https://www.facebook.com/CUNYTVdigitalseries/videos/735647583536314/ We dedicate this episode to highlight the work of Third World Newsreel(TWN). TWN is an alternative media arts organization that fosters the creation, appreciation, and dissemination of independent film and video by and about people of color and social justice issues. Since the first season, Short Docs has collaborated with TWN, streaming documentaries […]
“The Fourth Kingdom” is a documentary about daily life in a bottle and can redemption center on the outskirts of New York. It’s a “Kingdom” in which both undocumented immigrants and US citizens share the mutual disappointment of a reality that is very different from the one promised in the ‘land of opportunity.’ Yet, though […]
‘Ellis Island: The Making of a Master Race in America’ documents the influence of eugenics on U.S. immigration policies from the 19th century until now. The film reconstructs the medical and mental examination of “aliens” at Ellis Island, which was designed to exclude “inferior stock” from Southern and Eastern Europe, and describes the social agenda […]
David Pavlosky’s “Stand Up, Stand Out” tells a unique story of activism that took place in San Francisco during the burgeoning Gay Liberation Movement of the 1970s. As AIDS ravaged the city, three gay teachers’ fight for equal rights led to the establishment of a gay and lesbian comedy club that flourished in of all […]
Puzzles tells the complex story of a brutal 2006 hate crime attack on three patrons of Puzzles Lounge, a gay bar in New Bedford, MA, and how the conflicting worlds of a violent homophobic offender and his victims collided. This 12-minute version of the original feature documentary explores the correlation between American economic desperation, homophobia, […]
Hip-Hop culture has now been around for more than 40 years, and it all started right here in New York City. With the help of archival footage, Hip-Hop pioneer Grandmaster Caz and other cultural historians, documentary filmmaker and CUNY TV producer Eddie Bailey looks back at what has quickly become a global phenomenon. […]
Seth Fein’s split-screen, trans-historical documentary ‘Between Neighborhoods’ (81 mins) explores the inter-borough and international present and past of imperialism and immigration that orbit the Unisphere in Queens. This edited 11-minute excerpt connects the neoliberal/nationalist age of Donald Trump to the authoritarian liberal legacy of Robert Moses, who constructed the Unisphere as the central theme of […]
Still Living Undocumented: Five Years Later is the sequel to the 2012 documentary Living Undocumented: High School, College and Beyond. The first film captured the realities of undocumented youth in New York City. At the same time, the DACA program was announced and drastically changed the lives of some of the people in the film. […]
“Prodigal Father” follows a filmmaker as he explores the aftermath of his father’s decades-long heroin addiction and violent past. How do a mother and her eight children survive with a father in-and-out of prison? Taking place over 20 years after his father’s last arrest, the filmmaker learns that change is possible, but redemption is […]
WHAT’S YOUR ISSUE? is a national participatory action research project designed with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, and gender nonconforming (LGBTQ & GNC) youth documenting their dreams, desires, and priorities. Interviewing participants, the video presents the results of a National Survey describing critical issues that affect queer, GNC, and trans youth.
Produced by CUNY TV, Short Docs Web Series showcases short documentaries about NYC’s minority communities and examines issues including immigration, human rights, education, diaspora, multiculturalism, environmental issues and criminal justice. Short Docs creates a fresh multi-cultural dialogue and amplifies the film’s issues through social media. The documentaries, produced by Third World Newsreel, stream along with interviews with the filmmakers and subjects related to the pieces.
