What Have We Screened at Docs in Progress Workshops?
Films (L-Z)

THE LAST COLONY by Rebecca Kingsley (80 minutes, screened two different versions June 2004 and May 2006) The fight for democracy hits home in the capital of the United States where the battle over political self-determination intersects with historic issues of race, power, and the constitutional balancing act between federal and local government.   Click here for more information on the film and its director.

THE LAST GREEKS ON BROOME STREET  by Ed Askinazi (26 minutes/Screened January 2006) In the early 20th century, a vibrant Greek Jewish community thrived in Manhattan's Lower East Side. Today there is little evidence of that community, beyond one remaining temple and the memories of those who experienced it firsthand.

LEARNING FROM JAMES by Kendra Rubinfeld (56 minutes/Screened January 2008)   Children with developmental disabilities are often referred to as special.  This film helps show why, as we follow the lives of four children with mental retardation through their every day lives with their friends and families.

LESSONS FROM DC  by Lauren Kritzer (16 minutes/Screened January 2005) On the eve of her college graduation in the midst of the 2004 presidential campaign,  a young Washingtonian reflects on living in America’s political center.

MARE IGNOTUM  (SEA OF MYSTERY) by Loretta Oleck Berger and Linton Suttner (70 minutes/Screened November 2007) Max has traveled many lonely roads in his 70 years.  But it is the less traveled inner road which most interests his niece as she takes us on a journey to discover more about him and herself in the process.

The Market by D.B. Long (15 minutes/Screened October 2007) Underneath the Jones Falls Expressway is a taste of real Baltimore – a thriving farmer's market.  On the Sunday before Thanksgiving, we visit the market to explore the diversity of people, foods, and viewpoints on the market's busiest day of the year.

MATADOR  by Stephen Higgins and Nina Seavey (75 minutes/ Screened June 2007) David Fandila, "El Fandi," is on a quest to become the world's top-ranked bullfighter. This is a story of love and passion -- the tale of love of a son for his father, of the audiences in Europe and Latin America for their heroes, of a people for a strange and violent ritual, and of the bullfighter's paradoxical love for the majestic beast that he must kill to create his art.

MOVING FORWARD (formerly entitled EMPOWERED WOMEN) by Karen Zider (26 minutes/Screened November 2004) Micro-credit has become a source of hope for three low-income women in Colombia as they work to take the stigma out of poverty and provide a better life for their families.    Click here for more information on the film.

MY LIFE AS AN UNDERDOG by Boris Gavrilovic and Leon Martin (75 minutes/Screened January 2006)   Suzanne Muldowney is terrified by the possibility that she might die in anonymity.  Whether her performance art takes her to a local parade, public access TV, or into an argument with shockjock Howard Stern, she never relents in her quest for proper recognition for her performance art.   Click here for more information on the film and its directors.

MY MOTHER MARY by David Roberts (22 minutes/Screened May 2005)   A DC cabdriver's sacrifices to help her family survive the challenges of poverty are recounted by her seven children who each took very different paths in life.

90 MILES APART by John Monte and Aaron Rockett (9 minutes/Screened September 2004) A glimpse into the world of Cuba’s dissident community. Click here for more information on the film and its directors.

PICTURE THE LOVE by Kimberley Williams (60 minutes/ Screened July, 2007) See "Broken Hearts and Butterflies"

THE POWER OF FORGIVENESS by Martin Doblmeier (20 minute excerpt/Screened November 2006)   In the face of grief and anger, how do people find strength to forgive? A look inside the painful and sometimes impossible conversion that true forgiveness requires. This 18-minute excerpt focuses on women who have lost loved ones to terrorism in New York and Lebanon as they contemplate the idea of a Garden of Forgiveness. This film is produced and edited by Docs in Progress co-founder Adele Schmidt. Click here for more information on the film and its director.

THE PREACHER AND THE POET by Dean Hamer (10 minutes/Screened May 2006) Reverend Willie Wilson's controversial sermon about the dangers of homosexuality among African American teenagers contrasts with a poetic lament on the challenges of being young, black, and gay. Click here for more information on the film and its director.

THE PRICE OF PARADISE (formerly PRICE OF FREEDOM) by Jeffrey Kramer (30 minutes/Screened July, 2007) This film looks at the lives of ordinary Iraqis: refugees now living in Jordan, athletes attempting to retain their regimen, and police cadets being trained to put their lives in harm's way.

RACHEL IS by Charlotte Glynn (60 minutes/Screened June 2008)   A personal film about the filmmaker, her family, and her sister Rachel, who is developmentally disabled and is transitioning from school to living in a group home.   Click here for more information on the film and its director.

READY TO PLAY by Jennifer Crescenzo (45 minutes/Screened January 2005) A daughter tells the story of her father’s quest to build a softball league in the Glover Park neighborhood of Washington DC and how this shared love of the sport keeps a changing community connected. Click here for more information on the film and its director.

REDEMPTION STONE: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF TOM LEWIS  by Tom Dziedzic (28 minutes/Screened January 2007)   From a dirt-poor southern town to the mean streets of Washington DC, one man goes on a lifelong journey to find redemption.

SOLD  by Jody Hassett-Sanchez (60 minutes/Screened September 2007) Slavery is not something which can be relegated to the history books. Filmed in India, Pakistan and Togo, SOLD takes an intimate look at three contemporary abolitionists fighting a $27 billion per year business -- the modern day slave trade. A Hindu, Muslim and Christian, each battles a different virulent kind of slavery with humor and righteous anger.

STILL CALLING by Steven Holloway (16 minutes/Screened January 2007).   A meditation on art and artists who see their creations in the context of bigger questions about beauty, faith, and humanity.

SWING LEGENDS by Emily Schwartz and Tommy Greco (30 Minutes/Screened May 2004) Frankie Manning is nearly 90 and Dawn Hampton is 75. But age is all relative when you are still able to kick up your heels as a swing dancer and teach your moves to a new generation of swing fans. Click here for more information on the film and its directors.

SYNTHETIC ART by Matthew Radcliff (16 minutes/ Screened June 2007) The skills of a scientist are normally considered very different from those of an artist, but the two share more than one might assume. The thoughts of one scientist turned filmmaker are laid bare as he struggles to explain his lifelong fascination with chemistry.  The result is a meditation on the creative connections between chemistry and art.

THROUGH THE EYE OF THE NEEDLE: THE ART OF ESTHER KRINITZ by Nina Shapiro-Perl (12 minute trailer/Screened June 2008) A seamstress recounts on fabric her survival of the Holocaust.   Click here for more information on the organization sponsoring the film.

TUMAINI LETU (Our Hope) by Natalie Halpern (20 minutes/Screened July 2006) In the villages of western Kenya, AIDS has robbed hundreds of thousands of  children of their parents. This film looks at the lives, struggles, and indomitable spirit of three women left  to care for these orphans and how they are working to help the next generation have a chance at a better future. Click here for more information on the film.

UN-NATURAL STATE by Kirk Mangels and Brad Mendelsohn (90 minutes/Screened September 2007) There is a black hole in American Democracy - and it's called Washington, DC.  Through visual metaphor and the perspectives of politicians, activists, and residents, we go on a journey through the city's streets to discover if the U.S. is living up to its international dreams of democracy when the 500,000 citizens of its capital are denied voting representation in Congress.

Unravelling Michelle by Dan Schaffer and Michelle Farrell (90 minutes/Screened October 2007) At a turning point in his life, Joe O'Ferrell took the courageous step to become a filmmaker.   Even as he achieves his creative aspirations, he knows there is still one dream left unfulfilled.   In a journey of secrets, revelations, and a transformation that is both physical and emotional, Joe slowly fades away and becomes Michelle.

UP TO THE MOUNTAIN, DOWN TO THE VILLAGE  by Chris Billing (64 minutes/Screened two different versions in May 2004 and November 2004) During the Cultural Revolution, more than 16 million Chinese students left their parents behind in the cities and went to the countryside to learn from the peasants.  Thirty years later, members of that generation return to those villages to reflect on their experiences.    Click here for more information on the film and its director.

THE WALK-ONS by Tim Durham and Aimee Nowland (30 minutes/Screened November 2007) College football may be best known for the frenzied competition for top recruits.   But what of the local students who have dreams that they may capture the coach's attention?

WAR AND PEACEMAKERS by Mike Blain and Kelley Jones (15 minutes/Screened July 2004) Anti-war organizing can be a means to building community.  This filmlooks at one community  in Seattle, Washington over the course of two months leading up to the war in Iraq.

WITNESS A PEACE MOVEMENT (formerly entitled VOICES FROM THE MOVEMENT) by Roger Hill (55 Minutes/Screened July 2004)  Shot in various cities over a year-long period, this film is a look from the inside at the contemporary anti-war movement.  Click here for more information on the film and its director.

YOO-HOO, MRS. GOLDBERG (formerly GERTRUDE BERG: AMERICA’S MOLLY GOLDBERG) by Aviva Kempner  (17 minutes/Screened January 2005)   The life and legacy of radio and TV pioneer Gertrude Berg, whose sitcom The Goldbergs exposed mainstream America to non-stereotypical portrayals of Jewish immigrant life.   Click here for more information on the film and its director.

Click here to see more films we've screened (A-K)