Film Library

“Breakfast Queen” Ina Pinkney has been feeding Chicago for the past 33 years. A fearless chef, businesswoman and polio survivor, Ina has decided to close the doors of her beloved breakfast eatery. “Breakfast at Ina’s” interweaves the story of Ina’s extraordinary life with the restaurant’s last days as she and her staff serve up its final meals.

Mark O’Brien was a poet-journalist who lived in an iron lung for four decades. Incorporating the vivid imagery of O’Brien’s poetry and his candid, wry and often profound reflections on work, sex, death and God, this provocative film asks: What is a life worth living? Winner of Best Documentary-Short Subject, 1997 Academy Awards.

Filmmakers question why hemp, a crop with many widespread benefits, cannot be grown in America.

American cowboy Buck Brannaman has a unique way of communicating with horses, and it’s exactly this unorthodox style of training that inspired the novel “The Horse Whisperer.” In this documentary, director Cindy Meehl gets to know the real-life Buck as she reveals his fascinating story about how an abusive childhood helped teach him the compassion and insight needed to train horses, not with punishment but by treating them the way he would treat humans — with respect.

In Texas, construction workers face the deadliest conditions in the country. Building the American Dream follows three immigrant families who are rising up to seek justice and equality in an industry rife with exploitation.

A former Burmese soldier fights against oppression in his country.

At first glance, it is not obvious that Abbie Evans lives with a life-threatening skin disease. She is a typical teenager: moody, rebellious, irreverent, and is also strikingly beautiful. But her life is the antithesis of normal.

Most people have heard of Mardi Gras, but few know that within the festival also exists a very private world of high-society balls. Originated by former Confederate slave-owners, these remain rooted in the celebration of white supremacist values..Class and culture intersect in this documentary made “from the inside.”

Morag, 86, shares her unique love of life out on the edge, on Scotland’s Western Isles.

Featuring six remarkable “over 40” dancers and stunning choreography, this film is a joyful, inspiring confirmation that age can enhance our gifts.

A beguiling documentary about the fabled coral reefs which are collapsing. Like the proverbial canary in the coal mine, the coral is warning us that the oceans are in trouble. This film is a celebration of coral’s beauty and a prayer for our planet.

Léa Brassy grew up in northern France. By the time she was 17, she moved to southern France for the warm water surf. Accustomed to a life on the road, her nomadic lifestyle takes a pause at the Unstad break in the Lofoten Islands in Northern Norway.