New Non-Fiction Films on DVD

Don’t forget to check out our non-fiction DVD collection located in the reference area. Here are a few of the recent additions to this collection.


Niagara Falls. Niagara Falls is the story of an extraordinary ecosystem larger than the state of Texas, and more precious than oil. The heartbeat of this remarkable water world is Niagara Falls. Through the eyes of passionate scientists and naturalists, we uncover a complex world forged by stone and powered by water. In this realm, tiny shrews hunt in freezing-cold rivers, spectacular shorebird migration unfolds over thundering falls, snowy owls stalk their prey from ice flows, and prehistoric snapping turtles brave a perilous overland journey. All these creatures and many more are part of a remarkable narrative unfolding in one of the most unique ecosystems in North America-Niagara.


Elevate Your Everyday Cooking With Curtis Stone. With Elevate Your Everyday Cooking with Curtis Stone, you’ll finally gain the confidence you need to cook restaurant-quality dishes at home. Filmed on-location in Curtis’s indoor and outdoor kitchens, these eye-opening and mouth-watering lessons are packed with techniques, tips, tricks, and insights that will transform the way you approach seafood, veggies, chicken, and more.

 


Through the Mirror of Chess:a Cultural Exploration. A captivating 4-part series examining the remarkable impact of chess on culture, art, science and sport. Take an exhilarating journey across a wide range of times and places touching on cultural history, chess variants, art, literature, AI, psychology, gender issues, education, social empowerment, prison reform, and more to find out what makes the game so unique. The films offer an experience of cinematic storytelling at its best with an engaging narrative and exciting visuals.


 

River. An exploration of the timeless relationship between human civilization and Earth’s rivers. Spanning six continents, this visual and musical tour-de-force is by turns celebratory, cautionary, and ultimately hopeful that we are beginning to understand rivers in all their complexity and fragility. Narrated by Oscar Nominee Willem Dafoe.

 


James Hemings: Ghost in America’s Kitchen. Explores the life and legacy of James Hemings (1765-1801), born into slavery, trained as a chef in Paris to become Thomas Jefferson’s personal chef at Monticello as well as a little-known progenitor of the American tradition of fine cuisine.

 


Filmmakers for the Prosecution. “Filmmakers for the prosecution” recounts, 75 years later, Budd and Stuart Schulberg’s search for the Nazis’ own footage and records to be used as evidence in the Nuremberg Trial of Major German War Criminals, 1945-1946, and the subsequent intentional loss of the compilation, featuring interviews and new footage.

 


Hidden Volcano Abyss. Examines the 2022 volcanic eruptions on the Pacific islands of Tonga, some of the most powerful in recorded history, which sent shockwaves around the world and unleashed a tsunami on Tonga’s shores. Looks at the resonse of Tonga’s emergeny management organization to this cataclysmic event as a model for the world.

 


Little Richard: I Am Everything. Archival footage, performances, and interviews document the life of Little Richard.

New Documentary DVDS

New Documentary DVDS

Consider adding a documentary to your DVD viewing queue; here are some of the recent additions to our nonfiction DVD collection.


Cover ImageHonk. The power of love shines in this heartwarming tale of friendship and inspiration between an unlikely duo. Cheryl inadvertently befriends a mourning goose, Honk, while recycling in the local park. As the budding friendship blossoms and Cheryl seeks Honk a new home, he becomes a viral sensation capturing the hearts and minds of millions.


Cover ImageSo Late So Soon. Half a century into their marriage, Chicago artists Jackie and Don Seiden approach the fragility of their elderly lives in their own distinct ways. Jackie, notorious for her unbounded energy, is constantly on the move, inspired to create works of art while also maintaining the couple’s multistory, brightly-painted Victorian house. Don steadily sketches in his notebook while facing alarming interruptions to his health. Director Daniel Hymanson filmed the Seidens, on-and-off for five years, capturing the hardships of aging as well as a view into enduring companionship, in this charming character study.


Cover ImageBehind the Stage Door. Explores the life and work of Pittsburgh concert promoter Rich Engler, one of the top concert promoters in the United States.

 


Cover ImageExposing Muybridge. Examines the life and work of groundbreaking 19th century photographer Eadweard Muybridge, best known for his studies of humans and animal locomotion.


Cover ImageFrom Where They Stood. At Auschwitz and a few other Nazi death camps, a small number of prisoners managed to take photographs of life inside. Using the surviving photographs as evidence, director Christophe Cognet pieces together the stories of the brave men and women who took them.


Cover ImageMaking Black America Through the Grapevine. The four-part series hosted by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., chronicles the vast social networks and organizations created by and for Black people beyond the reach of the “White gaze.” The series recounts the establishment of the Prince Hall Masons in 1775 through the formation of all-Black towns and business districts, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, destinations for leisure, and the social media phenomenon of Black Twitter. Professor Gates sits with noted scholars, politicians, cultural leaders, and old friends to discuss this world behind the color line and what it looks like today. It takes viewers into an extraordinary world that showcased Black people’s ability to collectively prosper, defy white supremacy and define Blackness in ways that transformed America itself.


Cover ImageMuseum Town. Tells the story of a unique museum, the small town it calls home, and the great risk, hope, and power of art to transform a desolate post-industrial city. MASS MoCA is the largest museum for contemporary art in the world, but just three decades before, its vast brick buildings were the abandoned relics of a massive shuttered factory. Threaded with interviews of a diverse cast, a tattooed curator, a fabricator, former factory worker, and shopkeepers, the film also looks at the artistic process itself, tracking the work and ideas of celebrated artist Nick Cave as he creates his groundbreaking installation at MASS MoCA, UNTIL. With appearances by artists ranging from James Turrell to David Byrne, narration by Meryl Streep, and a soundtrack from John Stirratt of Wilco, the film captures the meeting of small-town USA and the global art world as it tells a tale that is, like any great artwork, soulful, thought-provoking and unforgettable.


Cover ImageHarriet Tubman Visions of Freedom. Harriet Tubman: Visions of Freedom is a rich and nuanced portrait of the woman known as a conductor of the Underground Railroad, who repeatedly risked her life and freedom to liberate others from slavery.

 


Cover ImageHiding in Plain Sight Youth Mental Illness. A two-part, four-hour documentary that explores America’s youth mental health crisis through the eyes of more than twenty young people, who speak about their lived experience with mental health challenges, from depression to addiction to suicide ideation. Includes Spanish SDH subtitles.

Remembering Her Majesty The Queen

Remembering Her Majesty The Queen

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II (April 21, 1926 – September 8, 2022) was the longest-reigning Monarch in British history. Discover more about her life, family, and impact on the world with these titles.


Biographies & Non-Fiction

Cover ImageThe last queen : Elizabeth II’s seventy year battle to save the House of Windsor
by Clive Irving

B ELIZABETH II 2021

 

 

Cover Image Queen of our times : the life of Queen Elizabeth II
by Robert Hardman

B ELIZABETH II 2022

 

 

Cover Image Our rainbow queen : a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and her colorful wardrobe
by Sali Hughes

746.92 HUG 2019

 

 

Cover ImageQueen of the world
by Robert Hardman

B ELIZABETH II 2019

 

 

Cover ImageYoung Elizabeth : the making of the Queen
by Kate Williams

B ELIZABETH II 2015

 

 

Cover ImageMonarch : the life and reign of Elizabeth II
by Robert Lacey

B ELIZABETH II 2002

 

 

Cover ImagePhilip & Elizabeth : portrait of a royal marriage
by Gyles Daubeney Brandreth

923.1 BRA 2005

 

 

Cover ImageGame of crowns : Elizabeth, Camilla, Kate, and the throne
by Christopher P. Andersen

941.085 AND 2016

 

 

Cover ImageThe crown : the official companion
by Robert Lacey

941.085 LAC 2017 v.1

 

 


Documentary DVDs

Cover Image Queen Elizabeth II

DVD B ELIZABETH II 2015

 

 

Cover ImageThe Queen’s palaces

DVD 728.82 QUE 2012

 

 

 


Fiction

Cover ImageThe royal governess : a novel of Queen Elizabeth II’s childhood
by Wendy Holden

F HOL

 

 

Cover ImageThe queen’s secret : a novel of England’s World War II queen
by Karen Harper

F HAR

 

 

Cover ImageThe gown : a novel of the royal wedding
by Jennifer Robson

F ROB

 

 

Cover ImageThe crown. The complete first season

DVD CRO SEA.1

Celebrate Pinot Grigio Day!

Everyone knows that May 17th is Pinot Grigio Day…right?  A national holiday that is celebrated by wine enthusiasts every May. Here are a few titles from our collection that pair well with a bottle of white.

pinot grigio

 

Nonfiction Books

24-hour wine expert

The 24-hour wine expert

by Jancis Robinson

In her pithy, approachable, comprehensive guide, Robinson shares her expertise with authority, wit, and approachability, tackling questions such as how to select the right bottle at retail, what wine labels signify, how to understand the properties of color and aroma, and how to match food and wine.

 

 

 


 

Wine Girl

by Victoria James

At just twenty-one, the age when most people are starting to drink (well, legally at least), Victoria James became the country’s youngest sommelier at a Michelin-starred restaurant.

 

 

 


 

Shadows in the Vineyard

by Maximillian Potter

Journalist Maximillian Potter uncovers a fascinating plot to destroy the vines of La Romance-Conti, Burgundy’s finest and most expensive wine.

 

 

 


Fiction Books

 

Decanting a Murder

by Nadine Nettmann

Katie Stillwell focuses on two things in her life: work and practicing for Sommelier Certification with her blind tasting group. The exam was supposed to be the hardest part of her week, but that was before a body was found at an exclusive Napa Valley winery party.

 

 


The Illuminated Vineyard

by Jean Moynahan

The Illuminated Vineyard explores what occurs when unresolved conflicts from the past not only haunt the present but threaten to destroy it.

 


Movies/Documentaries

Somm

Follows four candidates as they prepare for the Master Sommelier exam, which covers every aspect of the presentation and appreciation of wine.

 

 

 

 

 


A Year in Burgundy

Follows seven wine-making families in France’s Burgundy region through the course of a year. Examines the processes of making wine. Shows the centrality of the wine to the culture of the region.

 

 

 

 


 

Bottle Shock

Napa Valley, 1976. For connoisseur Steven Spurrier, there is no finer art than French wine. But rumors bandy about of a new California wine country that holds the future of the vine. Positive the small Napa wineries are no match for established French vintages, Spurrier challenges the Americans to a blind taste test. He finds the valley full of ambitious, and talented, novice vinters like Jim Barrett and his son Bo. He realizes his publicity stunt may change the history of wine forever.

 

 

 


 

Sideways

A wine-tasting road trip through California’s famed Central Coast takes an unexpected detour as Miles and Jack hit the gas en route to their mid-life crises. The comically mismatched pair soon find themselves drowning in wine, women and laughter.

 

Blair Recommends: DVDs

Blair Recommends: DVDs

Sewickley Public Library staff member, Blair, has great recommendations! Whether it’s books she’s personally read, movies she’s watched, or rave reviews she’s noted from patrons – she collects lists of both popular and underrated materials you may have not yet checked out. We’re featuring these titles in a new series we’re calling “Blair Recommends.”  Up first: DVDs!


Foreign

Cover ImageAsh is the Purest White [2018]

In an industrial city in China, a young dancer named Qiao falls in love with a mobster named Bin. When a fight breaks out between rival gangs, Qiao uses a gun to protect Bin and is sent to prison for five years. When she is released, she seeks Qiao out to renew their relationship.

 


English Language

Cover ImageThe Public [2018]

An act of civil disobedience turns into a standoff with police when homeless people in Cincinnati take over the public library to seek shelter from the bitter cold.

 

 


Documentary

Cover ImageKen Burns American Lives

This collection presents seven episodes of Burns’ American Lives series, which delves into the biographies of historical figures whose accomplishments helped shape the fabric of America: Thomas Jefferson (1996), Lewis And Clark: The Journey of the Corps Of Discovery (1997), Frank Lloyd Wright (1998), Not For Ourselves Alone: The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony (1999), Mark Twain (2001), Horatio’s Drive: America’s First Road Trip (2003), and Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise And Fall Of Jack Johnson (2004).

 


Cover ImageHondros [2017]

Photojournalist, Chris Hondros, sought to reconcile peerless beauty with unfathomable atrocity, and Greg Campbell’s film follows suit. Hondros covered every major world event from behind the scenes since the late 1990s. Greg Campbell’s documentary tells the untold stories of many of Hondros’s most iconic photographs.

 


Cover ImageLast Men in Aleppo [2015]

The year is 2015. Syria’s brutal civil war has been ravaging the country since the government responded with force to civil protests during the Arab Spring in 2011. Regime, Kurdish, ISIS and rebel forces all occupy various parts of the city of Aleppo in northwestern Syria. A volunteer group called the White Helmets provides emergency services to traumatized residents in the rebel-occupied areas of the city. A crucial part of their efforts is rescuing survivors: After air attacks reduce buildings to rubble, the men of the White Helmets dig through the debris and pull survivors to safety. They are nothing short of heroes. The White Helmets are the subject of Last Men in Aleppo, the searing documentary directed by Feras Fayyad that won the World Documentary Grand Jury Prize at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival.


Cover ImageThe Nightmare [2015]

What is so striking is the similarity of the stories. People describe lying in bed, awake, unable to move. There is a tingling sensation, like static, like nerve endings shorting out from overuse. People describe a feeling that something is approaching, from behind them, or towards them. Along with that approach comes an overwhelming sense of evil. Dark amorphous shadow figures appear, somewhat human-like, leaning over the person lying in bed, appearing at the door frame. Sometimes the dark figure wears a hat. Something terrible is going to happen and the person is unable to move or to react. This is the experience commonly known as “sleep paralysis” and is the subject of Rodney Ascher’s engaging horror-film-like documentary, “The Nightmare.”

LGBTQ+ Movies

LGBTQ+ Movies from Kanopy & Hoopla

Kanopy, the library’s newest streaming service, offers a wide variety LGBTQ+ themed feature films and documentaries including:

The surprise Oscar winner for Best Picture (2016), Moonlight  is a multi layered coming-of-age story, depicting the struggle of growing up black, gay, impoverished, and living with addiction. Tender, lyrical and raw, the movie portrays three chapters in a young black man’s life as he comes to terms with where he came from and who he is.

The Miseducation of Cameron Post tells the story of a young woman who is sent to gay conversion therapy center by her conservative guardians. Although subjected to dubious therapies there, she also finds a community of people like her. Based on the popular novel by Emily M Danforth, and winner of the U.S. Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival in 2018.

Wise Kids follows three childhood friends during the transitional summer after high school graduation. While preparing for their Baptist church’s passion play, one deals with a crisis of faith, another coming to terms with his sexuality, and the last with the fact her friends may make different choices than she expected.

Longtime partners Stella and Dot make a run to Canada to get married after Dot’s granddaughter places her in a nursing home due to her declining health. Along the way, the pair picks up a hitchhiker heading home to see his dying mother. Cloudburst poignantly explores the themes of aging and marriage equality with humor and grace.

A gay couple takes over the care of a teenage boy with Down’s Syndrome in the 1970s and provides a loving home. However, when authorities become aware of the situation, they are forced to prove to a biased system that they are fit custodians. Based on a true story, Any Day Now asks compelling questions about the true nature of love and family.

Vito is a compelling portrayal of prominent gay rights activist Vito Russo from the time of the Stonewall Riots in 1969 until his death from AIDS in 1990. Russo’s book The Celluloid Closet revealed that the way gay people were depicted in film exacerbated society’s biases against them. With archival footage and interviews, this documentary provides a history of gay rights in America during that time period.

Unlike much of the Western World, Russia has made few steps toward gay equality. Documentary Campaign of Hate shows the threats, verbal abuse, and violence that the Russian LGBTQ population endures. The passing of the 2013 “Gay Propaganda” law legitimizes the bias towards this community, and the film makes the case that the government does so for its own political gain.

Hoopla also offers movies and documentaries with LGBTQ+ themes, such as:

Charlize Theron won an Oscar for her portrayal of real life serial killer Aileen Wuornos in the docudrama Monster. The survivor of an abusive childhood, Aileen prostitutes herself to pay the bills for herself and her girlfriend. After killing a client in self defense, she finds that she has a taste for it.

Approximately 1% of the U.S. population identifies as asexual, or experiencing no sexual attraction. The documentary A(sexual) explores this unique sexual orientation, using interviews with researchers as well as people who identify as asexual.

In Other People, David has broken up with his boyfriend and his career isn’t going well, but he doesn’t want to burden his mother with the sad tale since she’s got an even bigger problem: terminal cancer.

The Freedom to Marry documentary focuses on the movement to make same-sex marriage the law of the land. It reveals the history of the movement and profiles key leaders as they present their case to the Supreme Court.

Being black, poor, and gay can be risky in more ways than one, so the young people in Check It banded together to form their own gang in inner-city Washington, DC. This documentary highlights the lives of several gang members as they try their hands at an unlikely way out of gang life: fashion.

With changing societal norms and advances in medicine, it has become possible to transition genders at a younger age. The documentary Growing up Trans reveals the struggles and choices that several young people and their families face as they do so.

Hidden Gems: Spectacular Documentaries in the Library Collection

The non-fiction film collection at the Sewickley Public Library is easy to miss, mostly because the DVD’s are shelved in the reference area with the rest of the library’s non-fiction, separate from the location for television and movies. Next time you visit us at the library, take a peek at our non-fiction DVD’s and see if there’s anything that catches your eye. If you’d like some suggestions, here are some exemplary documentaries available in the Sewickley Public Library collection.

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Staff Picks: Best of 2018

As 2018 comes to a close, we wanted to look back on the great books and films that were released this year. Many big news sources like GQ, The Washington Post, and Publisher’s Weekly have announced their picks for the best of 2018, but how do these lists measure up to the favorites of our staff? Here are some of the Sewickley Library staff’s favorite books and movies from 2018!

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New DVDs – July 2015

New Feature-Length Films, Foreign Films, and Classics

5 flights up
American sniperas
Blaze
Cut Bank
The last metro
Druid peak
Ex machina
Focus
Get hard
Goonies
Jupiter ascending
Jurassic Park ultimate trilogy
Kill me three times
King of hearts
Last knights
Longest ride
Maggie
Mr. Turner
Paul Blart, mall cop 2
Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Seeds of yesterday
Shoot the piano player
Stand up guys
The discreet charm of the bourgeoisie
While we’re young
Woman in gold
Yesterday, today and tomorrow

New Television Series

Bitten
House of cards. The complete third season
Incredible journey of Mary Bryant
Mystery science theater 3000 XXXIII.
The office. Season four
Witches of East End. Season 2.

New Non-Fiction DVDs

History of Christian theology
Masters of photography: learn photography from 12 National Geographi masters.
Maya to Aztec: ancient Mesoamerica revealed.
Moms Mabley