Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick?

Sounds the alarm about the extent of our alarming socio-economic and racial inequities in health--and searches for their root causes. But those causes are not what we might expect ... It turns out there's much more to our health than bad habits, health care or unlucky genes. The social conditions in which we are born, live and work profoundly affect our well-being and longevity. Program notes including contents of episodes ([8] p. : ill.) in container. Introduction -- In sickness and in wealth (56 min.) -- When the bough breaks (29 min.) -- Becoming American (29 min.) -- Bad sugar (29 min.) -- Place matters (29 min.) -- Collateral damage (29 min.) -- Not just a paycheck (30 min.). Series executive producer, Larry Adelman. c2008. 236 min.

• View this video online (UC users only)
  

  • Part I: Introduction -- In sickness and in wealth (56 min.)
  • Part II: When the bough breaks (29 min.)
  • Part III: Becoming American (29 min.)
  • Part IV: Bad sugar (29 min.)
  • Part V: Place matters (29 min.)
  • Part VI: Collateral damage (29 min.)
  • Part VII: Not just a paycheck (30 min.)

• Description from California Newsreel catalog

Requires Windows Media Player or Flip4Mac

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The Media Resources Center (Moffitt Library) is very pleased and excited to announce that we have recently licensed and digitized 13 plays from the redoubtable BBC Shakespeare Library (As You Like It; Comedy of Errors; Hamlet; Julius Caesar; Macbeth; A Midsummer Night's Dream; Much Ado About Nothing; Othello; Richard III; Romeo and Juliet; Taming of the Shrew; The Tempest, Twelfth Night).

These plays can be viewed by UCB students, faculty, and staff (CalNet ID and password required). A listing of the plays, links to the videos, and technical requirements for viewing are posted at http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/bardonline.html

For background and a fuller description of these playes, SEE

Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_Television_Shakespeare

Bulman, James C. "The BBC Shakespeare and 'House Style'."
Shakespeare Quarterly, Vol. 35, No. 5, Special Issue: Teaching Shakespeare (1984), pp. 571-581
URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2870062

Jorgens, Jack. "The BBC-TV Shakespeare Series."
Shakespeare Quarterly, Vol. 30, No. 3 (Summer, 1979), pp. 411-415
URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2869478

Well, the world isn't completely going to hell in a hand-basket...there are definite bright spots out there. Early film fans and scholars, for example, have at least small reason to rejoice. The tremendous popularity of DVDs in general has tended to shed light on formerly obscure corners of the cinematic world, as well as the the blockbusters. The past several years have seen the release of wonderful and affordable sets of early film works--often dazzlingly restored. Some of the cooler stuff acquired by MRC is described below. (For a complete listing of MRC early film anthologies and fuller descriptions of the titles below, see http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/earlyfilm.html

Georges Méliès, First Wizard of Cinema

A collection of rare and rediscovered original films by Georges Méliès.
This disc contains films produced in 1899 including 9 films on the Dreyfus affair. Méliès, a successful magician, began investigating film as a medium of trickery in 1896. Through inventive optical effects and elaborate sets and props, he discovered how to make objects and people appear, disappear and grow larger and smaller. While best known for his fantastic tales, Melies also produced witty advertising films and re-stagings of actual events. DVD 9625

Méliès le cinemagicien ( Méliès the magician) (1898-1909)

Contents: Magic of Méliès (La magie Méliès, 130 min.): Documentary film about the life and work of film pioneer Georges Méliès including interviews with historians and witnesses. Uses archival footage, film excerpts and reconstructions to reveal the life, art, and unique techniques of the legendary film pioneer. Méliès' innovations, including special effects, hand-tinting, backdrops, and costumes, profoundly shaped the course of film history. Méliès magic show: 15 short films of George Méliès, introduced by his grandaughter in front of an audience. These are: -- Une seance Méliès= Méliès' magic show (55 min): Four troublesome heads (1898); Trip to the moon (1902); Infernal cakewalk (1903); Scheming gambler's paradise (1905); Music lover (1903); Infernal boiling pot (1903); Man with the rubber head (1901); Living playing cards (1904); Hilarious posters (1905); Devilish tenant (1909); Untameable whiskers (1904); Imperceptible transmutations (1904); Bluebeard (1901); Fat and lean wrestling match (1900); One-man band (1900). 185 minutes total running time. DVD 1044

Saved from the Flames DVD 9450

--Magical Movies: films by Georges Melies and others

--Seeing The World: traveloges and films of exotic places

--New Beginnings: Seven films including the early cinematic experiments of the Lumiere brothers, Georges Mendel and others

--Drawings and Models -- animations and other film experiments by the Fleischer Studios, Ub Iwerks, and others

--Grace Notes: Rare early musical performances by Django Reinhardt, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, and others

--Laughing Like We Used To -- early comedies from Pathe studios, Mack Sennett, and others

--Persuade Me -- political campaign films, propaganda, and other political films

--Tell Me a Story Features three shorts produced from 1912-1913 by D.W. Griffith (For His Son), Lois Weber (Suspense), and Thomas Ince (The Heart of an Indian).

Fantomas (1913-1914)

Directed by Louis Feuillade. Films from the silent serial crime saga with the evil Fantomas battling Inspector Juve. Based on novels by Pierre Souvestre and Marcel Allain. [Disc 1]. Fantomas (A l'ombre de la guillotine) (1913, 54 min.). Juve contre Fantomas (1913, 60 min.). Le mort qui tue (1913, 91 min.) -- [Disc 2]. Fantomas contre Fantomas (1914, 59 min.). Le faux magistrat (1914, 70 min.). Special features. Photography, Georges Guerin and Albert Sorgius. Cast: Rene Navarre, Edmond Breon, Georges Melchior, Renee Carl, Andre Luguet, Yvette Andreyor. Special features: Photo gallery, covers of the novels, sinister crime stories of the time, illustrated filmographies, a comparison of the original novels with the films, interviews with Marcel Allain, clips from the show "Pour le plaisir" (Rendez-vous avec Fantomas, created by Georges Franju, 1966) and "Bonnes adresses pour rever" (created by Roland Bernard, 1969). DVD 5868

Judex (1917)

Directed by Louis Feuillade. One of cinema's first 'superheroes,' the mysterious Judex in these early silent films is torn between an oath of justice against the wealthy banker Favraux, who had earlier wronged his family, and his secret love of Favraux's daughter, Jacqueline. This framework is the basis of a series of extraordinary and engaging incidents involving Judex's brother, the evil Diana Monti and her accomplices, the detective Cocatin, and the charming Licorice Kid. Disc 1: Prologue -- 1. The mysterious shadow -- 2. The atonement -- 3. The fantastic dog pack -- 4. The secret of the tomb -- 5. The tragic mill -- Disc 2: 6. The Liquorice Kid -- 7. The woman in black -- 8. The underground passages of the Chateau-Rouge -- 9. When the child appeared -- 10. Jacqueline's heart -- 11. The water goddess -- 12. Love's forgiveness. Features a newly recorded score by Robert Israel. Also included: The music of Judex, an 18 minute featurette in which Robert Israel discusses scoring Judex and an essay by film historian Jan-Christopher Horak. 315 min. DVD 6178

Les Vampires (1916)

Directed by Louis Feuillade. Cast: Musidora, Edouard Mathe, Marcel Levesque, Jean Ayme, Fernand Herrmann, Stacia Napierkowska. 1. The severed head -- 2. The ring that kills -- 3. The red code book -- 4. The spectre -- 5. Dead man's escape -- 6. Hypnotic eyes -- 7. Satanas -- 8. The thunder master -- 9. The poisoner -- 10. The terrible wedding. A legendary 7 hour silent crime serial in 10 episodes describing the achievements of Les Vampires, a secret society of criminals led by Irma Vep. The gang uses kidnapping, poisonous gas, heavy artillery, sexual domination and murder to gain power over the elite of Paris. Special features: Inserted essay: The public is my master, Louis Feuillade and Les Vampires by Fabrice Zagury; For the children: a comedy sketch by the cast and crew of Les Vampires to raise funds for the French war orphans. Directed by Louis Feuillade (1916, 3 min.); Bout-de-Zan and the shirker: a comedy that features the child actor, Bout-De-Zan, from episode 8 of Les Vampires. Directed by Louis Feuillade (1916, 8 min.) 399 min. DVD 285

The Jazz Singer(1927)

Directed by Alan Crosland. Cast: Al Jolson, Mary McAvoy, Warner Oland, William Demarest, Eugenie Besserer, Otto Lederer, Josef Rosenblatt. Jakie Rabinowitz is the son of a Jewish cantor. Turning his back on family tradition, Jakie transforms himself into cabaret-entertainer Jack Robin. When Jack comes home to visit his parents, he is warmly greeted by his mother, but is given the cold-shoulder by his father, who feels that Jack is a traitor to his heritage by singing jazz music. On the eve of his biggest show business triumph, Jack receives word that his father is dying. Out of respect, Jack foregoes his opening night to attend Atonement services at the temple and sings the Kol Nidre in his father's place. In motion picture history, this marks the first feature film to utilize synchronous sound. Actor Al Jolson's songs include "Toot, toot, tootsie", "Blue skies", and "Mammy". Special features: Disc 1: Commentary by Ron Hutchinson, founder of The Vitaphone Projects and Nighthawks Bandleader Vince Giordano; vintage Al Jolson short films: "A plantation act," "An intimate dinner in celebration of Warner Bros. Silver Jubilee," "Hollywood handicap," and "A day at Santa Anita" ; radio show adaptation and movie trailer gallery; classic homage cartoon "I love to singa" which features a jazz-singing Owl Jolson. DVD 8594

Les Premiers pas du Cinema: Un Reve en Couleur (Discovering Cinema: Movies Dream in Color

Historical survey of the development of color in motion pictures with early films included in special features to illustrate the main points of technological and artistic development. Coloriage =Coloring:Forgerons (1895, 0:32 min.) --Mort de Marat (1897, 0:38 min.) --Danse serpentine (1898, 0:51 min.) --Execution de Jeannne d'Arc (1898, 0:41 min.) --Danseurs espagnols (1898, 2:01 min.) --Metamorphoses du Papillon (1904, 1:21 min.) --Fee aux Fleurs (1905, 1:07 min.) --Sorcier arabe (1906, 2:45 min.) -- Synthes`e additive =Additive synthesis:Inauguration du Campanile de San Marco (1912, 11 min.) --Essai trichrome du Dr. Doyen (1912, 0:40 min.) --Essai couluer de Sonia Delaunay (1928, 0:24 min.) --Jeunes femmes prenant le The (1937, 3:11 min.) --Synthese soustractive =Subtractive synthe`sis: Wonderland of California (1930, 6:50 min.) --King of Jazz (1930, 3:34 min.) --Cucaracha (1934, 19:37 min.) --Becky Sharp (1935, 2:46 min.) --New York (1938, 5:03 min.) DVD 4651

Les Premiers pas du Cinema: A la Recherche du Son (Discovering Cinema: Learning to Talk)

Historical survey of the development of sound in motion pictures with early films and extracts from films included in special features to illustrate the main points of technological and artistic development. Son direct =Live sound:Quand madelon (1917, 3:19 min.) --Pere la Victorie (1917, 3:55 min.) --Chamber mystery [extract] (1920, 8:15 min.) --Miss Venus [extract] (1921, 4:58 min.) --Ain't she sweet (1933, 7:13 min.) --Son sur disque =Sound on disc:Lucia Di Lammermoor (1908, 4:01 min.) --Donna e Mobile (1908, 2:29 min.) --Carmen 'Air du Toreador' (1910, 4:17 min.) --Legende du Roi Gambrinus (1911, 2:37 min.) --Marseillaise (1911, 2:48 min.) --Nursery favorites (1913, 5:29 min.) --Chanteur de jazz (1927, 6:53 min.) --Son optique =Optical sound:Snappy tunes (1923, 6:51 min.) --Theodore Case test film (1924, 0:32 min.) --Ma he's making eyes at me (1925, 1:36 min.) --Arthur Conan Doyle (1927, 10:37 min.) --Governor Young hails greater talkie season (1928, 2:29 min.) --Finding his voice (1929, 10:12 min.) DVD 4652

Retour de flamme. une seance de cinematographe

Presents seminal films in the early development of motion pictures in France and the United States with each film preceded by extensive optional historical commentary. DVD 9633-DVD 9638

Treasures III: Social Issues in American Film, 1900-1934.

Forty-eight movies that helped change America. During the first decades of the 20th century no issue was too controversial for movies ... from prohibition to abortion, unions, atheism, the vote for women, worker safety, juvenile justice, homelessness and immigration, these films became the catalyst for social change. Films are from five major film archives: the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, George Eastman House, the Library of Congress, the Museum of Modern Art, and the UCLA Film and Television Archive. DVD 8670

Spiro Kostof was a member of the faculty of the Department of Architecture from 1965 to 1991. A dedicated teacher and brilliant lecturer, he inspired an entire generation of architecture students. …Although Kostof's scholarly activities were prodigious, his first love was teaching. Allan Temko, architecture critic for the San Francisco Chronicle, has described Kostof's gifts most succinctly: “Spiro Kostof is not only a great architectural historian, but one of the supreme teachers of our time... There is no question about the profound impact that Professor Kostof has had on students over the past quarter century. Wonderfully free of academic hauteur and pedantry, he has provided them with fresh insights into vernacular architecture at the same time that he has brilliantly analyzed the most important monuments in the world.” The thousands of students who studied with him--or who toured history and architecture with him through slides and words--were profoundly touched by his vision. His ideas were propelled by the dazzling and dramatic lecture style that transformed what others might have seen as mundane into provocative observations. In his lecture courses and seminars, he was a demanding teacher, but he never demanded more from others than he did from himself. Even after decades of teaching the survey of architecture and urbanism, he would work until early in the morning rewriting the text for the following day's lecture or assembling its images. [from Calisphere ]

It is fortunate for the Berkeley campus and for future generations of architectural students and scholars that a series of colorful and enlightening lectures from Kostof’s 1991 Architecture 170 class  were captured on video tape. The Media Resources Center has recently digitized these and made them available for online viewing.

Brief descriptions of the lectures and links to online video are posted HERE .

Kostof's Spring 1987 Commencement address is posted HERE