Celebrating Heritage: 20 Great Documentaries on the Folk Arts

Just how diverse are the art forms that fall under the umbrella of folk and traditional arts? Well, just in the last 10 years of honoring master artists as NEA National Heritage Fellows, we've honored basketmakers working in X different traditions, X fiber artists working in traditions that originated in Europe and the Americas, and X kinds of ethnic dance. We're thrilled to honor excellence and advocacy in nine of those traditions at our 2014 NEA National Heritage Fellowships Concert Celebration next Friday, September 19, but we hope that will just be a jumping off for learning about--or deepening your knowledge of--the multiplicity of art forms that continue to thrive at home and in communities. There's nothing like a good documentary--and a hot bowl of popcorn--to get you up close and personal with a given subject, so we've asked [X] of the NEA-supported XX, to recommend 20 of his favorite folk arts documentaries.