Media Beat

Documentary Spotlight: Engage Faculty and Students with Research Films

Media Services would like to highlight these documentaries in November that are perfect for enriching teaching and research. Explore timely and impactful topics like The Click Trap (Digital Advertising), The Deportation of Innocence  (Immigration/Deportation), and I am the River: Maori Heritage on the Auction Block (Cultural Sensitivity/Photography/Sociology), all of which foster critical thinking and deeper student engagement.

All titles are freely available to the IU community via IUCAT. On and off-campus streaming is available with an IU CAS login.

red letter spell out The Click Trap surrounded by sky scrappers in the background.
Image courtesy of: https://www.theclicktrap.com/

The Click Trap (2024, 84min.) Director, Peter Porta ; producers, Carles Brugueras, Fabrice Estève, Marieke van den Bersselaar. This film examines the dark side of digital advertising, revealing how major tech firms exploit sophisticated algorithms to profit from harmful content, including disinformation and extremist material. Consolidation within the digital advertising sector poses serious threats to democracy and societal well-being, fueling polarization and enabling scams targeting vulnerable users. The film highlights the ethical dilemmas surrounding online commerce in a digital landscape.

Explore related titles in IUCAT such as Facebook v Twitter What’s a Better Ad Platform?

The Deportation of Innocence. (2016, 48min.) Director, Francisco Alarcon ; producers: Deni Alarcon, Jesse Such, Majed AlJonaid. What happens to children when parents are deported? The deportation of innocence seeks answers to this question. It tells the story of four children and their immigrant families as they struggle to come to term with deportation and the long lasting effects this has had on their lives.

Explore related titles in IUCAT such as Immigration: Who has Access to the American Dream?

Still image of Maori baby strapped to their mother's back.
Image courtesy of: https://www.nzonscreen.com/

I am the River: Maori Heritage on the Auction Block. (2013, 51 min.) Producer, EMC Consulting PTY Ltd/ Flame. When a trove of high-quality negatives dating back to the 19th century surfaced in a New Zealand attic, the discovery sparked much controversy over cultural sensitivity and ownership rights. In the manner of the famous Curtis photographs of Native Americans, the images depicted individual Maori people and had been used as tourist postcards during the Victorian Era’s craze for all things “exotic.” This program documents the discovery of William Partington’s Whanganui River photos, using commentary from the Auckland auctioneers who recognized their historical and artistic value, and from the Maoris – direct descendants of the people in the photos – who fought to halt their sale.

Explore related titles in IUCAT such as Maori Land Protests Hikoi and Bastion Point

Monique Threatt, Head, Media Services since 2001.

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