COMING AND GOING: ROAD TO THE FUTURE
C A
This program is set in four metropolitan areas: Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington D.C. and Portland, Oregon. It examines city planning and transportation issues in context of urban planning and the environment. Each city faces problems based on its history, but Portland is held up as a model for the successful integration of transportation into the urban environment. 57 mins / 1994

COMMON MIRACLES
H C A P
Through stunning photography and commentary, this film explores the web of relationships uniting all forms of life--animal, plant, insect, and human--which occupy the narrow strip of dunes along the south shore of Lake Michigan. 28 mins / 1984

CRY OF THE FORGOTTEN LAND
M H C A P
This video documents, with a lush, roaming camera, the cultural upheaval in Papua New Guinea, site of the last tribes of non-industrialized peoples, including the Moi, whose harmonious relationship to nature is threatened by the imperialistic Indonesian government whose emigrants are chopping down the rain forest. The video explains (with maps) the short history of New Guinea's relationship to the world, and its indigenous wonders, including its 1000 languages and 100,000 species undocumented by western science, and the active resistance of the Moi people. This short film will awaken anyone who responds to the natural beauty of New Guinea and believes in the right of local people to manage their lives and resources. 26 mins / 1995

EARTH KEEPING: TOXIC RACISM
H C A P
Have poor and minority neighborhoods been victims of "environmental racism"? Residents of one neighborhood believe they have. Not expected to speak out against these injustices, the neighbors pull together to fight the companies who subject them to high levels of toxic waste dumping and industrial pollution. This program shows how residents in these unsafe and polluted areas have traded powerlessness and inertia for dynamic citizenship. Angry and determined to affect change, these residents are waging a grassroots war against those responsible for the pollution--to save their environment and protect their children. 60 mins / 1994

FIGURE IN A LANDSCAPE: A CONVERSATION WITH J.B. JACKSON
C A
This is an engrossing documentary which examines the evolution of the American landscape through the eyes of John Brinckerhoff Jackson, originator of landscape studies in the United States. Landscape studies are the interaction of architecture and community spaces with social history and even psychology. The program is both a portrait of the man and a portrait of America’s human-made landscape. The program moves through time and across the country, examining the squareness of a Puritan New England village to the contemporary landscape of the road, the front yard and the trailer park. Jackson looks at landscapes for their ability to fill human needs. Along the way, he invites us to relearn how to see, and to examine our sense of place. 46 mins / 1988

GARBAGE INTO GOLD
E M H A P
What is more American than the luxury of wasting things? On the other hand, what is more American then thinking up ways to make money? Garbage Into Gold shows that capitalism and recycling are compatible. With the feel of a news show, this video spotlights a man whose company mines junkyards for usable material, a California school that raised $40,000 recycling cans, and a woman who designs shoes from recycled matter. The real-life examples in this video emphasize the economic viability of recycling and the almost spiritual pursuit of these innovative alternatives, conveyed with excitement and encouragement. 25 mins / 1995

GREEN DREAMS
M H C A P
GREEN DREAMS profiles the work of SLUG (San Francisco League of Urban Gardeners). Something as simple as a garden has been shown to create jobs, get at-risk teens off the streets, rehabilitate addicts, counteract urban decay, encourage literacy and empathy, and most of all, build the self-esteem of disadvantaged people. Through the League of Urban Gardeners' programs, these teens develop the commitment and caring needed to tend a garden, while developing marketable job skills and staying off the streets. The stories in GREEN DREAMS uplift and embolden. 30 mins / 1995

GREENPLANS
H C A P
GREENPLANS examines what countries and industries around the world are doing to deter ecological disaster before it strikes. In-depth descriptions are given of conservation measures in Holland and New Zealand, specifically the role of government regulation (there's very little) and corporate cooperation (there's quite a lot). Impossible? Not when citizens are willing to pay a little more for a guaranteed high quality of life for themselves and the next generation. By paying $100 extra for a new car, consumers can make sure the car is recycled at the end of its life. This is just one of many featured examples of actions and mindsets that turn the tide of overconsumption. Made of recycled plastic, this video helps viewers consider a major paradigm shift. 28 mins / 1995

HALF LIVES
H C A P
HALF LIVES, a film on the birth and legacy of the American atomic revolution, features a government-produced PR piece on the "blessings of atomic energy." As the film notes, nuclear energy could either perfect life or end it. HALF LIVES explains the political context in which atomic bombs were invented, and listens to the now-aging atomic scientists who believed they were working to "end war." Then the film considers the unforeseen issue of nuclear waste, and some philosophical questions: can the intelligence that created such a technology also solve the problems it created? HALF LIVES is a look at the dangers of unchecked science and an uninformed public. It’s also a dark piece of Americana with a healthy ambivalence. 56 mins / 1995

See Exhibits

Indiana Humanities Council
1500 North Delaware Street
Indianapolis, IN 46202
317.638.1500 or 800.675.8897
ihciupui.edu