KDL Recommends

See the stories of four teachers in different areas of the country, revealing the frustrating realities of today’s teachers, the difficulty of attracting talented new educators, and why so many of our best teachers leave the profession altogether.

Beloved by millions of children around the world, Elmo is an international icon. However, few people know the soft-spoken man behind the furry red monster: Kevin Clash. Narrated by Whoopi Goldberg, ‘Being Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey’ follows Clash’s remarkable career, while also offering a behind-the-scenes look at Sesame Street and the Jim Henson Workshop.

While living in the red light district of Calcutta, documenting life in the brothels, New York-based photographer Zana Briski embarked on a project by which she gave cameras to the children of prostitutes and taught them photography, awakening within them hidden talent and creativity and giving them a means to transform their lives.

Follows Buck Brannaman from his abusive childhood to his phenomenally successful approach to horses. A real-life ‘horse-whisperer’, he eschews the violence of his upbringing and teaches people to communicate with their horses through leadership and sensitivity, not punishment. Buck possesses near magical abilities as he dramatically transforms horses, and people, with his understanding, compassion and respect.

With soaring prices at the pump and worries about the global greenhouse, it’s no laughing matter. But the car guys turn an expert, comic eye on the promise and pitfalls of tomorrow’s auto tech.

Mary McDonagh Murphy’s Hey, Boo explores the To Kill a Mockingbird phenomenon and unravels some of the mysteries surrounding Harper Lee, including why she never published again. It also brings to light the context and history of the novel’s Deep South setting and the social changes it inspired after publication.

Provided is an analysis of the global financial crisis of 2008, which nearly resulted in a global financial collapse. Through exhaustive research, and extensive interviews with key financial insiders, politicians, journalists, and academics, traces the rise of a rogue industry which has corrupted politics, regulation, and academia.

The moving and surprising stories of three Violence Interrupters who, with bravado, humility, and even humor, try to protect their Chicago communities from the violence they once employed. Shot over the course of a year, this documentary captures a period in Chicago when it became a national symbol for the violence in America’s cities.

The tale of 10,000 children saved from Hitler’s grasp and placed with foster parents and hostels in Great Britain at the outbreak of World War II. Includes archival footage and decades-later rememberances of both the rescuers and the rescued.

David Attenborough journeys across seven continents filming thousands of species of birds, revealing their patterns of behavior.

A film about tough, highly competitive quadriplegic rugby players. These men have been forced to live life sitting down, but in their own version of the full-contact sport, they smash each other in custom-made gladiator-like wheelchairs. In addition to smashing chairs, it will smash every stereotype you ever had about the disabled.

Revealing, hilarious, and touching, The Other F Word asks what happens when a generation’s ultimate anti-authoritarians – punk rockers become fathers. With a large chorus of punk’s leading men, this film follows Jim Lindberg through his hysterical and moving journey from belting his band’s anthem to embracing his newfound role in mid-life: fatherhood.

Gain unprecedented access to The New York Times newsroom and the inner workings of the Media Desk. With the Internet surpassing print as the main news source and newspapers all over the country going bankrupt, see the media industry transform at its time of greatest turmoil.

Morgan Spurlock brings a comedic documentary about branding, advertising, and product placement that is financed and made possible by brands, advertising, and product placement.

This explores the extraordinary story of what happens when a freedom-loving nation outlaws the sale of intoxicating liquor, and the disastrous unintended consequences that follow. The utterly relevant cautionary tale raises profound questions about the proper role of government and the limits of legislating morality.