When a young couple buys a contested home at auction from the U.S. government for $5,400, they become involved in a political and moral battle much larger than what they originally bargained for.
Esperanto (2011)
This film, directed by Dominique GAUTIER, takes the viewer on a worldwide excursion into the history and structure of the Esperanto language, introducing its present-day speakers. The words of these users of the language are reflective of a variety of activities and viewpoints, and in the film they are interwoven so as to reveal bit by bit how the utopia of its initiator, Ludwig ZAMENHOF, is concretised every day.
Art as a Weapon (2014)
Street art, creativity and revolution collide in this beautifully shot film about art’s ability to create change. The story opens on the politically charged Thailand/Burma border at the first school teaching street art as a form of non-violent struggle. The film follows two young girls (Romi & Yi-Yi) who have escaped 50 years of civil war in Burma to pursue an arts education in Thailand. Under the threat of imprisonment and torture, the girls use spray paint and stencils to create images in public spaces to let people know the truth behind Burma's transition toward "artificial democracy." Eighty-two hundred miles away, artist Shepard Fairey is painting a 30’ mural of a Burmese monk for the same reasons and in support of the students' struggle in Burma. As these stories are inter-cut, the film connects these seemingly unrelated characters around the concept of using art as a weapon for change.
Police State IV: The Rise of FEMA (2010)
POLICE STATE 4 chronicles the sickening depths to which our republic has fallen. Veteran documentary filmmaker Alex Jones conclusively proves the existence of a secret network of FEMA camps, now being expanded nationwide. The military industrial complex is transforming our once free nation into a giant prison camp. A cashless society control grid, constructed in the name of fighting terrorism, was actually built to enslave the American people. Body scanners, sound cannons, citizen spies, staged terror and cameras on every street corner -- it's only the beginning of the New World Order's hellish plan. This film exposes how the "Continuity of Government" program has established an all powerful shadow state. Prepare to enter the secretive world of emergency dictatorship, FEMA camps, and a shredded Constitution.
Death and Taxes (2010)
Twenty-eight people offer their motivations for and methods of resisting the war machine with their tax money. This tightly-paced short film introduces viewers to war tax refusal and redirecting tax dollars to peace, with music by Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, Antibalas, Rude Mechanical Orchestra, and First Strike Theatre’s version of “Don’t Pay Taxes” by Charlie King.
Gray State: The Rise (2015)
A documentary about America’s current militarized police state, the liberal use of deadly force against unarmed citizens, and a possible pending economic collapse. The world reels with the turmoil of war, geological disaster, and economic collapse, while Americans continue to submerge themselves in illusions of safety and immunity. While rights are sold for security, the federal government, swollen with power, begins a systematic takeover of liberty in order to bring about a New World Order. Fear-mongering, terrorism, police state, martial law, war, arrest, internment, hunger, oppression, violence, resistance. Neighbor is turned against neighbor as the value of the dollar plunges to zero, food supplies are depleted, and everyone becomes a terror suspect. There are arrests. Disappearances. Bio attacks. Public executions of those even suspected of dissent. Even rumors of concentration camps on American soil. The GRAY STATE is here. It always was. By consent or conquest.
Chasing Trane (2017)
An account of the life of the brilliant jazz musician John Coltrane (1926-67), a gifted saxophonist, an extraordinarily talented thinker whose original, avant-garde work has impacted and influenced people all over the world. A story about music's ability to entertain, inspire and transform.
The Ghosts of Jeju (2013)
Documentary about the struggle of the people of Jeju Island, South Korea. Set in the context of the U.S. presence in Korea after World War II, the film reveals horrible atrocities at the hands of the U.S. Military Government of Korea.
Like a Mighty Wave (2019)
On Wednesday, July 17th 2019, a heavily armed police force arrested 36 Native Hawaiian kūpuna peacefully protecting Maunakea from desecration. The actions from that day sparked an international outcry and brought new life to the ongoing movement for Native Hawaiians’ rights for self-determination.
Destins: Général De Bollardière (1975)
The exceptional portrait of a pacifist general, the only senior officer to have spoken out against torture. This precious testimony still remains censored in France, since no national channel has to date decided to program this documentary. Son and brother of a soldier, General Pâris de Bollardière was destined for a career in arms. He was, for many years, one of the most brilliant representatives of this adventurer career in France, from Narvik to the Algerian War. After fighting in the French maquis, he reached Indochina, where he suddenly found himself in the aggressor's camps. His beliefs are strongly shaken. But it is in Algeria, where the French army practices torture and summary executions, that he takes the big turn. He expresses his contempt to Massu, and is relieved of his command. Until his death in 1986, Jacques de Bollardière fought for world peace, from the Larzac plateaus to the Mururoa atolls.
In the Shade of the Hills (2024)
Amani is 31. When he was an infant, he survived the genocide against Rwanda’s Tutsi population. Three decades later, Amani has set up an organisation in Nyamirambo, one of the more economically impoverished districts of the country’s capital, Kigali. It employs creativity, artistic practice and performance to grapple with poverty and generational trauma – acknowledging that deep-seated ideologies can easily foment prejudice and create an environment that proved so catastrophic in the past.
ARISE for the Ancient Forests | Save Fairy Creek (NaN)
A film initially was released alongside an injunction granted from the BC court to Teal Jones, enabling them to forcibly remove forest protectors who have been sacrificing their worlds at home to stand and defend some of the last of the 2.7% remaining old-growth on Vancouver Island. In collaboration with filmmaker, Ian MacKenzie, the short-film depicts how much we truly depend on these Ancient Forests for our survival as well.
Gesto (2022)
The history of the citizens' movement that for thirty years worked hard to overcome fear, fight hatred and eradicate the violence exercised by the savage terrorist gang ETA, both in the Basque Country and in the rest of Spain.
Resistant (2021)
Documentary film about Arndt Pekurinen and the peace movement in the early 20th century. Pekurinen spoke out for pacifism, conscientious objection and peace, and received support for his actions around the world. However, his worldview collided with the nationalist and militaristic atmosphere of the era in Finland. He was considered a troublemaker, a traitor, and a caricature of masculinity. The film is a universal and timeless account of a man persecuted for his opinions. At the same time, it is a description of the weak tolerance of young independent Finland towards dissidents. Pekurinen was executed during the Continuation War by his compatriots on November 5, 1941.
Inside the Fight to Save an Ancient Forest (and the Secrets it Holds) (2021)
The ancient forests of the Pacific Northwest are home to giant trees and many secrets, which science is just beginning to understand. But these forests are at risk of disappearing. In British Columbia on First Nation territory, a small band of forest defenders are risking life and liberty to protect some of the last remaining ancient forests.
Extinction Rebellion: Last Chance to Save the World? (2019)
A huge new global protest movement is changing public attitudes to climate change. Reporter Ben Zand gains access to the most high-profile activist group, Extinction Rebellion.
Taking Alcatraz (2015)
A documentary account by award-winning filmmaker John Ferry of the events that led up to the 1969 Native American occupation of Alcatraz Island as told by principal organizer, Adam Fortunate Eagle. The story unfolds through Fortunate Eagle's remembrances, archival newsreel footage and photographs.
No gazaran (2014)
February 2011: 20 000 people demonstrate in southern France against the shale gas licenses that have been issued in backroom deals, Meanwhile the European Parliament begins its first inquiry on the subject, From the outset, there is a split between the conservative representatives, swayed by the economic arguments in favor of fracking, and opponents invoking the precautionary principle. In areas affected by the permits, people are getting organized, building their knowledge, and taking action. Local mayors step up, issue local bylaws and relay information about the situation up to the national government. This grassroots movement makes it all the way to European-level institutions.
Seabrook 1977 (1978)
In April 1977, the small coastal town of Seabrook, New Hampshire became an international symbol in the battle over atomic energy. Concerned about the dangers of potential radioactive accidents, over 2,000 members of the Clamshell Alliance, a coalition of environmental groups, attempted to block construction of a nuclear power plant. 1,414 people were arrested in that civil disobedience protest and jailed en masse in National Guard armories for two weeks.