NCW Libraries

Many descendants of enslaved people have little record of their family's ancestry. Follow one family's quest to discover their lost history and see how science and genealogy can help rebuild a family tree broken by slavery. Join filmmaker Byron Hurt at his extended family reunion as they celebrate the joy of family in the African diaspora and discover new details of their history that they thought were lost forever.

Documentary follows the lives and work of legendary 1970s session musicians who were featured on some of the most iconic recordings of the era.

Patrick Dykstra is a man who has dedicated his life to his great passion - diving with and filming whales. Over the years, Patrick has learned how whales communicate, how they perceive other creatures in the water, and how they behave in his immediate presence.

Alfred Hitchcock. Muhammed Ali. Meryl Streep. LL Cool J. James Hamilton has captured them all. In Uncropped, a legendary Village Voice photojournalist recounts the stories behind iconic images taken over the course of a five-decade career. A visual chronicle of New York City and a window into the heyday of alternative print media. Executive Produced by Wes Anderson.

The Woman of Stars and Mountains recounts the story of Rita, an indigenous woman from Mexico. Rita left her mountain community in northern Mexico and embarked on a journey to Kansas. There, she was involuntarily detained and confined in a psychiatric hospital for 12 years because the hospital authorities could not ascertain her identity, origins, or the language she spoke. Upon the discovery of the truth, Rita returned to live in the Sierra Tarahumara....

Merchant Ivory is the definitive documentary of the legendary Merchant Ivory partnership, which produced such award-winning masterpieces as A room with a view, Maurice, Howards end, and Remains of the day. It is anchored by an interview with James Ivory and forty-one collaborators detailing and celebrating their experiences of being a part of the "wandering company" helmed by legendary producer Ismail Merchant. With six Academy Award-winners among...

Television Event is an archive-based feature documentary that views the dramatic climax of the Cold War through the lens of a commercial television network, as it narrowly succeeds in producing the most watched, most controversial made-for-TV movie, The Day After (1983). With irreverent humor and sobering apocalyptic vision, this film reveals how a commercial broadcaster seized a moment of unprecedented television viewership, made an emotional connection...

Paul B. Preciado's documentary invites a diverse group of trans and nonbinary people to perform interpretations of Virginia Woolf's novel Orlando, interrogating its relevance in the ongoing struggle to secure dignity for trans people worldwide.

In the next decade, NASA will send astronauts to Mars for the first time. Separated from Earth, and unable to communicate with the ground in real-time, crew members will experience extreme isolation that could gravely affect their three-year journey. This Sundance-premiering documentary follows a savvy NASA psychologist tasked with protecting daring space explorers.

Trailblazing food writer and best-selling memoirist Ruth Reichl examines the precarious state of America's food system. Reaching through political and social divides, she meets with small farmers, ranchers, and chefs risking it all to survive. Through Reichl's eyes, we see humanity and struggle behind the food we eat.