Directing
The history of American slavery from its beginnings in the British colonies to its end in the Southern states and the years of post-Civil War Reconstruction. Looks at slavery as an integral part of a developing nation, challenging the long held notion that slavery was exclusively a Southern enterprise. Simultaneously focuses on the remarkable stories of individual slaves, offering new perspectives on the slave experience and testifying to the active role that Africans and African Americans took in surviving their bondage and shaping their own lives.
Miracle's Boys is a six-part miniseries based on the novel of the same name by Jacqueline Woodson. It was made for Noggin's nighttime block, The N, and aired in February 2005. The series was directed by Neema Barnette, LeVar Burton, Ernest R. Dickerson, Bill Duke, and Spike Lee and was filmed on-site in Harlem, New York. It also includes a theme song by rapper Nas.
In the midst of unprecedented national prosperity in the 1960s, poverty was "rediscovered" by American policy makers, media and the public. This series examines how the poor fared during these years and the resultant evolution of foundation and public sector programs addressing the challenges of poverty.
Celebrate the triumph of the African-American religious experience through the last three centuries. From the arrival of the early African slaves through the Civil War, Reconstruction, Jim Crow, the Great Depression, the Civil Rights Era, and into the 21st Century, explore the epic struggle of a people whose faith was continually tested, and how that faith became a force for social change that helped transform America socially, politically and culturally.
'Electoral Dysfunction' uses irreverent humor to illuminate how voting works - and doesn't work - in America. Hosted by Mo Rocca (a Correspondent for CBS News, a panelist on NPR's 'Wait, Wait ... Don't Tell Me!' and a former Correspondent for 'The Daily Show'), the film is structured as a road trip that begins when Mo makes an eye-opening discovery: The Constitution does not guarantee the right to vote, putting America in the company of Libya, Iran and Indonesia. Mo explores the battle over voter fraud and voter I.D.; searches for the Electoral College; critiques ballot design with Todd Oldham; and encounters experts and activists across the political spectrum who offer commentary on why our voting system is broken and how it can be fixed.
Just before the advent of the Great Depression, Henry Ford controlled the most important company in the most important industry in the booming American economy. His offer of high wages in exchange for hard work attracted workers to Detroit, but it began to come apart when Ford hired a private police force to speed up production and spy on employees. After the depression hit in 1929, these workers faced a new, grim reality as unemployment skyrocketed.
Documentary feature exploring the rise of African-Americans to positions of greatness in American sports. Stories are told of boxers, tennis players, runners, and basketball players, athletes who either suffered the indignities of racism, helped break down its walls, or enjoyed the opportunities afforded by past struggles.
HBO (in association with the American Film Institute) presents this 1997 anthology, narrated by Liev Schreiber, which looks at sports in cinema from the earliest silent films until the nineties. Watch not for dramatic scenes but for the glimpse of historical figures shown both cinematic and athletic- in this tribute to the merging of sports and Hollywood.
