ITEMS DVD Descriptions


Comedy Middle Eastern Style
ISO DVD0404

The Middle East is a region filled with contradictions and is often thought of as a place of chaos and war. Mainstream media insists on reporting only the turmoil, pandemonium, and bloodshed, but rarely presents the true sentiments of the majority of the people, who live their daily lives longing for peace. In Comedy Middle Eastern Style, with a mix of humor and candid interviews, Middle Eastern standup comics living in New York share their views on political issues and the prejudice they've had to endure since September 11, 2001. Arab, Israeli, Pakistani, and Iranian comics are among the many on stage in a given night telling their stories and trying to make sense of the complicated world they came from. This documentary looks at the power humor has to heal the wounds of war, and perhaps allow each of us to understand one another a littler better. DVD/color/56 minutes


Blood and Tears
ISO DVD0467

Like an open wound that will not heal, the Arab-Isralei conflict refuses to be resolved. Blood and Tears uncovers the truth beneath the hype and the headlines. Filmmaker Isidore Rosmarin and his team of Middle East experts have gone right to the source: the ministers and mullahs, the fanatics and peaceniks, the soldiers and terroists, and the ordinary families battling extraordinary forces as they try to live a normal life. Top officials from both sides are interviewed, from former Israeli Prime Ministers to senior Palestinian officials to the leaders of the militant extremist group Hamas. Blood and tears explores the origin of the confrontation iteself, and challenges many of the most deep-rooted myths we all hold about this epicenter of human conflict. DOCUMENTARY. 74 mins.


China from the Inside
ISO DVD0281

China is rapidly becoming a world power, but much of the country and its people remain hidden to those outside its borders. China From The Inside includes visits to temples in Tibet, border areas of Muslim Xinjiang, Communist Party meetings, a village election, court rooms, newspaper offices, a women's labor camp, and a country wedding. From these domains, viewers observe the difficulties of navigating politics and culture in this vast country. In only four hours, viewers will be able to discern a China that few outside the country ever glimpse, a country of 1.3 billion people undergoing extraordinary growth while facing prodigious obstacles. 4 hours appox./Color/DVD/English/Not Rated


Israel: A Nation is Born
ISO DVD0402

ISRAEL: A Nation is Born is a five=part video series presented by former Israeli Foreign Minister Abba Eban. It chronicles his recollections of, and his part in, the creation of the state of Israel. The series tells the story of the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, the subsequent conflicts, including the 1967 Six Day War and the 1973 Yom Kippur War; the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty; and the events of the last decade. Part one portrays the rise of Zionism and President Truman's mounting pressure for a Jewish State. Part two inlcudes the proclamation of Israeli Statehood on May 14, 1948 and follows the invastion of the newborn State by its Arab neighbors, and the development of the STate of Israel in the early 1950's. Part three Abba Eban explains how Israel ended its isolation, culminating in the conbined Anglo-French-Israeli Sinai Campaign of 1956 and his personal involvement in bring Adolf Eichmann to trial in Israel. Part four starts with events surround the Six Day War of 1967. Eban leads diplomatic efforts at the United Nations resulting in resolution 242. Part five opens with the 1973 surprise attack by Egypt and Syria also known as the Youm Kippur War. Abba EBan describes his personal communications with King Hussein and other Arab leaders and outlines the beginning of a new peace process through the Madrid Conference and beyond. DVD/Each disc = 55 minutes