Studio D of the National Film Board of Canada, a women's film making unit established to make films by, for, and about women, has created a group of five films that effectively develop the argument that women can and must join the effort to bring peace to a nuclear world. The first of these peace films, "If You Love This Planet,"…

Explores links between two films, "Lilies of the Field" (1962) and "Driving Miss Daisy" (1987), their portrayal of African-American men in relationships with White women, and audience and critic responses to the films. Little has changed in the Hollywood perceptions since the earlier film was made. (JB)

In recent years, filmmakers have begun to confront discriminatory images in film and other media, using their art to educate audiences and challenge visual arts colleagues to think more deeply about the messages they send to consumers. Reviews some of the most important and powerful of these films released in the past decade. (SM)

Reviews independent multicultural films and videos shown at the Sundance Film Festival, January 1997. The festival included a special symposium and reception honoring Native American writers and filmmakers. This article reviews 4 Native American videos and 10 other multicultural films the author was able to see, and it lists other noteworthy…

"Do the Right Thing" leaves the viewer with contradictory and confused messages that suggest that the film has no clear view of racial relations in a city. The film is examined as an ideological statement. It deconstructs contemporary African-American ideologies but does not replace them with new visions. (SLD)

Two contemporary films, "Braveheart" and "Rob Roy," depict Scottish ethnicity from a rather narrow perspective. The positions that are sentimentally admired when attributed to white natives of Scotland are horrifying when expressed by contemporary peoples of color. These films raise interesting questions about the true nature…

Reviews three contemporary movies, "Sleepers,""Girls Town," and "Slingblade" in which the common thread is abuse of helpless children by patriarchal authorities, adult white men who assert power over young people. In all three movies, the anger of the young people and their friends suggests respect for the…

Describes films from the Native Forum of the 2001 Sundance Film Festival, focusing on the feature film, "Christmas in the Clouds," and also looking at a variety of documentaries on indigenous populations in North America and Mexico. Presents a brief annotation and contact information for each film. (SM)

Reviews the message and quality of the film "Stand and Deliver" which is about the methods of a Hispanic mathematics teacher in east Los Angeles and the success of his students. Gives a description of the teacher, his background, and his attitudes. Summarizes the plot of the film. (CW)

Reviews two films dealing with the Black south. Julie Dash's 1992 film "Daughters of the Dust" offers a historical moment in African-American culture concentrating on African-American women. Charles Burnett's 1991 film "To Sleep with Anger," which is set in the Los Angeles (California) of early southern migrants, also…

Reviews films presented at the Sixteenth Annual San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival. Films shown at this festival engaged a multiplicity of themes and varied in quality, but they were connected by a tacit understanding of individual and group oppression within an often hostile society. (SLD)

Discusses the failure of filmmaker Spike Lee to grapple with the real politics of Malcolm X before and after he left the Nation of Islam. Acknowledging the complexity of the man and his context would avoid creating a mythical figure similar to Oliver Stone's movie "JFK." (SLD)

Contains the second of three columns reviewing films on earthquakes. The films are about earthquakes in general, though California earthquakes play a dominant role in many of these films, which are rated on a scale of one to five stars. The list includes the year made, length of time in minutes, distribution source, and price. One of the top-rated…

Reviews 15 recent books on Shakespeare appropriate for secondary school teachers and students, including books on films of Shakespeare's plays, a teacher's guide, companions for the plays, acting editions, narrative versions of several plays, a biography, a study of Elizabethan England, and a book of trivia. An elementary-level video is also…

Reviews some of the current children's literature and films that address the Latino immigration experience from the Americas and that introduce children to the issues confronting them. Each work is briefly described, including the immigration theme(s) it presents. (GR)