Documentary

Film maker Michael Uys. His latest project is Riding The Rails which he co-wrote, co-produced, and co-directed. The documentary film recounts the experiences of the more than 250 thousand teenagers who left their homes during The Great Depression and hopped on trains in search for a better life.

Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews "Elusive Muse," the Academy Award-nominated documentary on ballet dancer Suzanne Farrell, who married choreographer George Balanchine. The documentary will be shown in an edited-for-TV version as a part of the PBS series "Dance in America" on June 25.

Berliner has focused much of his work on the dynamics of families. His newest film "Nobody's Business" is a documentary about his father, Oscar Berliner. This critically acclaimed film reveals the ongoing conflict between Alan Berliner, who obstinately works to complete the film, and his father, who is scornful of the project. It will premiere on PBS on June 3, as a part of the Tenth anniversary season of "Point Of View."

Commentator Gerald Early tells us why he was unsatisfied with "When We Were Kings" the Oscar-award winning documentary about the classic showdown between Muhammad Ali and George Forman in 1974 in Zaire.

Massiah is founder and Executive Director of the Scribe Video Center in Philadelphia. He has won numerous awards for the films he has produced for public television. Messiah's latest project is a documentary featuring the late civil rights activist and NAACP co-founder W.E.B. DuBois, called "W.E.B. DuBois: A Biography in Four Voices." It premiers on PBS this month.

Producer/writer/director Jeanne Jordan. She and her husband Steve Ascher's documentary "Troublesome Creek" is the story of her family's struggle to save their Iowa farm, which had been in the family for 125 years. The film won the Best Documentary and Audience Awards at Sundance in 1996. The film opens nationally in January

Filmmakers Rob Epstein & Jeffrey Freidman. They've produced a film version of Russo's book, "The Celluloid Closet." The documentary includes film clips and interview with actors, directors, writers and critics.

British filmmaker Kate Blewett. Using a concealed camera, Blewett and crew visited eleven state-funded orphanages in China and filmed in nine of them. They documented such things as toddlers whose hands and legs were tied to potty chairs all day, and the rooms where children are left to die. They also say that many of the children were girls, victims of China's One Child Policy, and the Chinese tradition that favors sons over daughters. "The Dying Rooms: China's Darkest Secret" debuts on CINEMAX (Jan 24 at 8 PM). (Interview by Marty Moss-Coane)

Film critic Stephen Schiff gives us his year's best.

Designer, sculptor, architect Maya Lin. She was a 21 year-old undergraduate student when her design was selected for the Vietnam War Memorial. Her works are known for their ability to elicit powerful emotions. Lin also designed the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, Alabama, and the "Women's Table" at Yale ( which dealt with the history of female students at Yale, which was mostly all-male for 300 years.) Most recently Lin designed "The Wave Field" in memory of Francois-Xavier Bagnoud, pilot, aeronautical engineer and humanitarian.

Record producer and musician Don Was. He co-founded the funk rock group, "Was (Not) Was." This year he won a Grammy for Producer of the Year. In addition, he's produced a number of albums for Bonnie Raitt (Was produced Raitt's "Nick of Time" album which revived her career), Rolling Stones, Lyle Lovett, Al Green, Iggy Pop, and the B-52's. He's ventured into documentary film production with "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times," about ex-Beachboy Brian Wilson. Was directed the film.

Filmmaker Deborah Hoffmann kept a video diary of her mother's battle with Alzheimer's diseases. That footage became the basis for her documentary "Complaint of a Dutiful Daughter." It airs on the POV show on PBS.

Critic Ken Tucker review the "beautifully lucid" movie about artist R. Crumb, directed by Terry Zwigoff.

Producer/ Director Terry Zwigoff recently released a new documentary "Crumb." The film was shot over seven years and follows the life of Robert Crumb, the famous underground artist who popularized character's such as Mr. Natural, Flakey Foont and Keep on Truckin'. The film won the Grand Jury Prize for best documentary and cinematography at the Sundance Film Festival.

Director Winifried Bonengal made the film "Profession: Neo Nazi," which follows Ewald Althans, a rising leader on Germany's neo-nazi scene. Althans is different from the stereotypical neo-nazi: intelligent, successful and well-dressed. The move ignited one of the fiercest debates on documentary film making in Germany's history. It was barred from many states and the distributor was forced to withdraw it from circulation.

Frank Cardon is one of three teenagers who was given a video camera for a year to record his daily life in North Philadelphia. His footage is part of the documentary Teen Dreams. Cardon says he wanted to show a world composed of a lot of angry people trying to survive.

From the new documentary "Twitch and Shout," the associate producer/narrator Lowell Handler. Lowel Handler is a photojournalist and has Tourette's Syndrome. The film is about people with TS. Handler has traveled the world photographing people, and developed a photojournalism story for Life Magazines.

From the new movie documentary "Hoop Dreams," young basketball player Arthur Agee and film director Steve James. The movie traces the lives of Agee and his friend William Gates for five years as they try to follow their dreams of rising from inner city Chicago to play in the NBA. James is the director, producer and co-editor of the film.

Documentary film maker Allie Light. Her new film, "Dialogues With Madwomen," won the 1994 "Freedom of Expression Award" at the Sundance Film Festival. In the film, seven women describe their bouts with mental illness, including Light who checked herself into a day psychiatric facility for three months in 1963 because of problems with depression. Light co-produced the film with Irving Saraf. Their previous work, "In The Shadow of the Stars," won the 1991 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

We pay tribute to Professor and filmmaker Marlon Riggs, who died Tuesday. His film about gay black sexuality, "Tongues Untied," unleashed a storm of controversy for its graphic content; it was used by Senator Jesse Helms (Republican, North Carolina), to argue against government grants to the arts. Another RIGGS film was "Color Adjustment," a critique of prime time TV's myths and messages on American race relations. RIGGS was on the faculty of the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California at Berkeley. (Rebroadcast of 7/11/1991)