When 14-year-old Ella hears news of a planned pipeline that would damage the waters near her hometown, she takes a kayak trip along the Great Bear Rainforest to the remote Island of Klemtu. The fictional Kayak to Klemtu focuses on the life of Ella’s Uncle Bear and honors the experiences, stories, knowledge and traditions he shared, all while Ella discovers the importance of family, the environment and connecting with one’s ancestral roots. The film’s pace is mindful, reflecting the life of First Nations people, and it engages viewers to want to learn more about the people of Klemtu. (92 min.)
Available on Vudu
MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL
“If we only go through the easy doors, we’ll never get anywhere,” the bridgeless troll Grunt tells Cedric in The Bravest Knight. This is part of Cedric’s journey from a young not-yet-knight to knight and hero. As Cedric tells his husband and daughter stories of dragons, fairies and more, we learn about the power of understanding others and standing strong in the face of uncertainty. This retelling leads Cedric’s daughter, Nia, to reflect on her own actions, be open to new perspectives and be confident in her own identity. The Bravest Knight helps kids to see a world that is more accepting and welcoming to everyone. (12 min.)
Available on Hulu
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Voter suppression, in its many forms, has been present in U.S. politics for much of the nation’s existence. Across history, groups have enacted policy that empowers some and restricts others from exercising their civic duty in order to maintain political power and influence. However, more and more U.S. citizens are just beginning to learn about how voter suppression affects their neighbors and sometimes themselves. Rigged: The Voter Suppression Playbook, narrated by Jeffrey Wright, introduces viewers to the foundations of the present attack on voting rights, along with examples of how voter suppression impacts lives and communities. (79 min.)
Available on Amazon and iTunes
HIGH SCHOOL
Frontline offers “The Last Survivors” as their 11th episode of 2019. In this documentary, some of the last remaining survivors of the Holocaust recount their memories and the unimaginable trauma they experienced as children. Their disturbing experiences transfer to their current lives through second-generation trauma, broken faith and survivor’s guilt. Viewers are left with the understanding that these voices may be the last remaining links to the lived experience of the Holocaust. The time is now to learn from these haunting stories so that this horror will never be repeated. (55 min.)
Available on PBS
HIGH SCHOOL
This past fall, conversations about American slavery and its legacy made news across the nation. Yet, many educators still feel ill-equipped to do the topic justice in their classrooms. TT’s Teaching Hard History Key Concept Videos offer approachable yet substantive entries into this history—for educators and secondary students alike. Each of the 10 videos, rooted in a Key Concept foundational to the Teaching Hard History frameworks, features a scholar’s in-depth discussion about the lives of enslaved people and slavery’s centrality to the development of the United States. Each video is accompanied by text-dependent questions that teachers can use with students. Learn from historians like Ibram X. Kendi, Annette Gordon-Reed and more. (4–5 min.)
Available on tolerance.org
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