Beavers (Large Format)
Originally intended for IMAX theaters, this documentary follows a family of beavers as they lay claim to a dam and build a place to live.  The animals live as extended families, complete with uncles and aunts, and with their instinctive engineering skills build complex dams and apartments for themselves.  What could be a mundane nature documentary, though, is made lyrical by its score, lighting, and camera work.  It's a rare documentary that can be sweet but not cloying, with plenty to hold the interest of kids and adults alike.Beavers' accompanying making-of film answers some of the inevitable questions and reveals that the project was an incredibly arduous task.  The film was made in the mid-1980s and involved lugging around the cumbersome IMAX camera in the wilderness, as well as weeks of waiting for the beavers to actuallydosomething. Set against the breathtaking beauty of the Canadian Rockies, this is an incredible example of nature photography and a rewarding little film about our bucktoothed rodent friends and their innate construction drive.--Jerry Renshaw