Tag Archives: film

Killing the Messenger: The Deadly Cost of News

In December 2006, the UN Security Council unanimously passed landmark Resolution 1738 which demanded greater safety for journalists in conflict areas and called for an end to impunity for their killers. Since the UN resolution was passed, over 600 news media workers have been killed, while more have been imprisoned or have simply disappeared while on the job. Countless others have been intimidated into self-censorship or have gone into exile.

If no story is worth a life, then why is murder the number one cause of journalists’ deaths worldwide?

Murder is the leading cause of work related deaths for journalists as censorship increases worldwide. In addition to those who have been killed, dozens have been attacked, kidnapped, or forced into exile in connection with their coverage of crime and corruption.

Journalists reporting from Mexico, Russia and the conflict zones of Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria tell their personal stories of kidnapping, intimidation, and beatings. They’ve experienced the loss of colleagues in the field and have been close to death themselves. Their stories are heartfelt, captivating, engaging and at moments – unbelievable.

The targeting of Journalists worldwide affects anyone who believes that information and accurate reporting play a part in healthy societies.

Awards:

2015: The Edward R. Murrow Award, from The Radio Television Digital News Association, recognising excellence in electronic journalism.

2015: National Headliner Award, recognising journalistic merit in the communications industry.

Propaganda

Controversial to its core, this hard-hitting anti-Western propaganda film, which looks at the influence of American visual and consumption culture on the rest of the world from a North Korean perspective, has been described as ‘either a damning indictment of 21st Century culture or the best piece of propaganda in a generation.’

Propaganda signals the birth of a new genre-bending generation of film maker. Using the ‘fake North Korean propaganda’ found-footage device, Slavko Martinov first parodies its language and stylings, before targeting the mountain of hypocrisies and contradictions that make up the modern Western narrative. In doing so, Propaganda delivers a devastating blow to those who might be quick to laugh at ‘backward’ ideologies before considering how 21st century political and cultural trends have weakened any claims to the moral high ground.

Carbon Nation

Carbon Nation is an optimistic, solutions-based, non-preachy, non-partisan, big tent film that shows tackling climate change boosts the economy, increases national & energy security and promotes health & a clean environment.

Public opinion is sliding the wrong way – far fewer people are concerned about climate change than even a year ago.

Carbon Nation was made to give an entertaining, informed and pragmatic primer about why it’s incredibly smart to be a part of the new, low-carbon economy. Even if you doubt the severity of the impact of climate change or just don’t buy it at all, this is a compelling and relevant film that illustrates how solutions to climate change also address other social, economic and national security issues.

We meet a host of entertaining and endearing characters along the way, including entrepreneurs, visionaries, scientists and the everyday man, all making a difference and working towards solving climate change. We already have the technology to combat most of the worst-case scenarios of climate change, and it makes business sense too.

Carbon Nation’s pioneering optimism and pragmatism are appealing across the political spectrum, and while other good films have been about problems, blame and guilt, Carbon Nation is a film that celebrates solutions, inspiration and action.

Who Rules America?

Who Rules America? takes a comprehensive look into the governing system of the United States of America and reveals the behind-the-scene powers that rule the nation. There are two Americas; one in which people have freedom in choosing their leaders within the framework of the constitution living in the land of the free, and another, wherein all is dedicated to the ruling 1%  and within which a  hidden network of power governs including the media, Wall Street , the Military and Corporations.

This new expose from Danny Schechter (In Debt We Trust, WMD: Weapons on Mass Deception) lifts the lid on the true decision makers behind the worlds self-proclaimed democratic  role model.


Beautiful Faces

Beautiful Faces offers a compelling look at one of the world’s most remarkable hospitals, the disfigured young patients to whom it offers new lives, and the team of surgeons, physicians, and medical professionals who believe it’s the best place in the world to practice their unique, life-transforming craft.

You’ll come away convinced that health-care can be affordable, humane, and excellent, and that every one of us deserves a face with which we can bravely meet the world.

Hospital General Gea Gonzalez, located in Mexico City’s frenetic Tlalpan district, is surrounded by a high metal-barred fence, its entrances guarded by policemen carrying automatic weapons. On any day, literally thousands of impoverished Mexicans wait patiently for services, often for many hours, yet the hospital’s plastic and reconstructive surgery unit.

It is a hospital that ably demonstrates that even the very poor can receive excellent medical care at costs that don’t bankrupt health-care systems and that everyone can be offered the basic human right of a normal face.

Beautiful Faces interweaves the stories of patients and their families who come to the reconstructive plastic surgery unit at Hospital Gea Gonzalez seeking physical transformations that will renew their own and their loved ones lives with the personal stories of the enormously talented medical professionals whose work is both their passion and their gift to humankind.

The film chronicles the remarkable community of caregivers and care-receivers who come together on the hospital’s fascinating fourth floor, and who profoundly influence each others lives. From Dr. Fernando Ortiz Monasterio, the beloved patriarch whose demands for excellence from his subordinates remain exacting, to four-year-old Sebastián Castillo, whose irrepressible enthusiasm for life helps him cope remarkably with the challenges of Crouzon’s syndrome, Beautiful Faces is a mosaic of stories–the richly visual tales of people who meet in a singular place and who collectively understand that in valuing individual lives and striving to make them better, we value all of humanity.

Beautiful Faces ultimately demonstrates that, in many ways, the distinction between patients and caregivers is only an illusory one, and that much more than cutting, sawing, and sewing, the essential task of the hospital is the freeing of the human spirit. It is work that allows doctors and patients alike to look comfortably in the mirror and understand that they are vitally important members of the human family.

Zeitgeist: The Series

The Zeitgeist documentaries are an international sensation, with over 1,000 theatrical screenings in 60 countries and 30 languages, viewed by millions on the internet and even spawning a movement.  For the first time they are now available to broadcast audiences and other license opportunities, as individual films or as an eleven part series.

Zeitgeist: The Movie is a treatment on Mythology and Belief in society today, presenting uncommon perspectives of common cultural issues.

Part One presents historical data relating to the astronomical/astrological origins of the Judeo-Christian theology (which can be extended to Islam as well), along with the understanding that these respective stories, beliefs & traditions are really an adaptation-extension of prior Pagan beliefs.

Part Two presents a controversial view of the events of Sept. 11th 2001. It describes how the event has been transformed into a sacred, near religious act and to challenge the orthodox view, regardless of the quality of the contrary arguments, is considered blasphemy and rejected.

Part Three presents a shotgun tour through the subjects of Central Banking, War Pretexts, Banking Panics, the Military Industrial Complex, Media Culture and ultimately the mental neurosis and deadly addiction known as “Power.”

The central theme is how society is often misled when it comes to certain pivotal historical events, what those events serve in function, along with how the overall social conditioning patterns we see today function to create values and perspectives which support and perpetuate the static, established order/power structure, as opposed to fluid social change and productive evolution for the betterment of the society as a whole.

Zeitgeist: Addendum was born out of public interest in possible solutions to the cultural issues presented in Zeitgeist: The Movie.

Building upon the topics of social distortion and corruption, Addendum moves to also present possible solutions. Featured in the work is former “Economic Hit-man” and New York Times bestselling author, John Perkins, along with The Venus Project, an organization for social redesign created by Social Engineer and Industrial Designer Jacque Fresco.

Part One (four in the series) explains the process of Money Creation and Expansion through the Fractional Reserve System. It explains how Debt and Bankruptcy are not mere byproducts of our current system, but rather are underlying realities of our existence with periodic failures guaranteed.

Part Two (five in the series) exposes various levels of international corruption via the financial/corporate system, including the manipulation of public leaders to further the interests of corporate institutions.

Part Three (six in the series) changes gears and depicts a possible solution to the growing social problems in the world today by the introduction of a new social concept known as a “Resource-Based Economy”.

Part Four (seven in the series) gives a philosophical perspective in the hope to inspire change in the viewer and enable action to affect society for the better.

Zeitgeist: Moving Forward focuses on the very fabric of the social order: Monetary-Market Economics.

The majority of the world today have come to see basic flaws in the economic system we share. Large scale debt defaults, inflation, industrial pollution, resource depletion, rising cancer rates and other signposts have emerged to bring the concern into the realm of “public health”.

The tendency is to demand reform in one area or another, avoiding the possibility that perhaps the entire system is intrinsically flawed at the foundational level.

Part One (eight in the series) presents a treatment on “Human Nature”, with the argument that society is out of line with what Science has taught us about positive human development, enabling distortions of health and behavior that could be thwarted if the social system was changed.

Part Two (nine in the series) details the central inherent flaws of the Monetary-Market System of economic conduct and how this system is destroying ourselves and the planet in a very direct way.

Part Three (ten in the series) begins a thought exercise where the Earth and Natural Law is considered a starting point for human decision-making rather than politics, with the subject explored from all sides.

Part Four (eleven in the series) ends with a prediction of what is to come as the society becomes more destabilized due to our outdated traditional practices.

 

download PDF onesheet – ‘The Movie’>
download PDF onesheet – ‘Addendum’>
download PDF onesheet – ‘Moving Forward’>
download PDF onesheet – ‘The Series’>

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Awards:

WINNER: Award of Excellence; LA Movie Awards, USA. Best Visual Effects; LA Movie Awards, USA. Best Documentary; Image Gazer, USA. Honourable Mention; Indie Gathering, USA. USA. First Documentary, LA Arthouse, USA. Best Cinematography, LA Arthouse, USA. Best Documentary, LA Arthouse, USA. Best Political Documentary, Action on Film, USA.

Official Selections:

Marbella International Film Festival, SPAIN. Salt lake City, USA. White Sands International Film Festival, USA.

China: The Rebirth of an Empire

China’s unprecedented growth has placed it on the verge of overtaking the United States as the world’s preeminent power. But what type of power will China become? In today’s interconnected and globalized world, the answer effects each and every one of us.

In Pakistan and Afghanistan, China’s humanitarian activities and investment in infrastructure have won it the hearts and minds of the people. Yet in Tibet and Xinjiang, China is reviled as an imperialistic abuser of human rights. Will China use its strength to dominate its neighbors and become a 21st century empire, or will China’s youth lead the country towards democracy?

Whether it’s a peaceful rise or potential threat, China’s 21st century emergence as a great world power will change the lives of everyone.

Rave Culture: The Birth of Dance Music

Rave Culture delves into the explosive rise of the early 1990s UK rave movement, fueled by mass unemployment, a surge in popularity of amphetamines, and a new wave of musicians, producers, and artists. These underground parties, held in abandoned factories and hidden fields, became the heartbeat of a generation.

Through the voices of its most underground pioneers, this documentary uncovers the rise, and global impact of rave culture. Blending social history with first hand testimony and archive, Rave Culture takes viewers on a journey through the evolution of dance music—tracing its roots from Detroit’s sophisticated techno, Chicago’s hedonistic house, and New York’s garage fervor to the birth of acid house in the late ‘80s.

This sonic revolution not only transformed music production but also reshaped nightlife, youth culture, and society itself.

Sweat! The Human Superpower

Sweat! One of our least appreciated bodily functions, yet critical to being human. Scientists are only just beginning to uncover the incredible insights sweat can provide about illnesses, diet, and overall fitness and wellbeing.

Through a cast of quirky scientists, surgeons, zoologists, forensic experts, sauna enthusiasts, and exercise fanatics, the curious story of sweat is finally explored. Experiments reveal what makes it such an incredible coolant, demonstrating the hard limits of the human thermoregulation system and the fascinating ways sweat can help us better understand ourselves.

Along the way, it becomes clear that sweat is an often-overlooked but remarkable evolutionary success story—one of the defining traits that make us distinctly human. Join us as we embrace our soggy skin and learn to love our sweat!

Great White North

With a never-before-seen explosion of Great White Shark encounters off Canada’s East Coast, we embark on a research expedition to unlock the secrets of these elusive apex predators that have invaded Canada’s ocean playground.

A recent spate of close encounters with Great White Sharks has brought together a team of researchers and scientists to conduct a ground-breaking research expedition.

Using an array of underwater cameras, ground-breaking early advance multi-beam sonar imaging, ROV cameras, underwater acoustic technology, and drone photography, our team will prove that not only are great whites here, but in much larger numbers than anyone had imagined.

The expedition will also break new ground in expanding our knowledge of these elusive apex predators. Many questions remain to be answered: how many great whites are visiting North Atlantic Waters and for how long. Are they reproducing there, or just summer visitors feasting on seals and tuna? What role does climate change play in the proliferation of sharks in the Northwest Atlantic? Are these curious juveniles carving out new territory, or mature breeding adults that are expanding their range? What impact are they having on the local ecosystem, and does their presence mean the North Atlantic Ocean is becoming healthier?

The Caravan

Born of desperation, a caravan of migrants left Honduras in October 2018 with the goal of walking to the US border with Mexico. Donald Trump repudiated these migrants as they traveled north through Central America, inflating the threat they posed to the United States declaring that they were drug dealers, criminals and Islamic terrorists.

The Caravan follows Yuri, eight months pregnant, as she walks from her home in Honduras towards the US border with her husband Mike and two-year old son Santi. Yuri is determined to give birth in the United States, guaranteeing her second child US citizenship. For her husband Mike, it is an opportunity to escape the endemic corruption, violence and poverty that plague Honduras and create a more secure future for his young family.

Like millions of Americans before them, the story of their journey is one of determination, faith, and a desire to build a new life in the promised land.

Breaking the News

The 19th is the first nonprofit, nonpartisan news agency in the United States. Its mission is to focus on the impact of national politics and policy on women.

Breaking the News immerses its audience in the lives and pursuits of the members of The 19th – women and LGBTQ+ journalists – as they struggle to launch the agency and gain traction for their newsroom amidst an America upended by Trump, the Pandemic, Black Lives Matter and more.

Breaking the News provides an inquisitive and dynamic view of the inner workings of a news agency as its journalists aim to disrupt entrenched biases including their own, push for accountability and get the news stories that concern women on the front pages, where they belong.