A selection of new documentaries hand-picked by GPPL's audiovisual librarian Diana Howbert.
Often overlooked, documentaries offer some of the most exciting filmmaking done today.
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Spanning his years as a Formula One racing driver from 1984 to his untimely death a decade later, Senna explores the life and work of the triple world champion, his physical and spiritual achievements on the track, his quest for perfection, and the mythical status he has since attained.
See the stories of four teachers in different areas of the country, revealing the frustrating realities of today's teachers, the difficulty of attracting talented new educators, and why so many of our best teachers leave the profession altogether. Can we re-value teaching and turn it into a prestigious, financially attractive, and desirable profession? With almost half of American teachers leaving the field in the next ten years, now is the time to find out.
| Americans use 60,000 plastic bags every five minutes that we then throw away. But where is 'away'? Where do the bags and other plastics end up, and at what cost to our environment, marine life, and human health? Follow 'everyman' Jeb Berrier as he navigates our plastic world. Jeb is not a radical environmentalist, just an average American who decides to take a closer look at our cultural love affair with plastics. |
An intimate portrait of Le Cirque founder Sirio Maccioni and his three sons, Mauro, Marco, and Mario, to whom he will one day leave his formidable cultural and culinary legacy. Director Andrew Rossi not only gains unbelievable access to the larger-than-life Maccioni family but also catches the family at a dramatic transition: the closing of Le Cirque in 2004, as well as its celebrated re-opening two years later, followed by the nerve-wracking wait for New York's restaurant critics.
Using 'shock therapy' as a metaphor, the film investigates Klein's central idea of 'disaster capitalism.' When countries are jolted by catastrophic events such as war or natural disasters, they are often subjected to totally un-regulated 'free market' remedies that benefit corporations at public expense.
The true story of Maggie, a beguiling homeless woman in her forties who lives in Central Park. Claiming to be the daughter of actor Robert Ryan and married to the Roman god Jupiter, her story is both a complex enigma and a riveting tale.
The story of Nim, the chimpanzee who became the focus of a landmark 1970s experiment to show that an ape could learn to communicate with language if raised and nurtured like a human child. But as Nim's natural instincts take over and the humans trusted with his well-being fail to protect him, Project Nim uncovers the unflinching and extraordinary journey of one animal thrust into human society.
This documentary looks not only at how his talent, style, and imagination have shaped all of our lives, but also at the influences that shaped and molded the man himself. Through interviews with the people who worked closely with him or chronicled his life, we gain unique insight into what made him tick. In a never before broadcast, exclusive interview, Steve Jobs expounds his own philosophy of life, and offers advice to us all on changing our own lives.
The fight for the last great mountain in America's Appalachian heartland pits the mining giant that wants to explode it to extract the coal within against the community fighting to preserve the mountain and build a wind farm on its ridges instead. Robert Kennedy Jr. joins the fight to preserve the mountain.