Sparkle

The Nightowls of Coventry

Cleveland. 1973. Marv, the owner of an old neighborhood Jewish deli, must stay open 24 hours to cater to a new generation of clientèle, but straight-laced neighborhood do-gooders want to close him down. Meanwhile inside, hippies, bikers and crusty old Jewish men, caught in the throes of changing times and culture clash, fight over turf and yearn for a waitress to take their orders. Into this milieu drops new waitress, Susan, a wholesome small town beauty who must struggle with testy customers, a dubious romance, and a jealous head-waitress. Her future and the fate of the regulars hang by a thread as Marv takes increasingly desperate measures to save his deli.

9to5: The Story of a Movement

In the early 1970s, a group of secretaries in Boston decided that they had suffered in silence long enough. They started fighting back, creating a movement to force changes in their workplaces. This movement became national, and is a largely forgotten story of U.S. twentieth century history. It encapsulates a unique intersection of the women’s movement with the labor movement. The awareness these secretaries brought to bear on women’s work reverberates even today. Clericals were the low-wage workers of their era. America now confronts the growing reality of deep income inequality. The stories and strategies of these bold, creative women resonates in contemporary America.

A Lion in the House

Five families struggle with the ups and downs of cancer treatment over the course of six years.

8:46

From Dave: Normally I wouldn't show you something so unrefined, I hope you understand.

American Factory

In post-industrial Ohio, a Chinese billionaire opens a new factory in the husk of an abandoned General Motors plant, hiring two thousand blue-collar Americans. Early days of hope and optimism give way to setbacks as high-tech China clashes with working-class America.

Union Maids

Three women labor activists in America tell their stories of organizing in the 1930s.

Seeing Red: Stories of American Communists

A unique documentary that looks at the political activities of the American Communist Party in the early to mid-twentieth century.

Deadbeat at Dawn

Goose leaves the gang life behind after pleas from his girlfriend. But it isn't long before he's pulled back into the world of violence.

Julia's Stepping Stones

Oscar-winning filmmaker Julia Reichert reflects on the social, economic and personal forces that led to her career as a pioneering documentarian.

The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant

The inside story of the last days of a General Motors plant in Moraine, Ohio, as lived by the people who worked the line.

Growing Up Female

Following the lives of six girls and women between the ages of four and thirty-five, this documentary examines how American society shapes female identity through family, education, media, and expectations about marriage.

The Dream Catcher

An abandoned teen jumps a freight train in Philadelphia intent on reaching his uncle in Indiana, whom he believes will help him with financial difficulties including a pregnant girlfriend. In Ohio, he meets another homeless teen, who escorts him to his uncle. Finding his uncle equally broke, the duo head on to Oklahoma City to try to find the first teen's long-gone ex-con father. A confrontation between father and son send the duo on into exploits in the west including getting beaten up, busting into an Indian reservation church, and hitch-hiking with a beautiful nurse.

Making Morning Star

Shot in Cincinnati, Making Morning Star presents a behind-the-scenes look at the joys and challenges of developing a new American opera. Featuring interviews with composer Ricky Ian Gordon, librettist William M. Hoffman, and director Ron Daniels, the film captures the delicate collaborative balance of personalities during an intense workshop hosted by the Cincinnati Opera and the University of Cincinnati’s Conservatory of Music

Dave Chappelle: Live in Real Life

Dave Chappelle provides the community he calls home with two things desperately needed in difficult times – economic and comic relief. What began as an experimental socially-distanced live comedy show in a neighbor's cornfield, grew into an unforgettable summer with his neighbors, friends and fellow comedians.

Determined: Fighting Alzheimer's

Three women at high risk for Alzheimer's disease offer their brains and bodies to a medical study. After the deaths of their mothers, these daughters are determined to contribute to the search for a cure. This is the latest fight against Alzheimer's - by those with a very personal stake in the battle.