RACA

Raca tackles racial inequality in Brazil, via the lives of three black Brazilians: Paulo Paim, the only black senator of the republic; Netinho Paula, singer and TV presenter, and Tiny dos Santos, Maroon activist and granddaughter of slaves. The filmmakers followed these 3 people for a number of years – people they consider are on the frontlines of the country’s race debate/divide – in an effort to bring something unique to the public.

Copy: 1   Format: DVD   Language: Portuguese   Subtitles: English   Length: 104 minutes   Copy ID: 1438   Comments:    Source:

 

HABANASTATION

Habanastation is a 2011 Cuban drama film directed by Ian Padron. Filmed in a slum in western Havana, the film addresses inequalities in Cuba through the relationship between two children of different social strata. The film was selected as the Cuban entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 84th Academy Awards.

Copies: 1 (DVD+R); Length: 115 minutes

SOBADA

Title: SOBADA
Description: Sobada is a documentary about the techniques used by midwives in Mexico in order to help a woman during her pregnancy. The specific technique discussed in the video is called sobada which is a type of abdominal massage. This technique is used by the indigenous midwives in order to make the process of birth easier.
Subject: Social Issues, Social Life and Customs
Type: Documentary
Year: 2007
Director: Erica Barbiani
Country: Mexico
Film ID: 779
Comments:
Created: 4/9/2012
Copy: 1   Format: DVD-R   Language: Spanish   Subtitles: None   Length: 35 Minutes   Copy ID: 1406   Comments:    Source:    Price: 0

LAS MOMIAS

Title: MOMIAS, LAS
Description: This film documents “The Accidental Mummies of Guanajuato” exhibition which appeared at the Natural Science Center of Greensboro, NC in 2012. The history of the city of Guanajuato, Mexico, through the lens of its “accidental mummies”, is explained by historians, architects, anthropologists, and forensics teams. The mummies and crypts are carefully preserved and contribute to the city’s rich cultural heritage.
Subject: History, Social Life and Customs
Type: Feature Film
Year: 2012
Country: United States
Film ID: 794
Comments:
Created: 10/23/2013
Copy: 1   Format: DVD   Language: English and Spanish   Subtitles:    Length: 55 minutes   Copy ID: 1422   Comments:    Source: Natural Science Center of Greensboro, NC   Price: 0   Acquired: 10/21/2013

MAYAS U SU’UT KA’ANSAH

Title: MAYAS U SU’UT KA’ANSAH
Description: Filmed in the states of Quintana Roo and Yucatán, “U Su’us Ka’ansah (The Cycle of Teaching) depicts the living ancestral science within Mayan communities. We are given the opportunity to partake in their cultural practices, experiences, and knowledge, as well as their unique ways of thinking. In addition, the documentary reveals ancient Mayan principles which are still present in Yucatán communities today. We are presented with the problems surrounding their language, customs, ceremonies, traditional medicinal practices, products, and land, and how these endanger their cultural identity and ancestral knowledge.
Subject: Indigenous Peoples, Anthropology/Archaelogy, Environment/Geography, Social Life and Customs
Type: Documentary
Year: 2007
Director: Abhayaco Balam
Country: Mexico
Film ID: 798
Comments: Audio is in Mayan, subtitles available in Spanish, English, French, and German
Created: 10/23/2013
Copy: 1   Format: DVD   Language: Mayan   Subtitles: English or Spanish   Length: 60 minutes   Copy ID: 1418   Comments:    Source:    Price: 0   Acquired: 10/23/2013
Copy: 2   Format: DVD   Language: Mayan   Subtitles: English or Spanish   Length: 60 minutes   Copy ID: 1419   Comments:    Source:    Price: 0   Acquired: 10/23/2013
Copy: m   Format: DVD   Language: Mayan   Subtitles: English & Spanish   Length: 60 minutes   Copy ID: 1417   Comments: Master Copy for Classroom Use Only   Source:    Price: 0   Acquired: 10/23/2013

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

SEIS HISTORIAS BRASILEIRAS

Title: 6 HISTORIAS BRASILEIRAS
Description: ‘6 Brazilian Histories: Santa Cruz’ shows the development of an evangelical church in the Santa Cruz suburb of Rio de Janeiro Brazil and the transformations that the church has made in the lives its congregation. The director wanted to show point of views that are rarely shown in the news. The film was originally released as a television series in 2000.
Type:
Year: 2000
Director: João Moreira Salles
Country: Brasil
Film ID: 783
Comments:
Created: 5/3/2012
Copy: 1m   Format: DVD   Language: Portuguese   Subtitles: English   Length: 60 minutes   Copy ID: 1411   Comments: master copy for classroom use only   Source:    Price: 0   Acquired: 9/9/9999

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

LAS MOMIAS

Title: MOMIAS, LAS
Description: This film documents “The Accidental Mummies of Guanajuato” exhibition which appeared at the Natural Science Center of Greensboro, NC in 2012. The history of the city of Guanajuato, Mexico, through the lens of its “accidental mummies”, is explained by historians, architects, anthropologists, and forensics teams. The mummies and crypts are carefully preserved and contribute to the city’s rich cultural heritage.
Subject: History, Social Life and Customs
Type: Feature Film
Year: 2012
Country: United States
Film ID: 794
Comments:
Created: 10/23/2013
Copy: 1   Format: DVD   Language: English and Spanish   Subtitles:    Length: 55 minutes   Copy ID: 1422   Comments:    Source: Natural Science Center of Greensboro, NC   Price: 0   Acquired: 10/21/2013

LOS PUEBLOS INDIGENAS DE HOY

Title: PUEBLOS INDIGENAS, LOS
Description: Los Pueblos Indigenas Hoy is a ten part series that is an educational resource about the indigenous peoples of Mexico. Sponsored by the Mexican government, the series aired on Mexican national television in 2010 in honor of the Bicentennial celebration of Mexican independence. It features studio interviews with indigenous people, including rights advocates and leaders. Each program is 55 minutes and is presented in Spanish and using Spanish subtitles to translate interviews, with two programs on each DVD.

Four-disc set.
Subject: Indigenous Peoples, Culture/Festivals/Food, Social Life and Customs
Type: Documentary
Year: 2010
Country: Mexico
Film ID: 792
Comments:
Created: 10/23/2013
Copy: 1   Format: DVD   Language: spanish   Subtitles: Spanish   Length: 55 minutes per program   Copy ID: 1420   Comments:    Source:    Price: 0   Acquired: 10/9/200

BABAS

Title: BABAS
Description: This is a documentary about the history of wet nursing among Brazilian families. The film is a reflection on how it had developed over the years in different contexts throughout the twentieth century, from black slaves nursing white children to mothers hiring a nanny. The film uses subjective narration, autobiographical elements, photographs, domestic footage, and newspaper ads to reflect on how genuine affective relationships are nevertheless influenced by a long-range history of racial oppression in Brazil. This film was donated by Duke University Visiting Instructor Aaron Lorenz.
Subject: History, Social Issues, Social Life and Customs
Type: Documentary
Year:
Country: Brazil
Film ID: 799
Comments:
Created: 10/25/2013
Copy: 1   Format: DVD   Language: portuguese   Subtitles: English   Length: 20 minutes   Copy ID: 1423   Comments:    Source: Aaron Lorenz   Price: 0   Acquired: 10/21/2012

WHEN THE DRUM IS BEATING

Title: WHEN THE DRUM IS BEATING
Description: This documentary explores the music of the famous Haitian orchestra “Septentrional” along with the violent history of Haiti. Through Septentrional’s powerful musical pieces, accompanied with brutal scenes, viewers are taken on a graphic journey through Haiti’s culture and history; from French colonialism and bloody revolutions to natural disasters and foreign debt while Septentrional’s beautiful sounds of Haitian voodoo beats and Cuban big band serve as a backdrop. This film contains graphic images.
Subject: History, Social Life and Customs, Music/Dance, Culture/Festivals/Food
Type: Documentary
Year: 2011
Director: Whitney Dow
Country: United States/Haiti
Film ID: 793
Comments:
Created: 10/23/2013
Copy: 1   Format: DVD   Language: english   Subtitles: English   Length: 84 minutes   Copy ID: 1421   Comments:    Source: N/A   Price: 0   Acquired: 8/21/2013

GEOGRAFIAS SUAVES 2

Part 2 of a series of shorts from the 2004 Geografias Suaves regional film festival which feature Maya speaking peoples from Yucatan and Chiapas. The shorts include a video postcard documenting the lives and everyday experiences of children and their communities as well as stories based on folklore and oral tradition from the region.

Copies: 1 (DVD)

Length: ___ Minutes

FUERA DE LIGA

“Fuera de Liga,” a documentary that has circulated the Havana streets, raises the problems that exist in Cuban baseball, those hidden behind the passions that are awoken by the stadiums of Cuba’s national sport. Directed by Ian Padrón and produced by ICAIC, this 68 minute film was never released into theaters. It is presented as a documentary about the baseball team the “Industriales,” an emblem of Cuban baseball, which has won a record 10 national series. The difficult conditions of life for the players as well as many other themes are approached in this film. It also talks about those athletes that left Cuba play professional baseball elsewhere.

Copies: 1 (DVD)
Length: 68 Minutes

CUBANOS, LOS: BRETÓN ES UN BEBÉ

Description: This documentary combines social commentary with surrealism to explore the Cuban soul. The filmmakers take the viewer on a trip through the heart of twenty-first-century Cuba, making stops in Pinar del Río, los Acuáticos, Matanzas, Cienfuegos, and Guaraabuya. In each stopping place, local lore and characters help present an overall portrait of Cuban history, society, and culture.

Copies: 1 (DVD)
Length: 56 minutes

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

 

 

TERRAS

 

Description: Terras (“Lands”) is a documentary about the border of Brazil, Colombia, and Peru, located in the heart of the Amazon. On this triple frontier the twin towns of Leticia (Colombia) and Tabatinga (Brazil) form an urban island surrounded by forest. It is a region marked by a constant flow of people from diverse origins, where ancestral and contemporary cultures live side-by-side. Through photography and sound, Terras explores the concept of frontier beyond the territorial demarcations that divide nations. Immersing itself in the daily lives of the towns and their inhabitants, this documentary uses a poetic and reflective approach to reflect on the relationship and contact between different nationalities, ethnicities, and cultures.

Copies: 1 (DVD)

Length: 74 minutes

AJAYU

Description: Death in the Aymara culture is an experience in which the mourners, the community, the souls participate together. Age-old rituals, mixed with Catholic symbols assimilated by the people, frame the story of Andres and his young daughter Leonora. Upon drowning in Lake Titikaka, they must find their way to Korimarca (the Aymara Heaven) with help from the members of the community to which they belonged.

Copies: 1 (DVD)

Length: 29 minutes

CENTRAL AMERICA CLOSE-UP

Description: This film contains two episodes from The Children of the Earth Series. GUATEMALA: Natividad Hernández is a 14-year-old Maya girl, called “Nati” by her friends. Her isolated mountain village retains many traditions which strengthen its sense of identity. But Nati’s world is changing. A recently constructed road brings new influences to the community; and farm land is growing scarce. Soon she will make important choices about the direction her life will take. EL SALVADOR: José Marvin Benítez is 15. Everyone calls him Marvin. A child of refugee parents, he was born in Nicaragua during the civil war of the 1980s. After years of uncertainty, Marvin’s family has returned to El Salvador to sink roots in Nueva Esperanza, a jungle cooperative village of 200 refugee families. He shows us his family, school and village.

Copies: 1 (VHS) Length: 14 minutes each

CIUDAD DE MEXICO IMAGINADA POR LOS VIAJEROS, LA

Description: One could never admit to having seen enough of Mexico City." This innovative documentary is a collection of photographic images from Mexico City newspapers of the last ten years which people who travel through Mexico City daily identify as those which best typified the City. Using Nahuatl texts from Montezuma and, the poetry and music of Jim Morrison, the video explores the history of the use of Mexico City by its inhabitants.  A collaboration by Nestor García Canclini and researchers at UNAM. Copies: 1 (VHS) Length: 32 minutes

COMO AGUA PARA CHOCOLATE

Description: From the literary world of magic realism, this award-winning film adapted from the book by the same title chronicles life in Mexico near the Texas border in the early twentieth century. Unrequited passions, changing political situations and even madness emerge in this highly entertaining and endearing story. The cooking scenes and the portraits of food are spectacular, as are the romantic scenes. Copies: 2 (DVD and VHS) Length: 102 minutes

CORAZON INDIO

Description: Part of a video series of the Taller Miradas Antroplogicas, which seeks to recognize the indigenous peoples of Mexico and their participation in Mexican society. This episode documents the presence of indigenous youth in university life.

Copies: 1 (VHS) Length: 25 minutes

CUBA 15

Description: With passion and uncertainty, Tzunami, a small-town Cuban girl prepares for her quinceañera. The celebration is for her fifteen birthday –the official crossroads between innocence and maturity. This short film won nine international film awards, including the 1998 Berlin Jury Prize for the best short film. Copies: 1 (VHS) Length: 12 minutes

CUBA VA: THE CHALLENGE OF THE NEXT GENERATION

Description: A fast paced weaving of sound bites and interviews that lets young Cubans speak and argue for themselves. What they have to say or sing or rap suggests that everyone born after the revolution has an opinion. Directors/Producers: Gail Dolgin, Vicente Franco. USA (the filmmakers consulted with many Cubans, and filming is entirely in Cuba, but production was done in San Francisco). Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 60 minutes

CUBA: ISLAND OF DREAMS

Description: Experience a tour through mountains, beaches, and the colorful panorama Cuba has to offer. This video provides pieces of folklore, music, architecture, history, as it shows the major cities of the island. Video Visits. Copies: 1 (VHS) Length: 52 minutes

CUBAN EXPERIMENTAL SHORT FILMS

Description: This is a collection of five short experimental videos made by Cuban directors. Here is a brief description of each film: DeMoler (12 min) is a short documentary directed by Angel González about a small sugar mill and its meaning to its workers; Horizontes (3 min) is a silent animated film directed by Yemelí Cruz Revero and Adanoe Lima Cruz; 25 KM (19 min) is a film directed by Jeffery Puento that follows the journey of two Cuban women on their way to church; Freddy o el Sueño de Noel (7 min) is an experimental film directed by Waldo Ramirez that shows short clips of men fishing; Todo Por Ella (20 min), directed by Pavel Giroud, tells the story of a 19 year old male who is caught up in the world of sex, drugs, and debts. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 62 minutes

DAY OF THE DEAD IN JANITZIO, THE

Description: Experience the ancestral rituals of the Day of the Dead as it takes place in the mystic atmosphere of Jantzio. Watch as the people prepare themselves to receive their dead relatives as they clean and decorate graves and they set beautiful tables or altars in which they place offerings of food, liquor, cigarettes and flowers for the enjoyment of the visiting dead. In the evening the people go to the cemetery to bid farewell to the dead using thousands of candles to guide them on their long journey back. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 21 minutes

FILHAS DO VENTO

Description: Two sisters from the state of Minas Gerais are reunited after several years apart when their father dies and are forced to confront each other about the ill feelings generated by the hurts of the distant past. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 84 minutes

FOOD FOR THE ANCESTORS: THE MEXICAN CELEBRATION OF THE DAYS OF THE DEAD

Description: This film documents the weeklong Mexican celebration known as Days of the Dead. This festival honors the memories of loved ones who have died. Food for the Ancestors explores this festival as it takes place in the culturally rich state of Puebla. The program is also very focused on the special food that is made for this celebration. The climatic portion of the film, and of the festival, occurs on November first when family members spend the entire night sitting at self decorated gravesites waiting for their ancestors to return. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 60 minutes

FOUR SHORT FILMS BY JOSEPH FABRY

Description: A collection of four short films by Venezuelan filmmaker Joseph Fabry. The first, "Tres Encuentros del Arte Hispanoamericano" (30 min.), explores the broader contours of Latin American art by examining three specific forms: the spiritual architecture of Andean Peru, the murals of post-revolutionary Mexico, and contemporary sculpture in Venezuela. The second film, "Armando Reveron" (24 min.), profiles the life of a 20th century Venezuelan artist, while the third film, "Carmelo Fernandez" (17 min.) examines the life of 19th century artist and intellectual Carmelo Fernandez. The final film, "Toros, Caballos y Hombres de Valor" (15 min.) examines the Venezuelan sport of coleado, a rodeo-like event in which competitors grab the tail of a bull while riding on horseback. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 85 minutes

GEOGRAFIAS SUAVES 1

Description: A series of shorts from the 2004 Geografias Suaves regional film festival which feature Maya speaking peoples from Yucatan and Chiapas. The shorts include a video postcard documenting the lives and everyday experiences of children and their communities as well as stories based on folklore and oral tradition from the region. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 69 minutes

HISTORIAS DE FUTBOL (SOCCER STORIES)

Description: This film includes three stories about football, one of the most important twentieth-century rituals. A third division player from Santiago de Chile is bribed, but does not realize that his behavior betrays more than the loyalty of his team-mates. A boy from Calama, Chile wins the local derby pichanga, a soccer match that can last all afternoon, but he loses the few pesos he acquired by pawning his mother’s last possessions. Francisco, a boy from the city, is stuck in a remote corner of the southern island of Chiloé on the day that Chile has to play its qualifying match for the World Cup. The only TV is in the house of the Serón sisters. While the local male population gathers to watch the match, the sisters decide which of them will initiate the young Francisco into love. Copies: 2 (DVD and VHS) Length: 87 minutes

ILHA DAS FLORES

Description: This is a hilarious but devastating film about values, the food chain, and the human condition. Ultimately, a Brazilian island where pigs eat first, and the people are fed what the pigs leave over provides an example of how arbitrarily we have arrived at the human food chain and system of exchange that we now know. Copies: 1 (VHS) Length: 15 minutes

LINDA SARA

Description: Linda Sara is the first Puerto Rican film to be nominated for an Oscar. This film is about a love that transcends time and a family about to lose the only thing they own: the house they have lived in since their birth. Copies: 1 (VHS) Length: 107 minutes

LISTA DE ESPERA

Description: A diverse group of Cubans finds itself stuck at a remote bus station. Their shared situation brings them together such that they transform the bus station into a kind of socialist utopia, and when they can finally leave, they don’t want to. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 106 minutes

MUJER DE BENJAMIN, LA

Description: Seventeen-year old Natividad is bored with her life in her village. Meanwhile Benjamin, fifty something, fat, and the fool of the village, is in love with Natividad. Incited by his friends, Benjamin decides to kidnap her. Leandro, Natividad’s boyfriend, interferes in the kidnapping and unleashes a violent episode which determines the fate of Natividad and restores the deteriorated image of Benjamin in the eyes of the villagers.

Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 90 minutes

MUSIC OF THE MAYA

Description: Produced by Samuel Franco, director of the Casa K’OJM, a private non-profit educational research center in Antigua, Guatemala dedicated to the preservation of Maya culture through music this video shows us live footage of music during daily life and special ceremonies throughout Guatemala, particularly in the Highlands. Narrated by Samuel Franco.

Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 25 minutes

RETRATO DE TERESA

Description: Shot in fluid vérité style, the film focuses on the stubborn survival of deeply-ingrained traditions of machismo and sexism in post-revolutionary society. Teresa is a housewife and mother whose involvement in political and cultural groups incurs the displeasure of her husband. This film is most appropriate for university students and adults, but may also be used in high school classroom settings. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 120 minutes

ROMANCE DA EMPREGADA (THE STORY OF FAUSTA)

Description: Betty Faria stars as Fausta, a quirky cleaning lady whose sexy swinging hips open the door to a more comfortable life. When an old widower breaks the ice and buys Fausta perfume and a drink, she sees a way out of her dead-end marriage and the shanty town that traps her. The bawdy sitcom hilarity of Fausta and her relationships are infused with a deeper message in the film’s startling conclusion.

Copies: 1 (DVD)

Length: 90 minutes  

YAKWA: O BANQUETE DOS ESPIRITOS

Description: Documenting the most important ritual of the Enauêne-Nawê Indians, the seven months every year that the spirits of the dead are venerated with offerings of food, song, and dance so they will protect the community and bless it with an abundant harvest and great quantities of fish.

Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 75 minutes