In this deeply personal film, director Roger Ross Williams sets out on a journey to understand the complex forces of racism and greed currently at work in America's prison system.
Social & External
The people behind it
Documentary made by Yunus Vally, born in the 60s into a Muslim family during the height of the Apartheid era in South Africa, which examines the impact that the discriminatory laws of the state - specifically the so-called Immorality Act that determined who you could love and the censorship regulations that clearly defined what was deemed desirable - had on his life. It is also his attempt to fathom how he could have been an ardent Trotskyite who secretly fancied blonde Afrikaans beauty queens. (Storyville)
Peter Watkins' global look at the impact of military use of nuclear technology and people's perception of it, as well as a meditation on the inherent bias of the media, and documentaries themselves.
After the waning of the protests in Sanrizuka, Ogawa Pro started questioning the future of the collective and looking for other subjects to film. Following the method developed in the previous films, the filmmakers moved to the slum of Kotobuchi in the port city of Yokohama, where more than 6000 people were struggling to get by without any means of survival, exposed to industrial accidents and diseases. The result is one of the most moving films produced by the collective, a series of beautifully filmed portraits, voicing the silenced stories and songs of a group of people living in this community. Credit: ICA London
In the run-up to parliamentary elections in mid-October, Polish filmmaker Marcin Wierzchowski travelled across his country to gauge the atmosphere in a society that is more divided than ever.
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.
For decades, the United States has been fixated on incarceration, building prisons and locking up more and more people. But at what cost, and has it really made a difference? FRONTLINE goes to the epicenter of the raging debate about incarceration in America, focusing on the controversial practice of solitary confinement and on new efforts to reduce the prison population, as officials are rethinking what to do with criminals.
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.
Santiago Mitre co-directs his first movement following The Student together with choreographer Onofri Barbato. Although it would have been more accurate to say “his first film-story-adventure-movie-great movie following The Student”, the word movement fits perfectly in Los posibles, the most overwhelmingly kinetic work Argentine cinema has delivered in many, many years. The film deals with the adaptation of a dance show directed by Onofri together with a group of teenagers who came to Casa La Salle, a center of social integration located in González Catán, trying to find some refuge from hardship. Already entitled Los posibles, the piece opened in the La Plata Tacec and was later staged in the AB Hall of the San Martín Cultural Center. Now, it dazzles audiences out of a film screen, with extraordinary muscles and a huge heart: Los posibles is a rhapsody of roughen bodies and torn emotions. Precise and exciting, it’s our own delayed, necessary, and incandescent West Side Story.
The documentary Schwarze Adler (Black Eagles) lets black players of the German national football team tell their personal stories for the first time. What road did they take before they got to where we cheer for them? What hurdles did they have to overcome? What prejudices and racist hostility were they exposed to – and what was it like in the past, what is it like today?
An exploration —manipulated and staged— of life in Las Hurdes, in the province of Cáceres, in Extremadura, Spain, as it was in 1932. Insalubrity, misery and lack of opportunities provoke the emigration of young people and the solitude of those who remain in the desolation of one of the poorest and least developed Spanish regions at that time.
Megacities is a documentary about the slums of five different metropolitan cities.
From its beginning during the Reagan years through current times, the War on Drugs has left many victims stranded in the prison system. PRISONERS OF THE WAR ON DRUGS reveals life behind bars in the nation’s prisons. Each prisoner has his or her own story, but for most, the story is predictably similar; they have been criminalized for drugs or drug related offenses, locked up with easy access to substances, and given little opportunity for rehabilitation. This film provides an inside look at the prison system, its prisoners and a war on drugs we do not seem to be winning.
Animari and Zlatko's mission is to help children from disadvantaged backgrounds get the best possible care and education. Will they manage to find funding to welcome more children and to start a high school?
The decades-long debate surrounding reparations is fraught, mired in racial tension and the semantics of restorative justice. While the national conversation remains stalled due to legislative inaction, communities across the country examine their histories and take it upon themselves to arrange their own form of reparations. This detailed investigation of restitution presents accounts of everyday people confronting the past and exploring the possibilities of wealth transfer.
Sebz traces an intimate and heartbreaking journey through her past and present, exploring the nuances of her identity as a non-binary, black, asexual trans person. Through an introspective narrative, Sebz reflects on the abuse she suffered as a child and the revelation that these experiences were not unique, but also familial. In a space where memory and reality intertwine, Sebz confronts her relationship with her mother, a complex connection torn between rejection and a search for understanding, accentuated by tensions of gender, sexuality and shared trauma. This short queer documentary is an honest and courageous portrait of wounds, family ties and the resilience that defines those who seek to exist beyond social impositions.
On August 29, 1970 in East Los Angeles, a peaceful march of over 20,000 Chicanas/os, united in protest against the Vietnam War as part of the National Chicano Moratorium movement, was violently interrupted by an extreme, unjustifiable response by law enforcement. The tragic events of that day left four dead. Chicano Moratorium: A Question of Freedom is a harrowing, eyewitness documentary of the events of August 29, 1970 and their immediate aftermath, including the murder of Chicano journalist, Ruben Salazar. In contrast to biased TV news reports of the period, this student-made short offers an impassioned, unvarnished community account of the unrest and violence unleashed by the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department in response to the otherwise peaceful march in protest of disproportionate Chicano casualties in the Vietnam War.
People are interviewed in Dresden, Ontario, to sample local attitudes towards racial discrimination against black people that brought this town into the news. After a round-up of the opinions of individual citizens, white and black, commentator Gordon Burwash joins two discussion panels, presenting opposite points of view. The rights and wrongs of the quarrel are left for the audience to decide.
An in-depth look at the prison system in the United States and how it reveals the nation's history of racial inequality.
Alexander McQueen's rags-to-riches story is a modern-day fairy tale, laced with the gothic. Mirroring the savage beauty, boldness and vivacity of his design, this documentary is an intimate revelation of McQueen's own world, both tortured and inspired, which celebrates a radical and mesmerizing genius of profound influence.
Incarcerated men defy the odds to expose a cover-up in one of America’s deadliest prison systems.
Unravel the case of Utah therapist Jodi Hildebrandt, whose child abuse arrest with parenting YouTuber Ruby Franke exposed a twisted tale of manipulation.
In an intimate and joyful story of love in the face of loss, celebrated poets Andrea Gibson and Megan Falley find strength—and unexpected hilarity—in what might be their final year together.
A string of threatening emails escalates into a revenge plot involving a newly married US marshal and his ex-girlfriend.
Through deeply personal interviews with her siblings and an examination of the photographs, letters, and belongings left behind, Mariska assembles a new portrait of her mother Jayne Mansfield, an extraordinary and complex woman.
A documentary about the making of season five of the acclaimed AMC series Breaking Bad.
Fox Rich, indomitable matriarch and modern-day abolitionist, strives to keep her family together while fighting for the release of her incarcerated husband. An intimate, epic, and unconventional love story, filmed over two decades.
Serving life in prison for murdering their parents, Lyle and Erik Menendez speak out in this documentary explaining the shocking crime and ensuing trials.
In a crime-plagued neighborhood near Miami, brutal, bare-knuckled backyard fights give young men a chance to earn money -- and self-respect.
This revealing documentary honors the legendary Sidney Poitier—iconic actor, filmmaker, and civil rights activist. Featuring interviews with Denzel Washington, Spike Lee, Halle Berry, and more.
Police pull over a woman who claims she just gave birth. But the baby — and the blood — aren't hers. Twisted lies unravel in this true-crime documentary.
A teen slams her car into a building, killing her boyfriend and his friend. What seems like a tragic accident becomes a murder case.
Those who knew iconic funnyman John Candy best share his story, in their own words, through never-before-seen archival footage, imagery, and interviews.
Ranjit, a farmer in India, takes on the fight of his life when he demands justice for his 13-year-old daughter, the victim of a brutal gang rape. His decision to support his daughter is virtually unheard of, and his journey unprecedented.
Alternately hilarious and horrifying, Overnight chronicles one man's misadventures of making a Hollywood movie. It starts out as a rags to riches story as Troy Duffy, a Boston-bred bartender, sells his first screenplay for The Boondock Saints.
An unprecedented and intimate look at the life, work and enduring legacy of British actress Audrey Hepburn (1929-1993).
An inside look at one of the most anticipated movie sequels ever with James Cameron and cast.
Legendary journalist Gay Talese unmasks a motel owner who spied on his guests for decades. But his bombshell story soon becomes a scandal of its own.
