Docuseek Student Picks, Part 1
Summer is here! It’s the perfect time to expand your worldview and gain fresh perspectives. Fortunately, the Leeward CC community has access to Docuseek, the premier resource for curious minds. But with more than 3,000 high-quality documentaries to choose from, how do you get started?
We consulted with members of our most important campus community: our students! Please enjoy these film recommendations, personally selected and summarized by our awesome library student assistants.
Kianna’s Picks
Take a trip through the history of the Olympics to learn about the women athletes whose achievements were lost to rigid gender stereotypes during their time. This short film highlights game-changing competitors that were never taken seriously simply due to their gender. The discrimination and scrutiny faced by women in the past persists into the modern world of athletics, additionally impacting women of color and the LGBTQ+ community.
Follow filmmaker Martina Radwan’s touching six year journey, as she guides and mentors three Mongolian children, Baaskaa, Baani, and Nasaa, through their youth in an emotional documentary. From orphans living on the street and being forced into child labor, Martina was the one person who stayed to help equip these kids with skills, education, and values so they could have a chance at success and survival in their merciless world.
Nadia’s Picks
In the first episode of The Perfect Meal series, we dive into the health risks associated with the Western diet and explore the benefits of embracing a Mediterranean way of eating. Through vivid storytelling and expert insights, this episode unveils the impact of highly processed foods and contrasts them with the wholesome, nutrient-rich meals of the Mediterranean. Discover why this age-old diet could be the key to healthier living in a world increasingly overwhelmed by unhealthy food choices.
In this short film, Adonis, the director explores the underground world of bodybuilding, shedding light on the impact of steroid use and the unhealthy body image that dominates modern society. The story follows a group of young men as they navigate their journeys with fitness, self-esteem, and peer pressure. As they delve deeper into the world of extreme bodybuilding, the film emphasizes the physical and psychological consequences of their choices, particularly focusing on how societal expectations and toxic masculinity drive them toward dangerous solutions for self-improvement. The director’s aim is to raise awareness of the harmful effects of steroid use and the societal pressures that contribute to male body insecurities.
Gabby’s Picks
This 93-minute documentary looks into the US housing crisis with its racial inequality and classism. The film interviews those who have experienced being houseless and their feelings on the housing crisis along with their own individual experiences. They share their stories on the hardships and how they can advocate within their own community through this crisis. The film features groups that advocate for affordable housing, one of them being Moms4housing which is an activist group created by three formerly homeless Black women that advocate for housing rights. The film talks about the importance of finding solutions and working together to solve this crisis so that others do not have to go through this forever. The film also emphasizes the history of how people of color and ex-convicts face the brunt of the housing crisis and continue to do so affecting every aspect of their lives.
This 28-minute documentary relates a women’s perspective on abortion from a liberation point of view. The women interviewed in this video reveal their experiences with abortion in America during the time in which it was still illegal to obtain one safely, before the Supreme Court decision of 1973 which made it legal. This first-hand perspective on abortion from the women who got one is the first account made in a documentary in support of abortion rights for women in the US. It gives insight into how the women felt, their headspace when pregnant, and their abortion stories. The video also includes the forced sterilization stories of women of color in a time where the discrimination and genocide of people of color in many areas of the US happened through sterilization. These are their intersectional stories to tell and the inequality of it which all comes down to women being allowed to have the choice.
Many thanks to Kianna, Nadia and Gabby for their summaries. More to come!
As a reminder, our electronic resources are available to all current Leeward CC faculty, staff and students. When accessing our resources from off campus, you may be prompted to log in with your UH credentials first. If you have any questions, please reach out to our friendly librarians at lccref@hawaii.edu.
