Liberty!

Six American Families

Six documentaries that portray American family life.

Arthur Penn: The Director

A short documentary about Arthur Penn.

AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies

To commemorate the first century of American filmmaking, the American Film Institute embarked on a celebration of America's greatest movies from the first 100 years of American cinema — 1896-1996.

The Chair

Follows a crusading lawyer as he embarks on a campaign to save an African-American man, Paul Crump, from the electric chair. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with The Film Foundation in 2007.

Gimme Shelter

A detailed chronicle of the famous 1969 tour of the United States by the British rock band The Rolling Stones, which culminated with the disastrous and tragic concert held on December 6 at the Altamont Speedway Free Festival, an event of historical significance, as it marked the end of an era: the generation of peace and love suddenly became the generation of disillusionment.

Grey Gardens

Edie Bouvier Beale and her mother, Edith, two aging, eccentric relatives of Jackie Kennedy Onassis, are the sole inhabitants of a Long Island estate. The women reveal themselves to be misfits with outsized, engaging personalities. Much of the conversation is centered on their pasts, as mother and daughter now rarely leave home.

NOVA

PBS' premier science series helps viewers of all ages explore the science behind the headlines. Along the way, NOVA demystifies science and technology, and highlights the people involved in scientific pursuits.

Christo's Valley Curtain

This Oscar-nominated documentary follows Christo and Jeanne-Claude as they conceive and execute Valley Curtain, an immense orange fabric installation stretched across a Colorado mountain pass. Filmed in a direct-cinema style, "Christo’s Valley Curtain" observes the negotiations, engineering challenges, and collective labor that shape the artwork, revealing the process itself as an essential part of the final creation.

Benjamin Franklin

An epic yarn spanning most of the 18th century, the series follows Franklin's career from humble beginnings in Boston to international superstardom: first as a scientist and revolutionary, and then as a founding father and America's first diplomat to France.

Gilda Live

Gilda Radner is recorded during a live comedy concert. Radner's classic characters are seen in sketches that are sometimes more risque than when they appeared on television. During her breaks, the character Father Guido Sarducci takes the stage.

Crush Proof

A young man recalls his affair with a young French woman who traveled with him across the United States. They began to drift apart during the trip, and eventually each had affairs with other people before realizing that their relationship had run its course.

Enormous Changes at the Last Minute

This film is made up of three segments that share no plot but have a general thematic relationship. In the first segment, Virginia and her three children are left by her shiftless husband and she is courted by an old beau who is now divorced. In the second, a divorced woman reacts to some unexpected revelations from her aged father. In the third, a childless, middle-aged social worker is swept into an affair with a young cab driver and finds herself pregnant.

Simon and Garfunkel: Songs of America

“Songs of America” shows the two on stage, in the studio and on a concert tour across a turbulent country. Their ambitious Bridge Over Troubled Water album had yet to be released and the glorious title song was heard here by the general public for the very first time. The program showed news clips of labor leader/activist Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers, the Poor People’s Campaign’s march on Washington, the assassinations of Martin Luther King, JFK and Robert Kennedy and other events that were emblematic of the era. “Songs of America” was originally sponsored by the Bell Telephone Company, but the execs there got cold feet when they saw what they’d paid for—legend has it that they looked at the footage of JFK, RFK and MLK during the (powerful!) “Bridge Over Troubled Water” segment (approx 12 minutes in) and asked for more Republicans! (Not assassinated Republicans, just more Republicans...you know, for balance!) The special was eventually picked up by CBS.

An Empire of Reason

Docudrama about the debate surrounding New York State's ratification of the United States Constitution. Historical figures wear modern dress and use familiar language to help today's audience understand firsthand the forces that shaped this country two hundred years ago. The argument, characters, passions and debating points are historically accurate, but the language and the medium of the debate is modern in form. Present day newscasters and commentators play themselves, reporting on the events of the 1780s as though they were occurring now.

The Many Faces of Dustin Hoffman

Dustin Hoffman’s most challenging physical transformation occurred early in his career, when he undertook the role of Jack Crabb in the big screen adaptation of Thomas Berger’s novel, Little Big Man (directed by Arthur Penn). The role required Hoffman to portray a character who lives well past the age of 100. In The Many Faces of Dustin Hoffman, director Elliott Erwitt is providing a rare behind-the-scenes look into the process of movie-making. In this brief film, Hoffman discusses the craft of acting in general, but also talks specifically about his approach to the Jack Crabb character. This insider's glimpse into the mind of one of our greatest actors is a rare treat for both fans of Hoffman and anyone interested in the process of acting.

The Crash of 1929

Based on eight years of continued prosperity, presidents and economists alike confidently predicted that America would soon enter a time when there would be no more poverty, no more depressions -- a "New Era" when everyone could be rich. But when reality finally struck, the consequences of such unbound optimism shocked the world.

RIPLEY

A grifter in 1960s New York is hired to convince a wealthy man's son to return home from Italy and begins a life of deceit, fraud and murder.

Glue

Overton is a small, countryside village where farming is its bread and butter and race horses are its beating heart. When the body of a local resident is found under a tractor, destructive forces are unleashed and the entire community is forced to watch their secrets exposed... chilling secrets that will change their particular way of life forever.

The Driver

The Driver is a three-part British crime drama serial aired on BBC One between 23 September and 7 October 2014. Written by Danny Brocklehurst and directed by Jamie Payne, it stars David Morrissey as despondent cab driver Vince McKee, whose life is turned upside down when he agrees to be the driver for a criminal gang.

To the Ends of the Earth

From Nobel Laureate William Golding's (Lord of the Flies) epic sea-voyage trilogy comes the story of an ambitious British aristocrat, humbled by the lives of his fellow passengers, as he embarks on an ocean voyage for Australia where he is to be an official in the colonial government.

Love For Love's Sake

A man winds up inside a video game where he plays a teen character who must make a tragic athlete happy — or risk dying. Can their love survive?

Olive Kitteridge

A look at a seemingly placid New England town that is actually wrought with illicit affairs, crime and tragedy, all told through the lens of Olive, whose wicked wit and harsh demeanor mask a warm but troubled heart and staunch moral center. The story spans 25 years and focuses on Olive's relationships with her husband, Henry, the good-hearted and kindly town pharmacist; their son, Christopher, who resents his mother's approach to parenting; and other members of their community.

One Day

After spending graduation night together, Emma and Dexter go their separate ways — but their lives remain intertwined.