In 1979, a revolution in Iran. In 1980, a revolution in Poland. The fall of the Shah, the “King of Kings,” in Iran. Mass strikes and the foundation of Solidarność (Solidarity) in Poland. What was in the minds of the young women and men who fomented revolution in their own country? What did they think when their revolution was quelled, or – as in Iran – an authoritarian regime was instituted under the name of an “Islamic Republic”?
Revolutions on Granite (2021)
Revolutions on Granite is a documentary about Maidan Nezahlezhonsti, a public square in the heart of Kyiv, Ukraine — famously home to a number of political revolutions, but also the birthplace of a cultural revolution after the fall of the Iron Curtain. The film takes a look at the burgeoning skateboard scene at Maidan in the early 1990’s, and investigates the idea of a counterculture being created in a place of strict uniformity.
Belarus: An Ordinary Dictatorship (2018)
It’s the last dictatorship of Europe, caught in a Soviet time-warp, where the secret police is still called the KGB and the president rules by fear. Disappearances, political assassinations, waves of repression and mass arrests are all regular occurances. But while half of Belarus moves closer to Russia, the other half is trying to resist…
A Tale of Two Revolutions (2014)
Reflecting on his Father's experiences during the 1977 Egyptian Bread Riots - Documentarian, Nadim Fetaih discovers his own story in the Egyptian 2011 Revolution and the endless unrest that grips the cradle of civilization.
Charles Gagnon (1970)
Documentary about Charles Gagnon, Québécois politician, FLQ member and communist leader.
In the Intense Now (2017)
A personal essay which analyses and compares images of the political upheavals of the 1960s. From the military coup in Brazil to China's Cultural Revolution, from the student uprisings in Paris to the end of the Prague Spring.
Here and Elsewhere (1976)
Here and Elsewhere takes its name from the contrasting footage it shows of the fedayeen and of a French family watching television at home. Originally shot by the Dziga Vertov Group as a film on Palestinian freedom fighters, Godard later reworked the material alongside Anne-Marie Miéville.
Point and Shoot (2014)
At first glance, Matthew VanDyke—a shy Baltimore native with a sheltered upbringing and a tormenting OCD diagnosis—is the last person you’d imagine on the front lines of the 2011 Libyan revolution. But after finishing grad school and escaping the U.S. for "a crash course in manhood," a winding path leads him just there. Motorcycling across North Africa and the Middle East and spending time as an embedded journalist in Iraq, Matthew lands in Libya, forming an unexpected kinship with a group of young men who transform his life. Matthew joins his friends in the rebel army against Gaddafi, taking up arms (and a camera). Along the way, he is captured and held in solitary confinement for six terrifying months.
Steal This Film II (2007)
These are strange times indeed. While they continue to command so much attention in the mainstream media, the 'battles' between old and new modes of distribution, between the pirate and the institution of copyright, seem to many of us already lost and won. We know who the victors are. Why then say any more?
Nobody (2017)
Half blind and half deaf, ostraziced Cuban writer Rafael Alcides tries to finish his unpublished novels to discover that after several decades, the home made ink from the typewriter he used to write them has faded. The Cuban revolution as a love story and eventual deception is seen through the eyes of a man who is living an inner exile.
Whose Country? (2016)
A young Egyptian filmmaker recounts his interaction with a group of plainclothes policemen while grappling with issues of guilt and morality.
Reverberations (2022)
Thirty years after the end of the Lebanese Civil War (1975-1991), a filmmaker seeks to explore the trauma inflicted by the war on her family. Reverberations traces the history and politics of a nation in disarray in an intimate mother-daughter portrait that unravels the trauma that defined an era lost to history and a generation’s silence about its long-standing effects.
Euromaidan. Rough Cut (2014)
Three months of revolution. From indignant protest to national unity. From pots on their heads to batons and body armor. From the euphoria of victory to the mourning of the fallen Heavenly Hundred. Revolution as an explosion of revived dignity, as the euphoria of freedom, as the pain of awareness at the cost, as the birth of the modern history of Ukraine. This year we have decided not to have an opening film, because all our attention is focused on the changes taking place in our country today. We have asked the directors who filmed the Ukrainian protests to share their best shots with us. The episodes of these upcoming films about the Euromaidan were formed in a kaleidoscope of revolution, which needs no comment. We offer you a chronicle of the Ukrainian protest. Experience the three months of fighting with us, feel and see the revolution through our eyes.
Maidan (2014)
A chronicle of the civil uprising against the regime of Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych that took place in Kyiv in the winter of 2013/14. The film follows the progress of the revolution: from peaceful rallies, half a million strong in the Maidan square, to the bloody street battles between protesters and riot police.
Karama Has No Walls (2012)
'Karama has no walls' is set amidst Yemen's 2011 uprising. The film illustrates the nature of the Yemeni revolution in stark contrast to the gross violations of human rights that took place on Friday, March 18th 2011. Juma'at El-Karama (Friday of Dignity) marks a turning point in the Yemeni revolution as the tragic events that took place on this day -when pro-government snipers shot dead 53 protestors - shook the nation and propelled hundreds of thousands more to flock to the square in solidarity with their fellow citizens. Through the lenses of two cameramen and the accounts of two fathers, the film retells the story of the people behind the statistics and news reports, encapsulating the tragic events of the day as they unfolded.
1798 - Revolta dos Búzios (2024)
One of the most important events in Brazilian history, the Búzios Revolt of 1798 was led by dozens of black men who rose up to overthrow the colonial government, proclaim independence and establish a democratic Republic, free from slavery. The boldness of these men called on the people to make the Revolution and the conspiracy spread to the city of Bahia. The seizure of power is near. But the movement is denounced, the government sets up a Devassa against hundreds of people and four of them are hanged and quartered.
The Last American Colony (2019)
Puerto Rico, the last relic of colonization in the western hemisphere, has been a dependent territory of the USA since 1917. Los Macheteros and one of its leaders Juan Segarra have been fighting for its full independence for many decades.
First Case, Second Case (1979)
First Case, Second Case is a documentary about a teacher who sends a group of pupils out of the classroom when one of them does not own up to talking behind the master's back.
The Singing Revolution (2006)
Most people don't think about singing when they think about revolutions. But song was the weapon of choice when, between 1986 and 1991, Estonians sought to free themselves from decades of Soviet occupation. During those years, hundreds of thousands gathered in public to sing forbidden patriotic songs and to rally for independence. "The young people, without any political party, and without any politicians, just came together ... not only tens of thousands but hundreds of thousands ... to gather and to sing and to give this nation a new spirit," remarks Mart Laar, a Singing Revolution leader featured in the film and the first post-Soviet Prime Minister of Estonia. "This was the idea of the Singing Revolution." James Tusty and Maureen Castle Tusty's "The Singing Revolution" tells the moving story of how the Estonian people peacefully regained their freedom--and helped topple an empire along the way.