S1.E1 ∙ Dramatic Birth

The Central Pillar is a short documentary film featuring a young Haitian mother who became an amputee after the earthquake. After loosing everything but her family, she moves to the countryside village of Lamardelle to begin putting her life back together while raising her five children. This film focuses on her challenges, fears, and hopes while dealing with what it is like to be a woman amputee in Haiti.

What are the essential ingredients in the development of young pianists? Certainly, love of music and a combination of skill and study are essential. But the pianists who become concert artists share an additional quality. For these performers, once on stage, a switch flips on, propelling them to soar beyond what they can do in the rehearsal hall. "Beyond the Practice Room" will take a close look at this "switch" to see what motivates young pianists to perform and to take risks on stage, to experiment as artists. Parental influence, passion for music, dreams and expectations are among the many themes that we will explore in this intimate, behind-the-scenes portrait of the contestants at the New York Piano Competition

A video of Sorghum Day in St. Donatus, Iowa in which local farmers demonstrate how to make sorghum molasses.

Michael, a short documentary, tells the poignant story of Michael Arciola. Through Michael's mom's stories, Michael's letters home, archival footage of Michael in Iraq, and through the visual exploration of space, a vibrant image is created of a young man who decides to join the Army right after high school. This film was created as part of a series of profiles on American Soldiers whose lives were lost in combat.

Grisi siknis, or crazy sickness, is a contagious, culture-bound syndrome that occurs predominantly among the Miskito People of eastern Central America and affects mainly young women. This documentary looks at a community afflicted by this disease and questions cultural, environmental, and physiological factors that make it such a mystery to modern science.

A handicapped artist overcomes difficulty to establish himself.