Fly with Me. 115 min. PBS. 2024. DVD UPC 4188704874. $29.99.

For many women in the post–World War II United States, becoming a flight attendant (called a “stewardess” at the time) offered opportunities for independence, glamour, and travel. It was an escape to a new life and career for many single women. Part of PBS’s American Experience series, this documentary nostalgically chronicles the history of the profession and the women who broke down barriers over decades. It addresses a multitude of subjects, including aviation, labor relations, gender roles, stereotypes, race, and feminism. There are lively personal accounts from former flight attendants and terrific archival footage, like kitschy industrial training clips. VERDICT Take to the sky with this informative, empowering history of women flight attendants.

★Nam June Paik: Moon Is the Oldest TV. 110 min. Greenwich Entertainment. In English & Korean w/English subtitles. 2023. DVD UPC 3832926286. $19.99.

For decades, groundbreaking Korean artist Nam June Paik worked in obscurity, known best in avant-garde circles that included composers John Cage and the experimental art collective Fluxus. This pioneer of video was one of the first to embrace technology and the impact of television. When his work became popular, his influence spread rapidly into popular culture. Director Amanda Kim’s film is a celebration of Paik that also captures the tone of his work; it’s whimsical, wild, and energetic, much like the artist himself. As the film unfolds, there’s a frenzy of images, at times deliriously abstract with exploding colors. VERDICT A visionary video artist gets a terrific bio-doc of his life and work.

Queen of the Deuce. 75 min. Greenwich Entertainment. 2022. DVD UPC 3832926633. $19.99.

Chelly Wilson, the subject of this film, wasn’t your typical Jewish grandma: she celebrated Christmas; she was married but openly gay, living at times with two lovers; and she built a 1970s porn empire based around New York City’s 42nd Street, also known as “the Deuce.” Valerie Kontakos’s entertaining film covers Wilson’s childhood in Greece, her escape from the Holocaust, and her journey to New York. The wholesome recollections of Wilson’s children and grandchildren, interspersed with images of family celebrations at her large apartment above the 24-hour porn theater Eros, show how unusual her life was. VERDICT Wilson led a unique life of contrasts as a successful pornographer and beloved grandmother.

Uncropped. 111 min. Greenwich Entertainment. 2023. DVD UPC 3832926634. $19.99.

Unless viewers lived in New York at some point between the 1970s and the 2000s, the images of photographer James Hamilton might be unfamiliar. In the now-vanished era of plentiful local magazines and newspapers, a multitude of artists documented culture and events in their city. Hamilton, a longtime staff member of the Village Voice, was one such photographer. Stylistically, there’s nothing groundbreaking in director D.W. Young’s film. Its gentle but no-nonsense tone lets Hamilton’s photography be the star—and that’s a positive, because the images are wonderful. There are hundreds and hundreds of them on display here: street photography, fashion shots, a who’s who of portraits, and photojournalism. VERDICT A detailed appreciation of a working photographer’s creative life.