Ms. President

Beijing Spring

2021 · ★ 6

The documentary film of the brief window of artistic freedom and democracy movement 1978 - 1982 following China's brutal cultural revolution.

Primary

1960 · ★ 6.5

Primary is a documentary film about the primary elections between John F. Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey in 1960. Primary is the first documentary to use light equipment in order to follow their subjects in a more intimate filmmaking style. This unconventional way of filming created a new look for documentary films where the camera’s lens was right in the middle of what ever drama was occurring. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with The Film Foundation in 1998.

Depois da Primavera

2021 · ★ 8

Syrian brothers Adel and Hadi Bakkour take to the streets of Rio de Janeiro fighting for democracy in the country where they chose to live. History repeats itself: before they had to leave Aleppo to protest for freedom. Back he inherited his mother, Lawahez, and his father, Abdo. The family is reunited six years after the separation, in a changing Brazil.

The Take

2004 · ★ 7.8

In suburban Buenos Aires, thirty unemployed ceramics workers walk into their idle factory, roll out sleeping mats and refuse to leave. All they want is to re-start the silent machines. But this simple act - the take - has the power to turn the globalization debate on its head. Armed only with slingshots and an abiding faith in shop-floor democracy, the workers face off against the bosses, bankers and a whole system that sees their beloved factories as nothing more than scrap metal for sale.

Koliba: Forgotten Glory of Slovak Film Studios

A documentary on how American films are made well at the renowned Studio Koliba, Slovakia and also the harsh and cruel view of why films do not go well in SR.

Democracy Under Siege

2024 · ★ 8

The sharp wit and insightful art of Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Ann Telnaes to examine the challenges confronting US democracy ahead of the 2024 presidential election.

God & Country: The Rise of Christian Nationalism

2024 · ★ 7.4

Examines the implications of Christian Nationalism, how it distorts not only our constitutional republic, but Christianity itself, and asks the question: What happens when a faith built on love, sacrifice, and forgiveness grows political tentacles, conflating power, money, and belief into hyper-nationalism?

Fracking the System: Colorado's Oil and Gas Wars

2024

Fracking the System is a political thriller documentary from the front lines of climate justice activism in Colorado. When a fracking mega-site gets moved from a White neighborhood to a BIPOC neighborhood, a concerned mother fights to try and stop it. This is an investigative exposé about the harms of fracking, the lengths to which the government is complacent with industrial pollution, and the nefarious tactics that the oil and gas industry uses to undermine democratic elections.

Strike or Die

2020 · ★ 7

In October 1995, Forbach witnessed one of the most violent strikes in the history of contemporary France. A thousand or so miners took to the streets for a merciless struggle against a reform in their rights. Twenty years after the mines shut down, people’s will to fight is still alive, just hidden away somewhere.

The Maze

2017 · ★ 8

THE MAZE dissects the terror-attacks since Paris Bataclan in November 2015 and looks for common patterns. Why was intelligence failing? And why keep our governments pushing for more of the same? A road movie into surveillance reforms, power, money and cover-ups. A search for a way out of this maze - with a glimpse of hope on the horizon.

Dogs of Democracy

2017

Dogs of Democracy is an essay-style documentary about the stray dogs of Athens and the people who take care of them. Author and first-time filmmaker Mary Zournazi explores life on the streets through the eyes of the dogs and peoples' experience. Shot in location in Athens, the birthplace of democracy, the documentary is about how Greece has become the 'stray dogs of Europe', and how the dogs have become a symbol of hope for the people and for the anti- austerity movement. A universal story about love and loyalty and what we might learn from animals and peoples' timeless quest for democracy.

Incomplete Sentences

2022

Aslı Erdoğan, world-renowned author and activist, has fallen into silence after she fled to Germany. Incomplete Sentences is a feature documentary on her literature and life, leading to exile in Frankfurt, after the Turkish regime’s oppression results in her unlawful imprisonment. Now, she struggles in exile while everybody is waiting for her to write again. Right after getting out of prison Aslı starts telling her story to the director, wandering in the streets of Istanbul she recites parts from her books and explains the stories behind. When Aslı goes to Germany to receive the Erich Maria Remarque Award she cannot return; thus her exile, which she likens to a semi-open prison, begins. As her health deteriorates and keeps her from writing, the tragedy in her books becomes her own reality.