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Filmography - Documentaries, 500 Essential: E-H

Introduction

To aid in the selection of video's 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

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Filmography - 500 Essential Documentaries (and Mockumentaries) to Watch Before You Graduate

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

See also: Films for Teaching School of Communication Topics.

 

 

 

Educating Peter. 1992.  1 videodisc (30 min.). Follow Peter, a Down's Syndrome child who has always attended special schools, through his first year in a regular classroom.  DVD 6237

Edward Burtynsky: Manufactured landscapes . 2006.  1 videodisc (90 min.). Follows photographer Edward Burtynsky as he travels through China photographing the effects of that country's massive industrial revolution.  DVD 3406

The emperor's naked army marches on. 1987, 1 videodisc (122 min.).  Films of Kazuo Hara. "In this absorbing documentary, Kenzo Okuzaki--a veteran of Japan's WWII New Guinea campaign--painstakingly tracks down the former military officers responsible for the mysterious deaths of several fellow soldiers. Director Kazuo Hara not only captures the zeal of Okuzaki's mission but also exposes the atrocities committed by the Japanese military against its soldiers, resulting in a controversial film of undeniable power."--Container.  DVD 2814

Encounters at the end of the world. 2007.  2 videodiscs (101 min.). An up-close and personal look at one of Antarctica's lesser-known inhabitants: the human. Join Werner Herzog as he shows those amazing individuals who work, play, and struggle to live in some of the world's worst conditions.  DVD 5029

End of the century: Story of the Ramones. 2003.  1 videodisc  (110 min.). Chronicles "one of the most influential groups in the history of rock--"Container.  MUSIC LIBRARY DVD 140

The endless summer. 1966, 1 videodisc (92 min.).  Endless summer collection. A documentary on the search for the perfect wave, in which two Californians take off with their surfboards for Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Tahiti and Hawaii. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 10265

Enron: The smartest guys in the room. 2005. 1 videodisc (110 min.).  The inside story of one of history's greatest business scandals, in which top executives of America's seventh largest company walked away with over one billion dollars, while investors and employees lost everything. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 1700

Everest. 1998.  1 videodisc (45 min.). Filmed during the infamous 1996 storm that claimed eight lives, Everest documents the filmmakers' harrowing rescue efforts to help the surviving members of the ill-fated group. The international team of climbers scale the world's tallest peak in this daring adventure of triumph and tragedy. Special features include "Making of Everest", extended Beck Weathers interview, deleted scenes, climber video journals, 3D Everest map, Titanica trailer, 5.0 surround. The motion picture is presented in its original theatrical aspect ratio, approximately 1.33:1.  DVD 3778

Exit through the gift shop. 2010.  1 videodisc (86 min.). An eccentric French shopkeeper turned documentary maker attempted to locate and befriend Banksy, only to have the artist turn the camera back on its owner with spectacular results. Banksy is a graffiti artist with a global reputation whose work can be seen on walls from post-hurricane New Orleans to the Palestinian segregation wall in the West Bank. Fiercely guarding his anonymity to avoid prosecution, Banksy has so far resisted all attempts to be captured on film. Bonus features included.  DVD 7959

Eyes on the prize: America's civil rights movement. 1987. 7 videodiscs (840 min.). Vols. 1-3 tell the story of America's civil rights years from 1954 to 1965; vols. 4-7 examine the new America from 1966 to 1985, from community power to the human alienation of urban poverty.  DVD 2301-2307

Faces of the enemy. 1989.  1 video file (57 min.). Award winning documentary, Faces of the enemy, looks at the universal concepts of enmity which spark and fuel conflicts around the world. Follows author and commentator Sam Keen in an investigation of the ways in which societies and governments create and use enemy images.  Streaming video
 

Fahrenheit 9/11. 2004.  1 videodisc (122 min.). Through actual footage, interviews, and declassified documents, Michael Moore illustrates the connections President Bush has to the royal house of Saud of Saudia Arabia and the bin Laden's, how the president got elected on fraudulent circumstances and then proceeded to blunder through his duties while ignoring warnings of the looming betrayal by his foreign partners. When the treachery hits with the 9/11 attacks, Moore explains how Bush failed to take immediate action to defend the nation.  DVD 775

The Fall of the Romanov dynasty. 1927, 1 videodisc (66 min.).  Historic film classics: Historic film classics. A documentary portrait of the fall of the Russian Czarist regime and the rise of Communist rule using clips from many films, including personal footage by the Czar's own cameramen. DVD 10183

Fambul tok. 2011, 1 videodisc (82 min.).  Explores a culture that believes true justice lies in redemption and healing for individuals, and that forgiveness is the surest path to restoring dignity and building strong communities. Victims and perpetrators of Sierra Leone's brutal civil war come together for the first time in tradition-based truth-telling and forgiveness ceremonies. By reviving their ancient practice of fambul tok (family talk) Sierra Leoneans are building sustainable peace at the grassroots level. DVD 11608


The farm: Angola USA.  1998.  1 videodisc (93 min.). The film provides an intimate look inside the lives of six inmates at the notorious maximum security Louisiana State Penitentiary. The filmmakers spent a year filming at what was widely known as "America's Bloodiest Prison," called Angola after the home of the slaves that once worked its fields, and still known as "The Farm" - its fertile soil enriched by  the surrounding Mississippi River that regularly floods the prison. These are the stories of men sentenced to life - or death - behind bars, some fighting the system to prove their innocence, others paying the price to society for the harm their crimes have caused. But the inmates are sustained by a powerful and innately human longing for redemption that allows them to hold onto hope that their lives will have meaning and that they can achieve forgiveness."--Container.  DVD 9054

Fast, cheap & out of control. 1997.  1 videodisc (82 min.). Acclaimed filmmaker Errol Morris paints a fascinating portrait of four obsessed eccentrics. Morris weaves interviews with a wild animal trainer, a topiary gardener, a robot designer and an expert on the naked mole rat together with old movies, cartoons and stock footage for a compelling, kaleidoscopic look at the very thin line which separates madness from genius.  HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 1377

February one. 2003.  1 videodisc (60 min.). Four students from A & T University, Jibreel Khazan (formerly Ezell Blair, Jr.), Franklin McCain, David Richmond, and Joseph McNeil staged a sit-in at the Greensboro Woolworth five and dime store and requested to be served lunch. Based largely on first hand accounts and rare archival footage, February One documents that sit-in that not only challenged public accommodation customs and laws in North Carolina, but served as a blueprint for the wave of non-violent civil rights protests that swept across the South and the nation throughout the 1960's.  DVD 9606

Fed up. 2014. 1 videodisc (approximately 99 min.).  Narrated by Katie Couric, the film blows the lid off everything that was known about food and exercise, revealing a 30-year campaign by the food industry, aided by the U.S. government, to mislead and confuse the American public. Exposing the hidden truths contributing to one of the largest health epidemics in history, it follows a group of families battling to lead healthier lives and reveals why the conventional wisdom of 'exercise and eat right' is not ringing true for millions of people.  HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 6424

The Fence. 2010.  1 videodisc (ca. 36 min.). In 2006, the U.S. government built the Southern U.S. Border Barrier, a fence that stretches only 700 miles of the 2000 plus miles comprising the U.S.-Mexican border to help contain the illegal immigration issue, at a cost of three years and three billion dollars. Kennedy investigates the impact of the fence and some of its unforeseen consequences. Through candid interviews with border guards, ranchers, environmentalists, she asked the question: Was it worth it?  DVD 8170

Feed. 1992.  1 videodisc (76 min.). A look at the wild, wacky world of American politics, using footage from the primaries and satellite feeds. Features Hilary Clinton on the campaign trail, Bill Clinton sidestepping Jennifer Flowers, Ross Perot talking dirty, and more.  HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 4170

Fighter. 2001.  1 videodisc (86 min.). Documentary film that follows friends Jan Wiener and Arnost Lustig on a trip to Europe in 1998. Holocaust survivors, Wiener and Lustig met in the United States, where both had fled from communist Czechoslovakia. The trip recreates the journey made by Wiener as he escaped from Nazi occupied Prague, through Slovenia and Italy, on his way to joining the British Royal Air Force before his return to Prague after World War II.  HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 493

A film unfinished. 2010.  1 videodisc (90 min.). At the end of WWII, 60 minutes of raw film in an East German archive was discovered. Shot by the Nazis in Warsaw in May of 1942, the film became a resource for historians seeking an authentic record of the Warsaw Ghetto. The later discovery of a long-missing reel, including multiple takes and cameramen staging scenes, complicated earlier readings of the footage. Presented is the raw footage in its entirety, falsely showing the 'good life' of Jewish urbanites. Included is an interview, and more. Death Mills: "Directed by...Billy Wilder for the U.S. War Department in 1945, [this film] was originally intended for screening in occupied Germany and Austria and featured a German language soundtrack...[T]he first documentary to show what the Allies found when they liberated the Nazi extermination camps: the survivors, the conditions, and the evidence of mass murder." -- Onscreen menu.  HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 8319

The filth and the fury. 2000.  1 videodisc (103 min.). The musical group Sex Pistols was in existence for only 26 months and recorded only one album, yet they changed the face of music forever. This shocking portrait of arguably the most influential and certainly the most notorious rock group of all time documents their rise from the back streets of London, through their crucifixion by the British tabloids and ultimate implosion on tour in America. Culled primarily from the band's own 20-hour-plus archive it includes candid interviews, performances, rehearsals and recording sessions.  MUSIC LIBRARY DVD 136

Finding Vivian Maier. 2013. 1 videodisc (84 min.).  Now considered one of the 20th century's greatest street photographers, Vivian Maier was a mysterious nanny who secretly took over 100,000 photographs that went unseen during her lifetime. Vivian's strange and riveting life and art are revealed through never-before-seen photos, films, and interviews with dozens who thought they knew her.  HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 11547

First contact. 1982.  The Highlands trilogy.  1 videodisc (53 min.). Recounts the discovery of a flourishing native population in the interior highlands of New Guinea in 1930 in what had been thought to be an uninhabited area. Inhabitants of the region and surviving members of the Leahy brothers' gold prospecting party recount their astonishment at this unforeseen meeting. Includes still photographs taken by a member of the expedition and contemporary footage of the island's terrain.  DVD 6871

First person. 2000.  3 videodiscs (ca. 491 min.). Errol Morris brings his unrivalled talents to the small screen for a stylized series of intimate interviews with a unique and fascinating array of people. Includes all 17 episodes from the original series.  DVD 1333

Five films about Christo & Jeanne-Claude. 1974. 3 videodiscs (282 min.). The 30 year collaboration between acclaimed filmmakers Albert and David Maysles, and the renowned environmental artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude.  DVD 2571-2573

Flag wars. 2003.  1 videodisc (86 min.). Examines the results of gentrification in Columbus, Ohio, when African American inner-city residents are met with an influx of white gay home buyers.  DVD 4578

The fog of war. 2004.  1 videodisc (107 min.). The story of America as seen through the eyes of the former Secretary of Defense, under President Kennedy and President Johnson, Robert S. McNamara. McNamara was one of the most controversial and influential political figures of the 20th century. Now, he offers a candid and intimate journey through some of the most seminal events in contemporary American history. He offers new and often surprising insights into the 1945 bombing of Tokyo, the Cuban Missile Crisis, ad the effects of the Vietnam War.  DVD 791

Food, Inc. 2008.  1 videodisc (94 min.). Lifts the veil on our nation's food industry, exposing how our nation's food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profits ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and our own environment. Reveals surprising - and often shocking truths - about what we eat, how it's produced and who we have become as a nation.  DVD 6527

For all mankind. 1998.  1 videodisc (79 min.). A look at America's first manned flights to the moon told by the 24 men who traveled to the moon and using the images from their experiences.  HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 1361

For the Bible tells me so. 2007.  1 videodisc (98 min.). Brilliantly reconciles homosexuality and Biblical scripture, and reveals that religious anti-gay bias is based almost solely upon a misinterpretation of the Bible. Through the experiences of five very normal, Christian, American families - including those of former House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt and Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson - discover how people of faith handle the realization of having a gay child or family member.  HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 4579

Frank Capra's why we fight. 2005.  2 videodisc (403 min.). Films created by director Frank Capra and sponsored by the U.S. government to help explain the "official war policy". These films were required viewing for the armed forces and were also widely shown in civilian theaters.  DVD 1922

Fuocoammare = Fire at sea. 2016. 1 videodisc (114 min.).  Samuele is twelve years old and lives on an island in the middle of the sea. He goes to school, and loves shooting his slingshot and going hunting. He likes land games, even though everything around him speaks of the sea and the men, women, and children who try to cross it to get to his island. But his is not an island like the others, its name is Lampedusa and it is the most symbolic border of Europe, crossed by thousands of migrants in the last twenty years in search of freedom. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 13846

The garden. 2008.  1 videodisc (80 min.). The fourteen-acre community garden at 41st and Alameda in South Central Los Angeles is the largest of its kind in the United States. Started as a form of healing after the devastating L.A. riots in 1992, the South Central Farmers have since created a miracle in one of the country's most blighted neighborhoods. Growing their own food. Feeding their families. Creating a community. But now, bulldozers are poised to level their 14-acre oasis.  HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 6475

GasLand: Can you light your water on fire? 2010.  1 videodisc (106 min.). In 2009, filmmaker Josh Fox learned his land was on top of the Marcellus Shale, a giant reservoir of natural gas, and that he would be paid to lease his land for natural gas extraction. Fox documented his cross-country trek to find out if the controversial process of hydraulic fracking is actually safe. What he unearthed was a shocking discovery about a practice that is understudied and inadequately regulated, and he raced to find answers about fracking before it was too late.  DVD 7968

The gatekeepers. 2012, 1 videodisc (101 min.).  A documentary featuring interviews with all surviving former heads of Shin Bet, the Israeli security agency whose activities and membership are closely held state secrets. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 2858

Gates of heaven. 1978.  1 videodisc (83 min.).  When a pet cemetery in California is forced to close its gates, its dearly departed must be moved to a neighboring cemetery. This begins a strange journey involving eccentric cemetery operators and anguished animal lovers.  HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 5781

Général Idi Amin Dada autoportrait. 1974. 1 videodisc (90 min.).  Criterion collection: Criterion collection (DVD videodiscs): Classic collection (Chicago, Ill.) . In 1974 a film crew followed Idi Amin Dada, dictator of Uganda, interviewing him and filming him as he worked. Provides a candid portrait of a notorious figure.  HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 12291

Genghis blues. 1999.  1 videodisc (90 min.). The story of a Paul Pena, a blind American blues musician, and his trek to Tuva to live among its inhabitants and compete in their triennial khoomei (throat singing) contest. He is accompanied by a documentary film team and Tuvinian throat singer Kongar-ol Ondar.  MUSIC LIBRARY DVD 77

George Harrison: Living in the material world. 2011, 2 videodiscs (approximately 227 min.).  "Using unseen photos and footage ... director Martin Scorsese traces the life of George Harrison in a personal film, weaving together performance footage, home movies, rare archival materials and interviews with his family and friends"--Container. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 11076

Ghosts of Abu Ghraib. 2007.  1 videodisc (78 min.). 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 796

Gimme danger. 2016. 1 videodisc (108 min.).  An in-depth look at the legendary punk band, The Stooges. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 13727 

Gimme shelter. 1970.  1 videodisc (91 min.). A documentary on the Rolling Stones' 1969 tour of the United States, including a performance at Madison Square Garden and a free concert at the Altamont Speedway in California where violence broke out between fans and Hell's Angels who were providing security. Includes performances by Ike and Tina Turner, the Jefferson Airplane and the Flying Burrito Brothers. This special version also contains never-before-seen performances from the Madison Square Garden show, audio commentary by directors Albert Maysles and Charlotte Zwerin, excerpts from KSAN Radio's Altamont wrap-up, an Altamont stills gallery featuring the work of photographers Bill Owens and Beth Sunflower, original and re-release theatrical trailers, plus trailers for Maysles films Grey gardens and Salesman, filmographies for Maysles Films and Charlotte Zwerin, and a restoration demonstration.  DVD 973

Girlhood. 2004.  1 videodisc (82 min.). Director Liz Garbus presents the coming-of-age stories of two girls trying to make a life for themselves both inside and outside of Baltimore's juvenile justice system.  HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 826

The gleaners and I. 2000.  1 videodisc (82 min.). "Varda's most recent effort-- the first filmed with a digital video camera-- focuses on gleaners, those who gather the spoils left after a harvest, as well as those who mine the trash. Some completely exist on the leavings; others turn them into art, exercise their ethics, or simply have fun. The director likens gleaning to her own profession-that of collecting images, stories, fragments of sound, light, and color."--www.imdb.com.  DVD 417

God grew tired of us: The story of lost boys of Sudan. 2006.  1 videodisc (90 min.). Explores the indomitable spirit of three "Lost Boys" from the Sudan who are forced to leave their homeland due to a tumultuous civil war. Chronicles their triumph over seemingly insurmountable adversities and a relocation to the United States, where the Lost Boys build active and fulfilling new lives but remain deeply committed to helping friends and family they have left behind.  HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 3020

Going clear Scientology & the prison of belief. 2015. 1 videodisc (119 min.).  "... [A] look inside the controversial religion from Academy Award-winner Alex Gibney. The film profiles eight former members of the Church of Scientology, exploring the psychological impact of blind faith, how the church attracts new followers and keeps hold of its A-list celebrity devotees."--Container. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 12652

The good fight: The Abraham Lincoln brigade in the Spanish civil war. 1984.  1 videodisc (98 min.). A documentary which presents interviews with eleven men and women who volunteered to serve in the American Abraham Lincoln Brigade that fought Franco and the Fascists during the Spanish civil war in the late 1930s. Includes archival film clips and photographs and period newspaper articles and songs.  DVD 4914

Grass: A nation's battle for life. 1925.  1 videodisc (71 min.). A documentary in which Merian C. Cooper, Ernest Schoedsack, and Marguerite Harrison travel through Asia Minor and Iraq to reach a tribe of nomads in Iran known as the Bakhtyari. They follow the tribe on its forty-eight day trek across deserts, streams, and mountains to reach pasture for their flocks. These three people were the first Westerners to cross the Zardeh Kuh Pass and the first to make this migration with the tribes.  HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 7095

The green prince. 2014.1 videodisc (101 min.).  Based upon the true story of the son of a Hamas leader who emerged as one of Israel's prized informants, and the Shin Bet agent who risked his career to protect him.  HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 11763

Grey gardens. 1975.  1 videodisc (95 min.). Portrait of the relationship between Edith Bouvier Beale and her grown daughter, Little Edie, once and aspiring actress in New York who left her career to care for her aging mother in their East Hampton home, and never left again. The aunt and cousin of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis feed their cats and raccoons and rehash their pasts behind the walls of their decaying mansion, Grey Gardens.  HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 971

A grin without a cat. 1977.  1 videodisc (180 min.). An overview of the worldwide political upheavals during the Sixties and Seventies. Interweaves footage from the Vietnam War and the antiwar protests in the U.S., May '68 in Paris, the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, Salvador Allende and the coup in Chile, Che Guevara and Regis Debray in Bolivia, the Shah of Iran, Fidel Castro, et alia. Contains official images, film clips, news coverage trims and neglected reels.  DVD 6039

Grizzly man. 2005.  1 videodisc (ca. 103 min.). Acclaimed director Werner Herzog explores the life and death of amateur grizzly bear expert and wildlife preservationist Timothy Treadwell, who lived unarmed among grizzlies for 13 summers.  HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 1682

Guerrilla: The taking of Patty Hearst. 2004.  1 videodisc (89 min.). On February 4, 1974, college student Patty Hearst (granddaughter of newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst), was kidnapped from her apartment by a terrorist group calling itself the Symbionese Liberation Army.  The SLA, seeking to foment a violent uprising within America's working class, forced the Hearst family to donate millions of dollars in food to the poor.  But two months after her kidnapping, Patty emerged in public as Tania, an armed member of the SLA who helped her captors to rob a bank.  Director Robert Stone uses rare and previously unseen archive footage as well as interviews with former SLA members to explain "America's first encounter with modern media-driven political terrorism.".  HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 1330

Guy Maddin's my Winnipeg. 2007.  1 videodisc (80 min.). A personal portrait of filmmaker Guy Maddin's hometown of Winnipeg, Manitoba.  HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 4986

Happy Valley. 2014, 1 videodisc (98 min.).  "The town of State College, the home of Penn State University, has long been known as Happy Valley, and its iconic figure for more than 40 years was Joe Paterno, the head coach of the school's storied football team. His program was lauded for not only its success on the field but also its students' achievements in the classroom. And Paterno took on mythic national stature as "Saint Joe."  But then, in November 2011, everything came crashing down. Longtime Assistant Coach Jerry Sandusky was charged with 40 counts of child sex abuse, setting off a firestorm of accusations about who failed to protect the children of Happy Valley. Was Sandusky's abuse an "open secret" in the town? Did Coach Paterno and the Penn State administration value their football program more than the lives of Sandusky's victims?   Filmed over the course of the year after Sandusky's arrest as key players in the scandal agreed to share their stories, Happy Valley deconstructs the story we think we know to uncover a much more complicated and tragic tale. Director Amir Bar-Lev creates a parable of guilt, redemption, and identity crisis for a small town caught in the glare of the national spotlight.". HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 12187

Harlan County, USA. 1976.  1 videodisc (ca. 104 min.). In 1973, when the Brookside coal miners voted for the United Mine Workers union, the Duke Power Company refused it. Barbara Kopple documented the struggle between the miners and the company, causing a big uproar.  DVD 2032

Have you heard from Johannesburg? 2010.  1 videodisc (90 min.). It is youth, both inside and outside, who next join the growing movement against apartheid. Buoyed by new support in western countries, Oliver Tambo returns to the United Nations to try to convince the world body to sanction South Africa. His efforts gain new public support as the brutal suppression of a youth uprising in the South African township of Soweto and the murder of freedom fighter Steve Biko turn South Africa from a country into a cause, a worldwide emblem of injustice. A significant victory is won when the United Nations issues a mandatory arms embargo: the first in history. But South Africa's strongest trading partners in the West still will not sanction it economically and as Tambo heads to Zambia to minister to the ANC's growing guerrilla army, a bloodbath seems inevitable. But even as the most powerful western governments refuse to heed Tambo's calls for cultural and economic boycotts, the citizens of those western nations will help turn the tide.  DVD 7923

A healthy baby girl.  1997.  1 videodisc (57 min.). Presents the filmmaker's experience of coping with her own hysterectomy for cervical cancer caused by her mother's use of D.E.S., a synthetic hormone administered to prevent miscarriage.  DVD 8220

Heart of a dog. 2015. 1 videodisc (76 min.).  The Criterion collection In this film essay, multimedia artist Laurie Anderson presents a monologue touching upon her relationship with her rat terrier Lolabelle, the death of her mother, the heightening of surveillance following 9/11, and other topics. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 13628

Hearts and minds. 1974.  1 videodisc (112 min.). Examines the American involvement in Vietnam, and is a chronicle of the war from a psychological perspective. Includes interviews with General William Westmoreland, former Secretary of Defense Clark Clifford, Senator William Fulbright, Walt Rostow, and Daniel Ellsberg, as well as American Vietnam veterans and Vietnamese leaders. Presidents Truman, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon are shown in rare footage.  DVD 395

Hearts of darkness: A filmmaker's apocalypse. 1991.  1 videodisc (96 min.). Made by the director's wife, Eleanor Coppola, film is a documentary about the filming of the motion picture, Apocalypse Now. It is the history of a film beset by physical and personal troubles, such as the destruction of the sets by a hurricane and the heart attack that almost cost the life of one of the stars, Martin Sheen. Includes recent interviews with cast and crew.  HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 2427

Heavy metal parking lot. 1986.  1 videodisc. Interviews with heavy metal music fans tailgating in the parking lot outside the Capital Center in Landover, Maryland, on May 31, 1986, before a Judas Priest concert.  HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 3407

Hell house. 2001.  1 videodisc (86 min.). "Just outside of Dallas, Texas a violent haunted house is serving as the pulpit for a modern-day fire and brimstone sermon. Taking the viewer behind the scenes, this documentary examines why this small town church has resorted to such graphic means of saving souls and allows us a brief glimpse of what they believe they're saving us from"--Filmmaker's website.  HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 4635

The Hellstrom chronicle. 2001, 1 videodisc (90 min.).  A tongue-in-cheek look at the insect world, ultimately portraying the insect as an indomitable menace and potential threat to nature and the human race. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 11641

Helvetica. 2007.  1 videodisc (80 mins.). Helvetica is a documentary film about typography, graphic design and global visual culture.  It looks at the proliferation of one typeface as part of a larger conversation about the way type affects our lives.  An exploration of urban spaces and the type that inhabits them, Helvetica invites us to take a second look at the thousands of words we see every day.  HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 4064

High school. orig. 1969.  1 videodisc (75 min.). A documentary study of Northeast High School in Philadelphia in 1968; deals with the ideology and values of a large urban high school as seen through encounters between students, teachers, and parents in guidance sessions, college counseling, discipline, faculty meetings, corridor patrol, gymnasium, and classroom activities.  DVD 7480

Hitchcock Truffaut. 2015. 1 videodisc (80 min.).  In 1962 Hitchcock and Truffaut locked themselves away in Hollywood for a week to excavate the secrets behind the mise-en-scene in cinema. Based on the original recordings of this meeting, used to produce the mythical book, Hitchcock/Truffaut-this film illustrates the greatest cinema lesson of all time and plummets us into the world of the creator of Psycho, The Birds, and Vertigo. Hitchcock's incredibly modern art is elucidated and explained by today's leading filmmakers.  Includes bonus materials. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 13618

Hoop dreams. 1994.  1 videodisc (171 min.). This documentary follows two inner-city basketball phenoms' lives through high school as they chase their dreams of playing in the NBA.  HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 1890

The hour of the furnaces. 1968,  2 videodiscs (248 min.).  A 1960s filmic manifesto on the liberation struggle being waged throughout Latin America, using Argentina as a historical model. DVD 3118

Hôtel Terminus: The life and times of Klaus Barbie. 1988.  2 videodiscs (267 min.). A brilliant examination of Klaus Barbie, the infamous Nazi 'Butcher of Lyon' and Gestapo chief implicated in 4000 deaths and the deportation of 7000 Jews, during the Nazi occupation of France. Tracing the 40-year hunt for the war criminal, it exposes a complex web of political intrigue, collaboration and deceit. Weaves together historical footage and interviews with former Nazis, American intelligence officers, South American government officials, victims of Nazi atrocities and witnesses.  HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 7830

The house I live in.  2012, 1 videodisc (108 min.).  For over 40 years, the War on Drugs has accounted for more than 45 million arrests, made America the world's largest jailer, and damaged poor communities. Yet for all that, drugs are cheaper, purer, and more available today than ever before. Filmed in more than 20 states, it captures heart-wrenching stories from individuals at all levels, the dealer to grieving mother, the narcotics officer to the senator, the inmate to the federal judge. Reveals its profound human rights implications. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 5094

House is black. 1963.  1 videodisc (22 min.). This film about the leprosy colony in Tabriz, Iran is a compassionate portrait of forgotten people. Straightforward yet sympathetic, the film affords dignity to its subjects, particularly through Farrokhzad's striking poem read by the poet herself. The House Is Black has heavily influenced the modern Iranian cinema of such great filmmakers as Abbas Kiarostami and Mohsen Makhmalbaf, who called it "the best Iranian film." It provides, in the film's own words, "a vision of pain no caring human being should ignore.".  DVD 1434

How to survive a plague. 2012, 1 videodisc (109 min.).  The story of the brave young men and women who successfully reversed the tide of an epidemic, demanded the attention of a fearful nation, and stopped AIDS from becoming a death sentence. This improbable group of activists bucked oppression and infiltrated government agencies and the pharmaceutical industry, helping to identify promising new medication and treatments and move them through trials and into drugstores in record time. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 11006

Howard Zinn: You can't be neutral on a moving train : a documentary. 2004.  1 videodisc (78 min.). Documents the life and times of the historian, activist and author of the best selling classic "A People's History of the United States." Features archival materials, interviews with Zinn as well as colleagues and friends including Noam Chomsky, Marian Wright Edelman, Daniel Ellsberg, Tom Hayden and Alice Walker. Documentary on historian and activist Howard Zinn.  DVD 7158

Human planet. 2011.  3 videodiscs (400 min.). Following in the footsteps of Planet Earth and Life, this epic eight-part blockbuster is a breathtaking celebration of the amazing, complex, profound, and sometimes challenging relationship between humankind and nature. Humans are the ultimate animals - the most successful species on the planet. Each episode focuses on a particular habitat and reveals how its people have created astonishing solutions in the face of extreme adversity.  DVD 8661-8663

The hunters. 1957.  1 videodisc (72 min.). In this classic documentary filmed in 1952 and 1953, the Kalahari Bushmen of Africa wage a constant war for survival against the hot arid climate and unyielding soil. "The hunters" focuses on four Ju/'hoansi men who undertake a hunt to obtain meat for their village. The chronicle of their 13-day trek hunting a giraffe is shared when they return home, illustrating the ancient roots and continual renewal of African tribal cultures.  DVD 3727

The hunting ground. 2015. 1 videodisc (103 min.).  From Academy Award-nominated and Emmy Award-winning director Kirby Dick, and Academy Award-nominated and Emmy Award-winning producer Amy Ziering comes a startling expose of sexual assault on US campuses, their institutional cover-ups, and the devastating toll they take on students and their families. Weaving together cinema verite footage and fist person testimonies, the film follows the lives of several undergraduate assault survivors as they attempt to pursue both their education and justice. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 12837