*** Notice: For the protection of property rights, this catalog is available for online browsing only. Please drop us a line if you would like to receive a copiable version of this catalog. Thank You!

Youth

DAY ONE

Directed by Lori Miller

Traumatized Middle Eastern and African teen refugees are guided through a program of healing by devoted educators at a unique St. Louis public school for refugees only.

DAY ONE follows a group of teenage refugees from war-torn countries who are enrolled at a unique public school for refugees and immigrants-only in St. Louis, MO, where they are guided through an inspirational program of education, healing and trauma intervention by devoted educators, some of whom have chosen to relocate to the inner city to support their students.

Over the course of a year, we watch the kids progress through layers of grief and loss as they attend school, forge new friendships, and prepare to be mainstreamed into local public high schools. Their triumphs and tribulations all unfold with St. Louis as the backdrop: a rust-belt city that has taken the bold step of welcoming immigrants as a solution for their growing socio-economic problems.

DVD / 2019 / (Grades 6-12, College, Adults) / 82 minutes

[Go top]

>>> Add Cart <<<

ALONE ON THE ISLAND OF THE BLUE DOLPHINS

Director: Paul Goldsmith

Every November, nearly half a million 4th graders read 'Island of The Blue Dolphins.' For many, this is their first real reading experience - their first 'chapter book.' Educators selected this book because it's a very exciting story of survival and empowerment, sort of a female Robinson Crusoe. Overall, almost 10 million copies of the book have been sold.

The book tells the story of a 12 year-old Nicoleno Native American who was left alone for 18 years on San Nicolas Island, the most remote of California's Channel Islands, during the 19th century. The 'Lone Woman' survived with her dog for 18 years before being 'rescued' and brought to Santa Barbara. She died there and is buried in the Santa Barbara Mission.

The true story that inspired the book is even more extraordinary then the fictionalized retelling. There has never been a documentary that goes out to the island, visits the Lone Woman's campsite and cave, includes an interview with now deceased author Scott O'Dell, and visually captures the adventure that she experienced all those years ago. Alone on the Island of the Blue Dolphins does this.

DVD / 2018 / 58 minutes

[Go top]

>>> Add Cart <<<

INVISIBLE HANDS

Director: Shraysi Tandon

'Invisible Hands' is the first feature documentary to expose child labor and trafficking within the supply chains of the world's biggest companies. It is a harrowing account of children as young as 6 years old making the products we use every day. 'Invisible Hands' marks the directorial debut of journalist Shraysi Tandon and is produced by Oscar winning filmmaker Charles Ferguson.

Participants include Kailash Satyarthi, Nicholas Kristof, Ben Skinner, Siddharth Kara and Mark Barenberg.

DVD / 2018 / 75 minutes

[Go top]

>>> Add Cart <<<

SEATS AT THE TABLE

Directed by Chris Farina

Portrays a remarkable college class which connects university students with incarcerated students discussing Russian literature at a maximum security juvenile facility.

SEATS AT THE TABLE portrays a remarkable college class which connects university students with incarcerated students at a maximum security juvenile facility as they discuss classic works of Russian literature.

University of Virginia Lecturer Andrew Kaufman created this course and has been teaching it since 2010. The literature provides a point of reference whereby they can discuss their lives openly and honestly and learn from each other. Each group's stereotypical views are replaced by a much more nuanced understanding of the other set of students as they form strong relationships which belies their original preconceptions. Both sets of students come away transformed by this singular educational experience, empowered to pursue lives of greater purpose and inspired by the discovery of their shared humanity.

SEATS AT THE TABLE explores the relationship between education and transformation, revealing the humanity behind institutional stereotypes, both collegiate and correctional.

DVD / 2018 / (Grades 7-12, College, Adults) / 87 minutes

[Go top]

>>> Add Cart <<<

CELLING YOUR SOUL

Directed by Joni Siani

An examination of our love/hate relationships with our digital devices from the first digitally socialized generation, and what we can do about it.

In one short decade, we have totally changed the way we interact with one another. The millennial generation, the first to be socialized in a digital world, is now feeling the unintended consequences.

CELLING YOUR SOUL is a powerful and informative examination of how our young people actually feel about connecting in the digital world and their love/hate relationship with technology. It provides empowering strategies for more fulfilling, balanced, and authentic human interaction within the digital landscape.

The film reveals the effects of "digital socialization" by taking viewers on a personal journey with a group of high school and college students who through a digital cleanse discover the power of authentic human connectivity, and that there is "No App" or piece of technology that can ever replace the benefits of human connection.

DVD / 2017 / (Grades 6-12, College, Adult) / 48 minutes

[Go top]

>>> Add Cart <<<

EARTH SEASONED, GAPYEAR

Directed by Molly Kreuzman

Diagnosed with learning difficulties, Tori finds her greatest teacher in nature, spending a "gap year" living semi-primitively with four other young women in Oregon's Cascade Mountains.

Earth Seasoned...#GapYear is the inspiring story of five young urban women who spend a gap year between high school and college living semi-primitively in a remote mountainside wilderness in Oregon. Told mainly through the story of Tori Davis, a teenager with learning difficulties, the film chronicles the group's four seasons in the woods as part of the Caretaker nature program. As the seasons succeed, the group has to adapt to what the wilderness provides and to what it withholds.

Through lyrical live action footage and smartly paced animation, the film reveals how separately and together the girls learn ancient skills of craftsmanship and teamwork and forge deep powers of resilience and self-reliance. Earth Seasoned has essential messages about talent, compassion and community and about the real conditions for human flourishing.

DVD / 2017 / (Grades 7-12, College, Adults) / 75 minutes

[Go top]

>>> Add Cart <<<

GEEK GIRLS

By Gina Hara

Nerdy women - the "hidden half" of fan culture - open up about their lives in the world of conventions, video games, and other rife-with-misogyny pop culture touchstones. While geek communities have recently risen to prominence, very little attention is paid to geek women. Filmmaker Gina Hara, struggling with her own geek identity, explores the issue with a cast of women who live geek life up to the hilt: A feminist geek blogger, a convention-trotting cosplayer, a professional gamer, a video-game designer, and a NASA engineer. Through their personal experiences in the rich cultural explosion of nerdom, GEEK GIRLS shows both the exhilaration of newfound community and the ennui of being ostracized. These women, striving in their respective professions and passions, face the cyberbullying, harassment, and sexism that permeate the culture and the industry at large. A rich conversation-starter for any class on Pop Culture and Feminism.

DVD (Color) / 2017 / 83 minutes

[Go top]

>>> Add Cart <<<

LIKE ANY OTHER KID

Directed by Victoria Mills

Follows the intimate relationships between incarcerated youth and staff who use love and structure to guide and teach youth offenders how to take responsibility for themselves.

LIKE ANY OTHER KID provides a rare glimpse into the inner-workings of one of the most promising developments in juvenile justice reform: the use of non-punitive, therapeutic programs to change behavior and help youth re-enter their communities.

Following the intimate relationships between incarcerated youth and staff in three unique facilities across the country over the course of three years, the film shows how these programs work. Based on the Missouri approach, where love and structure — instead of punishment — are used, these programs guide and teach youth how to take responsibility for themselves.

Through scenes of conflict, vulnerability, reflection, commitment, and joy, the youth transform before our eyes. LIKE ANY OTHER KID shows us the great potential of these youth if we let them be just that: like any other kid.

DVD / 2017 / (Grades 7-12, College, Adults) / 89 minutes

[Go top]

>>> Add Cart <<<

DAUGHTERS OF THE FOREST

Directed by Samantha Grant

A group of girls in a remote forest in Paraguay are transformed at an experimental high school where they learn to protect the threatened forest and build a future for themselves.

DAUGHTERS of the FOREST tells the powerful, uplifting story of a small group of girls in one of the most remote forests left on earth who attend a radical high school where they learn to protect the threatened forest and forge a better future for themselves.

Set in the untamed wilds of the Mbaracayu Reserve in rural Paraguay, this intimate verite documentary offers a rare glimpse of a disappearing world where timid girls grow into brave young women even as they are transformed by their unlikely friendships with one another. Filmed over the course of five years, we follow the girls from their humble homes in indigenous villages through the year after their graduation to see exactly how their revolutionary education has and will continue to impact their future lives.

DVD (Closed Captioned) / 2016 / (Grades 7-12, College, Adults) / 56 minutes

[Go top]

>>> Add Cart <<<

MISS KIET'S CHILDREN

By Petra Lataster-Czisch and Peter Lataster

Kiet Engels is the kind of teacher one wishes every schoolchild could have. She is strict but never harsh. She is loving but never soft. Her patience in endless.

Many of Miss Kiet's pupils are refugees who have just arrived in Holland. Everything is new and confusing. Some are quarrelsome and headstrong. But Miss Kiet's firm but loving hand brings calm and awakens interest. She not only teaches her pupils to read and write Dutch, but also helps them learn to solve problems together and respect one another. Slowly the children gain skills and confidence.

Haya is at first impetuous, yet fearful. Little by little, Miss Kiet helps her to find her friendly side. Leanne is quiet and lonely. But after a few months she able to tell everyone, in Dutch, that she loves Branche. Jorj has trouble sleeping and is unruly. His little brother Maksim has terrible nightmares. Miss Kiet's tenacity helps Jorj discover that learning can be worthwhile and even fun.

By observation alone, without interviews or voice-over, the film focuses on four refugee children of different nationalities. Pursuing their perspective, the camera follows at close hand their struggles to learn a new language, their fights, their friendships and their first loves.

By the end of the documentary, an affectionate community has grown—the fruit of a teacher's patience and dedication. A film of many touching moments, some of them hilarious, MISS KIET'S CHILDREN chronicles changes that are small yet at the same time immense.

DVD (English, Dutch, Color, With English Subtitles) / 2016 / 113 minutes

[Go top]

>>> Add Cart <<<

TALENT HAS HUNGER

Director: Josh Aronson

Talent Has Hunger is an inspiring film about the power of music to consume, enhance, and propel lives. Filmed over 7 years, the film is a window into the mysterious world of the artist, the passion that can grip and sustain a young player from childhood through the last days of life and the years of sacrifice and dedication a budding artist needs to fulfill one's talent. The film focuses on the challenges of guiding gifted young people through the struggles of mastering the cello. Through the words and actions of master cello teacher, Paul Katz, it's clear that this deep study of music not only prepares wonderful musicians, but builds self-esteem and a cultural and aesthetic character that will be profoundly important throughout his students' lives.

DVD / 2015 / 82 minutes

[Go top]

>>> Add Cart <<<

HOMESTRETCH, THE

Directed by Anne de Mare, Kirsten Kelly

Three homeless teens in Chicago fight to stay in school, graduate, and build a future.

THE HOMESTRETCH follows three homeless teens as they fight to stay in school, graduate, and build a future. Each of these resilient, inspiring teenagers - Roque, Kasey and Anthony - will surprise and challenge audiences to rethink stereotypes of homelessness as they work to complete their education while facing the trauma of being alone and abandoned at an early age.

Through haunting images, intimate scenes, and first-person narratives, these teens take us on their journeys of struggle and triumph. As their stories unfold, the film connects us deeply with larger issues of poverty, race, juvenile justice, immigration, foster care, and LGBTQ rights.

With unprecedented access into the Chicago Public Schools, The Night Ministry's Crib emergency youth shelter and Teen Living Programs' Belfort House, THE HOMESTRETCH follows these kids as they move through the milestones of high school while navigating a landscape of couch hopping, emergency shelters, transitional homes, street families and a school system on the front lines of this crisis. The film examines the struggles these youth face in obtaining a high school level education, and then follows them beyond graduation to focus on the crucial transition when the structure of school vanishes and homeless youth struggle to find the support and community they need to survive and be independent. A powerful, original perspective on what it means to be young, homeless and building a future in America today.

DVD / 2014 / (Grades 10-12, College, Adult) / 89 minutes

[Go top]

>>> Add Cart <<<

KNOW HOW

Director: Juan Carlos Pineiro Escoriaza

Written and acted by young people in New York City's foster care system, Know How presents dramatic stories ripped from their own life experiences. Five characters' worlds intersect as they confront loss, heartbreak, adulthood, and bureaucracy in this tale about transience and perseverance.

Addie lives with her Aunt Janet in what's known as "kinship" care; her biological parent is unfit to care for her. Addie's closest friends are from her block: Juice, a drug dealer, and Marie, a girl on the verge of spiraling out of control.

Marie's grandmother has been in the hospital for months now and the prognosis is bleak. Her boyfriend Trey takes care of her as best he can, but both of them are struggling in the foster system.

When the Administration for Children's services (ACS) finds out that Megan's been physically and sexually abused they remove her from her family. Separated from her sister Kayla, she's placed in a treatment facility that is anything but safe.

Eva only has one more year of school, and yet her sister Desi cannot seem to find the time to attend classes. When ACS discovers their father's crack addiction, the family is torn apart.

Austin and his brother James have been living on the street-hungry for a good meal. Desperate, they resort to petty crimes to survive, but soon find themselves embroiled in a turf war that's bigger than they are.

Know How captures the reality of life in foster care from the point of view of those living in it. It's not a documentary nor is it fiction. It's a hybrid approach for using film to create social change. Instead of professional screenwriters and actors, these true stories are written and performed by a cast of ordinary foster care youth, and their performances are powerful, moving, and eye-opening. KNOW HOW is also a musical that brings authentic voices and unseen stories to the screen, and emerged from the efforts of The Possibility Project, a non-profit organization in NYC that brings teenagers together to transform the negative forces in their lives into positive action through projects like this one.

Why make a film by young people in foster care? Because the system doesn't work and the human cost of its dysfunction is too great to ignore. Consider this: a few years after aging out of foster care, only 50% of young people will complete high school or a GED, 60% will be convicted of a crime, 75% will receive public assistance, and only 6% will complete a college degree. The system needs to change.

DVD / 2014 / 106 minutes

[Go top]

>>> Add Cart <<<

TOKYO FIANCEE

Director: Stefan Liberski

Based on Amelie Nothomb's bestselling novel, Tokyo Fiancee is an entertaining romantic comedy that will appeal to fans of Jean-Pierre Jeunet's Amelie and Sofia Coppola's Lost in Translation.

The young, pixie-like Amelie is in love with all things Japanese, which prompts her to buy a one-way ticket to Tokyo in order to completely immerse herself in Japanese culture. She offers to work as a French tutor, and soon finds herself enjoying a passionate relationship with her only student, the charming Rinri. As the two explore the joys (and awkwardness) of their first real romance and the colorful city around them, many cultural barriers fall...but some still remain.

This utterly charming romantic comedy played in the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival and seduced audiences in Europe with its whimsical style and its playful look at misunderstandings, complications and the problems that arise from cultural stereotypes. Pauline Etienne, as Amelie, is winsome and wonderful as the enthusiastic young woman on a cross-cultural adventure of the heart.

DVD (English, French and Japanese, with English subtitles) / 2014 / 100 minutes

[Go top]

>>> Add Cart <<<

LIFE APPS: WORLD OF APPS (UK/SOUTH AFRICA)

Directed by Paul Zisiwe, Gautam Lewis

Young people are writing apps to solve problems from reproductive health care in South Africa to helping young minority adults in London who are "stopped and searched."

The final episode of the series profiles Apps For Good, an organization originally started in Brazil to harness young people's ideas and energies to develop apps that can benefit local communities. In South Africa, LIFE visits with creative artist Nanziwe, who works for the mobile start-up company Bozza and is trying to develop an "app" to provide young people with sexual and reproductive health information and advice.

In London's East End, LIFE films one young entrepreneur who has developed an app that helps young minority adults who are "stopped and searched" by the police, recording their locations and their accounts of the treatment they receive. We also visit with Amarah, a young student from Central Foundation Girls' School, who has developed her own "app" to send messages to friends with an alarm call.

DVD / 2013 / (Grades 7-12, College, Adult) / 27 minutes

[Go top]

>>> Add Cart <<<

VALENTINE ROAD

Directed by Marta Cunningham

In 2008, eighth-grader Brandon McInerney shot classmate Larry King at point blank range. Unraveling this tragedy, the film reveals the heartbreaking circumstances that led to the shocking crime as well as the aftermath.

On February 12, 2008, in an Oxnard, California, classroom, 14-year-old Brandon McInerney shot classmate Larry King twice; Larry died of the wounds two days later. Larry (Leticia), a gender-variant youth of color, had liked to wear makeup and heels to school, and had publicly announced a crush on McInerney. For this reason, some of McInerney's defenders say the victim had "embarrassed" the shooter--and was therefore at least partly to blame for his own murder.

VALENTINE ROAD is about an outrageous crime and an even more outrageous defense of it, but the film goes much deeper than mere outrage. In the end, it's the story of two victims of homophobia. Larry was killed because of it, but Brandon's life was horribly twisted by it as well. And it's the story of a community's response--sometimes inspirational and sometimes cruel--to a terrible tragedy.

Filmmaker Marta Cunningham deftly looks beyond the sensational aspects of the murder, introducing us to Larry's friends, teachers and guardians, as well as Brandon's loved ones--both children had led difficult lives. In examining Brandon's prosecution and defense, the documentary poses difficult questions about punishing juveniles for serious crimes, while exposing society's pervasive and deadly intolerance of young people who don't conform to its gender "norms."

VALENTINE ROAD brilliantly focuses on how bigotry and prejudice are community-wide problems, rather than only the acts of individuals. It asks how schools can respond to the the full complexity of students' lives, and support students in crisis before tragedy strikes.

DVD / 2013 / (Grades 8-12, College, Adult) / 88 minutes

[Go top]

>>> Add Cart <<<

THREE SISTERS (SAN ZIMEI)

By Wang Bing

One of his generation's most important documentary filmmakers, director Wang Bing is at the height of his powers in THREE SISTERS. The film introduces viewers to 10-year-old YingYing, 6-year-old Zhenzhen and 4-year-old Fenfen, who live alone in Xiyangtang, a tiny rural village in the high mountains of China's Yunnan province. Their father is away working in the city; their mother left the family long ago.

The girls help their grandfather or aunt in exchange for meals. They spend their days at grueling tasks: herding sheep, goats and pigs, searching for firewood, collecting dung. Games are few and far between. The eldest, Yingying, is her sisters' primary caretaker, shouldering responsibilities far beyond her years.

Wang's hand-held footage beautifully captures the region's dramatic landscapes and plunging, mountainous scenery in THREE SISTERS, an essential part of the international film canon.

DVD (Color, Mandarin and Yunnan dialect with English Subtitles) / 2012 / 153 minutes

[Go top]

>>> Add Cart <<<

ZERO TEN TWENTY: HAYLEY, ROSAMARIA, ANGELA AND MARTENS

Directed by Bruno Sorrentino

Revisits four children in England, Brazil, Papua New Guinea, and Latvia, who were born in 1992, the year of the first Rio Earth Summit, and measures the impact of globalization on their lives.

Hayley was born into a coal-mining community in Merseyside, UK. When the mines closed down, her father lost his job, and her parents divorced. Rosamaria was born into an extended family in the violent and dangerous favela of Rocinha, in Rio de Janeiro. The drugs are gone, police 'pacification' has transformed Rocinha, and Rosamaria's a single mom with a new boyfriend, trying to find a job.

Angela was born on Lihir Island, in Papua New Guinea, just as a gold mine was about to be built. Twenty years later, the mine has brought huge benefits to Lihirians, but also pollution. Martens was born in Jelgava, on the outskirts of the Latvian capital Riga, after the collapse of the Soviet Union. After joining the European Union in 2000, Latvia's economy had been hit hard by the Eurocrisis; Marten's own dream is to become a chef.

DVD / 2012 / (Grades 7-12, College, Adult) / 48 minutes

[Go top]

>>> Add Cart <<<

ZERO TEN TWENTY: PANJY, AMELIA, JUSTIN AND VUSUMZI

Directed by Bruno Sorrentino

Revisits four children in India, Norway, and South Africa, who were born in 1992, the year of the first Rio Earth Summit, and measures the impact of globalization on their lives.

In south India, Panjy was born into a community dependent on the local fireworks industry. As a child, she was determined to finish her education -- but family debt intervened; she was forced to quit school, and later had an arranged marriage. In north Norway, Amelia was born into a remote cod-fishing community on the edge of the Arctic. But the fishing industry gave way to tourism in the 1990s, when fishing quotas were introduced, and Amelia worked as a waitress. Now she's desperate to get away and experience life outside of her remote home town.

On the other side of the world, in South Africa, we catch up with Justin, who is forging a new future for himself as an undergraduate at Cape Town University far from his parents' farm in the Eastern Cape. Tragedy has struck down Vusumzi, our second South African `Earth Summit' child -- tragically killed in a senseless act of violence three years ago. His mother Mavis recounts what happened and then, amazingly, forgives his killer.

DVD / 2012 / (Grades 7-12, College, Adult) / 50 minutes

[Go top]

>>> Add Cart <<<

ZERO TEN TWENTY: STEPHANIE, ERDO AND KAY-KAY

Directed by Bruno Sorrentino

Revisits three children in the United States, Kenya, and China, who were born in 1992, the year of the first Rio Earth Summit, and measures the impact of globalization on their lives.

In California, Stephanie's father worked as a logger, caught up in the 1992 controversy surrounding the spotted owl and logging taking place in the bird's habitat. Today, Stephanie's still an outdoor girl -- rodeo riding, fishing, shooting, and accompanying her truck driver boyfriend on the road.

Erdo was the eighth child born into a nomadic Turkana family in the drought-ridden north of Kenya. Despite his mother Esther's heroic efforts to ensure his education, a teenage Erdo drifted into living with street gangs in the local town of Isiolo until Esther tracked him down and persuaded him to return to school, where he's now training to be a mechanic.

Our final `Earth Summit' child, Kay-Kay, was born in the city of Guangzhou just as China's economy was taking off. A star pupil at school, Kay-Kay's now an undergraduate at a brand new university on the outskirts of the city, but still goes home to see her parents and sing karaoke with them on the weekends.

DVD / 2012 / (Grades 7-12, College, Adult) / 50 minutes

[Go top]

>>> Add Cart <<<

BETTER THIS WORLD

Directed by Katie Galloway and Kelly Duane de la Vega

The story of two young Texans accused of intending to firebomb the 2008 Republican National Convention reveals the workings of the post 9/11 security state.

How did two boyhood friends from Midland, Texas wind up arrested on terrorism charges at the 2008 Republican National Convention? BETTER THIS WORLD follows the journey of David McKay (22) and Bradley Crowder (23) from political neophytes to accused domestic terrorists with a particular focus on the relationship they develop with a radical activist mentor in the six months leading up to their arrests. A dramatic story of idealism, loyalty, crime and betrayal, BETTER THIS WORLD goes to the heart of the War on Terror and its impact on civil liberties and political dissent in post-9/11 America.

DVD / 2011 / (Grades 10-12, College, Adult) / 89 minutes

[Go top]

>>> Add Cart <<<

ORIGINAL MINDS

Directed by Tom Weidlinger

Inspirational film that shows a way to bring out the individual talents of five teenagers normally classified as learning disabled.

Wounded by the stigma of being in "special ed" the five teenage protagonists of ORIGINAL MINDS struggle to articulate how their brains work.

Kerrigan is a deep thinker, often seeing connections between disparate ideas and concepts, but when it comes to telling you what you've just said he hasn't a clue.

When Nee Nee writes her fingers have a hard time keeping up with her thoughts.

People often get annoyed with Nattie because she doesn't know when to stop teasing and kidding around.

Marshall spends a lot of time in the bathroom, where his parents can't bug him about homework. He says he wants to "turn over a new leaf" but he's lost nine of his last fifteen math assignments.

Members of Deandre's family tell him he is not college material. He's determined to prove them wrong.

Parents, teachers, friends, therapists, and coaches all weigh in, sometimes with conflicting views, but it's the kids who become the experts in this film, as they work intensively with the filmmaker to tell their stories and discover that they are smarter than they thought. Their narratives reveal the unique approach to learning that each must discern and claim as his or her own if they are to succeed in the world. ORIGINAL MINDS eschews the confusing thicket of labels for learning disorders and reveals universal truths about how we all acquire and process information.

DVD (Closed Captioned) / 2011 / (Grades 9-12, College, Adult) / 57 minutes

[Go top]

>>> Add Cart <<<

***Price on web-site may not be current and is subject to modification by quotation***

Email :
inquiry@learningemall.com

Websites :
http://www.learningemall.com [ English ]
http://www.learningemall.com.hk [ Chinese ]

Follow us: