Music can heal invisible wounds. As singer-songwriter Nell Bryden tours Iraq, we see firsthand the joy and relief the music brings the troops serving there. Striking a Chord brings home the power of music to help soldiers combat the scourge of Post-Traumatic-Stress-Syndrome.

Striking a Chord brings the audience right into the army bases in Iraq. The film shows the boredom and isolation, the effect of repeated deployments on the soldiers, and the need to create experiences that bring the troops some consolation. Through the prism of the music, viewers see the soldiers in a different light. The music creates openness, connectedness and intimacy. Long lines of soldiers waiting to speak with Nell and the band after every concert attest to the effect of the music on the troops.

Most importantly, Striking a Chord reminds us that when our soldiers return home, they need special care and attention. PTSD is a disorder that many veterans are ashamed to speak about. Yet it’s all too common, and, as the film shows, music can provide a way to begin the healing process.

The film is launching in 2010.

Imagine a world without fish. It’s a frightening premise, and it’s happening right now. A Sea Change follows the journey of retired history teacher Sven Huseby on his quest to discover what is happening to the world’s oceans. After reading Elizabeth Kolbert’s “The Darkening Sea,” Sven becomes obsessed with the rising acidity of the oceans and what this “sea change” bodes for humans. His quest takes him to Alaska, California, Washington, and Norway as he uncovers a worldwide crisis that most people are unaware of. Speaking with oceanographers, marine biologists, climatologists, and artists, Sven discovers that global warming is only half the story of the environmental catastrophe that awaits us. Excess carbon dioxide is dissolving in our oceans, changing sea water chemistry. The more acidic water makes it difficult for tiny creatures at the bottom of the food web to form their shells. The effects could work their way up to the fish 1 billion people depend upon for their source of protein.

"This film is both a love letter to the planet and an urgent plea to its citizens.” — San Francisco Chronicle

“Ocean acidification is the flip side of global warming and if you have children, grandchildren or any investment in life as we know it continuing on this planet, this is a must-see film.” — Marin Maven

Running Madness grants you access into a world that inspires both the inner hero and the inner cynic: the world of ultramarathons.  In our not so distant past it seemed astonishing that people were capable of–and enjoyed–running 26.2 miles in around 3 hours. Marathoners were crazy, obsessive and undoubtedly damaging their bodies if not their misled souls.  But now grandmothers as well as CEO’s hit the asphalt with the same regularity and acceptance with which they collect the mail or go to lunch. Therefore, meet the new crazy on the block: the ultrarunner, who endeavors to run 100 miles through arduous mountainous terrain with no sleep, no hot meals and questionable common sense in 30 hours or less.

But are these folks so crazy?  Or could this intensity of running actually be what is keeping them sane and potentially supplying the rest of us with a venue for our own madness?

Running Madness focuses on the grand -daddy of all ultra runs: The Western States 100 (WS100).  Started in 1974 by the charismatically off-center Gordy Ainsleigh WS100 has grown into the Indie 500 of the ultrarunner’s world.  A lottery gets you in and something indescribable gets you through.  Running Madness seeks to unravel what that ind escribable is via interviews with the runners, their pacers, the hundreds of volunteers who show up year after year (as addicted as the runners are) to work the aid stations, the organizers and the medical staff.

What personality type is drawn to such a challenge?  Is there a particular profession or region or cultural background that links the runners?  Can anyone do it?   Are they damaging their bodies?  Are they uplifting their souls?  Do they think this is fun?  Do they eat?  Where do they pee?  Why-o-why do they do it?  These are only a handful of the questions that Running Madness addresses.

Shot on the trails and in the aid stations and incorporating pre-race jitters and post-race joy this documentary follows the trajectory of seven runners from their hopes at the beginning to their realizations at the finish line.  The viewers end up with a few realizations of their own: perhaps these folks aren’t so nuts after all.

Set to a rock ‘n roll soundtrack with an eye for the beauty of the Squaw Valley landscape and an ear for the humor and hopes of the participants Running Madness brings to life the common language of running, the intrinsic desire for camaraderie and the wonderfully equalizing effect of lots and lots of mountains, rocks and trees.

Making the Crooked Straight is a 30-minute documentary film about one man's journey to save the world by saving one child at a time.

Born on Long Island, New York and educated at John S Hopkins, Dr. Rick Hodes has dedicated his life to helping heal the sick and poor of Ethiopia over the past 20 years.

Many of his patients are stricken with tuberculosis of the spine, a disease that creates massive humps on the backs of its victims. Eventually they're forced into permanent forward-bending posture, which in turn prevents their lungs from working properly, and if left untreated leads to death.

Driven by his devotion to Orthodox Judaism and its belief that "He who saves one life, saves an entire world," Hodes provides these patients with hospital care, arranges for complex overseas surgeries-often paying for these out of his own pocket-and has, thus far, fostered seventeen children in order to provide them with not only proper medical care but a home and an education.
Often compared with Albert Schweitzer and Mother Teresa, Hodes believes the only way to change the world is to be the change.

Making the Crooked Straight explores this remarkable man's work in Ethiopia, his highly original family life, and the spirituality that has guided his choices and sacrifices.

http://www.jdc.org/ethiopia

Don't miss the HBO broadcast on April 14, 2010.

This magical, and truly funny, journey of Sue’s own birthing experience has won awards at both the Houston International Film Festival and the Flagstaff International Film Festival.  It takes viewers inside the often misunderstood subculture of the baby shower: full of silly games and prizes, yes, baby showers are also an ancient ritual where women gather to share their collective wisdom with the mother-to-be.

A half hour glimpse into the lives of four ultra runners and their desire to integrate their passion for running with their environmental concerns.  Dirt documents the Western States Trail 100, the granddaddy of ultra runs (100 miles in 24 hours!), by profiling runners who love running on trails and making a living thinking green as well.

Richard Nelson’s Alaska was part of the PBS series, “Natural Heroes.”  The 30-minute film transports you into the mind and place where famous writer, activist, conservationist, cultural anthropologist Richard Nelson lives in Sitka Alaska.  Nelson as guide leaves you ever more curious about our Earth and passionately motivated to find your own unique way to participate in preserving America’s wild spaces.

Sue’s first commercial documentary aired on “Environmental Weekly” on PBS affiliates across the country in 1998.  It highlights 10 women who were granted environmental excellence awards by the United Nations Environment Programme.