High Winds and Sun...

In an effort to raise awareness about the New Deal, the US Resettlement Administration sponsored a short documentary in 1936. Written and directed by Pare Lorentz, The Plow That Broke the Plains attempted to capture life on the Great Plains during the Dust Bowl as well as explain how uncontrolled farming practices led to the disaster. Famous for its cinematography and score, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". I’ve included it here:

The Plow That Broke the Plains (1936)

http://www.archive.org/details/plow_that_broke_the_plains

Pare Lorentz would go on to make two more important Depression-era documentaries: The River (1938) and The City (1939). I’ve included them as well.

The River (1938)

http://www.archive.org/details/TheRiverByPareLorentz

The City (1939)

Part 1

http://www.archive.org/details/CityTheP1939

Part 2

http://www.archive.org/details/CityTheP1939_2