"A Reel Man" is a profile of Skip Elsheimer, a Raleigh, North Carolina resident who collects educational films. Skip started collecting these 16mm films many years ago, and he now has almost 17,000, crammed into almost every room in his house. His archive - one of the biggest of its kind in the United States - includes films from the 1940s, '50s, '60s, '70s and '80s on every conceivable instructional topic - sex education, personal hygiene, public safety, driver's ed, occupational training, the dangers of drugs and alcohol, religion, patriotism, how to be popular, etc. I was attracted to Skip because I find compelling his genuine affection for these "orphan" films, his obsession for collecting, categorizing and preserving them, and his passion for sharing them with the public at his A/V Geeks shows. The films in Skip's archive are campy, amusing and not a little propagandistic, but they're also valuable, fascinating time capsules that reflect America's social attitudes and cultural values throughout the last half-century. Written by Todd Lothery