Cincinnati: More Great, Near Great, and Not So Great Moments in Cincinnati History

The Iowa State Fair draws millions of people to the city of Des Moines every year. However, this film is not about the Iowa State Fair or the people who attend. It's about where they park their cars. Inspired by the classic documentary, "Heavy Metal Parking Lot".

In August of 1978 a small town in eastern Ohio was thrust into the spotlight when a local family sighted a Bigfoot in the woods behind their home. Over subsequent evenings they were repeatedly visited by the creature culminating in a late-night encounter that ended in local police being called in.

Tenor saxophonist Jimmy McGary was a major presence in the Cincinnati music scene from the 1950s until his death in the early ’90s. With music rooted in Bebop with a progressive slant, the Jazz legend was a session player for King Records and released his first album as a bandleader — The First Time (with a quartet that included pianist Pat Kelly) — in 1979. McGary’s spirit and legacy have lived on well after his passing and well beyond Cincinnati, as evidenced in this new documentary film.

Forty years later, rock legends Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey sat down for first-of-a-kind, exclusive interviews with WCPO Anchor Tanya O’Rourke. Their candid revelations about the horrific night of Dec. 3, 1979 in Cincinnati form the basis for O'Rourke's historical documentary, "The Who: The Night That Changed Rock."

Mother-of-two Judy Malinowski, then 31, was doused in gasoline and set on fire by her crazed boyfriend – and one of the first ever to testify from beyond the grave, at the trial for her own murder. A story that lives at the intersection of true crime and #MeToo, THE FIRE THAT TOOK HER goes deep inside a landmark case to ask a timely question: How much must women suffer in order to be believed?

Despite Blacks making up only 7% of Madison WI's population, they are leading in so many important areas from education to politics, and are launching so many multi-million dollar projects that people describe this period as a "Black Renaissance."

An excellent comprehensive look at all the music that came out of Cincinnati, Ohio. Cincinnati "Rock Legends" "James Brown" "King Records" "Pure Prairie League" "Lemon Pipers" "Syd Nathan" WEBN "Bootsy Collins" "Lonnie Mack" "The Who concert 1979" "Rick Derringer"

Behind the Bucket is a documentary following members of the 501st Legion--Star Wars Enthusiasts--showing how they are much more than adults playing dress-up. The 501st are compassionate, charitable, and down to earth people doing what's right for those in need. There's a reason why their motto is "Bad Guys Doing Good".

In the documentary, we follow twin brothers Mike and Chuck Rollins, former addicts who now work in addiction recovery. They know firsthand the struggles and vulnerabilities of addiction, as well as the challenges of reintegrating after treatment. For many addicts, returning to neighborhoods plagued by drugs and abandoned houses that serve as drug dens makes relapse almost inevitable. Through their nonprofit, Gemini Reliance, the Rollins brothers purchase dilapidated homes and transform them into safe, sober living spaces for those in recovery. Their efforts have proven effective, yet sobriety remains a constant battle. The story of HEROINOHIO begins as a profile of these two brothers but soon unfolds into a raw account of a fight against the powerful grip of addiction, revealing the relentless resilience required to reclaim one’s life.

The Big One is an investigative documentary from director Michael Moore who goes around the country asking why big American corporations produce their product abroad where labor is cheaper while so many Americans are unemployed, losing their jobs, and would happily be hired by such companies as Nike.

A portrayal of the early Latter-day Saints' joys, sacrifices, hopes, and trials; their epic journey to the Salt Lake Valley; and their legacy of faith in Jesus Christ.

Based on the Edith Wharton classic of the same name, Undine Spragg, a fiercely ambitious woman from the Midwest, strives for the social heights of turn of the century New York. Armed with beauty, daring/hustle and sheer force of will/unwavering ambition, Undine battles an entrenched elite, fearlessly courting controversy, until love and fortune align.

This one hour documentary examines the life of the famed Sharp Shooter and Wild West performer, Annie Oakley from her birth in mid nineteenth century rural Pennsylvania to her death in 1926. Many myths are overturned and the program also features a little known trial when Annie Oakley had to sue The Hearst Newspaper chain all throughout the country for libel when they reported the activities of someone who was impersonating the famed sharpshooter and besmirching her reputation.

Steeped in a rich tradition dating back to their inaugural meeting in 1897, this rivalry extends beyond the pursuit of a Big Ten title, and is renewed each year through the pageantry and colliding cultures that distinguish the two schools.

Midsummer Rock is a television program based on the Cincinnati Pop Festival. The 90-minute TV version featured Alice Cooper, Mountain, Grand Funk Railroad, The Stooges, and Traffic.

As PlayhouseSquare celebrates its first 90 years, “Staging Success: The PlayhouseSquare Story” pays tribute to the people who were instrumental in saving the theaters and shows how the community worked together to create a cultural showplace in the heart of downtown Cleveland. This new documentary, a production of WVIZ/PBS, in collaboration with Think Media Studios, reveals a Cleveland rags-to-riches tale as dramatic as any on Broadway.

Quest for Beauty is a film documentary on the life and prolific art career of William Schickel who was a prominent 20th century Catholic artist. Schickel had a very prolific art career spanning sixty-plus years; he produced a large body of mostly commissioned work in painting, sculpture, stained glass, and architectural design. He is most well-known for his renovation of the Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky, where he worked personally with Thomas Merton. His works can be found in numerous private collections and museums, including the Vatican Museum. The film explores his Quest for Beauty and the challenges he faced, and his vision for the Church and his heart for unity in the Body of Christ.

The Ashtabula train disaster and bridge collapse was the worst train disaster of the 19th century, claiming the lives of 97 people. The engineering and structural failures that caused the collapse of a bridge that stood for over a decade, also took down the most luxurious train of the day, “The Pacific Express #5.” The accident happened in Ashtabula, Ohio on December 29, 1876 during a raging blizzard, sending the luxury train crashing 70-feet into a river gorge and costing the lives of 97 people. The disaster shocked the nation, yet it’s a story that’s been lost in the pages of history. In a strange twist of fate and intrigue, the bridge disaster also became the backdrop to the still unsolved murder of Charles Collins, the railroad’s chief engineer. It also contributed to the eventual suicide of millionaire Amasa Stone, the president of the railroad and the designer and builder of the bridge.

In 2020, just as the pandemic was beginning, Gazala purchased land in western Ohio, on which sits a disused school building. This site allowed her to explore her complex relationship with “the land.” As the daughter of displaced indigenous Palestinians, she attempts to form a proxy bond with the earth, on ground that was stolen from the displaced indigenous Shawnee people. Closeness to the Land is video footage of hand-painted text signs that translate the word الأرض (ard) into six English words, displayed performatively in multiple locations to capture the now-invisible nature of indigenous culture in Ohio. These signs were installed on the old schoolhouse in early 2021.

The life and work of Aaron Tsuru. Aaron is a renegade photographer and zine maker who has risen to cult status on the Internet.