S25.E3 ∙ Discovering Joy

WEST 47th STREET is a feature-length theatrical documentary film. It follows the lives of four people with serious mental illness, over three years. The film provides an unprecedented window on the lives of people who are often feared and ignored, seldom understood. Co-producers Bill Lichtenstein and June Peoples enjoyed an extraordinary degree of access to their lives, and shot more than 350 hours of tape: off and on the street, in and out of hospitals and homeless shelters, healthy -- and psychotic. The resulting stories, both warm and dramatic, are about people who approach tremendous obstacles with humor, optimism and grace.

Four gripping, unique stories from the frontlines of suicide prevention, those of American veterans, the LGBT community, university students, and gun owners, weave together into a call to action.

Southeast, the poorest neighborhood in Washington, D.C., has only one sit-down restaurant, but it has hundreds of churches. Faith in the Hood is a compelling portrait of the inner city, seen through the prism of the spiritual life of its people. The film profiles five ministries: a street ministry for former convicts, a socially activist storefront church, a large and powerful Afro-centric church, an evangelical summer camp for youth, and an Islamic school. With commentary from leading experts on African American faith, the film displays the richness of the inner city religious experience and its centrality as a defining aspect of black community life.

An authentically political, theatrical and cinematic New Gospel for the 21st century.

Dramatised biography of writer George Orwell.

The Alto Adjustment features Dainhen Butler who served ten years for Armed Robbery in one of Georgia's most violent prisons, Lee Arrendale State Prison. Today, Butler runs and manages three businesses and is actively involved in the community as a youth speaker and organizer of Butler's Feed the Hungry program in Atlanta, Ga.