During the time of the Stolen Generations, thousands upon thousands of Aboriginal girls were taken from their families and pressed into domestic servitude by the Australian Government. They were supposedly employed as servants, but with total control over their movements, wages and living conditions, their lives all too frequently became an inescapable cycle of abuse, rape and enslavement, with consequences that echo powerfully to this day. Recounting the stories of five of these women – Rita, Violet and the three Wenberg sisters – Servant or Slave is a commanding piece of first-person testimony to a dark and unacknowledged corner of Australian history. Shot with admirable craft and humanity by documentarian Steven McGregor (Croker Island Exodus, MIFF 2012), Servant or Slave is a work of great sadness and urgency, bringing to forceful life the human tragedy of Australia's Indigenous history in the unadorned words of those who lived it.
Der entsorgte Vater (2009)
In moving interviews, four fathers describe their suffering and efforts to keep contact with their children. A mother justifies the refusal of contact from her point of view. Despite the seriousness of the topic, the film manages to remain entertaining and even delivers an amusing snapshot of German sensitivities and the state of the Republic.
The Darkness within La Luz del Mundo (2023)
For the first time, complainants against La Luz del Mundo megachurch leaders expose the abuses they suffered through exclusive interviews.
All inclusive love (2024)
What started for fifteen-year-old Manon as a secret holiday romance at an all-inclusive resort, slowly turned into a memory that she looks back on with less pleasure. She fell in love with Hugo, the big star of the animation team. He wrapped her up with beautiful words, that she was special to him. Although Hugo was much older than Manon, he still had sex with her. At first it felt good, but slowly it turned into a memory that she would rather not think about anymore. What happened during that holiday and how could it have happened? She goes looking for answers and comes face to face with Hugo.
The Salt of the Earth (2014)
During the last forty years, the photographer Sebastião Salgado has been travelling through the continents, in the footsteps of an ever-changing humanity. He has witnessed the major events of our recent history: international conflicts, starvations and exodus… He is now embarking on the discovery of pristine territories, of the wild fauna and flora, of grandiose landscapes: a huge photographic project which is a tribute to the planet's beauty. Salgado's life and work are revealed to us by his son, Juliano, who went with him during his last journeys, and by Wim Wenders, a photographer himself.
Surviving Clotilda (NaN)
In July 1860, the schooner Clotilda slipped quietly into the dark waters of Mobile, Ala., holding 110 Africans stolen from their homes and families, smuggled across the sea, and illegally imported to be sold into slavery. Surviving Clotilda is the extraordinary story of the last slave ship ever to reach America's shores: the brash captain who built and sailed her, the wealthy white businessman whose bet set the cruel plan in motion, and the 110 men, women, and children whose resilience turned horror into hope.
Gulpilil: One Red Blood (2002)
An hour-long documentary on the life and career of actor David Gulpilil.
No Mercy, No Remorse (2022)
No Mercy, No Remorse takes viewers back to the winter of 1993, with a journey into the deeply disturbing world of Paul Charles Denyer, the then 21-year old who is currently serving three life sentences for the Frankston murders.
Groomed (2021)
Gwen van de Pas returns to her hometown in search of answers about the man who sexually abused her as a child.
Australia: The Wild Top End (2019)
Narrated by Indigenous elder Balang T E Lewis, this inspiring documentary will take you on an adventure to explore the culture and wildlife of Australia’s remote wild north. Far Northern Australia is a land of extremes, from bushfires to torrential floods. Explore the wildlife and meet the people in Australia’s wild top end, from the Kimberley coast through the mysterious Arnhem Land, and deep into the world’s oldest rainforest in Cape York.
Paper Run (1956)
A panorama of scenic beauty unfolds as the newspaper delivery man works his run along Sydney's northern beaches of Newport and the Palm Beach area.
Whiteley (2017)
A visual journey into the life and legacy of one of Australia's most celebrated artists, Brett Whiteley.
Capturing the Friedmans (2003)
An Oscar nominated documentary about a middle-class American family who is torn apart when the father Arnold and son Jesse are accused of sexually abusing numerous children. Director Jarecki interviews people from different sides of this tragic story and raises the question of whether they were rightfully tried when they claim they were innocent and there was never any evidence against them.
The Divided Union: The Story of the American Civil War (NaN)
Peter Batty presents a gripping account of the bloodshed and horror of the American Civil War. From the origins of the unrest between North and South, the specific events of the war and the eventual assassination of Abraham Lincoln, this program is a powerful, comprehensive account of the American Civil War with large scale battle re-enactments, superb contemporary photographs and period music.
Becoming Bond (2017)
The stranger-than-fiction true story of George Lazenby, a poor Australian car mechanic who, through an unbelievable set of circumstances, landed the role of James Bond despite having never acted a day in his life.
Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America (2022)
Jeffery Robinson's talk on the history of U.S. anti-Black racism, with archival footage and interviews.
Al Fayed: Predator at Harrods (2024)
A shocking BBC investigation into serious sexual abuse allegations by Mohamed al Fayed, the former owner of luxury department store Harrods. The Egyptian billionaire businessman, who died last year aged 94, is accused of multiple counts of rape and attempted rape by the women who worked for him. At the time of many of the alleged attacks, Al Fayed was the owner of London’s luxury department store Harrods, the iconic Ritz Paris hotel and English football club Fulham FC. The BBC has heard testimony from over 20 survivors, with 13 featured in the film. With horrifying accounts of abuse that spanned Al Fayed’s 25-year reign at Harrods, for the first time the scale and seriousness of these allegations are exposed, as well as the system that helped cover it up. A web of corruption and fear that extended from the shop floors to the highest levels of the organization is revealed. Brave survivors now break their silence.
The Last Confession of Alexander Pearce (2009)
Eight men escape from the most isolated prison on earth. Only one man survives and the story he recounts shocks the British establishment to the core. This story is the last confession of Alexander Pearce.
Foster Child (1987)
Gil Cardinal searches for his natural family and an understanding of the circumstances that led to his becoming a foster child. An important figure in the history of Canadian Indigenous filmmaking, Gil Cardinal was born to a Métis mother but raised by a non-Indigenous foster family, and with this auto-biographical documentary he charts his efforts to find his biological mother and to understand why he was removed from her. Considered a milestone in documentary cinema, it addressed the country’s internal colonialism in a profoundly personal manner, winning a Special Jury Prize at Banff and multiple international awards.
Killing the Indian in the Child (2021)
The Indian Act, passed in Canada in 1876, made members of Aboriginal peoples second-class citizens, separated from the white population: nomadic for centuries, they were moved to reservations to control their behavior and resources; and thousands of their youngest members were separated from their families to be Christianized: a cultural genocide that still resonates in Canadian society today.