Ocean State Libraries

Mississippi during the 1960s: Skeeter, a southern society girl, returns from college determined to become a writer, but turns her friends' lives, and a small Mississippi town, upside down when she decides to interview the black women who have spent their lives taking care of prominent southern families. Aibileen, Skeeter's best friend's housekeeper, is the first to open up, to the dismay of her friends in the tight-knit black community.

The story of a grandfather who is suddenly left to care for his beloved granddaughter, but when her paternal grandmother seeks custody with the help of her brother, the little girl is torn between two families who love her deeply. With the best intentions at heart, both families fight for what they feel is right and are soon forced to confront their true feelings about race, forgiveness, and understanding.

When an 11-year-old girl goes missing in Los Angeles, a chain of events is unleashed that will affect several strangers all struggling to find their own paths to redemption.

The story of a young conservative Christian woman who is truly tested by God and gives birth to a child conceived in rape. This decision leads her on a journey that forces her to explore and redefine her relationships with God, her family, friends and even her rapist as she struggles to forgive the man who violated her by boldly visiting him in prison and forging and unlikely bond.

An Egyptian woman feels torn between what society expects of her and what she wants to do. Her inner conflicts are exacerbated by her troubled relationship with her husband, her admiration for her politically-active professor, and psychological distress due to being circumcised as a little girl.

"Richard Gere delivers a soul-baring performance as George, a man whose struggle to find food and a place to sleep in New York City is beautifully captured with remarkable realism and heartrending compassion. Shuffled into the unforgiving bureaucracy of a men's shelter, George seems destined to wind up as just another lost soul swallowed up by the system, until he meets a gregarious, down-and-out ex-jazzman who inspires George to reconnect with his...

"Examines the problem of child migrant farm labor in the United States. Follows three children who travel from Texas to Michigan to Florida, working in the fields and apple orchards." --

"Gun violence is a growing problem among teens in America. One of the most frightening trends over the last several years has been the rise of gun-related violence at school. A number of reasons have been cited for the emergence of this disturbing phenomenon. Some of these include the widespread availability of guns, escalating levels of violence in video games and media violence, and rising levels of teen alienation and rage. The program discusses...

A farmworker sneaks across the border from Mexico into California in an effort to make money to send to his family back home. It is a story that happens every day, told here in an uncompromising, groundbreaking work of realism from American independent filmmaker Robert M. Young. Vivid and spare where other films about illegal immigration might sentimentalize, Young's take on the subject is equal parts intimate character study and gripping road movie,...

Technological advancement, economic development, population increase - are they signs of a thriving society, or too much of a good thing? Executive produced by Martin Scorsese, 'Surviving Progress' is a provocative documentary that explores the concept of progress in the modern world, guiding through the major 'progress traps' facing civilization in the arenas of technology, economics, consumption, and the environment.