Video Librarian

Filmmaker Areeb Zuaiter finds herself fixating on Gaza after the death of her mother, a proud Palestinian who ended up across the ocean seeking a better life for her daughter. Zuaiter hasn’t seen the beaches of Gaza since her childhood, but family photos remind her of moments from her earliest memories. Seeking further connection with the place of her birth, Zuaiter reaches out to Ahmad Matar, member of PK Gaza and the parkour group’s resident filmmaker.

French filmmaker Auberi Edler's An American Pastoral may focus on a single school board race in conservative Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, but it's representative of ideological divisions across the United States since the rise of the Republican Tea Party movement and the election of Democratic President Barack Obama.

All too often, the default image one retreats toward of an auteur film director, camera operator, or distinguished Hollywood writer is that of a man, but women of Hollywood are no small part of the tapestry of the industry. Everyone can rattle off their favorite movie stars, but this list is intended to shout out women who made history behind the camera, who deserve to be mentioned in the same breaths as Steven Spielberg and George Lucas by telling stories from their one-of-a-kind point of view.

Most of us interact with Microsoft applications amid the drudgery of the 9 to 5 workday. Every year, however, a group of elite students gathers to test their skills with Microsoft Excel. Ranging in age from around fourteen to around eighteen, champions from countries around the world gather to find out who is the Microsoft Office Specialist World Champion.

This stylish profile of Noël Coward from Oscar-nominated director and producer Barnaby Thompson spotlights an Anglo-American actor, songwriter, and playwright who kept his sexual orientation secret his entire life. Thompson avoids commentary from contemporary figures in favor of archival interviews with notable writers and performers, like Harold Pinter and David Niven, combined with narration from Alan Cumming and readings from Rupert Everett (the erudite Everett is a particularly apt choice).

In some circles, there exists a lot of negative ideation around climate change. Often labeled ‘doomers’ and dismissed, these people have some real concerns about what is being done to combat climate change, or rather, what they feel isn’t being done. Hope! We Are On Time seeks to assuage some of these people’s fears by accentuating the positive developments in environmental science and action in the past couple of decades.

In this Author POV, we highlight Weirdos Welcome, Cynthia Baseman's YA romance exploring neurodiversity, mental health, and the search for belonging. Written with teen readers in mind, the novel examines what it means to embrace differences, find self-acceptance, and choose to stand up rather than stand back.

In this Author POV, we highlight Giving Makes Maury Happy Too!, the latest children's book in David Maurice Sharp's Adventures of Maury series. Building on lessons about earning and saving, the book introduces charitable giving as an important part of financial literacy. Through donating belongings, volunteering at a food bank, and giving a meaningful gift, Maury discovers the rewards of generosity and helping others.

In an age of isolationism, Rental Family is a breath of fresh community building and culture blending. Set in the present day and directed by Hikari (and co-written by Hikari and Stephen Blahut), Rental Family presents a narrative focused on a semi-has-been white actor, Philip (Brendan Fraser), who finds that his former success within the Japanese commercial/film industry has waned enough that he is desperate for work.

In this Author POV, we highlight Weirdos Welcome, Cynthia Baseman's YA romance exploring neurodiversity, mental health, and the search for belonging. Written with teen readers in mind, the novel examines what it means to embrace differences, find self-acceptance, and choose to stand up rather than stand back.