The Ability Exchange

“Factory-made wheelchairs are huge, heavy and ugly.” To counter this reality, wheelchair riders Ralph Hotchkiss and Omar Talavera began making beautiful, all-terrain wheelchairs. Their work draws on the resourcefulness of disabled people in the Third World, who have no choice but to build their own chairs. A well-crafted piece in its own right, Zimbabwe Wheel illustrates that wheelchairs can be truly empowering works of art: hand-crafted machines that are inexpensive, durable, and tailored to the needs of the rider.” Working on your chair is like working on your whole sense of self,” says a student, describing a feeling no factory-made chair can provide.

The shooting diary of a film shot in France and in the United States. Using photos of Paris and of New York City, excerpts of his former films, statements by friends of his and shooting sequences of the film itself, tormented filmmaker Marcel Hanoun has made a heterogeneous and unclassifiable film about the difficulty of filming.

Wicked Wishes: Making the Wishmaster

In American Sign Language (ASL) with subtitles available in English, Spanish and Canadian French. This powerful documentary uses real life experiences from Deaf people of varied social, racial, and educational boundaries showing how this form of oppression does lasting and harmful damage. Bonus materials include directors' comments from Ben Bahan and H-Dirksen Bauman and additional scences. Teachers: This film is a wonderful tool for beginning ASL students, as an introduction to a side of Deaf culture that cannot be found in any textbook.

A documentary about the career of director Jack Arnold at Universal-International Studios. (An early version of this film, only 20 minutes in length, was screened in 2012.)

A documentary that focuses on Hayao Miyazaki’s deep connection to nature and the environmental themes expressed through his films.

A look back at the making of the film "The Big Chill" (1983) with cast and crew.

Are women’s colleges a dying breed? In the past forty years over 75% of women’s colleges have closed or merged with their male counterparts. What will or should become of them in the next fifty years? Compelled by her family’s four-generation legacy at Barnard College, Daniella Kahane (BC ’05) explores the relevance of women’s colleges today, specifically through understanding the history of Barnard College and the changing role of women during the twentieth century.

The first half is a salute to John Wesley Powell, the first man to explore the Colorado River. Walt Disney presents a behind-the-scenes look at the filming of Ten Who Dared on the same waters. Then the True-Life Adventure Featurette: Bear Country is shown.

Tom Savini is one of the greatest special effects legends in the history of cinema, but little is known about his personal life until now. For the first time ever a feature length film has covered not only Tom's amazing career spanning over four decades, but his personal life as well.

An overview of the history of Great Britain's Amicus Films, which was a rival of Hammer Studios in the horror field. Included are interviews with company co-founder Max Rosenberg, cameraman Freddie Francis and director Roy Ward Baker, and clips from various Amicus productions.

As artificial intelligence becomes ever more sophisticated, the film industry is split between enthusiasm at what the technology can achieve and concern over the future for human workers in the industry. Will actors and actresses be replaced by machines? An overview on the coming wave of AI in cinema.

There's not a person in the world who wouldn't recognize Mickey Mouse. But until now, not many knew the man who originally gave shape, movement and personality to the world's most beloved icon. "The Hand Behind the Mouse: The Ub Iwerks Story" takes you behind the scenes to meet Walt Disney's best friend and chief animator.

A brief look at the history of "Homicide: Life on the Street", one of the best shows on television and its ratings history as well as some of the people on the show, as well as behind the camera. The primary focus of this PBS documentary is the "Subway" episode which aired on December 5, 1997 on NBC. This two-hour documentary follows the "Subway" episode from conception to award nominations.

Among the many parts of the world in which Unilever companies operate, West Africa has a special place. The Africa of popular imagination is a land of jungles, swamps and mud huts; but side by side with the traditional, a new Africa is growing and the film "African Awakening” is an expression of this, of the attitudes of those African men and women who are today the driving force of West African progress. “African Awakening”, a colour film which runs for 38 minutes, is one of a series of Unilever films dealing with different aspects of African life.

For more than 40 years Kathryn Bigelow has been making films that explore male violence. With movies like Blue Steel, Point Break, The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty, the Oscar winning American filmmaker has impressed with hard-hitting moviemaking that holds a mirror up to contemporary America and the world.

Intimately following 1st and 6th graders at a public elementary school in Tokyo, we observe kids learning the traits necessary to become part of Japanese society.

Video diary from behind the scenes of 2002's "Cruise of the Gods."

The story of the creation of The Spirit of the Beehive, a film directed by Víctor Erice in 1973.

This historical and critical look at slasher films, which includes dozens of clips, begins with Halloween, Friday the 13th, and Prom Night. The films' directors, writers, producers, and special effects creators comment on the films' making and success. During the Reagan years, the films get gorier, budgets get smaller, and their appeal wanes. Then, Nightmare on Elm Street revives the genre. Jump to the late 90s, when Scream brings humor and TV stars into the mix.