Southern Sea Otters are once again in peril, after having being brought back from the brink of extinction. Threatened investigates the history and potential causes for the otter’s decline, as well as the controversy over how best to protect the otter population. An unprecedented number of sea otter deaths have occurred along the California coast in the last few years. Like crime scene detectives, a team of scientists is anxiously searching for the...

Learn rainwater harvesting techniques. In California and other regions affected by drought, agriculture is suffering from a lack of water and farms are being abandoned at an alarming rate. But some people have developed solutions to capture the rains that DO fall. In this state and in many other dry regions around the world, land restoration helps water penetrate healthy soils and in turn increase crop yields. Even in dry areas, water which typically...

Stephanie is pregnant and has a warrant for running away from a group home. Shangra is torn between taking care of her mother, who is homeless and struggling with drug addiction, and taking care of herself. Sheila, whose father and siblings have been in and out of jail, risks arrest and jail time by selling and using drugs. Girl Trouble is an intimate look at the compelling personal stories of three teenagers entangled in San Francisco's juvenile...

Covers the high profile controversy over the south central farm in Los Angeles, the largest urban garden in the country. The story includes the benefits of urban farms, celebrity tree sitters, citizen supporters, dramatic evictions of farmers, rarely told developer's defense and updates on farmers efforts to continue to sustain themselves, physically and spiritually. Celebrity activists include Daryl Hannah, Joan Baez, Julia Butterfly Hill, Martin...

Julia Query, activist, comedian, lesbian and stripper at a club called the Lusty Lady, put in long hours on stage and in the peep booth along with fellow exotic dancers Decadence, Lolita, and Octopussy. But when faced with no sick leave, unfair demotions, safely and privacy concerns, and racial discrimination, Query and her co-workers decide to organize and unionize the exotic dancers of the Lusty Lady. WINNER! Audience Award- San Francisco International...

From the producers of DOGTOWN and Z-BOYS AND BONES BRIGADE: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY comes a look at an expressive, explosive world that is known about but almost never entered by outsiders. The film, directed by renowned photographer Angela Boatwright, explores the young, mostly Hispanic, Punk scene in L.A. and finds an undeniably gritty, yet creative environment. With unprecedented access to backyard parties, concerts, and daily ups and downs, the film...

Ray Kappe has long been a cult figure in the architectural scene in and around Los Angeles. In 1972, he founded the influential, avant garde Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-ARC), where many of the younger-generation architects have studied or taught. In addition, his smoothly rectilinear wood-and-glass houses based on modular principles, modern technology, and a sensitive response to the regional climate, continue to explore the...

Why is your street address such a good predictor of your health? Latino and Southeast Asian immigrants like Gwai Boonkeut have been moving into long-neglected urban neighborhoods such as those in Richmond, California, a predominantly Black city in the San Francisco Bay Area. Segregation and lack of access to jobs, nutritious foods, and safe, affordable housing have been harmful to the health of long-time African American residents, and now the newcomers'...

A beautiful and forlorn tree is stuck in the middle of the Rose Bowl parking lot. Ignored and neglected. Hit by cars, and starved for water and oxygen. Attacked by pathogens and pollutants, and it has no chance to reproduce. Joel Tauber, a young and amorous man, is drawn to the tree. Outraged by the indignities that the tree is forced to endure, he devotes himself to improving the tree's life, watering it with giant water bags, installing tree guards...

When Johanna, a 16-year-old transgender Latina, begins her transition and gets kicked out of her home and school, she finds a foster family who loves her and a supportive school principal who helps her graduate and thrive. How does it feel when your mom prays everyday for you to be someone else? That's the struggle Johanna, a 16 year old transgender Latina faces. At first her mom thinks she's confused, or joking, but as Johanna's transformation continues,...