FORA.tv Documentary Films

Karina Epperlein An hour portrait of 94-year-old Zaroohe Najarian that explores the major turning points of this Armenian woman's life. She survives the genocide of her people in World War I, grows up in a Beirut orphanage, immigrates to America, works in a sweatshop, and defies convention to be with her "true love." Her unselfconscious physicality and remarkable capacity for happiness bring dignity to her aging whether she is singing to her great grandson or tending her garden which she has made into the "ayki" of her childhood. Zaroohe is a model for surviving tragedy and hardships without bitterness. In her refusal to be sad she becomes the universal grandmother to us all. Zaroohe Najarian, and more

John Knoop A documentary about the cave paintings of Baja California: "Tim Means has discovered a fantastic old character named Tacho Arce in central Baja California. He calls and gives me an intriguing account of going into deep and remote canyons where mysterious cave paintings have been hidden for centuries. Why not make a film there? Tacho is related to many of the people who live in the region and has a string of mules to carry us and our equipment. Larry Reed and I are already planning to make a film together in Bali, so we might as well make this one first, as a warm up. One challenge is packing the gear so that it can travel safely by mule and is ready to work under dusty conditions. I figure out how to pack an ACL, three magazines, two lenses and batteries in a Halliburton pilot case, which is far smaller than any camera case. The practice I get packing light and tight for this trip will probably serve me well." -- Faultlines: A Nomad Filmmaker's Journal

Andrew Fredericks Money-Driven Medicine reveals why comprehensive healthcare reform remains the challenge of the years ahead and points to paths for the future. Doctors and health researchers show how the movement for patient-centered, accountable care can be carried into classrooms, hospitals, doctors' offices and community forums across the country. Produced by Academy Award winner Alex Gibney (Taxi to the Dark Side; Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room) and inspired by Maggie Mahar's acclaimed book, Money Driven Medicine: The Real Reason Health Care Costs So Much, it offers the only systemic look on film at the economics underlying -- and often undermining -- our $2.6 trillion healthcare system. Featured on Bill Moyer's Journal, Nightline, and Fresh Air

George Paul Csicsery A man with no home and no job, Paul Erdö‘s (1913-1996) was the most prolific mathematician who ever lived. Erdö‘s inspired generations of mathematicians throughout the world with his insightful approach and wry humor. N is a Number: A Portrait of Paul Erdö‘s follows him for four years through four countries, presenting his mathematical quest and its personal and philosophical dimensions. Gold Apple Award - National Educational Film & Video Festival Gold Plaque Award - Science/Nature, Documentary category, Chicago International Film Festival Paul Erdos, and more

John Knoop A travel film blending ethnography and adventure in remote Soviet Asia by filmmaker John Knoop.

Produced by John Knoop & David Boatwright
Directed, photographed & edited by John Knoop
Sound recorded by David Boatwright
On line editor: Ed Rudolph
Narrator: David Boatwright Earthwatch Award Winner

John Knoop A voyage through the Gulf of California by filmmaker John Knoop: "We go on several great trips to the most beautiful parts of Baja, and he provides me with financing for the film. It’s a trade. My method is to concentrate on the place and its flora and fauna. Not only does that suit my style, it seems to me that the best way to encourage people to see Baja is to avoid showing other people in these pristine desert spaces. There is no sales pitch or narration. There are only the natural sounds I record on my Nagra SN as I film, and In C, Terry Riley’s hypnotic music. This is my most ambitious attempt at working alone, without a soundman, recording sync sound with the high quality little reel to reel recorder and an AKG directional mic mounted on top of the camera. It turns out well." -- Faultlines: A Nomad Filmmaker's Journal

Nick Day SHORT CUT TO NIRVANA is an award-winning documentary about the Kumbh Mela festival which takes place near Allahabad, India, every 12 years.

The Kumbh Mela also happens to be the biggest gathering in history, attracting 70 million pilgrims!

From this incredible event comes a powerful and uplifting message of harmony, unity and peace for all humanity.

Yet almost no-one outside India has ever heard of the Kumbh Mela or its message.

Until now... Best Documentary, Sedona International Film Festival
Best Documentary, Tiburon International Film Festival

John J. Healey The Practice of the Wild: A Conversation with Gary Snyder and Jim Harrison is a film profile of the poet and Pulitzer Prize winner Gary Snyder. Snyder has been a creative force in all the major cultural changes that have created the modern world. Along with Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg, he was a central figure of the Beat generation. He helped bring Zen Buddhism into the America scene, was an active participant in the anti-war movement and an inspiration for the quest for human potential. All along he was a founding intellect, essayist and leader of the new environmental awareness that supports legislation and preservation without losing sight of direct wild experience -- local people, animals, plants, watersheds and food sources. Official selection: San Francisco Int'l Film Festival Nevada City Film Festival Special Screening Jim Harrison, Gary Snyder, and more

Llewellyn M. Smith What are the connections between healthy bodies, healthy bank accounts and skin color? Our opening episode travels to Louisville, Kentucky, not to explore whether medical care cures us but to see why we get sick in the first place, and why patterns of health and illness reflect underlying patterns of class and racial inequities. Corey Anderson, Sheldon Cohen, Tony Iton, Michael Marmot, Jim Taylor, Adewale Troutman, Mary Turner, David Williams, Tondra Young, and more

Tracy Heather Strain The number of infants who die before their first birthday is much higher in the U.S. than in other countries. And for African Americans the rate is nearly twice as high as for white Americans. Even well-educated Black women have birth outcomes worse than white women who haven't finished high school. Why? Kim Anderson, Richard David, Camara P. Jones, Michael Lu, and more

Maria Teresa Rodriguez Recent Mexican immigrants, although poorer, tend to be healthier than the average American. They have lower rates of death, heart disease, cancer, and other illnesses, despite being less educated, earning less and having the stress of adapting to a new country and a new language. In research circles, this is the Latino paradox. But as they are here longer, their health advantage erodes. After five years or more in the U.S., they are 1.5 times more likely to have high blood pressure -- and be obese -- than when they arrived. Within one generation, their health is as poor as other Americans of similar income status. Margarita Alegria, Amador Bernal, Tony Iton, Steve Larson, and more

James M. Fortier The Pima and Tohono O'odham Indians of southern Arizona have arguably the highest diabetes rates in the world -- half of all adults are afflicted. But a century ago, diabetes was virtually unknown here. Researchers have poked and prodded the Pima for decades in search of a biological -- or more recently, genetic -- explanation for their high rates of disease. Meanwhile, medical-only interventions have failed to stem the rising tide not just among Native Americans, but globally. Terrol Dew Johnson, Rod Lewis, Donald Warne, and more

Ellie Lee Why is your street address such a good predictor of your health? Latino and Southeast Asian immigrants like Gwai Boonkeut have been moving into long-neglected urban neighborhoods such as those in Richmond, California, a predominantly Black city in the San Francisco Bay Area. Segregation and lack of access to jobs, nutritious foods, and safe, affordable housing have been harmful to the health of long-time African American residents, and now the newcomers' health is suffering too. Gwai Boonkeut, Ana Diez-Roux, Angela Glover Blackwell, James Krieger, David Williams, and more

Eric Stange Two billion people worldwide are infected with the TB bacillus, but only 9 million people a year actually get the disease. The story of the Marshall Islands can help us understand why. The lives and health of Marshall Islanders in the equatorial Pacific were disrupted in a unique fashion when the United States occupied their nation and used their outer islands for extensive nuclear testing after World War II. Between 1946 and 1958, 67 atomic devices were detonated -- the estimated yield equivalent to 1.7 Hiroshima blasts every day for 12 years. Abacca Anjain-Maddison, Tony de Brum, Jim Yong Kim, Dise Langarus, Neal Palafox, and more

James Rutenbeck In the winter of 2006, the Electrolux Corporation closed the largest refrigerator factory in the U.S. and moved it to Juarez, Mexico, for cheaper labor. The move turned the lives of nearly 3,000 workers in Greenville, Michigan, upside down. Before the plant closed, Electrolux workers led a middle class life -- owning homes, buying new cars and taking vacations. Now most are scraping by on severance pay, unemployment benefits and a health plan that will end in a year. As personal finances spiral downward, health follows. Sandy Beck, Harvey Brenner, Michael Marmot, Richard Price, and more

John Knoop We Are Here Together is a provocative film that takes the viewer on an emotional journey full of drama, trials and triumphs. Questions arise, such as: What is really important in education beside grades? What do we want our children to learn in addition to the academics? A sense of self worth? How to bring about change in the world? What does striving for justice and fairness entail?