Behind Our Walls

Declining by Degrees: Higher Education at Risk

September 2005 •English

Debunking commonly held notions about the rite of passage known as the college experience, this PBS documentary follows 30 students and their teachers along the path of higher education, from admission to graduation, and exposes the disappointment, disorientation and deflation many students feel -- in both public and private schools. This revealing study also addresses the quality and readiness of America's future work force.

Mickey Mouse: Safety Belt Expert

September 1988 •English

Educational film; a musical courtroom drama encouraging students to buckle up.

Dance for All

September 2007 •English

On the Way to School

September 2013 •French

These children live in the four corners of the earth, but share the same thirst for learning. They understand that only education will allow them a better future and that is why, every day, they must set out on the long and perilous journey that will lead them to knowledge. Jackson and his younger sister from Kenya walk 15 kilometres each way through a savannah populated by wild animals; Carlito rides more than 18 kilometres twice a day with his younger sister, across the plains of Argentina; Zahira lives in the Moroccan Atlas Mountains who has an exhausting 22 kilometres walk along punishing mountain paths before she reaches her boarding school; Samuel from India sits in a clumsy DIY wheelchair and the 4 kilometres journey is an ordeal each day, as his two younger brothers have to push him all the way to school…

Au bonheur d’être prof

January 2020 •French

Education Week

January 1925 •

Young scholars get busy for Newcastle-on-Tyne's 'Education Week' in the tour of Tyneside classrooms.

Matriculation

January 1979 •Polish

The final oral exam in history and social studies at one of Warsaw's high schools. The film illustrates the theatre of social life in Soviet Poland where one says different things on the stage and another behind the scenes.

Dare to Say No!

September 1988 •English

Shows children various reasons why they need to resist peer pressure, refuse drugs, and refuse to follow the crowd just to fit in

To Be and to Have

August 2002 •French

The documentary's title translates as "to be and to have", the two auxiliary verbs in the French language. It is about a primary school in the commune of Saint-Étienne-sur-Usson, Puy-de-Dôme, France, the population of which is just over 200. The school has one small class of mixed ages (from four to twelve years), with a dedicated teacher, Georges Lopez, who shows patience and respect for the children as we follow their story through a single school year.

Entre deux vagues

December 1985 •French

Maestra

March 2012 •English

Cuba, 1961: 250,000 volunteers taught 700,000 people to read and write in one year. 100,000 of the teachers were under 18 years old. Over half were women. MAESTRA explores this story through the personal testimonies of the young women who went out to teach literacy in rural communities across the island - and found themselves deeply transformed in the process.

Where in the World Is Osama Bin Laden?

January 2008 •English

Morgan Spurlock tours the Middle East to discuss the war on terror with Arabic people.

The Man with Half a Body

April 2010 •English

Meet amazing 35-year-old Kenny Easterday, whose body ends at his waist. An amputee since he was only an infant, Kenny has never let his condition stop him from doing anything -- and as he approaches middle age, his deepest desire is to father a child.

Integration Report 1

January 1960 •English

Integration Report 1, Madeline Anderson's trailblazing debut, was the first known documentary by an African American female director. With tenacity, empathy and skill, Anderson assembles a vital record of desegregation efforts around the country in 1959 and 1960, featuring footage by documentary legends Albert Maysles and Richard Leacock and early Black cameraman Robert Puello, singing by Maya Angelou, and narration by playwright Loften Mitchell. Anderson fleetly moves from sit-ins in Montgomery, Alabama to a speech by Martin Luther King Jr. in Washington, D.C. to a protest of the unprosecuted death in police custody of an unarmed Black man in Brooklyn, capturing the incredible reach and scope of the civil rights movement, and working with this diverse of footage, as she would later say, “like an artist with a palette using different colors.”

Confessions of a CEO: My Life in an Out-of-Balance World

January 2025 •English

A bare-knuckled critique of corporate America told through the powerful true story of a toxic CEO who evolves from a profits-over-people, philandering executive to an unorthodox leader, populist messenger, and mentor to American influencers. It’s a story of growth, redemption and the impact of self-awareness on leadership and life.

Brief Tender Light

January 2024 •English

At America's elite MIT, a Ghanaian alum follows four African students as they strive to graduate and become agents of change for their home countries Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. Over an intimate, nearly decade-long journey, all must decide how much of America to absorb, how much of Africa to hold on to, and how to reconcile teenage ideals with the truths they discover about the world and themselves.

La Portée des notes

January 2020 •English

The documentary follows the orchestra classes of Fougères and Garges-Lès-Gonesse throughout the 2019-2020 school year in their daily life, during training, rehearsals and concerts, particularly at Unesco.

John Michael's Project

April 2024 •Portuguese

The character Jonh Michael embarks on a journey to tell you everything about Tim Maia.

Človíčkové

January 1940 •Czech

The UFO Movie THEY Don't Want You to See

August 2023 •English

In an age when misinformation, alternative facts, and conspiracy theories have become mainstream, UFOs have risen to become one of the most-talked about pop culture phenomena. With all of this noise, how can we expect anyone to know how much of this is true? What is in our skies? What do we know, and how do we know it? And most importantly: Are we being visited?