Media Education Foundation (Firm)

While the social construction of femininity has been widely examined, the dominant role of masculinity has until recently remained largely invisible. Tough Guise is the first educational video to systematically examine the relationship between pop-cultural imagery and the social construction of masculine identities in the U.S. at the dawn of the 21st century. In this innovative and wide-ranging analysis, Jackson Katz argues that widespread violence...

After assembling mock assault rifles out of everyday found objects, sculptor David Hess decides to turn them into an experimental public art installation to explore America’s obsession with guns. The fruits of that mission comprise the story of Gun Show, a fascinating and deeply moving documentary that steers clear of advocating a position and instead invites meaningful dialogue about the cultural power of guns. Beginning in Hess’s sculpture studio,...

The Divide takes a deeply personal look at wealth inequality, telling the story of seven individuals striving for a better life in the modern day U.S. and U.K. -- where the top 0.1% owns as much wealth as the bottom 90%. There's Wall Street psychologist Alden, who wants to make it to the top 1%; KFC worker Leah from Virginia, who just wants to make it through the day; and Jen in Sacramento, California, who doesn't talk to her neighbors in her upscale...

Broken Trust takes an unflinching look at the secret world of sexual and emotional abuse experienced by athletes. Moving beyond attention-grabbing headlines, the film draws on courageous first-hand testimonies from Olympic and national-class athletes and coaches to reveal how victims in the sports world are often isolated and ostracized for speaking out, how parents are pressured to keep silent when confronted by abusive coaches, and how more and...

An award-winning documentary play that explores one of the most contentious periods in American political history. Filmed live on stage, THE DRAFT tells the story of the Vietnam War era through the real-life stories of 10 young Americans — eight men and two women — whose lives were shaped and forever changed by the military draft. Dramatically enhanced by archival photos, film Filmclips, and music, the play chronicles the choices these ten individuals...

Pride Denied tells the story of how corporate sponsors coopted the concept of LGBTQ pride, turning it into a feel-good brand and blunting its radical political edge. The film locates the origins of pride in sites of grassroots resistance and revolt, going back to the anti-police Stonewall uprising led by queer and trans people of color in 1969. It then traces how the deeply political roots of pride morphed into the depoliticized big-business PRIDE™...

In this recently discovered, newly restored video of one of Stuart Hall’s most famous lectures, Hall speaks with dazzling precision about the responsibilities of intellectuals and educators in the face of undemocratic structures of power, injustice, racism, and inequality, and lays out in the clearest possible terms a theoretical framework for dissecting and resisting authoritarian thinking without lapsing into reductive ideological simplifications....

Celebrated author and Nation magazine sports editor Dave Zirin tackles the myth that the NFL was somehow free of politics before Colin Kaepernick and other Black NFL players took a knee. BEHIND THE SHIELD digs deep into the history of the league, and navigates a stunning excavation of decades of archival footage and news media. Zirin traces how the NFL, under the guise of “sticking to sports,” has promoted wars, militarism, and nationalism; glorified...

As nations around the globe attempt to fight sex trafficking, many consider legalizing prostitution. Two filmmakers travel across ten countries to explore the issue, attempting to answer the question: “How can we prevent sexual exploitation before it happens in the first place?” Though governments are getting better at prosecuting traffickers and providing aftercare to victims, it is time we begin to ask the question of what lies at the root.

OVER 18 is a clear-eyed examination of modern pornography and its effects on kids, teens, parents, and porn stars. In addition to interviews with porn producers, ex-porn stars, and academics, filmmakers Jared and Michelle Brock highlight the story of Joseph, a 13-year-old boy who is recovering from a porn addiction that he fell into when he was nine years old.. OVER 18 compares the porn of the magazine era with what it has become in the age of the...