An Idiot's Guide to Politics

Comedian Jolyon Rubinstein is on a mission. He wants to find out why the Facebook generation is so disengaged from politics. With the general election just around the corner, according to a recent survey less than a quarter of under 25s plan to vote. Is this just apathy and ignorance? Or is something else going on? The film is packed with stunts, pranks and some pretty serious interviews in which Jolyon seeks to find the answers. On the way he takes a fire engine armed with fireproof underpants to Conservative Party HQ ('liar, liar, pants on fire'); visits UKIP HQ to use his lie-detecting test to help Nigel Farage root out members hiding a BNP past; takes a union leader a statue of Ed Miliband as Wallace to thank him for getting Ed elected Labour leader - a present from the Conservatives; and tries to raise £50k to have dinner with the PM - it's the going rate for Tory Party donors, he learns.

The Reading-Lesson

Van der Keuken juxtaposes images of Dutch children learning to read against those of the coup d'état in Chile.

Bitter Lake

An experimental documentary that explores Saudi Arabia's relationship with the U.S. and the role this has played in the war in Afghanistan.

Trotz und Treue: Das Phänomen Sahra Wagenknecht

2024 is likely to be a decisive year for Sahra Wagenknecht's political future. In the arena of power, she might assume a role that she is already very familiar with. In the early years following the fall of the Berlin Wall, Sahra Wagenknecht became the "most famous face" of the PDS, the successor party to the SED. Yet, even as the youngest member of the party's executive board, she was considered a "disruptive factor." She is unyielding and swims against the tide. Sahra Wagenknecht does not distance herself from Stalinism, nor from the Berlin Wall, and wishes for a reformed GDR.

Second Deputy Speaker

In the Swedish general elections of 2014, the Sweden Democrats (far-right) became the Riksdag's third largest party. By tradition - and through a formal vote - the chamber honors the largest parties by awarding them the Speaker and three Deputy Speaker posts. Filmed in the Swedish parliament, “Second Deputy Speaker” gives a critical study of politics and symbols of resistance in parliamentary procedures.

Poisoned by Polonium

This documentary follows ex-spy Alexander Litvinenko from his forced exile from Russia, to his death from poisoning in November of 2006.

Mandela

A documentary that chronicles the life of South African leader Nelson Mandela. Mandela is probably best known for his 27 years of imprisonment, and for bringing an end to apartheid. But this film also sheds light on the little-known early period of Mandela's life.

Crimea. The Way Home

For the first time, this documentary includes two exclusive interviews with Vladimir Putin and full details about actions in Crimea during spring 2014. These events determined the history of modern Russia. The President talks frankly and openly about the challenges and risks that Russia faced during that time. This film provides the Russian view of the situation. It is impossible to form a complete picture of the world without it.

Deep Web

Deep Web gives the inside story of one of the most important and riveting digital crime sagas of the century -- the arrest of Ross William Ulbricht, the 30-year-old entrepreneur convicted of being 'Dread Pirate Roberts,' creator and operator of online black market Silk Road. As the only film with exclusive access to the Ulbricht family, Deep Web explores how the brightest minds and thought leaders behind the Deep Web and Bitcoin are now caught in the crosshairs of the battle for control of a future inextricably linked to technology, with our digital rights hanging in the balance.

Why Women Run

This documentary offers a glimpse into the 1997 federal election in the Halifax electoral district. Two strong female politicians, Liberal candidate Mary Clancy and NDP party leader Alexa McDonough, are caught in a tight competition in one of the most contested races in the country. Director Meredith Ralston follows the two women around the campaign trail for weeks, getting inside an election that was often described as “nasty.” Both larger than life and hungry to win, in quieter moments Clancy and McDonough reveal the strains and contradictions of their chosen careers. Why Women Run highlights the accomplishments of women in politics and the problems many women face participating in the political process.

Tuesday in November

A propaganda short about the 1944 United States presidential election, produced by the Office of War information, for overseas distribution. It is meant to explain how the democratic process in America works. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2007.

Silver's Uprising

Raised in an orthodox home, Amos Dov Silver dreams of becoming Prime Minister. But when the State continues to shun him, he soon finds unexpected solace in the velvety smoke of Marijuana. Spreading his new Torah, he establishes an online community using a mobile app called "TeleGrass" that turns into the largest marketplace for drugs in Israel, raising Silver to Messiah status. Through exclusive footage of Silver, his family and his partners’ investigations, as well as secretly filmed footage of Silver in the Ukrainian prison, a polarizing portrayal of the man charged with heading a crime organization emerges. Champion of the people, or a lost soul corrupted by power?

Death of a Nation

Parallels are drawn between Abraham Lincoln's presidency and the presidency of Donald Trump. Not since 1860 have the Democrats so fanatically refused to accept the result of a free election. That year, their target was Lincoln. They smeared him. They went to war to defeat him. In the end, they assassinated him.

Among the Believers

An unsettling and eye opening exploration into the spread of the radical Islamic school Red Mosque, which trains legions of children to devote their lives to jihad, or holy war, from a very young age. With incredible access and chilling footage, Among the Believers is a timely and relevant look into the causes that have led to the growth of radical Islam in Pakistan and around the world.

Entre deux vagues

Fever Dream Jan10

The Netherlands, a bastion of capitalism, has struggled with unprecedented housing crises since 2018. This brings a rise of different ideologies that challenge the dominant status quo. In the city of Nijmegen, an anarchist collective JAN10 battles the ongoing housing crisis by squatting empty buildings, which poses a threat to the established capitalist interests.

De vorbă cu frații mei plugari

Enemy of The State: Camp FEMA Part 2

Panics, orchestrated crises, media hype and propaganda have been used in the name of “protecting the people” for generations. CNN, the Southern Poverty Law Center and other media outlets air special reports and name call anyone who questions the government as conspiracy theorists in an effort to suppress information. Yet, with the de-classification of decades-old documents, it can be found that many of these “conspiracy theories” are not so theoretical after all. This film takes a look at the government and media manipulation of an unwitting public, and plans that have been laid out through legislation, Executive Orders and Presidential Directives that pave the way for the elimination of many, if not all, of our most basic rights. Enemy of The State: Camp FEMA Part 2 thrashes out the mission of a police state and the implementation of martial law.

Citizen Clark... A Life of Principle

For fifty years, former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark has challenged the abuses of U.S. power and championed the causes of human rights.

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