First Ladies: Influence & Image

Homeless Nadezhda cannot cope with the death of her husband and is hoping that God will one day reunite the two of them. Security guard Oleg has lost his job and his health. How to find the strength to keep on living when all is gone? Suitably for Nadezhda, a traditional Russian Orthodox Church is being built in the apartment-house district. Will that bring consolation? Many people come to the church but for Oleg and Nadezhda, the church proves to be a bit overwhelming in its indifferent greatness. The Pigeons is a creative documentary about the strength of hope of a simple man.

Explore the daily lives of those who remain with their pain after the loss of a child and give them a voice. These bereaved people reveal themselves and their difficult experiences. Dealing with loss, repressing, forgetting and healing to get to grips with their life again. There are also relatives and friends who act awkwardly, expressing themselves with unfortunate words or say nothing and do everything to avoid those who suffer. A film made of smiles and sorrows.

An insider's perspective of the small, underground community of surfers in Cleveland, Ohio. Theirs is a life of shared dedication for the water and to waves that rarely come. In the backdrop is a Great Lakes city trying to recover from a legacy of lost industry, lost jobs and a river polluted enough to catch on fire. Still this culture persists in this unlikely corner of the surfing universe amid harsh weather and gray skies. For them, the golden age of surfing is right now. And it's happening on the frozen beaches of Lake Erie, five hundred miles from the nearest ocean.

This program focuses on the use of history as a tool for curricular integration. You will see a reproduction of an eighteenth century fire engine in use, and then learn how historians dissect the past to learn about all aspects of combating fire in colonial times. You will also learn how your students can learn these same techniques to become amateur historians themselves. A panel of historians, teachers, and curriculum specialists discuss how to put the lessons of the past to work in the classroom. You will discover how to use history lessons not just for social studies classes, but in orther subjects such as science, English and mathematics. This program will serve as a primer on using history as a tool for lessons well beyond history.

Risking everything to answer the call of the spirits, a white American woman initiates into the mysterious, secretive world of the Afro-Cuban spiritual traditions: Santeria and Palo Monte. Set against the backdrop of the richly textured Cuban culture, the story of her arduous journey unfolds.

In front of impunity, the film immerses in a vertiginous journey to rebuild Isabel's image and life.