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¡Adelante Mujeres!

A videotape by the National Women's History Project, 1992, 30 minutes, Color, VHS
Spanning five centuries, this comprehensive video, produced by the National Women's History Project, focuses exclusively on the history of Mexican-American/Chicana women-from the Spanish invasion to the present.

...But Then, She's Betty Carter

1980, 53 minutes, Color, VHS/16mm
This lively film is an unforgettable portrait of legendary vocalist Betty Carter, one of the greatest living exponents of jazz. Uncompromised by commercialism throughout her long career, she has forged alternative criteria for success including founding her own recording company and raising her two sons as a single parent. Parkerson's special film captures Carter's musical genius, her paradoxical relationship with the public and her fierce dedication to personal and artistic independence.

#404: Careers In The Music Industry

So you want to make some music? In the Mix explores different careers in the music industry, including public relations, music production, and marketing releases to radio stations. We go on location at a radio station to see what really happens behind the mike, as well as how new music makes it onto the air. Then, Julio meets Chubb Rock in the studio as he records a new album and Melanie accompanies singer/songwriter Poe as she goes on interviews. *DVDs are also available on over 50 other topics of critical interest to teens. For full descriptions, transcripts, video clips, discussion guides, lesson plans and more on this and other topics, please visit our website, inthemix.org. For one day shipping orders or volume discounts please call 800-343-5540. Note: VHS copies are also available for some programs.

Bhangra Jig

4 minutes, VHS
A vibrant short video about how young Asian people in Scotland celebrate desire and self-pride through dance and music.

Conjure Women

1995, 85 minutes, Color/BW, VHS/16mm
CONJURE WOMEN is an exciting performance-based documentary exploring the artistry and philosophy of four African American female artists. Celebrated choreographer and dancer Anita Gonzalez was a founding member of and performer with Urban Bush Women and is now Artistic Director of Bandana Women. Robbie McCauley is a critically-acclaimed performance artist and theater director whose personal vision has consistently explored the 'herstory' of Black women. The stunning photography of Carrie Mae Weems captures a variety of images of African Americans. Vocalist and composer Cassandra Wilson (Grammy award winner for Best Jazz Vocalist) has released nine recordings of her work and was acclaimed in the New York Times as "the most important singer to come along in jazz in the last ten years." These four artists use their disciplines to reclaim their 'africanisms', a intuitive experience of what their foreparents had to deny if they were to survive. CONJURE WOMEN is a moving and entertaining record of the work of these remarkable women. It is also, as filmmaker Demetria Royals notes, "telling the story of African Americans in our own distinct and self-defined voices."

CORPUS: A Home Movie for Selena

1999, 47 minutes, Color, VHS/DVD, Spanish, Subtitled
This classic rerelease from award-winning filmmaker Lourdes Portillo (Señorita Extraviada, Las Madres: The Mothers of Plaza de Mayo ) is a complex tribute to Selena, the Tejana superstar gunned down in 1995 at the age of 23 by the president of her fan club, just as she was on the brink of blockbuster crossover fame. While the story of her murder, which was filled with sex, glamour and betrayal, caught the attention of many outside the Chicano community, this film moves well beyond the sensational to present a nuanced feminist analysis of Selena's story. Clips of rare home movies, family photos, and glossy music videos from later in Selena's career are interspersed with lively conversations with her father, sister and Latina intellectuals that shed light into just who Selena was and what makes her such a powerful figure today. Staying true to the home movie feel, Portillo interviews ordinary people in Selena's hometown of Corpus Christie, including starry-eyed teenaged fans and tearful strangers who visit her grave. With a compassionate lens, Portillo places Selena's life and legacy in a cultural context, revealing powerful social forces that transformed a popular entertainer into a Chicana cultural icon turned modern-day saint.

Curtain Call

38 minutes DVD 38 minutes VHS
This charming, Oscar nominated, documentary was shot at the Actor's Fund Home in Englewood N.J., a retirement community for showbiz professionals. No ordinary nursing home, many of these residents are still full of vitality as they recall tales of Broadway's golden age, Hollywood and life on the road.

Einstein on the Beach: The Changing Image of Opera (DVD)

In 1984, the landmark production of Einstein on the Beach was staged at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. It was the first time since 1976 that its principal creators - composer Philip Glass and director/designer Robert Wilson - had collaborated on restaging this tradition-breaking opera. Interviews with Glass and Wilson along with clips of rehearsals and performances offer insight into this important work, making it accessible to all audiences. The film is a rare look at the creative process of two of the most important figures in American contemporary music and theatre, essential viewing for everyone interested in the evolution of the performing arts in our century.
58 min., Year released: 2007

ELVIS 56

1987 Cinemax 60 min.
This highly regarded historical rock and roll documentary explores Presleys rise to fame and fortune in the one year of 1956. Broadcast on Presleys 10th anniversary of his death. Shown in competition at Sundance Film Festival. It also aired on PBS Pledge Week Special, Disney Channel and American Movie Classics. Rolling Stone Magazine called it ...the best documentary ever made on Elvis Presley.

HIP HOP: A Culture of Influence

28 minutes
Commissioned by the Brooklyn Museum of Art for an exhibition on Hip Hop, this documentary looks critically at Hip Hop culture while celebrating Hip Hop as a unifying force among youth of different backgrounds and communities. YO-TV producers uncover a range of opinions on topics such as racism, sexism, homophobia and the commercialization of Hip Hop.

Jamesie, King of Scratch

70 minutes DVD
79-year old James Brewster is an uncompromising musician from the Caribbean island of St. Croix known for his humorous, provocative and playful compositions and lively performances. Scratch band music, also known as Quelbe, is an indigenous, grass-roots form of folk music that originated over a century ago in the U.S. Virgin Islands and is the official music of the Virgin Islands. The lyrics are a form of oral history used to immortalize historical events, spread rude gossip about one's neighbors, and relay the day-to-day trials and tribulations of living on a small Caribbean island. As a young boy, Jamesie made his own instrument out of a sardine can and a piece of white pine lumber. In the six decades that have followed, Jamesie and other musicians continued to use instruments that one can "scratch up" when performing and recording music along with more contemporary instruments. The music has crudeness to it that is intoxicating and rhythmic speaking to both the beauty and the hardship of the Crucian (of St. Croix) lifestyle.

Living Music For Golden Mountains

1981 16mm 27 minutes color English and Chinese with subtitles in both languages NOTE: this title is not available for general release or sale.
In 1936, Leo Lew immigrated to America, the "land of golden mountains," from his native southern China. He came seeking fortune but discovered instead a mission closer to his heart -- passing on the deep-rooted traditions of Cantonese folk music to new generations of Chinese Americans. Living Music For Golden Mountains traces Lew's life in America and shows some of the many problems facing the elderly in San Francisco's Chinatown. It also celebrates his enduring love of his native music and his commitment to sharing that love with young Chinese Americans eager to know their cultural heritage. Highlights include several of his virtuosos performances, both solo and with an ensemble he directs, as well as a revealing teaching session that shows how he works with and motivates his young students.

RADICAL HARMONIES

Radical Harmonies chronicles the Women's Music Cultural Movement and its evolution from a "girl with guitar" to a revolution in the roles of women in music and culture. The movement gave birth to an alternative industry that changed women and music forever.

SEVILLE SOUTHSIDE

107 min. / 2003 Spanish with English subtitles
Flamenco music is the lifeblood of the Gitanos, - Spanish gypsies - whose exile has lasted for centuries. In looking for the roots of the so-called "New Flamenco", the film takes you on a journey to Tres Mil Viviendas, a rundown estate on Sevilles South Side, and home to many of the citys gypsy population.

Soundmix: Five Young Musicians

"Soundmix: Five Young Musicians" is a one-hour PBS special that profiles five young musicians who are reinvigorating American musical traditions. Each profile explores the music, mentors, cultures, and communities that fuel the passions of these young players. "Soundmix" also includes scenes from a workshop where the young musicians meet for the first time. Other musicians featured in the program include the trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, the Latin percussionist Louis Bauzo, and the late old time fiddle legend Melvin Wine.

Stilt Dancers of Long Bow Village

"They're just humble workers from China. But come festival time, they paint their faces, strap on wooden stilts as tall as stop signs, and put on an act that's a combination political rally, commedia dell'arte, and steeplechase. It's a weird and astonishing spectacle, and filmmakers Carma Hinton and Richard Gordon show it off beautifully in this whimsical short." The Boston Phoenix, April 6, 1982

Sweet Honey in the Rock: Raise your Voice

2005, 84 min.
Sweet Honey In The Rock is a Grammy Award-winning African American female a cappella ensemble with deep musical roots in the sacred music of the black church - spirituals, hymns, gospel - as well as jazz and blues. Five women join their powerful voices, along with hand percussion instruments, to create a blend of lyrics, movement and narrative that relate history, point a finger at injustice, and sing the praises of love.

Sweet Old Song

DVD, 2002
National treasure Howard Louie Bluie Armstrong performed for most of his 94 years, from the time his father carved his first fiddle from a wooden crate. In his final years, Armstrong shared a life of creativity and feisty humor with Barbara Ward, an artist thirty years younger than him. Together they undertook a bittersweet journey to discover the past and their place in it.

The Garifuna Journey

46 minutes, video format, completed February 1998 A 50-page study guide accompanies this documentary
A first voice testimony celebrating the resiliency of the Garifuna people and their traditions. Shot entirely in Belize, the filmmakers worked closely with Garifuna tradition bearers, anthropologists and cultural activists during the research, scripting, production and editing phases of this project. The documentary resulting from this "outsider and insider" collaboration is the first of its kind, one that captures the triumph of spirit of the Garifuna people.

The Jamesie Project

70-minutes, DVD format Completed September 2006.
Award-winning filmmaker Andrea E. Leland collaborated with James Brewster to create a 70-minute documentary and archiving project. The result of their collaboration is a spirited musical journey to the Caribbean focusing on Scratch band music (also known as Quelbe) , an indigenous, grass-roots form of folk music from the Virgin Islands that was recently declared the official music of the Virgin Islands.

To You Sweetheart, Aloha

57 minutes VHS Closed Captioned 57 minutes DVD Closed Captioned
After losing his wife and only daughter, Bill Tapia, the colorful 94-yearold Hawaii-born ukulele master, finds his muse in 26-year-old manager Alyssa. Through their unconventional friendship, Bill arrives unexpectedly at the pinnacle of his career, forging ahead after outliving nearly everyone he loves. This intimate film addresses the taboos of cross-generational relationships and challenges the traditional notion of graceful aging with an entertaining yet poignant portrayal of a passionate elderly artist who continues to love, to grieve, and to live life to its fullest well beyond societys expectations.

Woman of the Southern Wind

Woman of the Southern Wind" examines the quest of Taiwanese performing artist Mei-O Chen to revive the ancient Chinese music known as Nanguan.