Running from Crazy

Canada, our friendly neighbors to the North, who welcomed 27,000 refugees (just 6,000 fewer than America) in 2017 alone, despite having a tenth of the U.S. population. Many of the refugees came from Syria and Iraq, and their journeys to safety were physically and mentally taxing. To tell the story of their experience, Academy Award®-winning director Barbara Kopple uses a unique and creative setting: summer camp. Located on a small island in the Canadian wilderness, Camp Pathfinder has given boys from Canada and the U.S. a place to belong for over a century. A few years ago, its director—saddened and disturbed by what he was seeing in the news—decided to give refugees the opportunity to attend the camp. Kopple’s film chronicles their stay, beautifully capturing the bonds of new friendship. But not all the boys are able to escape the mindset of war. Through the eyes of these youngsters, NEW HOMELAND documents the highs and lows of starting over.

Wild Man Blues is a 1998 documentary film directed by Barbara Kopple, about the musical avocation of actor/director/comic Woody Allen. The film takes its name from a jazz composition sometimes attributed to Jelly Roll Morton and sometimes to Louis Armstrong and recorded by both (among others). Allen's love of early 20th century New Orleans music is depicted through his 1996 tour of Europe with his New Orleans Jazz Band. Allen has played clarinet with this band for over 25 years. Although Allen's European tour is the film's primary focus, it was also notable as the first major public showcase for Allen's relationship with Soon-Yi Previn.

This documentary chronicles Johnny Cash's 1970 visit to the White House, where Cash's emerging liberal ideals clashed with Richard Nixon's policies.

Barbara Kopple has been one of the leading and most politically engaged filmmakers in the US ever since Harlan County, USA, her documentary about a miner’s strike which won an Oscar in 1977. Kopple shot Gumbo Coalition in her characteristic cinema verité style, following two renowned warriors for equal rights and social justice. They are Marc Morial, former Mayor of New Orleans and President of the National Urban League, and Janet Murguía, President of UnidosUS, an advocacy organization for the country’s Latino community. They join forces in the battle against racism.

Not your usual film biography, A Conversation With Gregory Peck (2000) goes on-the-road and behind-the-scenes with Gregory Peck and his one man show. The actor's traveling program features question and answer sessions with the American icon and allows the actor to reminisce about his career.

In the aftermath of the Virginia Tech shooting, Oscar winner Barbara Kopple takes an in depth look at the issue of gun rights and gun control. She interviews both gun and anti-gun advocates in an effort to shed some light on this not-quite black-and-white issue.

A wealthy Los Angeles teen and her superficial friends wants to break out of suburbia and experience Southern California's "gangsta" lifestyle. But problems arise when the preppies get in over their heads and provoke the wrath of a violent Latino gang. Suddenly, their role-playing seems a little too real.

Oscar®-winning filmmaker Barbara Kopple explores the legacy of the 1989 murder of Noreen Boyle in Mansfield, Ohio. Her 12-year-old son Collier gave a devastating videotaped testimony blaming his father for the murder. Now, over two decades later, Collier returns to Ohio seeking to retrace his past and confront his imprisoned father, who remains in denial of his guilt. Collier’s depth of character is a wonder to behold from childhood to adulthood. Out of this tragic story, we witness the power of human resilience.

The life of John Allen Muhammad. The D.C. Sniper, as told by his ex-wife Mildred.

Shut Up and Sing is a documentary about the country band from Texas called the Dixie Chicks and how one tiny comment against President Bush dropped their number one hit off the charts and caused fans to hate them, destroy their CD’s, and protest at their concerts. A film about freedom of speech gone out of control and the three girls lives that were forever changed by a small anti-Bush comment