For more information about Films on Demand as well as a full list of titles for our new FEATURE FILMS FOR EDUCATION and WORLD CINEMA collections, please visit the Library Service Updates' New Resources - Spring 2021 page.
Alita: Battle Angel (2019) Set several centuries in the future, the abandoned Alita (Rosa Salazar) is found in the scrapyard of Iron City by Ido (Christoph Waltz), a compassionate cyber-doctor who takes the unconscious cyborg Alita to his clinic. When Alita awakens she has no memory of who she is, nor does she have any recognition of the world she finds herself in. Everything is new to Alita, every experience a first. As she learns to navigate her new life and the treacherous streets of Iron City, Ido tries to shield Alita from her mysterious past while her street-smart new friend, Hugo (Keean Johnson), offers instead to help trigger her memories. A growing affection develops between the two until deadly forces come after Alita and threaten her newfound relationships. It is then that Alita discovers she has extraordinary fighting abilities that could be used to save the friends and family she's grown to love. Determined to uncover the truth behind her origin, Alita sets out on a journey that will lead her to take on the injustices of this dark, corrupt world, and discover that one young woman can change the world in which she lives.
The Favourite (2018) THE FAVOURITE is a bawdy, acerbic tale of royal intrigue, passion, envy and betrayal in the court of Queen Anne in early 18th century England. At the center of the story is the Queen herself (Olivia Colman), whose relationship with her confidante, adviser and clandestine lover Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough (Rachel Weisz) is turned upside down by the arrival of the Duchess's younger cousin Abigail (Emma Stone). Soon the balance of power shifts between the women as they jockey for influence with the Queen and the court.
The Hate U Give (2018) Starr Carter is constantly switching between two worlds: the poor, mostly black, neighborhood where she lives and the rich, mostly white, prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Now, facing pressures from all sides of the community, Starr must find her voice and stand up for what's right.
Jojo Rabbit (2019) A World War II satire following an awkward young German boy (Roman Griffin Davis) raised by a single mother (Scarlett Johansson), and whose only ally is his imaginary friend Hitler (Waititi). His naïve patriotism is tested when he meets a young girl (Thomasin McKenzie) who upends his world views, forcing him to face his biggest fears.
Logan (2017) Set in the future, Logan and Professor Charles Xavier must cope with the loss of the X-Men when a corporation lead by Nathaniel Essex is destroying the world leaving it to destruction, with Logan's healing abilities slowly fading away and Xavier's Alzheimer's forcing him to forget. Logan must defeat Nathaniel Essex with the help of a young girl named Laura Kinney, a female clone of Wolverine.
And She Could Be Next (2020) And She Could Be Next follows a defiant movement of women of color as they transform politics from the ground up. Filmed during the historic 2018 midterm elections, the series follows organizers and candidates (including Rashida Tlaib and Stacey Abrams) as they fight for a truly reflective government, asking whether democracy can be preserved—and made stronger—by those most marginalized.
ART21: Art in the Twenty-First Century, Season 10 (2020) The landmark tenth season of the Peabody Award-winning Art in the Twenty-First Century television series—the longest-running television series on contemporary art—features twelve artists and one collective, charting artmaking in London, Beijing, and regions around the United States-Mexico border.
Chernobyl (2019) On April 26, 1986, the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the Soviet Union suffered a massive explosion that released radioactive material across Belarus, Russia and Ukraine, and as far as Scandinavia and western Europe. Chernobyl is a gripping five-part miniseries that tells the powerful and visceral story of the worst man-made accident in history, following the tragedy from the moment of the early-morning explosion through the chaos and loss of life in the ensuing days, weeks and months. Approaching the story from every angle, encompassing the perspectives of plant workers, firemen, doctors, scientists, residents and Soviet bureaucrats, the miniseries juxtaposes compelling human stories of bravery and sacrifice with the shocking inertia of a government intent on passing blame and downplaying the dangers of the disaster. Featuring an ensemble cast led by Jared Harris (EmmyÒ nominee for Mad Men), Stellan Skarsgård (Melancholia) and Emily Watson (OscarÒ nominee for Hilary and Jackie and Breaking the Waves), Chernobyl is written by Craig Mazin (The Huntsman: Winter’s War) and directed by Johan Renck (Breaking Bad). Chernobyl is the winner of ten Emmy® Awards, including Outstanding Limited Series, and two Golden Globe® Awards, including Best Television Limited Series.
Mars (2016) The year is 2033, and humanity's first crewed mission to Mars is about to become a reality. As a clock counts down the final 90 seconds to landing, an expert crew of astronauts endures the final harrowing moments before touching down on the red planet. Even with the best training and resources available, the maiden crew of the Daedalus spacecraft must push itself to the brink of human capability in order to successfully establish the first sustainable colony on Mars. Set both in the future and in the present day, this six-part series blends feature film-caliber scripted elements set in the future with documentary vérité interviews with today’s best and brightest minds in modern science and innovation, illuminating how research and development is creating the space technology that will enable our first attempt at a mission to Mars. From Brian Grazer and Ron Howard, this is an epic and gripping global event series that is destined to spark imaginations worldwide as it tells the story of making life on the red planet an exciting and real prospect.
Roots (2016) A four-night, eight-hour event series, "Roots" is a historical portrait of one family's journey through American slavery and their will to survive and preserve their legacy in the face of unimaginable hardship.
After Truth: Disinformation and the Cost of Fake News (2020) This eye-opening documentary sheds light on the rising phenomenon of “fake news” in the U.S. and the real-life threat that disinformation, conspiracy theories and false news stories have on the average citizen. An HBO Production.
Black Art: In The Absence of Light (2021) At the heart of this feature documentary is the groundbreaking “Two Centuries of Black American Art” exhibition curated by the late African American artist and scholar David Driskell in 1976. Held at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, this pioneering exhibit featured more than 200 works of art by 63 artists and cemented the essential contributions of Black artists in America in the 19th and 20th centuries. The exhibit would eventually travel to the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, and the Brooklyn Museum. The film shines a light on the exhibition’s extraordinary impact on generations of African American artists who have staked a claim on their rightful place within the 21st-century art world. An HBO Production.
NOVA: Beyond the Elements (2021) Picking up where he left off in NOVA's popular special, Hunting the Elements, David Pogue sets out on a worldwide quest to find the key molecules and chemical reactions that have paved the way for human civilization, life, and even the universe as we know it. And along the way, he uncovers the simple principles that produce such a dizzying diversity of matter from elements on the periodic table.
Seven Worlds, One Planet (2020) Millions of years ago huge forces ripped apart the Earth’s crust creating seven spectacular continents. Over time, each continent developed its own remarkable wildlife. From the depths of the South American jungles to the frozen peaks of Asia, and from the cities of Europe to the vast plains of Africa - 'Seven Worlds, One Planet' features extraordinary animal behaviour and untold wildlife stories from each continent. We discover how our seven worlds gave rise to the great diversity of life on Earth today, and reveal the challenges now faced by animals in a world shaped by us.
The Vietnam War: A Film by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick (2017) THE VIETNAM WAR, an immersive ten-part, eighteen hour documentary film series directed by acclaimed filmmakers Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, tells the epic story of one of the most divisive, consequential and misunderstood events in American history, as it has never before been told on film. Not Edited for Television.