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 to suggest a new filmography or ask that an existing one be updated, please contact mediaservices@american.edu.
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Titles available on DVD and streaming video as of May 2014
Most streaming videos listed are available exclusively to AU students, staff and faculty after an online authentications by AUID#.
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. All DVDs listed below are located in Media Services on the Lower Level of Bender Library. To search the library’s complete videos holdings on prison topics (including VHS tapes) search the library catalog at: http://www.american.edu/library/mediaservices/index.cfm
Heart of Darfur: Fighting an International Humanitarian Crisis (2009) 1 streaming video file (57 min.). The Wide Angle Collection: Human Stories, Global Issues. With the Darfur Peace Agreement in shambles, this Wide Angle report portrays the desperation of daily life five years into the Darfur conflict, from the sprawling Abu Shouk refugee camp to volatile rebel-held areas of Sudan seldom reached by Western reporters. General Martin Luther Agwai, commander of the combined United Nations/African Union peacekeeping force for Darfur, is featured as the cameras follow him into a hostile region on a mission to persuade reluctant rebel leaders to come to the negotiating table. An interview between Aaron Brown and Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof concludes the program. Streaming video.
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The History of the European Monetary Union. (2005)1 streaming video file (60 min.). Central to the aims and ideals of the European Union is a single currency standard based on the euro. This wide-ranging program, divided into 12 segments, presents the history of the EMU, the unification timetable up to 2002, the convergence criteria, and the coins and banknotes themselves; provides background on the euro member states and the European Central Bank; examines the impact of the euro on world trade, the job market, and tourism; analyzes the euro's role in international monetary transactions; compares the euro to the dollar; and discusses the hopes and fears of the new citizens of "Euroland.” DVD 1142 and Streaming video.
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Dicing with Debt: Ireland's 30-Billion-Euro Nightmare. (2012) 1 streaming video file (45min.). If you want a quick, brutal lesson on Europe's debt crisis, just ask an Irish property developer. Better yet, take a stroll along the banks of Dublin's Liffey River, where new office buildings and prime waterfront real estate have plummeted in value. Meanwhile, unemployment soars across the nation, especially among Ireland's young people. How did it happen, and did Ireland get a raw deal in comparison with other European Union countries also facing debt crises? This program assesses the Irish government's acumen in taking on private-sector bank debt and becoming liable for billions of euros owed to bondholders. Was it fair that Ireland agreed to do so when holders of Greek government debt have been asked to take losses? As one Irish protest organizer puts it, the deal is "extortion" at the hands of "the financial bullyboys of Europe," and it must be renegotiated. Streaming video.
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Escape to the E.U.? Human Rights and Immigration Policy in Conflict. (2006) 1 streaming video file (60 min.). Five decades after the inception of the Geneva Refugee Convention, the European immigration system is on the verge of collapse as a flood of people fleeing persecution and violence threatens to engulf the E.U. This program looks at the processing of refugees and asylum-seekers in Sweden and Britain-typified by a lengthy detention punctuated by interrogation and a summary legal hearing-as the UN and the E.U. seek to address human rights issues. The newsmaking stories of a Bangladeshi detainee's suicide, a Kosovar Albanian detainee's deportation to certain death, and the struggle of Cameroonian political activist George Ekontang are spotlighted. The exploitation of xenophobia as a political tool is also considered. Some content may be objectionable. Streaming video.
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European Integration. (2005) 1 streaming video file (30 min.). The E.U. is intent on developing a Europe without economic borders. Module one of this program outlines the potential of Europe's open labor markets while addressing the barriers imposed by language and culture. Module two examines the basic principles of the European Central Bank and the objectives of European monetary policy. Module three assesses both the economic gains to be had from European integration and the challenges of equitable political representation. Streaming video.
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European Union. (2005) 1 videodisc (22 min.). Discusses the European Union and its economic history. AU CAMPUS USE DVD 1854
Goldman Sachs and the Decline of Greece. (2012) 1 streaming video file (50 min.). Over more than a decade, America's top investment bank provided risky financial products that sent the Greek government further and further into debt. Goldman Sachs earned hundreds of millions on the deal while the position of Greece within the European Union became untenable. Traveling to New York, London, and Athens, this film reveals what happened and examines the devastating consequences in present-day Greece. Viewers learn how, even as the Greek debt edged closer to 60 percent of the nation's GDP (the limit set in the Maastricht Treaty of 1992), both Goldman Sachs and the Greek government continued with "business as usual," and how Eurostat, the EU's statistics office in Brussels, was informed about these instances of financial engineering and raised no objections. The film also shows how a vulnerable and unprepared Greek population bore the brunt of EU austerity measures. (Portions with English subtitles, 50 minutes). Streaming video.
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Gutted: Demise of Scotland's Fishing Industry. (2006) 1 streaming video file (57 min.). The Wide Angle Collection: Human Stories, Global Issues. Scottish fishermen have trawled for cod in the North Sea for generations. Under new European Union laws, many families are being forced out of the trade. This Wide Angle documentary poignantly depicts a year in the life of Fraserburgh, a hard-hit community caught between E.U. policies designed to preserve fish stocks and the need to earn a living. Showing how commercial overfishing has decimated the local whitefish population, the program joins one veteran fisherman on the final voyage of his family boat, and profiles the Cod Crusaders-a group of Fraserburgh women who besiege E.U. committee hearings in a last-ditch effort to save their town's livelihood. Leon Panetta, Chairman of the Pew Oceans Commission, discusses the state of the world's oceans and marine life with guest anchor Carol Marin. Streaming video.
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Inside the European Union: Parliament Under Pressure. (2007) 1 streaming video file (27 min.). Crossroads: Inside the European Union: Crossroads (Films for the Humanities & Sciences). Defining "European" is one of the main challenges facing the EU Parliament. This program outlines the history of the governing body and assesses the actions it has taken to shape and organize the EU. Shedding light on electoral and procedural methods adopted by the Parliament, the film documents political fanfare and maneuvering accompanying the eastward expansion of the union with the entry of Bulgaria and Romania. The program also shows how these developments influence the path to comprehensive immigration laws-and how foreign workers, illegal immigrants, and asylum seekers are affected. Several members of the EU Parliament are interviewed. Streaming video.
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The President: Seeking the European Union's First Head of State. (2011) 1 streaming video file (58 min.). In 2001, with ten more member states about to join the European Union, the E.U. was looking for symbolic unity and a stronger presence on the world stage. The E.U. had been led by a series of officers each serving for a scant six months, and many felt the time was right for a long-term chief-thus launching a massive power play as heads of state jockeyed to shoehorn national interest in with political compromise. This program goes behind the scenes of the historic eight-year struggle to choose a first-ever E.U. president, an effort that fell somewhat short of the mark. On-location footage captures Tony Blair, Silvio Berlusconi, Jacques Chirac, Gerhard Schroeder, and other key figures during tense negotiations in meeting rooms, corridors, and private conversations. Streaming video.
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The Turkish Perspective: Should Turkey Be Admitted to the European Union? (2012) 1 streaming video file (45 min.). Why has the prospect of Turkish membership in the European Union enflamed such passions? Since the time of the Crusades, Europe has regarded Turkey with wary suspicion, and even today some question whether a staunchly Muslim country can be safely absorbed into the E.U. From the legacy of Ataturk to the threat of Islamic fundamentalism, this thought-provoking look at contemporary Turkey and its possible E.U. admission provides a snapshot of a nation in transit. Various viewpoints are provided by journalist Tuncay Akgun, Jean-François Perouse (Institute for Anatolian Studies), Armenian representative Luiz Bakar, and MEP Daniel Cohn-Bendit, who argues that Turkey's E.U. membership would combat terrorism by proving that "the clash of cultures between the Muslim world and Western societies can be overcome." Streaming video.
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Bringing Down a Dictator. (2002) 1 videodisc (56 min.). In 2000, Slobodan Milosevic fought to hold power in Yugoslavia. His opponents were led by a student movement called Otpor! (Serbian for "resistance"), who attacked the regime with ridicule, rock music, and a willingness to be arrested. Their courage and audacity inspired others to overcome their fear and join the fight, leading to Milosevic's fall from power, arrest, and extradition to the Hague to stand trial for crimes against humanity. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 938
Prosecutor. (2011) 1 videodisc (94 min.). "The first main prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno-Ocampo indicted people who were accused of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes as defined in international treaties. Prosecutor follows Moreno-Ocampo during his first trial against Congolese army leader Thomas Lubanga, accused of war crimes. The film retraces the history of the controversial Criminal Court and sheds light on the international criticism and problems that a prosecutor without any police power has to face."--Web. DVD 9195 and Streaming video
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The Reckoning: The Battle for the International Criminal Court. (2009) 1 videodisc (98 min.). Rome Conference of 1998 was the culmination of 50 years of effort by the part of those seeking a humane world. Representatives from 140 governments and numerous NGOs were at the conference to establish the International Criminal Court (the ICC). The ICC came into being on July 1, 2002 ratifying the Rome Statutes. Though over 120 countries voted to create the International Criminal Court (ICC), some of the most powerful nations in the world -China, Russia, and the United States -refused to ratify the Rome Statutes. The U.S. claimed, among other items, that the ICC's authority to second-guess the actions taken and the results reached by participating states was an infringement on national sovereignty. Nevertheless, prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo issues arrest warrants for the rebel leaders of the Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda, puts four Congolese warlords on trial in The Hague, charges the president of Sudan with genocide... AU CAMPUS USE DVD 6184
Banking on Life and Debt. (2009) 1 videodisc (30 min.). This documentary will show you how millions of children are sacrificed for the sake of financial stability. The video traces the post-World War II change which led to the current world economic order. Viewers travel to three continents for reports. AU CAMPUS USE DVD 8228
The Big Sellout. (2006) 1 videodisc (95 min.). "Traveling throughout both the developing and industrialized world, The Big Sellout brings us face-to-face with the architects of the reigning world economic order, as well as with the people bearing the brunt of their policies. The film shows how international financial institutions such as the IMF and the World Bank demand draconian cuts in public spending, the privatization of public services and market liberalization as the path to economic development...". DVD 3673 and Streaming video.
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Global Institutions and Human Rights. (1996) 1 streaming video file (26 min.). Global institutions--also known as intergovernmental organizations--helped promote political, economic, and legal stability in the midst of the Cold War. This episode examines the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and NATO, and their roles in a post-Cold War world. The roles of the World Bank and the IMF have been particularly controversial for the impact their actions have on the live of ordinary citizens such as in Mexico, and that situation is examined. Also featured is an interview with UN Assistant Secretary General Alvaro De Soto. Streaming video.
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How the IMF Tracks Economies and Makes Loans. 2005 1 streaming video file (16 min.). In IMF parlance, what does "surveillance" mean? And how does the IMF decide who gets a loan? This program describes how the IMF monitors national economic policies for their impact on the Fund's 180-plus member nations and how loans are made to ailing or emerging economies. Topics under consideration include Article IV consultations and poverty- and debt-reduction initiatives. Former IMF Managing Director Michel Camdessus; Edwin Truman, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs; IMF economist David Goldsbrough; and IMF historian Jim Boughton are featured. Streaming video.
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The IMF at Work. (1986) 1 videodisc (24 min.). Explains the organization, history, purposes and operations of the International Monetary Fund. AU CAMPUS USE DVD 7395
Inside money: Cooperative solutions from the IMF. (2006) 1 streaming video file (13 min.). This fast-paced animated case study examines the International Monetary Fund's role in assisting countries under economic distress. Spotlighted is a fictional country called Ruritania, whose litany of monetary problems includes government's role in the economy surpassing that of the private sector; wasteful government spending to employ relatives of politicians; subsidies to civilians who do not need social benefits; low tax revenues, prompting heavy government borrowing from abroad; and inflation caused by over-circulation of money printed for the government to spend more than it earns. Host Ian McFadden discusses the measures the IMF takes to pull Ruritania out of the bind. Streaming video.
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The Interconnected World: An Inside Look at the IMF and its Impact. (2011) 1 streaming video file (45 min.). Growing affluence in Asia, economic development in Eastern Europe, and new approaches to natural resources in Africa-all are major influences on the global financial landscape and all provide ample demonstrations of the IMF at work. This program guides viewers through the history, mission, and real-world impact of the International Monetary Fund. Topics (all with an IMF focus) include China's need to boost domestic consumption and build social safety nets for its population; Ghana's challenges in ensuring that oil revenues benefit the country; and Poland's adoption of market economy principles as it moves toward economic powerhouse status. A section on the origins, evolution, and future of the IMF is also featured. Interviews with key IMF and academic figures appear throughout the film. Streaming video.
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An Introduction to the IMF. (2005) 1 streaming video file (18 min.). The consensus of the world's leaders is that economic stability and cooperation offer the best hope for global peace. Using interviews with members of the International Monetary Fund's Board of Governors-each one the head of a national central bank or a minister of finance-this program explains how the IMF is structured and illustrates how it sets policy. The program also uses archival footage to examine the dual birth of the IMF and the World Bank and to explore the vision of its founding members: John Maynard Keynes and Harry Dexter White. IMF historian James Boughton provides additional insights. Streaming video.
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Malawi: Nation Going Hungry. (2005) 1 videodisc (26 min.). What in the world? Documents economic and social conditions in Malawi, where 3 million of a 12 million population live in abject poverty. During the 1990s, non-governmental organizations such as the World Food Program distributed seeds and farm tools to the poor, and the government allowed them to live and farm on public land. The program's subsidies supported the farmers during poor growing seasons. The World Trade Organization and the International Monetary Fund have forced the Malawi government to stop the subsidies, starving millions. AIDS is so pervasive in Malawi that many widows prefer starvation for themselves and their families to seeking a new mate. Due to AIDS and food shortages, there are more than one million orphans in Malawi. DVD 4428 and Streaming video.
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The Money Lenders. (2000) 1 videodisc (86 min.). Updated with scenes from April 2000, a documentary on major criticisms of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), two of the most powerful financial institutions in the world. Five country case studies are presented, each concentrating on a different aspect of the critics' charges. AU HOME USE DVD 3315
Paris 1919: Inside the Peace Talks That Changed the World. 2010 1 streaming video file (94 min.). Many of the geopolitical hot button issues of recent decades trace their roots directly back to decisions made during the 1919 Paris peace talks. Inspired by historian Margaret MacMillan's acclaimed book Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed the World, this program dramatically blends historical reenactments with archival footage and photos to shed light on a long moment in history when the victorious combatants of the Great War - fueled by a combination of hope, opportunism, and anger - created the League of Nations, redrew the map of the modern world, and revenged themselves upon Germany via the Treaty of Versailles. Streaming video.
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The WPA Film Library: League of Nations Headquarters, (ca. 1929) 1 streaming video file (2 min.). Laying foundation stone for League of Nations building at Geneva Stone is also used as a time capsule, and they put documents; etc. into opening in middle of stone. Streaming video.
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Woodrow Wilson. (2010) 1 streaming video file (45 min.). Perspectives presents a biography of Woodrow Wilson, 28th President of the United States. He led the nation through the terrible days of World War I, and when it ended, he gave the world his plan for a League of Nations. Streaming video.
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Good Fortune. (2009) 1 videodisc (73 min.). UN Habitat promises better housing to residents of the Kibera slum in Nairobi, Kenya. Meanwhile in the Kenyan countryside, Dominion Farms, a private U.S. company, hopes to elevate the local standard of living by converting pastures and farmland into rice fields. By taking their camera directly to the communities affected by these two ambitious development projects, the filmmakers discover what these do-gooder institutions can't seem to, why their presence is unwelcome by the very people they are trying to help. AU CAMPUS USE DVD 6332 and Streaming video.
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Marine Stewardship Council Japan. (2010) 1 streaming video file (22 min.). Alvin's Guide to Good Business: Case Studies in Social Entrepreneurship: Alvin's Guide to Good Business. The oceans are being emptied. This isn't just bad news for the 200 million people who make a living fishing, it's a crisis for planet Earth. The Marine Stewardship Council uses market forces to create sustainable fisheries, offering the world's only internationally recognized seafood eco-labeling system. It uses independent assessors who grant MSC certification only to products of sustainable fisheries, and it has grown into a major international organization based in London, with offices in Tokyo, Sydney, Seattle, Berlin, Edinburgh, and The Hague. Focusing on the Tokyo branch, this program follows Alvin Hall's efforts to help the MSC in its twofold task of convincing both fishers and consumers about the importance of choosing eco-friendly seafood. Streaming video.
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Malawi: Nation Going Hungry. (2005) 1 videodisc (26 min.). What in the world? Documents economic and social conditions in Malawi, where 3 million of a 12 million population live in abject poverty. During the 1990s, non-governmental organizations such as the World Food Program distributed seeds and farm tools to the poor, and the government allowed them to live and farm on public land. The program's subsidies supported the farmers during poor growing seasons. The World Trade Organization and the International Monetary Fund have forced the Malawi government to stop the subsidies, starving millions. AIDS is so pervasive in Malawi that many widows prefer starvation for themselves and their families to seeking a new mate. Due to AIDS and food shortages, there are more than one million orphans in Malawi. AU CAMPUS USE DVD 4428 and Streaming video.
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Torture Rehabilitation /Land Mines/ New Technologies. (1995) 1 streaming video file (26 min.). The Centers for Victims of Torture in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Toronto, Canada, have worked at post-conflict community building after some of the deadliest wars in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire), Jordan, and Kenya. This episode reports on the work that they do to treat victims of torture through counseling and advocacy. Also, a report on how eight to ten million active land mines in Cambodia are making that country the leader in per capita handicapped population. Finally, a report on how human rights groups like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Peacenet/GC are using communication technology to link-up worldwide. Streaming video.
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