In addition to the suggestions below, browse the nonfiction DVD collections at your local library and the streaming options available through Kanopy.
Hopped Up: How Yakima Valley Changed Craft Beer Forever – This documentary about hops and where they come from features the arid Yakima Valley where one-third of the world’s hops are created by multigenerational farming families. Follow filmmaker Danile A. Cardenas on a trip through hop country to discover what it takes to grow the varietals at the heart of the craft beers taking the global market by storm, one IPA at a time.
Tales of the San Joaquin: The Valley and the Lake – Follows California’s San Joaquin River from its source near Yosemite National Park to its final destination, San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. The impact of Friant Dam and other water diversion projects is examined, as are prospects for the river’s restoration.
The Power of Big Oil – The fossil fuel industry’s history of casting doubt and delaying action on climate change.
Augmented – In Augmented, Hugh Herr, a biophysicist working to create brain-controlled robotic limbs, shares his personal journey. At age 17, Herr’s legs were amputated after a climbing accident. Frustrated by the crude prosthetic limbs he was given, Herr set out to remedy their design, leading him to a career as an inventor of innovative prosthetic devices. Now, Herr is teaming up with an injured climber and a surgeon at a leading Boston hospital to test a new approach to surgical amputation that allows prosthetic limbs to move and feel like the real thing. Herr’s journey is a powerful tale of innovation and the inspiring story of a personal tragedy transformed into a life-long quest to help others.
Determined: Fighting Alzheimer’s – Three women at risk of developing Alzheimer’s join a groundbreaking study to try to prevent the disease, while sharing their ups and downs, anxiously watching for symptoms, and hoping they can make a difference.
When Seattle Invented the Future: The 1962 World’s Fair – The 1962 World’s Fair looked ahead to what the future might hold, and transformed Seattle into a world-class city. Share the vision, the excitement and the legacy of the Century 21 Exposition, when Seattle captures the world’s imagination with cutting-edge technology, exotic Belgian waffles, outlandish burlesque shows and an American King. In answering the question, What will America become? Seattle invented its future as a tech-savvy portal to the Pacific Rim, and created an enduring center for the arts and sciences.
Kedi – Hundreds of thousands of cats roam the metropolis of Istanbul freely. For thousands of years they’ve wandered in and out of people’s lives, becoming an essential part of the communities that make the city so rich. Claiming no owners, these animals live between two worlds, neither wild nor tame, and they bring joy and purpose to those people they choose to adopt. In Istanbul, cats are the mirrors to the people, allowing them to reflect on their lives in ways nothing else could.
Amazon Empire: The Rise and Reign of Jeff Bezos – Examines Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’s ascent to power and the global impact of the empire he built. The film also investigates the darker side of the company’s rapid growth: worker exploitation, product safety problems, and surveillance; as well as the challenge of trying to rein in the power of the richest man in the world.
Exhibition on Screen: Frida Kahlo – Come on a journey through the life of one of the most prevalent female icons: Frida Kahlo. She was a prolific self-portraitist, using the canvas as a mirror through all stages of her turbulent and, at times, tragic life. Guided by interviews, commentary, and Frida’s own words, Exhibition on Screen uncovers that this, however, was not a life defined by tragedy. Featuring key exhibitions and interviews with world-renowned Kahlo curators, Exhibition On Screen explores the extraordinary symbolism and themes in these personal canvases to seek a deeper understanding of the real Frida Kahlo. Displaying a treasure trove of color and a feast of vibrancy on screen, this personal and intimate film offers privileged access to her works and highlights the source of her feverish creativity, her resilience, and her unmatched lust for life, men, women, politics, and her cultural heritage.
Same-Sex Attracted – This documentary follows a handful of LGBT students over an academic school year at LDS-owned Brigham Young University (BYU). These young people experience not only the regular day-to-day of being a college kid but also the unique trials that come with being at a Mormon institution, grappling with questions of faith, sexuality, gender, family, love and happiness. As the film progresses, the students and their off-campus group, Understanding Sexuality, Gender and Allyship (USGA), also realize that BYU’s administration has plans to create a new, church-sanctioned, GSA without the influence of USGA or other Queer-led organizations already in play. After years in the making, Same-Sex Attracted presents the real experiences of being queer at The Lord’s University from the perspective of current LGBT students.
Downing of a Flag: The Story of a Symbol that has Haunted American Democracy for Over 150 Years – A documentary film that focuses on the Confederate Battle flag and its impact on the people, politics, and perceptions of South Carolina and beyond. Through firsthand interviews featuring various perspectives and a wealth of historical footage, Downing of a Flag traces the symbol’s controversial relationship with the Palmetto State, exploring its true meaning and how an unspeakable tragedy catalyzed its long-debated removal. The story begins with the end of the Civil War and chronicles the flag’s more than a 150-year journey from the blood-soaked battlefields of Virginia to its use in American popular culture in the 1970s and 1980s, to its final removal from the South Carolina State House grounds in July 2015. Preceded by the killing of nine black parishioners at Charleston’s historic Mother Emanuel AME Church by a white supremacist, the Confederate Battle flag’s furling and the days and actions that led to that event could represent the final shots and battles of the American Civil War.
American Masters. Becoming Helen Keller – Helen Keller, who was deaf and blind since early childhood, was a passionate advocate for change, using her celebrity and wit to champion rights for women, people with disabilities, and people living in poverty. Becoming Helen Keller examines the complex legacy of this author, advocate, lecturer, and human rights pioneer.
Fighting for Fertility – In the United States, ten percent of people who wish to have children struggle with infertility. NOVA explores barriers to fertility, from the social to the biological, and the state of assisted reproductive technologies. Follow the journeys of people navigating challenges from structural inequalities and racism to falling sperm counts, egg freezing, and IVF.
River’s End: California’s Latest Water War – The documentary reveals California’s complex struggle over who gets fresh water, and how moneyed interests game the system. Constant battling over uncertain water supplies heralds an impending crisis not just in California, but around the world.
Autism Goes to College – As the number of students on the autism spectrum attending college steadily climbs, schools and students alike are trying to figure out how to manage the unique challenges experienced by this community. Getting accepted is often easy enough, but once on campus, navigating college can be challenging in many ways, often leaving students to figure it out as they go along. Five students on the autism spectrum — Guillermo, Jasmine, Caroline, Jonathan, and Aniella — invite viewers into their dorms and classrooms to show the world how they make college work for them. They share their dreams, fears, failures, and successes with candid insights and humor. The students in the film come up against the typical challenges any other college student would encounter such as academic loads, making friends, handling roommate situations, and handling money. Disability services counselors at colleges try out a patchwork of new approaches and programs to help both students and faculty better accommodate their unique needs. Autism Goes to College is a first of its kind film, packed with honest insights for students, parents, and educators that offers an eye-opening look at what a growing number of neuro-diverse students are bringing to campuses.
Laura Ingalls Wilder: Prairie to Page – An unvarnished look at the unlikely author whose autobiographical fiction helped shape American ideas of the frontier and self-reliance. A Midwestern farm woman who published her first novel at age 65, Laura Ingalls Wilder transformed her frontier childhood into the best-selling Little House series.
Who’s on Top?: LGBTQs Summit Mt. Hood – Narrated by George Takei is the emotional story of members of the LGBTQ community who challenge stereotypes about gender and sexuality and demonstrate their diverse journeys in overcoming physical and figurative mountains.
The Miracle of Life – Shows the actual conception and development of a baby. Looks inside the male and female reproductive organs to show the formation of sperm and the passage of a fertilized egg through the fallopian tube. Uses a microscope to observe DNA, chromosomes, and other minute body details building up to the moment of birth.
American Immigration: Fear, Myth, and Reality – In a nation built by immigrants, there is a debate on whether or not immigrants should be welcomed. This video lecture takes a deep dive into the history of the topic.
The Virus that Shook the World – FRONTLINE examines living through the year of the pandemic, filmed around the world, from lockdowns to funerals to protests. Using extensive personal video and local footage, see how people and countries responded to the virus, with the differing struggles, beliefs and responses, across cultures, race, faith and privilege.
King Arthur’s Lost Kingdom – Professor Alice Roberts uses archaeological discoveries to piece together a turning point in Britain’s history. The key to her quest is the excavation of a stone palace in Cornwall, long believed to be the birthplace of the King Arthur legend. Was Arthur in fact ruler of a prosperous trading village, and the defender of the native Britons against the Anglo-Saxons?