non-violent resistance in the Middle East
Winner at the Sundance Film Festival, 5 broken cameras is a deeply personal, first-hand account of non-violent resistance in Bil'in, a West Bank village threatened by encroaching Israeli settlements. Shot almost entirely by Palestinian farmer Emad Burnat, who bought his first camera in 2005 to record the birth of his youngest son, the footage was later given to Israeli co-director Guy Davidi to edit. Structured around the violent destruction of each one of Burnat's cameras, the filmmakers' collaboration follows one family's evolution over five years of village turmoil. Burnat watches from behind the lens as olive trees are bulldozed, protests intensify, and lives are lost. "I feel like the camera protects me," he says, "but it's an illusion."
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This film adaptation of Absurdist playwright Eugene Ionesco's play Rhinoceros, in which people begin turning into rhinoceri, the new contagion of a dehumanized society. Zero Mostel recreates his Tony-winning Broadway role.
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Shot on location at the ancient and ghostly Stoneleigh Abbey, The tempest is Derek Jarman's acclaimed 1979 film adaptation of William Shakespeare's final great play. It is the story of Prospero the magician, who lives on an island with his nubile daughter on an enchanted island and punishes his enemies when they are shipwrecked there. Essentially a study of sexual and political power in the guise of a fairy tale, in Jarman's hands, The tempest becomes an original and dazzling spectacle mixing Hollywood pastiche, high camp, and gothic horror. The film recalls the innocent homoeroticism of Pasolini's versions of classics, while its lush sense of decor and color is worthy of Minnelli. The master stroke in The tempest is the finale, a wedding feast designed and choreographed as a full-scale production number, with the veteran black musical comedy star Elisabeth Welch wafting her way through a chorus line of hunky sailors as she belts out "Stormy Weather." It is one of the great scenes in contemporary British cinema.
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Dictator in the dock brings viewers into the courtroom as former dictator General Efraín Ríos Montt stands trial for genocide and crimes against humanity in Guatemala. This historic case marked the first time, anywhere in the world, that a former head of state was tried for genocide in a national court, in the country where the crimes were committed. It is also the first time in the history of South or North America, that the genocide of indigenous peoples was tried in a court of law, significantly in a country of the Americas with a majority indigenous population. As Francisco Soto, legal representative of the Maya victims, said in his concluding statement at the trial, "Justice is poised to play an important role in the historical memory of our country. For the first time in 500 years we are able to judge genocide." The symbolic and precedent setting nature of this trial for all indigenous peoples and all national justice systems cannot be overestimated. Skylight filmed the entire genocide trial of Ríos Montt from the day it started on March 19, 2013 to its conclusion on May 10, 2013, capturing the high-stakes drama of a reckoning with heinous crimes, an unveiling of impunity, and a nation's struggle to reconcile with a legacy of mass atrocities.
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inclusion of children with disabilities: Episode 1. Including Samuel
Including Samuel (2008). Before his son Samuel was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, photojournalist Dan Habib rarely thought about the inclusion of people with disabilities. Now he thinks about inclusion every day. Shot and produced over four years, Habib's award-winning documentary film, Including Samuel, chronicles the Habib family's efforts to include Samuel in every facet of their lives. The film honestly portrays his family's hopes and struggles, as well as the experiences of four other individuals with disabilities and their families. Including Samuel is a highly personal, passionately photographed film that captures the cultural and systemic barriers to inclusion.
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inclusion of children with disabilities: Episode 2. Thasya
Thasya (2012). Thasya Lumingkewas, 8, has autism and thrives at Maple Wood Elementary School in Somersworth, NH. The school has implemented Response to Intervention (RtI), Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) and Universal Design for Learning (UDL). This film highlights the power of presuming competence, differentiated instruction and augmentative and alternative communication.
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The fourteen-acre community garden at 41st and Alameda in South Central Los Angeles is the largest of its kind in the United States. Started as a form of healing after the devastating L.A. riots in 1992, the South Central Farmers have since created a miracle in one of the country's most blighted neighbourhoods. Growing their own food. Feeding their families. Creating a community. But now, bulldozers are poised to level their 14-acre oasis. The garden follows the plight of the farmers, from the tilled soil of this urban farm to the polished marble of City Hall. Mostly immigrants from Latin America, from countries where they feared for their lives if they were to speak out, we watch them organize, fight back, and demand answers: Why was the land sold to a wealthy developer for millions less than fair-market value? Why was the transaction done in a closed-door session of the LA City Council? Why has it never been made public? And the powers-that-be have the same response: "The garden is wonderful, but there is nothing more we can do." If everyone told you nothing more could be done, would you give up?
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sex, death and subliminal advertising
The ad and the id examines advertising as applied psychology, exploring its subliminal messages of sex and death. Each day we are exposed to hundreds of advertisements. We are exposed to them, but we don't really see them or pay attention to them. This provocative documentary shows how advertisers use powerful subliminal images to influence and unconsciously motivate consumers to buy. It uncovers and analyzes, from a psychoanalytic perspective, the hidden images of sex and death that are placed under the surface of seemingly ordinary advertisements. It also looks at advertising as applied psychoanalysis designed to sell products based on the human desire to break free of sexual repression and to deny mortality.
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Twelve short films by students of Langara Film Arts. Forty years after high school, Rita and Beth have a chance to reconnect in Never too late. In Images of oblivion, a famed artist will do anything to create his next masterpiece--including going to prison. A powerful GMO company owns the genetic code of an Orange tree that can save the life of Cecile's daughter and countless other children. In Temptation, Damian, clueless about sex, turns to pornography and gets hooked. A masked killer makes his move in a small town in Black, white and RED. In Pixie, we follow Christine on a rocky day as she asks herself if someone can provide her with what she needs and wonders what will be left behind when illusions fade away. During his execution for a double homicide, Trevor's life flashes before his eyes in Lottery. Picture perfect is a magical bittersweet love story inspired by Disney fairytales. Marshall and Zeb, a person struggling with a disability and his caregiver, spend their last day together after Zeb receives the news that his work permit won't be renewed. When Lena's neighbour Julia goes missing, Lena begins to hear strange and frightening sounds in her walls in Me, too. In Mrs. Rosa’s European vacation, the biggest silent film star of her day has to come to terms with the end of silent pictures and the advent of talkies. In Charlie and the living lamp, Charlie's life is uprooted when he brings home a lamp named Andy that, unbeknownst to him, possesses consciousness.
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Eleven short films by students of Langara Film Arts. Chelsey, a charming and manipulative freeloader, hits rock bottom in Thanks for coming. In Soulmates, a young artist struggling with anxiety and depression is tormented by a physical manifestation of her own self-doubt. Two teenagers spark A beautiful friendship after their attempts with girls backfire. A young woman travelling in Canada has a first date that leads to an unexpected pregnancy in Morrow. Assigned the transport of a super weapon, Secret Agent Brook must evade an ambush in The games we play. Max, a recently promoted film grip, has a meltdown on set in Get a grip. After receiving a series of heartfelt voice messages from his mother, Ajay sets off on a journey to reconnect with her in Call your mom. In The inheritance, Sam takes a trip to his grandfather's favourite hiking trail, meeting Jessica during his travels. Professional gambler Lou embarks on a journey to fulfil a promise to her sister in The void. After losing his best friends Andrew and Brittany in a car accident, Marc starts seeing vivid hallucinations in See you on the Moon. After years of her father's abuse, Hannah's seeks justice in Fangs.
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In the fall of 1985, a small group of Haida people stood on a muddy logging road on Lyell Island and refused to move. What followed was a landmark act of peaceful resistance that helped spark a nationwide reckoning around land, sovereignty and environmental justice. Drawing from over a hundred hours of electrifying archival footage, The stand immerses us in the tension, courage, and quiet humanity of that moment. Directed by Christopher Auchter, the film honours the Elders, activists, and supernatural spirits who helped shape a new future for the Haida Nation--and for all of Canada.
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a measure of evil
An in-depth investigation into the phenomenon of the psychopath and the psychological tests used to identify them. Checklist examines who these people are, how they affect both individual lives and the public as a whole, and the steps being taken to control their actions and minimize the havoc they wreak. The debate continues how to find a balance between personal freedoms and public security and how to protect the public from predatory violence while still upholding the rights and dignity of the individual.
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a land for sale
Between the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, the smallest country in Central America is now the planet's champion in biodiversity. However, for several years, the success of ecotourism has been driving Costa Rica into runaway urbanization. Today the country is for sale, regardless of biodiversity. That is why the state created the Environmental Tribunal. A battle has been engaged, and the green judges have declared war on illegal property developers. Costa Rica : a land for sale documents Costa Rica's efforts to protect its environment.
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Identical twin gynecologists, one suave, the other introspective, share the same medical practice, the same apartment, and the same women. When one special woman enters their lives, their bizarre bond is threatened for the first time, sending them into a whirlpool of sexual confusion, drugs, and madness.
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sustainable food production in America
"New thinking about what we're eating." Our current industrial method of food production is increasingly viewed as an unsustainable system, destructive to the environment and public health. But what is the alternative? Fresh profiles the farmers, thinkers, and business people across the nation who are at the forefront of re-inventing food production in America. Forging healthier, sustainable alternatives, they offer a practical vision for a future of our food and our planet. Among others, Fresh features urban farmer and activist Will Allen, sustainable farmer and entrepreneur Joel Salatin, and supermarket owner David Ball. Fresh covers: Industrialization; Stewards of the Earth; Antibiotic resistance; Fresh food for all; Local living economy; and Creating change.
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