Film Library

Made using hand-crafted stop-motion collage animation, “Toys” tells the autobiographical father-daughter story of actress Peggy Pope. In 1930s farm country, Peggy’s father wanted a son, but he got her. He tries to toughen up his little girl by giving her toys intended for boys: knives, bats, lariats, guns. One day, he brings home an archery set. To his astonishment, she proves a savant and goes on a shooting spree around the yard, coming into her own and making him fear for his life. The film is narrated by Pope, now 86, looking back on this momentous encounter with her dad.

At a remote Mojave Desert high school, extraordinary educators believe that empathy and life skills, more than academics, give at-risk students command of their own futures. This coming-of-age drama watches education combat the crippling effects of poverty in the lives of these so-called “bad kids.” 

Shaienne Knox is a rising junior at Mesa Ridge High where she is a leader of the school’s marching band and head of the Diversity Club. Shaienne applied to YDA wanting to make a film exploring black hair: the variety of hair styles that African American girls wear, the commodification of black hair, the pressure to straighten nd conform to white standards of beauty, and the role of hair in a political movement for change. Shaienne’s access to an intergenerational sample of African American girls and women – and an intimacy with which she enabled in her interviews – bring depth and dimension to this lively topic.

The personal account of one girl’s harrowing escape from the imprisonment of Boko Haram.

May, an 8-year-old detective, lives with her mother in the suburbs. Left to her own devices, May, alongside her trusted toy robot, investigates the neighborhood. She inspects every abandoned cigarette butt and eavesdrops on her neighbors in search of a mystery. Then, while investigating one day, she discovers the aftermath of a violent death and learns that her world is far more mysterious and consequential than she thought.

Jude Gassaway is a retired geologist who roamed the grounds of the American West for decades, gleaning all sorts of unique objects. Now, sifting through the collections that fill her home, she reflects on how collecting helped her come out of the closet in her 40s.

Two comedians. One apocalypse. When all power and communication systems mysteriously shut off, down on their luck comedians Gabriel Diani and Etta Devine pack up their things and hit the road in search of a safe haven to wait out the possible extinction event. Accompanied by their trusty dog Watson and their miserable cat Mrs. Peel, the duo must struggle against the mundane realities of the collapse of civilization while retaining their decency and rationality as the rest of humanity starts getting really, really weird.

Two inspiring teachers working at the only boarding school in Ireland for children ages 7 to 12 are followed for a year, as they begin to prepare for the end of their tenure.

Western Jubilee is about a small recording studio in Colorado Springs devoted to the idea of keeping cowboy music alive. This film features Scott O’Malley, the owner of Western Jubilee and Grammy Nominated cowboy singer Don Edwards. These two men share a friendship, a history, and a love love of cowboy music.

How can you not fall in love with a woman who carries around a human brain inside a giant flowery hatbox? Meet Dr. Marian Diamond, … and prepare to be smitten. Catherine Ryan and Gary Weimberg’s film follows this remarkable woman over a 5-year period and introduces the viewer to both her many scientific accomplishments and the warm, funny, and thoroughly charming woman herself, who describes her 60-year career researching the human brain as “pure joy.”

Evelyn McHale is a young wife to be in the 1940s. One morning, Evelyn’s feeds her fiancé Barry breakfast as she experiences a flashback to when she was young and her mother, Helen, fed her family. Helen is a disheveled woman who doesn’t meet the “perfect housewife” standard. The film continues to cut between time periods, showing the parallels between Evelyn’s parents’ relationship and Evelyn’s relationship with Barry. Helen leaves her husband and child, and eventually Evelyn leaves her fiancé as well.

Ana and Sergio are not only immigrants, but also parents to a teenage son and a growing daughter with Dandy-Walker Syndrome. They navigate their lives in Crete, Nebraska, as Sergio learns English and Ana runs errands as well as her own salon.