BlueSpark Collaborative Videos and Links
View some of our award-winning film productions and collaborations from BlueSpark Collaborative.
Race: The Power of An Illusion
If race isn’t science, what is it? This groundbreaking 3-part series deconstructs the history and meaning of race as a socio-political device for subjugation that so-called experts have ascribed to biology for centuries. In association with California Newsreel.
Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick?
This series investigates and explains the surprising impact social and economic conditions have in determining our health and longevity. In association with California Newsreel. Winner of the Council On Foundation’s Henry Hampton Award; the Alfred I. duPont Columbia Award; the National Academies of Sciences 2009 Communications Award, Emmy Award nominations and other honors. Read more.
Forgotten Genius
A 2-hour docudrama on pioneering black chemist Percy Julian, staring Ruben Santiago Hudson. Julian overcame extraordinary obstacles, including racism and violence, to become a renowned industrial scientist, entrepreneur and social activist. In association with WGBH Foundation. Winner of the National Academies of Sciences 2009 Communications Award, The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Award, the National Science Writers Award, Writer’s Guild nomination.
Reconstruction: The Second Civil War
3-hour series tells stories of the profound challenges facing black and white southerners in the years after the Civil War, as they struggled, often violently, to determine the true legacy that would follow the conflict. In association with WGBH Foundation. Winner of the Eric Barnouw Award from the Organization of American Historians; Writer’s Guild Nomination for Best Documentary.
Africans in America: America’s Journey Through Slavery
What did slavery mean in the life of America? The six-hour PBS series explores the powerful, transforming experience of slavery in the nation, from the arrival of the first African Slaves in the 1600s to the beginning of the Civil War in 1861. In association with WGBH Foundation. Winner of the George Foster Peabody Award; Emmy Nomination for Best Historical Documentary, Emmy Award for Best Research.
Jubilee Singers: Sacrifice and Glory
Story of black teenagers after the Civil War who faced adversity as they traveled the world singing slave spirituals to raise money to save Fisk University. In association with WGBH Foundation.
Herskovits At The Heart of Blackness
Biopic on the career of Jewish anthropologist Melville Herskovits, who dominated academic discourse on the meaning of African identity and blackness. In association wtih Vital Pictures, Boston. Winner of Hollywood Black Film Festival Best Documentary Award; The American Historical Association’s John O’Connor Award; Honorable mention from Organization of American Historians.
Gaining Ground: Building Community on Dudley St.
Ever wonder what a community organizer does before he becomes president of the United States? This film is a follow-up 25 years later to the acclaimed documentary Holding Ground. The documentary looks at 18 months of community organizing and people empowerment in the life of a Boston neighborhood. In association with Vital Pictures, Boston.
The Raising of America: Early Childhood and the Future of Our Nation (2014)
A three-hour documentary series whose goal is to reframe the way we think about early childhood development and its importance to the social and economic future of the United States. In association with California Newsreel.