CIRCUS! 200 YEARS OF CIRCUS IN AMERICA
H C A P
This rollicking documentary chronicles the history of circuses, from a folkloric and an economic point of view. The first circus was staged in the U.S. in 1786. The combination of danger and innocence won the circus a place in the heart of Americans everyhwere. The documentary talks of Jumbo the Elephant, the infamous P.T. Barnum, and the Ringling Brothers. The early 1900s were the Golden Age for the circus, providing a forum for athletic men and women who won fame. In the 1930s, clowns like Indiana’s Emmett Kelly made people forget their cares. Lion trainers Clyde Beatty and Gunther Williams, trapeze artist Mary Wirth, the Flying Wallendas and others helped the circus compete with movies and TV in a Vegas-like style. 95 mins / 1995

INNOCENTS ABROAD
A P
Filmmaker Les Blank and crew follow a group of 40 American tourists on their "Grand Tour" by bus through Europe for an idiosyncratic look at how Americans view Europe and vice versa. "Blank’s intimate camera work and the disarming interviews and revelations provide us with a delightful portrait."--Geoffrey Gilmore, Sundance Film Festival. 84 mins / 1991

LONG JOURNEY HOME
C A P
LONG JOURNEY HOME is a documentary about migration, and the struggle of people racked by economic imperatives and their desire to maintain a homeplace. By interweaving the personal recollections of several people, the film conveys a sense of the economic forces that carry people into and out of the Appalachian mountains and of the social, cultural and geographic forces that continue to hold them or pull them back. With this comes a fuller understanding of the universal notions of home and community. 58 mins / 1988

TROUBLESOME CREEK: A MIDWESTERN
C A P
This Academy Award-nominated documentary is a poignant journey into the contemporary family farm, an institution in transition. From the aptly named creek to the flat Iowa fields, the filmmaker follows her parents--their patience, grief, and ingenuity--as they come to terms with the loss of their farm. With the intimacy of a diary entry, the narrator expresses deep-seated poetry and hardship that accompanies the tradition of living off the land. We witness the economic forces that cause the demise of the viability of the farm, the emotional pain of "failure," and the compromise that eases some of the pain. Full of the lyricism of the American midwest, TROUBLESOME CREEK is a memorable and clear-headed tale of tradition and change. 88 mins / 1995

TURNING LOOSE
H C A P
Here is a thought-provoking film about ethics, education, and interpersonal relations--and it's about horses! Ray Hunt is a cowboy with a mission. With unorthodox methods that emphasize cooperation and respect over coercion, Hunt teaches horses and riders how to work together. As Hunt puts it: "If I've helped the human, I've helped the horse. If I've helped the horse, I've helped the human." As colts and riders learn together, this ancient wisdom becomes evident. This is a wise, quietly inspiring film about human nature; an excellent stimulus for group discussion. 50 mins / 1992

THE WORLD OF TOMORROW
H C A P
Was there ever truly an Emerald City? This is a feature documentary that looks back at the great New York World’s Fair of 1939 and the more than 40 million people who glimpsed the future there. The film uses home movies, newsreels, cartoons, photographs and vintage graphics to evoke that fragile moment when the world stood poised, as the narrator puts it: "between black and white and color." Aided by a team of scholars, the filmmakers have created a look at the Art Deco extravaganza of the Fair that speaks to those that remember 1939 and to those who have heard of it only as history. "An exceptionally perceptive film-essay on the cock-eyed optimism that since the mid-19th century has been an historical obligation for all right-thinking Americans." --Vincent Canby, New York Times. 83 mins / 1989

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