To aid in the selection of videos for your class and research needs, we've created a large number of filmographies on many subject areas.
If you'd like help linking streaming videos to your Canvas Course Reserves or reserving DVDs for you or your students, please contact
mediaservices@american.edu
This is a selective list of video holdings in the American University Library. Filmographies are created by doing multiple keyword searches in the catalog to capture as many titles on a topic as possible.
For complete, up-to-date holdings please search the library catalog search box on the Media Services homepage. (http://www.american.edu/library/mediaservices/) Finding Aids on the same page includes other subject oriented content.
For more information take a look at the Streaming Video Guides and Browsing Collections.
Ae Fond Kiss. 2005, 1 videodisc (114 min.). A second generation Pakistani in Glasgow falls for the White, Irish Catholic music teacher at his sister's school. They try to make the relationship work despite a tentative arranged marriage and parental and societal pressures. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 8803
Braveheart. 2007, 2 videodiscs (177 min.). William Wallace, a Scottish folk hero, leads his men to battle against the British oppression. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 4787
Burke & Hare. 1 online resource (1 video file, approximately 94 min.). Two of the most notorious figures in the history of medicine, William Burke and William Hare were a pair of enterprising street thugs who provided anatomical specimens to the Edinburgh Medical College, often by robbing the graves of the recently dead, sometimes through even more nefarious methods. Derren Nesbitt and Glynn Edwards bring these two scoundrels to life in Burke and Hare, a colorful, early '70s rendition of life in the taverns, brothels, and surgical theatres of 1820s Scotland. While other filmmakers have treated the Burke and Hare murders as a source of gothic horror, director Vernon Sewell (The blood beast terror) offers a playful spin on the Irish body snatchers, blending dark comedy with bawdy eroticism, seasoning it with the grotesque, then crowning it with a playful theme song by the pop band The Scaffold. Streaming video.
The eagle. 2011, 1 videodisc (114 min.). In 140 AD, twenty years after the unexplained disappearance of the entire Ninth Legion in the mountains of Scotland, young centurion Marcus Aquila arrives from Rome to solve the mystery and restore the reputation of his father, the commander of the Ninth. Accompanied only by his British slave Esca, Marcus sets out across Hadrian's Wall into the uncharted highlands of Caledonia to confront its savage tribes, make peace with his father's memory, and retrieve the lost legion's golden emblem. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 5081
God help the girl. 1 videodisc (112 min.). Eve is a catastrophe - low on self-esteem but high on fantasy, especially when it comes to music. Over the course of one Glasgow summer, she meets two similarly rootless souls: posh Cass and fastidious James. Together they decide there's only one thing to do: form a pop group. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 13785
Gregory's girl. 2001, 1 videodisc (91 min.). Sixteen-year-old Gregory has his first encounter with girls. Gregory's love-life takes off with his infatuation with Dorothy, the first female player on his all-male soccer team. While waiting for her to meet him one evening, Gregory winds up becoming a pawn in an elaborate date relay set up by some of his female classmates. He's confused, but loves every minute of it as he gets to know Susan who, it turns out, has had designs on him all along. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 11507
I know where I'm going! 2001, 1 videodisc (91 min.). A headstrong young woman travels to the Scottish Hebrides to marry a rich industrialist. On the way, she meets a young naval officer and realizes that some things are more important than money. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 3864
The illusionist. 2011, 2 videodiscs (80 min.). A French illusionist finds himself out of work and travels to Scotland. While performing in a village pub, he encounters Alice, an innocent young girl, who will change his life forever. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 8704
Late night shopping. 2004, 1 videodisc (92 min.). A quirky, offbeat comedy, in which four friends who are stuck in a twilight world, going nowhere fast, suddenly find they have more in common than they might expect, and embark on a journey that just might change their lives. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 4617
Local hero. 1983, 1 videodisc (111 min.). A comedy about the interaction between Americans representing a Texas oil company and the inhabitants of a small village in Scotland. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 4829
The Maggie. 1954, 1 videodisc (92 min.). A wily Scottish ship captain cons a rich American into letting his coal burning scow "The Maggie" carry a valuable load of furniture to a Scottish island. The American soon realizes he's been conned, but can he stop the captain from ripping him off? HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 3921
Mister Lonely. 2007, 1 videodisc (108 min.). A Michael Jackson impersonator finds love and new friends in a home in the Scottish Highlands, when he is taken in by a Marilyn Monroe look-alike, in a castle that is home to Shirley Temple, Buckwheat, Madonna, The Pope, and other impersonators. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 10221
Orphans. 1997, 1 videodisc (98 min.). During a violent rainstorm, four siblings, who are brought together the their mother's death, are propelled into a comical nightmare of absurd mishaps and bittersweet mayhem. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 4616
The prime of Miss Jean Brodie. 1969, 1 videodisc (115 min.). A teacher in a 1920's Scottish girls' school captivates her students with her fascist ideals and free-thinking attitude. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 3584 and Streaming video.
Ratcatcher. 1999, 1 videodisc (94 min.). A haunting evocation of a troubled Glasgow childhood. Set during Scotland's national garbage strike of the mid-1970's, Ratcatcher explores the experiences of a poor adolescent boy as he struggles to reconcile his dreams and his guilt with the abjection that surrounds him. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 1938
Rob Roy. 1995, 1 videodisc (139 min.). When a harsh winter threatens the majestic Scottish Highlands, Rob Roy MacGregor is forced to borrow money from the less-than-noble Marquis of Montrose to provide for his clan. When Montrose's evil henchmen conspire to take the wealth for themselves, they thrust Rob into the most challenging battle of his life. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 8852
The spy in black. 1 online resource (1 video file, approximately 77 minutes). During World War I, a German U-Boat captain is sent to Scotland on a spy mission, but he finds more than he bargained for in his contact, the local schoolmistress. Streaming video.
Sweet sixteen. 2002, 1 videodisc (106 min.). In Greenock, Scotland, Liam is trying to make money. When he refuses to use his imprisoned mom as a drug mule, his criminal stepfather, Stan, and bitter grandfather kick him out of the house. He moves in with his level-headed older sister who has no love for their mother. Liam decides to buy a trailer for himself and his mom when she gets out of prison on the day before his 16th birthday. He comes up with a plan to steal Stan's drug stash and sell it to local junkies. Liam starts to develop the skills of a successful businessman and gets noticed by a group of big-time dealers. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 1133
Trainspotting. 2004, 2 videodiscs (94 min.). A young heroin addict in Edinburgh tries to kick the habit but his junkie friends aren't making it easy for him. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 1002
Under the skin. 2013, 1 videodisc (108 min.). An alien in the form of a voluptuous young woman combs the streets of Scotland in search of men. She lures a succession of lost souls into her otherworldly lair, where they are seduced, stripped of their humanity, and never heard from again. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 11598
The Very Edge. 1963, 1 online resource (streaming video file) (87 minutes). Tracey is pregnant and happily married to Lawrence, an architect. She has few cares in the world until the day a maniac breaks into the house, rapes her, and ultimately causes her to miscarry. Tracey falls to pieces and is so affected by the encounter she finds men repulsive, including her husband. Her attitude does not soften with time, and sooner rather than later, her husband takes up with his secretary. But in the meantime, the Scotland Yard detective has still not been able to track down the psychotic rapist, and there is no guarantee that Tracey is safe. Streaming video.
Whisky galore! 1949, 1 videodisc (84 min.). When an English ship carrying 50,000 cases of whiskey wrecks off the coast of a tiny Scottish island that has ran out of "the water of life"', Captain Waggett vows to defend the vessel against any looting efforts. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 3924
The wicker man. 1973, 2 videodiscs (88 min., 99 min.). When a young girl mysteriously disappears, Police Sergeant Howie travels to a remote Scottish island to investigate. But this pastoral community, led by the strange Lord Summerisle, is not what it seems as the devout Christian detective soon uncovers a secret society of wanton lust and pagan blasphemy. Can Howie now stop the cult's ultimate sacrifice before he himself comes face-to-face with the horror of the Wicker Man? HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 6542
You've been Trumped. 2012, 1 videodisc (ca. 100 min.). In this David and Goliath story for the 21st century, a group of proud Scottish homeowners take on a celebrity tycoon. At stake is one of Britain's very last stretches of wilderness. After the Scottish government overturns its own environmental laws to give Donald Trump the green light to build a golf resort on an untouched Scottish coastline, the stage is set for an extraordinary summer of discontent, as the bulldozers spring into action. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 6379 and Streaming video.