The Price of Protest

Un racisme à peine voilé

2004 · ★ 5.2

October 2003, Alma and Lila Levy are excluded from the Lycée Henri Wallon in Aubervilliers solely because they were wearing a headscarf. What follows is a deafening political and media debate, justifying in most cases the exclusion of girls wearing head-scarves to school. February 2004, a law was eventually passed by the National Assembly. "A thinly veiled racism" is about this controversy since the affair of Creil in 1989 (where two schoolgirls were excluded for the same reasons) and attempts to "reveal" that maybe what hides behind is the desire to exclude these girls. This film gives them a voice as well as others - teachers, community activists, feminists, researchers - gathered around the group "A School for You-All" fighting for the repeal of this law they consider sexist and racist ... This movie was censured in Septembre 2004 in France.

Forest of Crocodiles

2009

How do white South Africans deal with their fears of crime and violence? Like crocodiles, some survive without evolving, living with their fears. Others make fear their friend and evolve in ways you'd never imagine.

Barbed Wire and Mandolins

1997 · ★ 7

Upon Canada's entry into World War II, the RCMP rounded up thousands of people it considered fascist sympathizers. Among them, 700 Italian-Canadians were held for up to three years in internment camps. None were ever charged with a criminal offence.

When We Were Kings

1996 · ★ 7.6

It's 1974. Muhammad Ali is 32 and thought by many to be past his prime. George Foreman is ten years younger and the heavyweight champion of the world. Promoter Don King wants to make a name for himself and offers both fighters five million dollars apiece to fight one another, and when they accept, King has only to come up with the money. He finds a willing backer in Mobutu Sese Suko, the dictator of Zaire, and the "Rumble in the Jungle" is set, including a musical festival featuring some of America's top black performers, like James Brown and B.B. King.

Lillian Smith: Breaking the Silence

2019 · ★ 9

Lillian Smith: Breaking the Silence is a 50-minute documentary about the life and work of Georgia writer and activist Lillian Smith (1887 – 1966). This documentary explores her legacy and the life journey that led to her awakening, from her childhood experiences in a small southern town, to her years of living abroad in China, to directing a girls' summer camp in North Carolina. By the time she published a bestselling novel in 1944, her moral compass was finely tuned to the changes needed in the southern U.S., and she spent the next two decades confronting the ugly institution of segregation, saying that it harmed whites as much as blacks. In the decade before her death she wrote about the need for freedom and respect for everyone everywhere.

Burn Motherfucker, Burn!

2017 · ★ 6.5

An in-depth and provocative look at the 1992 Los Angeles riots exploring the roots of civil unrest in California and the relationship between African Americans and LAPD.

American Santa

2023

Black Santas are local heroes, spreading joy and love to children and families at a bustling mall during the Christmas season. But even during this special time, the ugly shadow of bigotry falls on the season's true spirit.

Maidan

2014 · ★ 7.8

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.

In Defense of Justice in Denver

The only people charged over the brutal police murder of Elijah McClain are community activists who organized mass peaceful demonstrations calling for justice. They are facing up to 48 years in prison - among the highest charges for peaceful political protest in recent history.

Unmarked

2020

African-American gravesites and burial grounds for enslaved persons have been lost or are disappearing throughout the South, through neglect and nature reclaiming the solemn tombstones and markers. Restoration and preservation of these forgotten sites by those with a personal connection or appreciation of their historical significance is on the rise, but much work remains to be done.

Bixas Pretas: Entre o Amor e Afetos

2023

The documentary mixes reenactments with true accounts from four characters/actors who tell the stories of six black gay men, their experiences and their romantic relationships crossed by racism and homophobia.

Their Eyes Were Watching God

2005 · ★ 5.7

A drama set in the 1920s, where free-spirited Janie Crawford's search for happiness leads her through several different marriages, challenging the morals of her small town. Based on the novel by Zora Neale Hurston.