned.

Copies: 1 (DVD)

Length: 29 minutes

CARLOS FUENTES

Description: An interview with the renowned Mexican novelist for World Monitor–a television presentation of the Christian Science Monitor.

Copies: 1 (VHS)

Length: 7 minutes

CASAS DE PABLO NERUDA, LAS

Description: The collections of the poet, the world that surrounds his creative work. This film is an intimate tour of the three houses that Neruda built, accompanied by his words and presence

Copies: 1(VHS)

Length: 60 minutes

CHAVEZ, VENEZUELA & THE NEW LATIN AMERICA

Description: In 2004, Aleida Guevara conducted an exclusive interview with Hugo Chavez, president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, exploring Venezuela’s explosive revolutionary terrain post-April 2002 – when Chavez survived a coup attempt instigated by the United States. Featuring an interview with Jorge Garcia Carneiro, head of the Venezuelan Armed Forces, and with Venezuelans involved in the country’s many social programs, this film affords a rare opportunity to glimpse through the blockade of information imposed by the United States and into a country rich with hope, dreams and…oil. Chávez, Venezuela and the New Latin America" provides a unique insight into the changing political atmosphere in Latin America.

Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 60 minutes

CHE: THE BOLIVIAN DIARY

Description: On October 9, 1967, Che Guevara was executed by the Bolivian army, aided by the CIA. Che’s diary, a detailed, personal account of his futile 11-month attempt to spark a revolution in Bolivia, is the basis of this intimate filmed portrait.

Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 94 minutes

CHILD OF THE DARK

Description: Back in the 1960s, Carolina María de Jesus became famous in Brazil after publishing her diary Child of the Dark. In this video, the director Robert Levine introduces this book about the daily life of poor people in Brazil, using images (mainly pictures and pieces of art) of the favelas. Note: This video doesn’t have very good sound quality.

Copies: 1(VHS) Length: 15 minutes

COCALERO

Description: An intimate portrait of the historic electoral campaign that made Evo Morales the first indigenous president of Bolivia. Through direct personal access to Morales, the filmmakers document his interactions with the union of Coca growers who formed his initial political base, the day-to-day management of the campaign, and attempts to educate voters about the electoral process. The film also explores connections between Morales and other leaders of the New Left in Latin America, as well as the conflicting views about his candidacy among more affluent Bolivians. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 94 minutes

DESAZÓN SUPREMA, LA: RETRATO INCESANTE DE FERNANDO VALLEJO (THE SUPREME UNEASINESS: INCESSANT PORTRAIT OF FERNANDO VALLEJO)

Description: This riveting documentary about the controversial and very important Colombian author and sometime filmmaker, Fernando Vallejo, begins with a powerful talk he gave to a crowd of youth in which he realistically told them that they were born into the most dangerous place on Earth. His points are illustrated with spliced footage of a country in disarray, full of poverty and assassinations. His speech and writings are laden with strong social and political commentary about his country. Included are home movies, interviews with his siblings, and the interspersing of poetry, politics, and discussion of Vallejo’s homosexuality. Copies: 1 (VHS) Length: 90 minutes

DIARIOS DE MOTOCICLETA (MOTORCYCLE DIARIES)

Description: The Motorcycle Diaries is an adaptation of a journal written by Ernesto Che Guevara when he was 23 years old. He and his friend, Alberto Granado are typical college students who, seeking fun and adventure before graduation, decide to travel across Argentina, Chile, Brazil and Peru in order to do their medical residency at a leper colony. The two best friends start off with the same goals and aspirations, but by the time the film is over, it’s clear what each man’s destiny has become. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 128 minutes

FIDEL (1968)

Description: This documentary is a personal profile of Fidel Castro and a view of the developments since the revolution 10 years before. There are a lot of images of Fidel: listening to complaints, arguing, laughing, and philosophizing. There is beautiful footage of the Bay of Pigs invasion, and of Fidel and Che Guevara in the mountains. Also there are interviews with political prisoners. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 96 minutes

GERTRUDIS BOCANEGRA

Description: Gertrudis Bocanegra Lazo de la Vega–played by award winning actress Ofelia Medina–a criollo woman who participated in the Mexican war of independence, is the central character of this film. Gertrudis becomes acutely aware of the social injustice prevalent in Mexico in the late Colonial period and gets involved in the Hidalgo’s movement for independence. Using the technique of flashback, she tells her story from her prison cell in Pátzcuaro, Michoacán. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 98 minutes

HEAVIER THAN AIR

Description: This documentary challenges the popular understanding that the Wright brothers were the “first in flight.” It treats the life of Brazilian aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont and his mission to create “heavier than air” flying technology. Copies: 2 (DVD and VHS) Length: 38 minutes

KNOROSOV: THE DECIPHERMENT OF THE MAYAN SCRIPT

Description: This documentary retraces the decipherment of the ancient Mayan codices by an unknown Russian scholar, Yuri Valentinovich Knorosov. Due to the political tensions of the Cold War, Western scholars ignored his linguistic breakthrough. This film recounts the personal and intellectual journey that led to his discovery, and the subsequent struggle for recognition. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 57 minutes

LAST REVOLUTIONARY, THE

Description: CBS Reports with Dan Rather presents a biography of Fidel Castro. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 60 minutes

LEGACY: CENTRAL AMERICA

Type: Documentary, Year: 1992, Country: Latin America, Format: DVD-R, Language: English, Subtitles: None

MANUEL ZAPATA OLIVELLA: ABRIDOR DE CAMINOS

Description: As one of the most prominent Afro-Colombian figures of the 20th century, Manuel Zapata Olivella did many things to promote Colombian culture and the history of African-descended peoples in Colombia. This documentary deals with various aspects of his versatile and prolific career. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 60 Minutes

MARIA CANO

Description: When María Cano (Maria Eugenia Dávila) was recruited into the labor movement in Colombia in 1925 she was prepared for the revolution to come. She worked strenuously to organize workers becoming something of a folk hero. What she was not prepared for, after her five years of imprisonment (beginning 1928), was that the whole movement would lose steam and that she would have to live the rest of her life with her lost dreams of what might have been. These feelings are very strongly represented in her poetry. This biographical movie shows her life during those years, and considers her bitterness in later life Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 106 minutes

MY FILMMAKING, MY LIFE

Description: An intriguing documentary on the life of the renowned and vibrant filmmaker. Landeta is seen in her 70’s remembering her productive years. Includes interview with filmmaker Marcela Fernandez Violante.

Copies: 2 (DVD and VHS) Length: 30 minutes

ROMERO

Description: Incisive, quietly powerful drama chronicling the last three years of the life of Oscar Romero, Archbishop of San Salvador. The focus is on the way in which he became an outspoken defender of human rights and was eventually assassinated. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 102 minutes