
Farewell Ferris Wheel
★ 7.3 · 2016 · 72m · Documentary
Farewell Ferris Wheel explores how the U.S. Carnival industry fights to keep itself alive by legally employing Mexican migrant workers with the controversial H-2B guestworker visa.
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Motherland Memories
2022
Ompung Putra Boru, a sixties indigenous Batak woman from Humbang Hasundutan, North Sumatra, retraces her life stories through photographs that interweave her past and present as a wife, mother, healer and indigenous land defender in two neighboring villages. Her multi-layered stories are juxtaposed with visual records of everyday life in the two villages, where people’s living space is still increasingly threatened by a giant pulp expansion.
More info →Shuja’iyah: Land of the Brave
2014
Shuja’iyah: Land of the Brave represents one filmmaker’s personal reflection on the meaning of “crimes against humanity” in the context of Israel’s ‘Operation Protective Edge’ waged in the Gaza Strip in 2014, using footage of her family filmed in the summer of 2013 juxtaposed against audio from the summer of 2014. Assali posed the question, when we say ‘crimes against humanity’, what ‘humanity’ are we talking about?”
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Sara Mardini - Gegen den Strom
2023 · ★ 10
The documentary begins when the fictionalized drama ends. Sara spent three years volunteering to save refugees on the same journey that made her so famous, and was suddenly arrested in Aug. 2018, accused by Greek authorities of running a criminal enterprise with charges including “international espionage and people smuggling.” If convicted, she faces up to 25 years in prison and the end of her humanitarian career. Shot over three years, the film follows Sara’s fight for justice and journey of self-discovery.
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Paulina
1997 · ★ 7
Through both interviews and dramatic reenactments, this documentary chronicles the life of Paulina Cruz Suárez.In the 1950's, when Paulina was a child in a rural Mexican village, her parents traded her away for land rights. The villagers ostracized her and the town boss raped her, keeping her as his unwilling mistress throughout much of her adolescence. At 15, she took control of her destiny and escaped to Mexico City to begin a new life. Now middle-aged, Paulina returns to her village to confront her family about what happened and encounters a web of intrigue and denial. PAULINA interweaves documentary and fiction styles to explore the characters' radically different perspectives and memories, and those of this vital, resilient woman.
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Conservation and Recovery of the Scarlet Macaw in Mexico
2025
The Scarlet Macaw, a vibrant symbol of the Mexican rainforest, is disappearing from the ecosystem. Conservation and Recovery of the Scarlet Macaw in Mexico explores the tireless efforts of Natura y Ecosistemas Mexicanos (NEM) to save the last remaining viable population of these iconic birds. Facing the constant threat of poaching, NEM works diligently to rescue hatchlings from vulnerable nests before they are looted. By forging partnerships with local communities, they have developed a network of dedicated individuals to locate and protect macaw nests. This compelling film showcases the resilience of both people and wildlife in a united fight to preserve a species that has long symbolized the beauty and diversity of the region's natural heritage.
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Trans*BUT — Fragments of Identity
2015
Fragmentary perspectives on Human Rights and transgender (trans*) People in Turkey. What remains at the place where a murder happened? What constitutes trans* life? How to cope with daily violence and hatred? We begin to search for traces. We follow the tracks of resistance and survival. We are collectors of the expelled. We gather fragments of trans* lives inspired by texts of Nazim Hikmet, Foucault, Benjamin and Zeki Müren. Trans*BUT is a documental research study driven by the question: “What keeps you going when all else falls away?”
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Gaza Is Our Home
2024
"Gaza Is Our Home" is a profoundly personal documentary that peels back the layers of devastation within the Gaza Strip, as witnessed through the lens of filmmaker Monear Shaer. His debut documentary was created out of agony as a timely, impactful, and tragic response to the collective anguish of all who call Gaza home... What began as an auto-generated slideshow on Monear’s iPhone of his own trip to see his family in 2021, has since transformed into a feature-length documentary. Through a tapestry of intimate interviews, unfiltered personal footage, and raw storytelling, "Gaza Is Our Home" transcends the political rhetoric and confronts audiences with the agonizing reality and ongoing cruelty thrust upon the film-makers own family. It is more than just a documentary... Rather, "Gaza Is Our Home" stands as a testament to the humanity behind the over 33,362 innocent lives massacred since Oct 2023...
More info →Vivir de la madera (Kuxtal Ti' Che')
In Mexico, the lack of jobs in villages and communities forces people to migrate to cities in search of opportunities and better income. This is the case of Justino, originally from the village of Muchucuxcáh, in the Yucatán Peninsula, who after traveling to Cancun and encountering problems and suffering there, decided to return to his village and learn to work with wood. Justino demonstrates how humans can interact with nature and their surroundings to have a dignified job.
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Crazy Money
2021
What is possible when we have guaranteed money to meet our basic needs? No requirements. No stipulations. No paybacks. We look to the village of Busibi to discover what’s possible when we give money directly to people. No strings attached. The answer lies in the residents’ personal stories. Their successes and tribulations illustrate the impact of one of the most daring projects in contemporary development cooperation. Their life stories unexpectedly prove to be all too familiar. They make us laugh. They move us. Blending in together, they create a colorful and poetic reality portrait, illustrating the big consequences of a small sum of money …
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Architects of Denial
2017 · ★ 6.9
Though both the historical and modern-day persecution of Armenians and other Christians is relatively uncovered in the mainstream media and not on the radar of many average Americans, it is a subject that has gotten far more attention in recent years.
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