24 Aug Check Out These New Documentaries!
The library has recently added some great documentaries to both our digital and physical collections. Be sure to sign up for the weekly newsletter, Wowbrary, and receive an email each Saturday morning with a complete list of our latest additions.
Here are some documentary recommendations from our library staff:
Hal is a tribute to the late film director Hal Ashby. He is known for editing or directing several Oscar®-winning classics throughout the 1970s and 1980s, including In the Heat of the Night, Harold and Maude, and Being There. This documentary features familiar Hollywood faces and very entertaining insights into Ashby’s filmmaking process and style. Want a say in the next Oscar® winner? Join us next month at the MANHATTAN Short Film Festival to cast your vote for Best Film Short and Best Actor. The library will hold three festival screenings: Thursday, September 26, at 6 p.m., Sunday, September 29, at 2 p.m., and Thursday, October 3, at 2 p.m.
Beers of Joy follows four people from different aspects of the craft beer industry: two Advanced Cicerones (the Sommelier of the beer world) attempting to pass the Master Cicerone exam; one, a celebrated beer chef who ventures to Fort Wayne, Indiana to study the history of cooking with beer; and finally, an internationally acclaimed brewer who travels throughout Europe learning from monasteries and ancient breweries that have been producing for centuries. If you’re a fan of Craft Beer, make sure to sign up for the Microbrew Beer Tasting on Saturday, October 5, at 2 p.m. Anita Johnson of Great Fermentations will discuss the history of German Beer and samples will be available.
NANA is a moving documentary by filmmaker Serena Dykman, who retraces her grandmother’s experience as an Auschwitz prisoner and Dr. Mengele’s (aka The Angel of Death’s) translator. Maryla Michalowski-Dyamant spent her post-war life traveling and speaking publicly about her survival in one of the deadliest Nazi concentration camps. Interested in your own family’s heritage? Stop by our Indiana and Local History Department, and our expert staff will assist you with several resources, including Ancestry Library Edition or Find My Past (both accessible only from inside the library). There are several upcoming genealogy programs, including Family History Hounds Genealogy Group: Family Heirlooms & Family Narrative on Thursday, September 5, at 1 p.m.
Finally, don’t forget about all of the streaming options available with your library card. Download the Kanopy app onto your Roku, Chromecast, Apple TV, Android or Apple Device, or SmartTV, create an account with your library card, and then browse the extensive collection of documentaries, Criterion Collection films, Great Courses, and more. One of the newest available films features our neighbors in Morgan County. Monrovia is a PBS documentary that beautifully captures the day-to-day experiences of living and working in this nearby farming community. You may recognize some places and faces!
