Cavalcade of San Francisco

Bruce Brown's The Endless Summer is one of the first and most influential surf movies of all time. The film documents American surfers Mike Hynson and Robert August as they travel the world during California’s winter (which, back in 1965 was off-season for surfing) in search of the perfect wave and ultimately, an endless summer.

The largest railroad community in history at work making the Pennsylvania Railroad become the Standard Railroad of the World. Generations of Altoona shopmen and train crews created the extraordinary legacy this film brings to life.

"I especially hope to inspire young women, because I often feel like so much emphasis is put on how beautiful you are, and how thin you are, and not a lot of emphasis is put on what you can do and how smart you are. I'd like to change the emphasis of what's important when looking at a woman." Filmed in San Francisco in 2000, Margaret Kilgallen (1967-2001) discusses the female figures she incorporated into many of her paintings and graffiti tags. Loosely based on women she discovered while listening to folk records, watching buck dance videos, or reading about the history of swimming, Kilgallen painted her heroines to inspire others and to change how society looks at women. Three of Kilgallen's heroines—Matokie Slaughter, Algia Mae Hinton, and Fanny Durack—are shown and heard through archival recordings. Kilgallen is shown tagging train cars with her husband, artist Barry McGee, in a Bay Area rail yard and painting in her studio at UC Berkeley (source: Art21).

The Dawn is Too Far: Stories of Iranian-American Life poetically narrates the story of a community of Iranian Americans who have made the San Francisco Bay Area their home over the past five decades. The film explores Iranian immigration through turbulent histories of dissent, revolution, war, and separation, and the reinvention of identity in a new land and culture. The Dawn is Too Far highlights how Iranian students, activists, and artists have navigated displacement while drawing on and influencing Bay Area culture. This community offers a more nuanced story of the Iranian diaspora—the ways that this community enriches the region where they live, work, and build families. The Dawn is Too Far undermines the tired and overplayed news headlines that are dominated by narratives of enmity and mistrust between the government of Iran and the U.S., to offer a more humane understanding of the how people's lives and the sacrifices they make are part of the larger story of immigration.

This documentary on the "youth movement" of the late 1960s focuses on the hippie pot smoking/free love culture in the San Francisco Bay area.

Roving foodies Angela May and Bobby Chinn embark on two culinary journeys across Asia. Angela travels to the western coast of India to sample the cuisine and culture of the thriving melting pot that is Goa. Meanwhile, Bobby travels to Manila where he discovers a passionate and humorous people, and their love of food.

Fresh Fruit for Rotting Eyeballs features a brief history of the Dead Kennedys' early years up to their first UK tour, never before seen live performances, interviews with Klaus Fluoride and East Bay Ray, comments by music journalists, and insights from the key people involved with the recording of the DK's first album. Jello Biafra's 1979 run for mayor is also highlighted.

Beirut, Lebanon's capital has a long history of political and social unrest that still makes headlines today. Globe Trekker's Beirut City Guide captures the city in more optimistic days, two weeks before the latest outbreak of hostilities in Lebanon between Israeli and Hezbollah forces in July 2006. Globe Trekker Megan McCormick explores the neighborhoods of Basta, Solidere, Gemayze and the Hezbollah District and finds a city in the midst of regeneration. She gets a glimpse at Beirut's future when meeting up with a group of young Arabic hip hop artists, who are eager to live in peace and put the country's political troubles in the past.

The Fall of the I-Hotel brings to life the battle for housing in San Francisco. The brutal eviction of the International Hotel's tenants culminated a decade of spirited resistance to the razing of Manilatown. The Fall of the I-Hotel works on several levels. It not only documents the struggle to save the I-Hotel, but also gives an overview of Filipino American history.

In this ultimate guide to Scandinavia travelers Megan McCormick, Ian Wright and Neil Gibson explore Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Lapland, Finland and the Baltic States. From enjoying a traditional Viking festival to crossing the Arctic Circle into Lapland for dinner with reindeer herders to a visit to the capital of Lithuania, Vilinus, and the Midsummer Night Festival in Kernave, these hosts will introduce the viewer to a variety of sites and attractions during their Scandinavian tour.

Completely topless. Completely uninhibited. The craze that began in San Francisco is now exploding across the USA and Europe.

When Tomoko finds some messages for a 'Mr Smith' on a lost mobile phone, she finds herself on an 'Alice in Wonderland' journey through Tokyo's boulevards and back alleys. From the tyranny of symmetry in soaring office blocks - to buildings that look like space-ships, this creative documentary shows us the city's soul.

Nearing the end of his life, Adolph Gasser looks back on a seventy-year career as a world-class camera repairman, WWII veteran, inventor, and best friend of nature photographer Ansel Adams, contributing developer of the first Nikon camera and a sales/rental/camera repair store owner who empowered other prominent Bay Area visual artists and inventors to succeed. As eminent domain, the internet and changing technologies threaten everything he has built, he struggles to find a way to keep moving forward. Inspired by his unique stories and abilities, filmmaker and professor John C. Aliano follows him over the course of several years and reflects on his own career trajectory.

A homeless musician finds meaning in his life when he starts a friendship with dozens of parrots.

This Traveltalk series short visits the State of Virginia. In 1947, agriculture was the mainstay of the economy. Tobacco, molasses from cane and peanuts were the agricultural mainstays. The State capitol, Richmond, can boast the oldest legislature in the Western Hemisphere. There are many attractions including old caverns with beautiful rock displays.

A woman narrates the thoughts of a world traveler, meditations on time and memory expressed in words and images from places as far-flung as Japan, Guinea-Bissau, Iceland, and San Francisco.