King Coal

ENGLISH

Appalachia’s cultural identity is intrinsically linked to coal, for better or for worse. This documentary blends folklore, history, and first-hand accounts to thoughtfully examine what the future might look like as coal’s grip on the region loosens. The film uses magical realism to elevate its storytelling and provide a nuanced look at the realities of life in Appalachia. Directed by a West Virginia native, King Coal is a reclamation of the region’s stories as told by one of its own.   

Runtime: 80 minutes.

Recommended for grades 7-12.  

Sub-themes: cultural identity, environmentalism, Appalachia, the human condition 

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O Pioneer-New!

ENGLISH

This documentary film reckons with and redefines the American pioneer by following three West Virginians—a blacksmith, a seamstress, and a hospital chaplain—as they creatively navigate hardship. O Pioneer weaves contemporary and archival footage, poetic vignettes, and dream-like animation to showcase Appalachia and the strength of its people, challenging viewers to accept a new narrative about the region and redefine their own challenges as they are inspired by the people featured in the film.

Runtime: 73 minutes.

Recommended for grades 7-12.  

Sub-themes: Walt Whitman, Appalachia, cultural identity, overcoming adversity

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Small Town Universe-New!

ENGLISH

This film paints an intimate portrait of life in Green Bank, West Virginia, home to the world’s most sensitive telescope and the only U.S. town that bans Wi-Fi and cell phones. In this unplugged Appalachian community, scientists use the telescope to search for signs of extraterrestrial life and advance the field of radio astronomy. Small Town Universe follows engineers, farmers, astronomers, and families as they fight against the shutdown of the Observatory, threatening scientific advances, the town’s economy, and health.

Runtime: 91 minutes.

Recommended for grades 8-12.  

Sub-themes: STEM studies, careers, space exploration, Appalachian culture and contributions

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The Cure for Hate

ENGLISH

Tony McAleer is a former Skinhead and Holocaust denier who went on to create the anti-hate activist group Life After Hate. Profoundly aware and deeply ashamed of the lineage of hate he’d once promoted, Tony traveled to Auschwitz to bear witness to the inconceivable ravages of the Holocaust and inform his personal work against the rise of extremist politics. This film documents Tony’s journey as he explores the conditions that allowed for the rise of fascism in the 1930’s; shines a light on how men get into, and out of, violent extremist groups; and underscores the danger of allowing hate to be left unchecked.

This is a perfect opportunity to have high school students consider the lessons of the Holocaust for their lives today and may include a visit from the filmmaker and film subject.

Runtime: 84 minutes. Recommended for grades 9-12.

Sub-themes: the Holocaust, antisemitism, hate groups, making a difference

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Repairing the World: Stories from the Tree of Life

English

This powerful film documents Pittsburgh’s all-community response to hate in the aftermath of the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history. Through the voices of survivors, family members, diverse Pittsburgh residents and leaders, the film highlights unity in a moment of crisis, the resilience of a vibrant city, and a community working together to show what it means to be “stronger than hate.”

Runtime: 80 minutes. Recommended for grades 8-12.

Sub-themes: antisemitism, gun violence, resilience, “Stronger than Hate”

Trailer

Small Town Universe-New!

ENGLISH

This film paints an intimate portrait of life in Green Bank, West Virginia, home to the world’s most sensitive telescope and the only U.S. town that bans Wi-Fi and cell phones. In this unplugged Appalachian community, scientists use the telescope to search for signs of extraterrestrial life and advance the field of radio astronomy. Small Town Universe follows engineers, farmers, astronomers, and families as they fight against the shutdown of the Observatory, threatening scientific advances, the town’s economy, and health.

Runtime: 91 minutes.

Recommended for grades 8-12.  

Sub-themes: STEM studies, careers, space exploration, Appalachian culture and contributions

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Still A Black Star

Japanese, English, with English subtitles

This feature film follows the extraordinary journey of Japanese artist/activist Mago Ngasaka as he traces the flow of waste from the world’s wealthiest nations to a vast e-waste dump in the Agbogbloshie slum in Accra, Ghana, where it is burned to recover precious metals while poisoning the people and devastating the land. We love that Mago partners with the people of the slum to draw attention to and transform their community through art, using waste in innovative ways to wake up the first world to the global e-waste epidemic. Virtual school visits by filmmakers Kern and Kip Konwiser may be available.

Runtime: 96 minutes. Recommended for grades 8-12.

Sub-themes: cultural and class differences, art for social justice, environmentalism, e-waste

Trailer

999: The Forgotten Girls—NEW!

English

In March 1942, Jozef Tiso and Heinrich Himmler began the mass deportation and incarceration of Jewish people at Auschwitz. This gripping documentary tells the story of the first train transport of Jewish victims to the infamous camp, on which 999 young Jewish women from Eastern Slovakia arrived. Through interviews with director Heather June Macadam, the few survivors from this first group tell their stories as the longest-imprisoned women in the camp. Their stories shine light on women’s experiences in the Holocaust and can help students bear witness and learn from those events.

Runtime: 87 minutes. Recommended for grades 8-12.

Sub-themes: women and women’s rights in the Holocaust, cooperation, living on after trauma

Trailer

The Boy in the Woods—NEW!

English

Based on the memoir of the same name by Max Smart, this feature depicts the survival tale of a young boy hiding from Nazi Jew-hunters in the Polish wilderness. Young Max is motivated to survive and outsmart his pursuers by the memory of his mother and sister, as well as his friendship with Yanek and the abandoned infant that they rescue. From their vantage in the woods, the boys see the progression of the war and are forced to grow up quickly in the direst of circumstances.  

Runtime: 100 minutes. Recommended for grades 7-12.

Sub-themes: courage, perseverance, resistance, bystanders versus upstanders, coming of age

Trailer

The Crossing

Norwegian, with English subtitles

This docudrama is based on a true story of 10-year-old Gerda and her brother Otto, whose parents are in the Norwegian resistance during World War II. After Gerda and Otto’s parents are arrested, the siblings are put in the position of helping two Jewish children flee from the Nazis into Sweden. 

Runtime: 90 minutes. Recommended for grades 6-8.

Sub-themes: courage, resistance, friendship, bystanders versus upstanders, coming of age

Trailer

Fanny's Journey

French, with English subtitles

Thirteen-year-old Fanny grows up fast as she is forced to parent a group of younger children on the run from the Nazis. This beautifully shot, heartfelt film highlights a young person’s resolve, bravery, and compassion in the face of great risk.

Runtime: 90 minutes. Recommended for grades 6-12.

Sub-themes: courage, resistance, friendship, bystanders versus upstanders, coming of age, survival

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Holocaust Short Film Program

English, German, French, with English subtitles

This program of short films has been specially curated to introduce students to little known stories of the Holocaust that humanize the history, instead of focusing solely on dates and numbers. The selection includes documentary, narrative, and animated films. 

Recommended for grades 6-12.

Sub-themes: the power of one person to make a change, coping with adversity, response to evil, resistance, survival, effects of trauma

Light of Hope

Spanish, with English subtitles

This film tells the inspiring story of Elisabeth Eidenbenz, the director of the Elne maternity home—a refuge for pregnant women fleeing the Spanish Civil War and Vichy refugee camps in the 1930s and 40s. Based on a true story.

Runtime: 60 minutes. Recommended for grades 9-12.

Sub-themes: the power of one person to make a change, heroism, perseverance, survival, strong women

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Once in a Lifetime

French, with English subtitles

A dedicated history teacher enrolls a group of unruly inner-city kids in a national competition whose theme is child victims of the Holocaust. The students are resistant, but a visit to the classroom by a Holocaust survivor moves the bar just enough for some of them to begin the journey to self-enlightenment.

Runtime: 100 minutes. Recommended for grades 9-12.

Sub-themes: role models and mentors, teamwork, overcoming differences, coping with adversity

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Run Boy Run

Polish, German, Russian, Yiddish, with English subtitles

This film tells the extraordinary true story of a Polish boy who seeks the kindness of others in his solitary struggle to outlast the Nazi occupation and keep alive his Jewish faith. 

Runtime: 100 minutes. Recommended for grades 7-12.

Sub-themes: family ties, loss, bystander/upstander, perseverance, bravery, survival, resistance movement

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To Life!

German, with English subtitles

This film portrays a woman who is a Holocaust survivor.  While set in the present, we learn about the woman’s story through flashbacks. Her history weighs heavily on her as she ages, but she unexpectedly receives help from a young man who has troubles of his own.  This is a story about survival and support across generations.  

Runtime: 90 minutes. Recommended for grades 11-12.

Sub-themes: lingering effects of survival, mental illness, post-traumatic stress, inter-generational relationships, self-worth

Trailer

Valiant Hearts

FRENCH, WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

In a gripping true tale of survival against all odds, Valiant Hearts follows six Jewish children in 1942 who were hidden in the Chateau de Chambord, along with priceless artwork from the Louvre Museum. There they are aided by Rose, a conservator at Paris’s Jeu de Paume Museum and a member of the resistance, who is documenting the theft of art by Nazi officers. Rose and the children face almost unimaginable circumstances while learning about friendship, solidarity, and doing what’s right. Their unforgettable story brings this moment in history to life.

Runtime: 92 minutes. Recommended for grades 9-12.

Sub-themes: resourcefulness, hope, friendship, upstanders

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When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit

German, Swiss German, French, with English Subtitles

Based on the semi-autobiographical book by Judith Kerr, this film tells the story of Anna, whose life suddenly becomes dangerous in 1933. When her father goes missing one day, Anna realizes everything in Europe will change, beginning with her home and family. She, along with her mother and brother, must quickly move first to Switzerland, then to France, to be with her father, a prominent writer who opposes Hitler. From then on, Anna encounters life as a refugee, not speaking the language, not knowing the customs, missing friends and loved ones, and facing xenophobia, poverty, and hunger. This is a story of resilience of body and spirit and of family.

Runtime: 120 minutes. Recommended for grades 7-12.

Sub-themes: refugees, survival, coming of age, coping with adversity, responsibility

Trailer

Ain’t No Back to a Merry-Go-Round—New!

English

When five Howard University students sat on a segregated Maryland carousel in 1960, their arrests made headlines around the country. When the largely Jewish community near Glen Echo Amusement Park joined the Black students in picketing, the first organized interracial civil rights protest in US history was born. Learn the story in our new film, Ain’t No Back to a Merry-Go-Round and participate in a Q&A with filmmaker Ilana Trachtman after the screening.

Runtime: 90 minutes. Recommended for grades 8-12.

Sub-themes: desegregation, peaceful protests, civil rights, Jim Crow

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Breaking Boundaries—New!

English and russian with english subtitles

Breaking Boundaries focuses on the journey of Black Californian teenager Nastasya Generalova as she attempts to become the first African American from the USA to compete in the Olympic Games in the traditionally white sport of rhythmic gymnastics. Hobbled by limited resources, faced with the physical demands of the sport, and met with criticism of her body type, Nastasya shows how a young athlete can break boundaries with determination to succeed and support from those who surround her.

Enjoy a Zoom meeting with Nastasya after watching the film!

Runtime: 76 minutes. Recommended for grades 8-12.

Sub-themes: overcoming adversity, systemic biases, pursuing one’s dreams against all odds.

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Day of the Western Sunrise

Japanese, with English subtitles

On March 1, 1954, the United States detonated the thermonuclear bomb Castle Bravo in the Pacific Ocean, catching the fishing vessel Lucky Dragon No. 5 in the blast.  In this locally produced film, traditional Japanese animation methods illuminate the story, and Japanese survivors discuss their experience and how it has affected their lives.

Screening this film may be accompanied by a virtual visit from the filmmaker.

Runtime: 75 minutes. Recommended for grades 8-12.

Sub-themes: nuclear proliferation, foreign policy, climate change, generational legacies

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A Focus on Disabilities: Short Films that Highlight Diversity and Inclusion

English

Included in this short film program are stories of people with physical, intellectual, and mental disabilities. After watching, the viewer will better understand the obstacles faced by and the resilience of people with disabilities and their communities.

Runtime: 90 minutes. Recommended for grades 8-12.

Sub-themes: accommodations for people with disabilities, acceptance of differences, perseverance, the human condition

The Power of One—New!
English

This short film program has been curated to share stories demonstrating the impact of a single person or small group can make. “The power of one” is a theme widely explored in literature and often manifested in lived experiences. These seven short films connect to texts and lessons and can be used as springboards for broader discussions.  

Runtime: 93 minutes. Recommended for grades 6-12.

Sub-themes: overcoming grief, cultural identity, disability, refugee, civil rights, working together

Topowa! Never Give Up

English

Topowa! is the inspirational story of 12 talented young street children as they embark on a musical journey from the Katwe slum in Uganda to the iconic Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in London and on to a residency at the world-famous Cheltenham Music Festival. This film showcases how great art can break down barriers between classes, cultures, and levels of privilege, empowering the next generation of musicians to follow their dreams.

Runtime: 83 minutes. Recommended for grades 6-12.

Sub-themes: resourcefulness, persistence, hope, cultural and class differences, inspiration

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My Sister Liv

ENGLISH

This documentary follows two inseparable sisters, Liv and Tess, as they are growing up and Liv struggles with depression, anxiety, and an eating disorder. The film is an honest look at the effects of social media on teenagers and how family members cope with the loss of a loved one from suicide. Tess makes it her life’s mission to break down the stigma around mental health and uses the documentary to begin conversations.

Runtime: 71 minutes. Recommended for grades 9-12.

Sub-themes: identity, family relationships, healing and hope

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