1.

Apollo 13: To the Edge and Back
starring: John Aaron, Fred Haise, Mary Haise, Gene Kranz, Alexei Leonov
directed by: Noel Buckner, Rob Whittlesey

"I could see a gaseous substance escaping... That's when it definitely occurred to me that we were in deep trouble... Very shortly, we'd be completely out of oxygen. These were the thoughts of James Lovell and the rest of the crew of Apollo 13 as they heard the ominous explosion that robbed them of most of their oxygen, food and water - 200,000 miles from Earth.

Apollo 13: To the Edge and Back tells the gripping, true story of the catastrophic flight of the Apollo 13 and the heroic struggle to bring the astronauts back alive. With first-hand accounts from the pilots, their families, and the people of mission control, it documents a thrilling struggle against time and all odds and serves as a reminder that, in the words of James Lovell, "We do not realize what we have on Earth until we leave it."

Special DVD features include: scene selections and closed captions.

On one DVD5 disc. Region coding: All regions. Audio: Dolby stereo. Screen format: 4 x 3 Full Screen.
September 09, 2004

2.

Apollo 8: Leaving the Cradle
starring: Spacecraft Films

Own a piece of history! The most complete record ever available of this historic mission. This 3-disc set - over 4 hours in all - chronicles America's first manned lunar orbit from launch to splashdown with comprehensive footage from the film and videotape records of Apollo 8. Features the TV downlink including the famous Christmas Eve broadcast, all on-board 16mm films, close-up views of the moon from lunar orbit, multi-angle views of the launch and astronaut commentaries.
August 08, 2003

3.

The Apostles Collection (The Story of the Twelve Apostles / The Story of Paul the Apostle)
starring: History Channel

APOSTLES COLLECTION, THE
February 02, 2003

4.

Aristide and the Endless Revolution
starring: John Shattuck, Timothy Carney, Roger Noriega, Noam Chomsky, George W. Bush
directed by: Nicolas Rossier (II)

An hour south of Miami is the Western Hemisphere's poorest nation. In 2004, the democratically elected president Jean-Bertrand Aristide was taken against his will from Haiti in an American helicopter. Having been deposed once with CIA backing in 1991, the 2004 coup d'etat was not the first American intervention into Haitian politics, nor will it likely be the last.
Featuring exclusive interviews with Aristide, commentary from a wide range of supporters and critics, and searing glimpses inside strife-torn Haiti, this award-winning documentary exposes the tangled web of hope, deceit, and political violence that has brought the world's first black republic to its knees.
July 07, 2006

5.

The Astronomers
starring: Vera C. Rubin, Tony Tyson, John Lowry Dobson, John E. Conway, Anthony C.S. Readhead
directed by: Christine Z. Wiser, David F. Oyster, James F. Golway, Julio Moline, Linda Feferman
March 03, 2002

6.

Attila
starring: Gerard Butler, Powers Boothe, Simmone Mackinnon, Reg Rogers, Alice Krige
directed by: Dick Lowry

The life and struggles of Attila the Hun as he attempts to invade the Roman Empire.
November 11, 2002

7.

The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman
starring: Cicely Tyson, Eric Brown, Richard Dysart, Joel Fluellen, Will Hare
directed by: John Korty

"One of TV's all-time best." -Leonard Maltin The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman

This highly acclaimed drama, based on the epic novel by Ernest J. Gaines, eloquently covers the story of the Black Experience - from the Civil War to the civil rights movement - all told from the memories of a fictional 110-year-old slave played by Cicely Tyson. Ms. Tyson's tour-de-force performance, her most memorable, earned her an Emmy. All total this incredible made-for-TV film earned nine Emmys, including one for director Korty and one for Tracy Keenan Wynn's intelligent script.
January 01, 2003

8.

Avant Garde - Experimental Cinema of the 1920s & 1930s
starring: Kiki of Montparnasse, André de la Rivière, Robert Desnos, Roger Barlow, Harry Hay
directed by: Roger Barlow, Harry Hay, LeRoy Robbins, Man Ray

A collection of avant-garde and experimental films from the Raymond Rohauer collection.
August 08, 2005

9.

Balseros
starring: Guillermo Armas, Maria Celeste Arraras, Rafael Cano, Fidel Castro, Bill Clinton
directed by: Josep Maria Domènech, Carlos Bosch

An Academy Award nominee for Best Documentary Feature, BALSEROS is the heartrending yet triumphant account of seven Cuban refugees--and their families--who risked their lives to venture towards America's shores on homemade rafts. The Village Voice raves that BALSEROS is an "engrossing documentary" with an "extraordinary sense of recording stories as they unfold!" While Presidents Clinton and Fidel Castro argued over the closing of Cuba's coast in the chaotic summer of 1994, nearly 50,000 "balseros" (a slang term for Cuban rafters) set out towards Florida, navigating the shark-infested waters on vessels made of wood, nails, and tar. The television reporting team of Carles Bosch and Josep M. Domènech began filming this remarkable story over those landmark 15 days. Then, as most of the rafters were picked up by the U.S. Coast Guard, Bosch and Domènech continued to follow their lively cast of characters, some of whom were detained for more than a year at the Guantanamo naval base before finally being allowed onto American soil.
July 07, 2005

10.

Baseball - A Film by Ken Burns
starring: John Chancellor, Daniel Okrent, Buck O'Neil, Red Barber, George Plimpton

After the national success of his 11-hour epic, The Civil War--the highest-rated miniseries in public-television history--many wondered if Ken Burns could capture the same energy and passion with smaller subjects. His reply, the 18-hour history of America's greatest sport, Baseball, not only quieted these worries, it also perhaps surpassed his prior achievement. Massive in scope (it covers more than 100 years), exhausting in detail, and filled with celebrities, journalists, politicians, historians, and the men who played the game, Burns's romantic love letter to the game achieves the impossible: even those who hate baseball can't help but become immersed in it. This is because Burns doesn't just detail the great players and the memorable plays and games; he also presents baseball as a cultural and social mirror, reflecting the beauty and hypocrisy of the nation that created it. Divided into nine innings, two hours each in length, the video examines complex social issues such as segregation, racial inequality (its section on Jackie Robinson, baseball's first African American player, should be required school viewing), labor battles between owners and players, politics, technology and gender conflicts, among others. Then, of course, there's fascinating footage and biographies on the players--troubled icons such as Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb, heroes such as Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle, and tragic figures such as Pete Rose and Lou Gehrig--the men who, despite a rocky and often hypocritical history, constructed baseball's tradition and preserved its invincibility. --Dave McCoy
September 09, 2004