Film Library

The moving tale of the malady, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and attempts to find its cause.

I, Destini is an animated documentary that explores the poignant and imaginative illustrations of a youth grappling with the effects of having an incarcerated loved one. Each shot of the film, word written, and frame animated was born from a series of creative workshops between director Nicholas Pilarski and Destini Riley (14 years old). From this collaboration, an autobiographical film was created where Destini explores issues relating to race, class, media, and over policing in her community of Durham, North Carolina.

In 1979 filmmaker Patti Obrow White produced the Wagon Train Trail documenting the story of four so-called juvenile delinquents assigned to a character-building wagon train journey. Among them was angry, defiant, 14 year old Tracy. Fast-forward twenty…

This film is a hilarious look at a Lutheran minister’s unique signs that brighten the days of passersby.

Set against the backdrop of the college admissions process, ‘In 500 Words or Less’ introduces us to four of the 1.5 million families who navigate the college application process each year. Throughout the course of one school year, these four high school seniors take on this distinct rite of passage and discover within themselves their own identity, their family’s dynamics and what it feels like to become an adult.

Set against the crumbling landscape of Chicago’s battered south side, IN MY FATHER’S HOUSE is a yearlong journey from homelessness and alcoholism to self-discovery and redemption as Grammy-winning rapper Che “Rhymefest” Smith reunites with his homeless father in a quest to reclaim his neighborhood and discover his true self as a father and son.

In My Hands is a documentary created by filmmakers Brenda Siemer Scheider and Emma Morris, and produced by Tony Award winning dancer and choreographer, Ann Reinking. Ann’s story is that of her 17 year old son, Christopher, who has Marfan syndrome, a life-threatening disorder of the connective tissue. A child’s body becomes really long and tall. Undiagnosed aortic aneurisms become a fatal threat. By following the stories of several families, the film weaves equally the complex threads of learning to live with Marfan syndrome and all those affected by it. We see the despair and loneliness of trying to “fit in” against what is deemed normal. And we are moved by the hope and inspiration in finding a unique beauty within oneself. In My Hands asks the universal questions for children. Who am I anyway? Where am I ? And what am I? Different, and that’s ok..

A poetic portrait of a fourth generation New Mexican who sold his backhoe and picked up a camera in pursuit of a photographic quest.?? It captures the grit and gumption of a 65 year old man who follows his heart and pursues his true life’s work, taking a pictures of petroglyphs. This film takes a gentle and multi-layered look at an individual’s eternal connection to community, landscape, and memory.