Accidental Addict

Accidental Addict is a one-hour television special intended to raise public awareness about the enormous yet silent epidemic of prescription drug addiction. This production will face head-on a vital and compelling issue affecting millions of individuals and their families worldwide – devastating addiction to prescription drugs.

At Highest Risk

A documentary story about the Quechua people of Cusco. Sheltered between the Amazon jungle and the Andes Mountains, the Quechua people face the second highest maternal mortality rate in Latin American and devestating government-sponsored fertility sterilization programs. Centering on the loss of Quechua culture, specifically its sacred traditions regarding child birth, the documentary project will stretch for one year and focus on two families in the Cusco region, while also including the rituals and customs of the indigenous people in the Amazon and Andes. As the mothers visit with shamans and hold blessing ceremonies, the filmmakers will capture the families personal spiritual journeys and how they push past atrocious health care and oppressive government policies.

Barbecue Is A Noun

A documentary film about barbecue culture in the Carolinas. The film investigates the unique notion of pork barbecue as it is prepared and served throughout North and South Carolina. Not to be confused with a typical backyard weenie roast, Carolina barbecue is a regional culinary and cultural phenomenon dating back to settlement of the southeastern United States. Carolina barbecue, traditionally understood to be either whole hogs or hog shoulders cooked slowly over wood coals and served with a sauce of varying parts vinegar, tomato and mustard, has been prepared in much the same way for the past three centuries. Click here for more information.

The Battle for Durham Point and America's Energy Future

The Battle for Durham Point and America’s Energy Future is a documentary on the historic confrontation between one of the world’s richest men who sought to expand his empire by building the world’s largest oil refinery in Durham, New Hampshire and three housewives fighting to preserve their community. But this 1973/74 clash also represents a seminal event in our society’s modern energy debate, when we first realized that our country was no longer self-sufficient for oil and we had become dependent on foreign energy sources. Events during this era parallel many contemporary issues we face in our current energy debate and provides disturbing lessons for the development of our energy future.

Buddy, An American Story

A feature documentary about the rise and fall of Buddy Cianci, one of America's most notorious mayors, directed and produced by Rhode Island filmmaker Cherry Arnold. Set in Rhode Island, a state well known for its mob influence and corrupt political machine, the film will chronicle Buddy's 22-year career as mayor, a rich and fascinating era in Rhode Island history, and follow his 2002 federal trial and conviction. With Ms. Arnold's exclusive access to Buddy Cianci for over a year – before, during and after his trial – the film will offer a unique, dramatic, and at times comical window into Buddy's public and private world, capturing privileged and poignant moments with him while he struggled to save his political career and preserve his legacy. In addition, the film has exclusive access to Buddy's own archives and material from over 50 interviews with local politicians, journalists, Providence residents, historians, and former Buddy staffers. Funding to date includes generous support from The Rhode Island Council for the Humanities, The Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, Rhode Island PBS and many private individuals. Further information about the film can be found here.

The Crocodile River

Is one of four films by Rob Perkins that will form the mini-series One Man's Journey slated to air on PBS in the Spring of 2004. The other films in the series include:

1. Into The Great Solitude – This film journal of a 72 day solo canoe journey through the Canadian Artic explores solitude and a father-son relationship.
2. Talking To Angels – Parallel journeys and journals describe how the filmmaker and his wife confront her breast cancer.
3. Yankee In Kamchatka – As the first Westerner to travel to this part of Siberia in 75 years, the filmmaker brings to life a previously un-filmed world.

A Century of Birth

A Century of Birth takes viewers into the fascinating and little-known history of childbirth in the United States from the beginning of the 20th Century to the present. Childbirth practices have been altered more in the last 100 years than in all preceding centuries. As a result, what viewers accept today as normal  bears little resemblance to the natural biological process that has evolved over millions of years. Further information about the film can be found here.

Cheerleader

The Tigers are all-smiles until they begin their journey to the national cheerleading championships and the young girls realize that more is at stake than their spankies. This 24-minute documentary explores the quest to be a champion, the experience of being female, and the ins and outs of an All-American pastime. The film also traces the history of the sport, with viewpoints from former cheerleaders, parents, a sociologist and a little boy who thinks cheerleaders are “hot.”

Courage and Conviction

A documentary about an acclaimed pioneer in the feminist movement, Dr. Mary Daly, former Boston College professor, as she fights increasingly conservative forces by defending the core principles of feminism and intellectual freedom. Produced by Boston based Kirsten Martin, award winning filmmaker and feminist activist . Grants have been received from the Open Meadows Foundation and many private funders.

The Defiant One

A documentary about the legendary producer and director Stanley Kramer. Kat Kramer, Stanley Kramer’s daughter and Roberta Pacino, Al Pacino’s sister will direct the film. The producers are Mark Richman, Roberta Pacino’s husband, and Karen Sharpe Kramer, who was married to Stanley Kramer for 35 years until his death in 2001. The documentary will revolve around Stanley Kramer and how he overcame the stigma of growing up in Hell’s Kitchen to become our nation’s first independent filmmaker. Maintaining a true revolutionary spirit, Stanley Kramer defied powerful conservative forces to make important films, which tackled difficult social issues including racism, nuclear holocaust, interracial marriage, war crimes and science vs. religion. The documentary will delve into the influence Kramer has had on filmmakers not only of his time, but on today’s young filmmakers as well. Steven Spielberg once said of the remarkable producer-director, “Stanley Kramer is one of our great filmmakers, not just for the art and passion he put on screen, but for the impact he has made on the conscience of the world.”

The Farthest North

The story of little known explorer Adolhus Greely and the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition of 1881-1884, targeted for television broadcast with broad implications for educational use. Greely founded The Explorers Club and The National Geographic Society. Dr. Geoffrey Clark is the New Hampshire based producer on this project which is in the research/pre production phase.

Fortress Washington

A one hour broadcast quality program and web site for general audiences, teachers and students. The project covers the Civil War Years 1861 to 1865 in the Nation's capital. The story tracks the transformation of Washington D.C. From a sleepy southern town to a vital, powerful center of the Nation, an unintended consequence of the Civil War.

From The Inside Out

Feature-length documentary depicting artist Rich Harlow's journeys into the Amazon over the course of 17 years that ultimately transforms himself and his artistic work. Harlow's paintings mix impressions of mysticism, realism, and abstraction. They illustrate the myths of the Amazonian people, showing not only how the rainforest looks, but also how it feels. The documentary tracks Harlow's construction of a painting and also his journey into the Colombian jungle where he has helped develop a sustainable and profitable paper-making project for native Colombians. Furthermore, the documentary will account for Harlow's inspiration through the observation of common and sacred tribal life among native Colombians.

Ghetto America

A cross-country forum on socioeconomic factors negatively affecting American teens across cultural and racial lines. The goal, through web site and documentary, is to examine the causes of these problems, challenge conventional notions about the people experiencing them and to look for solutions that won't necessarily come from lawmakers or university professors but from the very people living with these problems or those working to resolve them.

Harbour Grace

After 40 years in the US and combat duty in Vietnam, Bobby O'Dwyer returns to his boyhood town of Harbour Grace, Newfoundland. Harbour Grace is a son's documentary-in-progress exploring his father's search for redemption from the lasting effects of war. For more information visit www.harbourgracethemovie.com.

In the Beginning Was the Word

An hour long documentary about the board game Scrabble and the journey the game has taken around the world, bringing a most diverse group of people together from America to Zimbabwe: Blacks, Whites, Arabs, Jews, Hindus, Muslims, men. women, rich, poor, senior citizens, schoolchildren, prisoners. the blind, even the Queen of England, Martha Stewart and Sting have been seduced by this competitive game of words, probability, bluffing and luck. Alfred Butts, a down and out architect was the games inventor. Cambridge Massachusetts filmmaker Deborah Fryer has produced, written or directed many programs for The History Channel, MSNBC, Frontline/WGBH, NOVA/WGBH but this is her first independent documentary.

Island to Island

The United States imprisons roughly 25% of the world's inmates. Half of those imprisoned are African-American. A man of color born today in New York City has a 1 in 2 chance of spending time in jail, most likely on Rikers Island.

Island to Island, a feature-length documentary, follows two young men, Steven (age 17) and Eugene (age 21), as they struggle against the overwhelming challenge and uncertainty of life after prison. Each day they make choices that carry them either forward towards the opportunity of an education, or backward towards the punitive consequences of the streets. While hope for a brighter future remains, the odds are against them; 75% of Rikers detainees return to the jail within a year. For more information please visit the official Island To Island web site.

Justice Louis D. Brandeis – A Biographical Film

This compelling one-hour documentary will tell the story of Justice Louis D. Brandeis—a life of struggle, conflict, and ultimate triumph. On the occasion of his death, Justice Louis D. Brandeis was universally regarded as one of the great champions of liberty, progress, and justice. This posthumous consensus belied a life of controversy and conflict, spent on the edge of the great social and political struggles of his day. This sweeping biographical film will chronicle Brandeis’s rise from small-time Boston lawyer to one of the nation’s most controversial figures, and in the process put a fresh lens to some of the most critical junctures in American history, including the development of modern American law, the causes of the progressive politics, and the growth of the Zionist movement. Emmy and Dupont Award winning Stuart Television Productions will tell this story, and renowned Oregon Public Broadcasting will present this landmark biographical film on PBS in late 2006.

Project Kashmir

Two Americans, one Hindu and one Muslim, sneak into the warzone of Kashmir to uncover the truth of what is happening in what is deemed as one of the most dangerous places in the world. As news headlines boast peace in Kashmir, these two Americans learn that dead bodies are found on a daily basis. They hear gunshots at night. Will the people of Kashmir speak, in spite of a virtual gag-order? Project Kashmir is a documentary thriller about the struggle of two young immigrants on a mission to understand war and its lingering effects on their community.

Relief Riders International

Pioneering adventure travel/humanitarian aid company Relief Riders International partnered with DER to raise money for its humanitarian programs in India. Brought together by common goals – to support and foster connections between people and cultures – and united in the belief that unconventional methods can work best to achieve these goals.

Science Out There

Documentary Educational Resources in partnership with Rich Blundell and Omniscopic Productions is producing the Science Out There Profiles - a series of personal profiles of early-career scientists. Each 8-10 minute digital video profile will follow one of five natural scientists through a week of their fieldwork. Expedition footage will be edited into a news story for web streaming and made available to broadcast news bureaus, the Annenberg/CPB Channel. Edited together, the each stand-alone story may also serve as a segment of a 1-hour documentary. Using biological field stations as base camps, these stories from the field will deliver credible science content, cast science as an attractive career path for young people, and promote educational field-trip opportunities for all ages. Footage from these expeditions will also be used by the scientists, their universities, and field stations for development, outreach, education and promotional purposes. Click here for more information on Science Out There.

Spirit And The Bride

A docudrama about Ann Lee, the woman who founded the Shaker movement in America. She first came to the USA in 1774 from England, a Christian female profit with a blueprint for creating a utopian society. This program promises to be the documentary of record of Shakerism in America. Produced by Jeannine Lauber, on-air reporter/journalist for Maine public television will be guiding this all New England production crew. Maine PBS will be the presenting station if funding is secured. Jeannine has been awarded 2 Regional Emmy awards and nominations for 5 others. She received the Edward R. Murrow Award for investigative reporting, an Associated Press award and numerous other honors. This is her first independently produced program.

Taking on the Dharma: American Buddhist Women on Practice and Commitment

is a documentary that explores how contemporary women have created meaning within the context of American Buddhism. Sylvia Sensiper, a successful media producer is currently teaching "Documenting Culture" in the MIT Anthropology Program. Her new film project is in the research phase. The filmmakers first film was an experimental piece of visual anthropology.

Tall

A documentary from the perspective of men and women of excessive stature will explore the physical and emotional ramifications of immoderate height in a world that is built for the norm by New York based filmmaker, Adam Blank.

Tracks to Somewhere

Tracks to Somewhere is an intimate look at Hobos and their rail riding life set against the historical background of rail travel in America. On a cross country odyssey the filmmakers seek to shed light on a dying way of life and will reveal the symbiotic relationship of opposing cultural values, the struggle for freedom and yet the recognition that we are all dependent upon a well functioning society, even if we wish to escape.

The Truth About Cats, Dogs, and Lawn Chemicals

A documentary by Sanford Lewis and Jody Shapiro. This broadcast documentary will explain the link between lawn-care treatments and serious illnesses in our companion animals. The truth: lawn chemicals are toxic; they stick to paws and fur when dogs and cats walk on grass, sidewalks, parks, and streets, and are ingested and absorbed through the skin. The film will use humor, reality-TV documentation, and expert interviews to show pet owners how to have beautiful, chemical-free lawns that are safe for animals.

The pre-production trailer was generously funded by a grant from the Mitchell Kapor Foundation. To view the trailer, and for more information, visit catsdogslawns.org.

Urgent Issue

The dawning of the 21st century has found our scientific world accelerating like never before toward curing the horrible diseases that once devastated whole societies. Urgent Issue, a feature length documentary directed by Mark Richman and Roberta Pacino and produced in association with Filmmakers Supporting Science, addresses stem cell research and why some oppose it. Although major medical advances are on the horizon, and our generation stands to reap the rewards of our scientists’ hard work, there still exists an ethical dilemma that must be confronted. At the core of the documentary is the passionate conflict involving those people who believe that stem cell therapy could cure devastating ailments such as spinal cord injuries, diabetes and Parkinson’s disease, and those on the other side who are so adamantly against tampering with embryonic life that they say no cure can justify such action. For many people today and perhaps for all of us someday, this roadblock to stem cell research is a matter of life and death. It is indeed an “Urgent Issue,” and in the words of Nancy Reagan, “We have lost so much time already.”

Tugging Through Time

Tugging Through Time is the first documentary film on the history of tugboats in New York Harbor, written, and produced by historic maritime filmmaker, Tom Garber. The history of tugboats, their owners and operators, is vastly significant, and yet amazingly, has not been produced on film. The growth and evolution of the tugging industry, is a mirror to the social, political, and technological history of New York City. It is a prime example of how technology, politics, and business interacted over time to achieve positive results. The story culminates in one of the largest and most successful maritime evacuations in history, the 9/11 rescues from Manhattan. This film illustrates the strength of spirit, and ideals, that has made New York City, what it is today.

Twisted: A Balloonamentary

A comedic and poignant documentary about the life stories of people who attend balloon twisting conventions. When balloon twisters arrive at these conventions, they become more than the shy kid, the serious stockbroker, or the woman in the wheelchair. Just as a lifeless piece of latex can be magically transformed into a dog or a hat, so too can these people become someone new. Balloon twisting breathes change into them. It becomes a career, a passion, an escape. This film follows the lives of several members of this community, uncovering their origins as twisters, their goals, accomplishments, and aspirations.

A Visit To Asmara: architecture, memory and the making of a nation

A documentary focusing on the preservation and development of Eritrea's capital city of Asmara to reflect upon the much larger process of national self-determination by award winning New York based filmmaker and scholar Caterina Borelli. Several grant proposals being considered for funding. DER distributes "Architecture of Mud" the filmmakers last project on indigenous architecture of Yemen.

Water Documentary – Hart Productions

A documentary project on the global water crisis that takes the loves of 6,000 children every day. Kalani is a 12-year old girl in Malawi, Africa who spends 5 hours each day hauling water from a mud hole in the ground. Jabou is young activist in South Africa protesting against the installation of pre-paid water meters. Mariam is a mother of 4 in Tanzania who is forced to buy water of questionable quality in anti-freeze containers from a street vendor. These are just a few of the 1.4 billion people around the world who do not have clean water. With all the resources and technology available to us we can stick a space probe into the backside of mars to see if there’s water there or not – but we can’t get a bucket of clean water to a village in Africa? Why not? That is the question that propelled filmmaker Amy Hart to initiate this project in order to see if we could find clearer answers to the questions, learn more about the obstacles and illuminate the solutions. Please visit the official Hart Productions' Water Documentary web site for more information.

Waterbuster

Waterbuster (working title) will be a one-hour documentary chronicling the dislocation of the Three Affiliated Tribes (Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara) of North Dakota due to a hydroelectric dam project that inundated their homeland along the banks of the upper Missouri River. It is also the personal story of the directors family (Hidatsa-Mandan) and community, whose life choices were directly and indirectly influenced by this powerful re-shaping of the landscape. The film will examine the events that led up to the building of the Garrison Dam, the subsequent flooding of over 150,000 acres of prime, agricultural bottomland on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation, and the resulting responses of a people who have survived centuries of hardship through adaptation and cultural resiliency. The audience will see members of the Three Affiliated Tribes reflecting upon, interpreting, and telling stories about this cataclysmic event, and how they continue to negotiate its legacy. This will be an opportunity for a group of contemporary Native Americans to tell a very personal version of their history to a national audience.