Too Brief A Child:

Voices of Married Adolescents

Eighty-two million girls around the globe will be married before they leave adolescence. This is their story... of lost childhoods, lost dreams and little hope of breaking the cycle of poverty and hopelessness that engulfs them. Too Brief A Child is a special advocacy report that explores the reasons why girls marry so young. What pressures and beliefs impel their families to support and often force this? What are the costs to the girls, their families and their communities when youthful dreams must be abandoned? And what happens when the cycle is broken and families and daughters choose another path? Girls trapped by early marriage represent far more than marginalized members of their own villages and countries. They are the flashpoint for critical problems that drain the resources of developed and developing nations alike. Illiteracy, poverty, high infant and mother mortality, HIV/AIDs and loss of personal freedoms are issues of global urgency that impact child brides more than any other group. Financed by the UNFPA, Too Brief a Child was screened as part of the United Nations Association Film Festival in 2005.

See THE TRAILER in streaming video.

[Requires Real Player?  Click for free install]

Partners of the Heart

Nationally acclaimed Partners of the Heart, has become a must see documentary. The film aired on PBS American Experience in February 2003 and remains on exhibition at various film festivals across the country. Winner of the 2004 Erik Barnouw award, this film tells the inspirational story of the 34-year partnership between Dr. Alfred Blalock, a white surgeon with uncommon vision, and Vivien Thomas, a black lab technician with the hands of a craftsman. At the height of segregation, Blalock and Thomas pioneered a heart surgery that saved the lives of thousands of children, called blue babies. With no more than a high school education, Thomas went on to train a generation of heart surgeons, many of whom are still operating today. The Partners of the Heart film, outreach program, website, DVD, and interactive TV enhancements were funded in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and GlaxoSmithKline. For more information, please visit the Partners of the Heart website on PBS Online.

For more updates please visit PBS Online to explore the Partners companion website, and go to Partners Update to learn more about screenings and outreach events near you.

See THE TRAILER in streaming video.

[Requires Real Player?  Click for free install]

Breaking the Poverty Cycle:
Investing in Early Childhood

examines the high rates of poverty in Latin America and traces their roots to a continuing lack of attention to the social, educational and nutritional needs of young children. This 10-minute film, funded by the Inter-American Development Bank, was premiered at the IDB's 1999 annual conference in Paris. Breaking the Poverty Cycle presents examples of new approaches to early childhood development that, if implemented, promise to improve the lives of thousands of poor Latin American families.

See a clip in streaming video.

[Requires Real Player?  Click for free install]

Bridges:  
Southeast Asians' American Journey

brings to life the memories of Southeast Asian refugees who were forced to leave behind homes ravaged by war. The refugees' long journeys ended briefly in detention camps before final resettlement in the U.S. This 12-minute film, produced for the Southeast Asian Resource Action Center (SEARAC), examines this journey and the mixed promise of life in America, which has given refugees the chance to start their lives anew while facing daunting economic and social challenges.

See a clip in streaming video.

[Requires Real Player?  Click for free install]

Back to top

Wired for Change:  
Information Technology for Development in the Americas

takes viewers to four countries in Latin America to explore how information technology is shaping the region's economic development. In this 20-minute film, local people in Mexico, Guatemala, Peru, and Brazil explain how the Internet and other new technologies are revolutionizing their lives by enabling entrepreneurship, life-long learning, and democratic participation. Wired for Change was produced for the Information Technology for Development Unit of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

See a clip in streaming video.

[Requires Real Player?  Click for free install]

Back to top

A Voice of her Own:  
Women and Economic Change in Asia

takes viewers on location in Bangladesh, Cambodia and the Philippines to document the transforming status of women. Funded by the Asian Development Bank, the program looks at the profound changes underway in the region and explores the critical role women are now playing in national economic development. A Voice of Her Own was awarded the 1997 UNESCO Gold Medal, a silver WorldMedal in the New York Festivals, a silver screen award at the US International Film and Video Festival, a Chris Award, a Telly, and was screened at the Breckenridge Film Festival in Colorado.

See a clip in streaming video.

[Requires Real Player?  Click for free install]

From Rage to Recovery:  
Society's Search for Peace