Films
THE RESTLESS HUNGARIAN
2021 | 106 minutes
In this melding of the personal and historical, the filmmaker Tom Weidlinger uncovers the epic story of four generations. Central to the story is Tom’s father, Paul Weidlinger, a brilliant structural engineer who fled Europe just ahead of the Holocaust—but who kept secret, even from his children, the fact that he was a Jew. The Restless Hungarian’s story intersects with Modern Architecture, the Holocaust, the Hungarian Jewish Diaspora, and the nuclear arms race.
Films
THE RESTLESS HUNGARIAN
2021 | 106 minutes
In this melding of the personal and historical, the filmmaker Tom Weidlinger uncovers the epic story of four generations. Central to the story is Tom’s father, Paul Weidlinger, a brilliant structural engineer who fled Europe just ahead of the Holocaust—but who kept secret, even from his children, the fact that he was a Jew. The Restless Hungarian’s story intersects with Modern Architecture, the Holocaust, the Hungarian Jewish Diaspora, and the nuclear arms race.
JIM THORPE, THE WORLD’S GREATEST ATHLETE
2009 | 86 minutes feature
Biography of the legendary Native American athlete. Winning two gold medals at the 1912 summer olympics, Thorpe is betrayed by the amateur athletic establishment, but goes on to national acclaim as professional football and baseball player.
SWIM FOR THE RIVER
2006 | 56 minutes
Activist and swimmer Christopher Swain braves sewage, snapping turtles, dams, and factory outfalls to swim the Hudson River from its source to the sea. The film links together stories of the environmental movement in the Hudson River Valley with his journey.
THE LONG WALK TO FREEDOM
2005 | 56 minutes
Twelve people from diverse backgrounds speak about their participation in the Civil Rights Movement, protesting racial inequality, segregation, and discrimination in the 1960s. The film demonstrates how ordinary people can help bring about social change.
HEART OF THE CONGO
2004 | 56 minutes
Amid threats of violence, corruption, and a legacy of colonial dependency, aid workers help refugees who have lost everything. They seek to strengthen villagers’ will, essential for a self-sufficient future. A film about how aid can make a lasting difference.
A DREAM IN HANOI
2001 | 90 minutes
Struggling to create a truly cross-cultural production of Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” Vietnamese and American actors overcome setbacks and misunderstandings that rival the tribulations of the characters they portray on stage.
BOYS WILL BE MEN
2001 | 56 minutes
How do boys become men? How do they learn courage, the difference between right and wrong, and the meaning of love? The film explores the terrors and triumphs of growing up male in America and suggests ways to help guide the journey into adulthood.
FACING RACISM
1997 | 56 minutes
Five people from diverse backgrounds keep video dairies about how they think about and experience race and racial discrimination. In an unlearning racism workshop, events challenge their beliefs and open their eyes to the hidden structures of racism.
A RIVER CALLED OHIO
1995 | 55 minutes
The film tells the stories of Indians, pioneers, flat boat men, the underground railroad, steamboats, floods, dams, and the people who live along the Ohio river. Archival photos and motion picture footage, riverscapes and interviews make up this chronicle across three centuries of the nine hundred mile waterway.
AFTER THE VELVET REVOLUTION
1994 | 90 minutes
From the euphoric days of the Velvet Revolution to the breakup of Czechoslovakia, the film follows Czechs and Slovaks after the end of communism. It shows the process, not always easy, of adapting to democracy and a free market economy.
DE GAULLE AND FRANCE
1992 | 57 minutes
The second episode in a PBS three-part series, De Gaulle and France, about Charles de Gaulle’s return to power in 1958 and the French Algerian War. It combines rare archival footage and interviews with people whose lives intersected with his.
THE GREAT WAR, 1918
1989 | 53 minutes
“The film gets its power from the newsreels of trench fighting in the last grim year of World War I… accompanied by the accounts of men and women who served…Their memories of the courage amid carnage remain vivid enough to bring tears.” — New York Times review.
THE GREAT SAN FRANCISCO EARTHQUAKE
1988 | 56 minutes
In April 1906 San Francisco was destroyed by an earthquake and fire. This film looks at the destruction and rebirth of the city using archive photographs, rare footage, and interviews with survivors. Premiered the first season of The American Experience on PBS.
LETTING GO OF ZACK
1976 | 33 minutes
Zack is a cheerful boy with terminal cancer who doesn’t want to die in a hospital. His father is torn between the fear of witnessing his son’s suffering up close and simply being present for him. Death, when it comes, is not what Zack’s father expects.
A MEETING OF FRIENDS
1972 | 22 minutes
A visual poem, the film both starts and ends in a Friends (Quaker) silent meeting for worship. There are long stretches of quiet as we closely observe the faces of the Friends in meditation. The camera inquires, can we see into souls?