Tag Archives: conflict

Secrets of the Tribe

This is the story of the unhealthy meeting of two cultures: an indigenous tribe, the Yanomami and the western anthropologists who came to the Amazon to study them. Over three decades the Yanomami Indians were transformed from the “last Stone Age tribe” so prized by those anthropologists to the most exhaustively documented and filmed tribe on earth.

Napoleon Chagnon built his reputation – and sold over a million books – by claiming to demonstrate the innate ferocity of Yanomami. He dubbed them The Fierce People. In 1968 his biggest expedition and most famous film were both lavishly funded by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. He targeted world-famous geneticist Dr James Neel, who literally wanted their blood – he was on the lookout for a ‘virgin soil’ population and was keen to know how diseases spread through such populations. Coincidentally or otherwise, a serious and deadly outbreak of measles happened during their expedition, killing hundreds in its wake.

Chagnon friend and fellow anthropologist Jacques Lizot, was a young prodigy and favoured student of the godfather of cultural anthropology and French intellectual icon, Claude Levi-Strauss. Like practically all other anthropologists in the field, they both distributed gifts, in order to ease their way into a tribe’s affections. “Chagnon is the golden goose for the Yanomami. He brings steel tools, machetes, fishhooks and they tell him what they think he wants to hear.” Lizot’s gifts included shotguns, but his favours were not confined to the academic and his illegal sexual predations amongst the Yanomami were kept sated over years, funded by the Collège de France and Académie Française over decades.

A leaked email from two top anthropologists notes: “This nightmarish story – a real anthropological Heart Of Darkness is beyond the imagining of even a Josef Conrad – though not, perhaps, a Josef Mengele.”

When China Met Africa

A historic gathering of over 50 African heads of state in Beijing reverberates in Zambia where the lives of three characters unfold. Mr Liu is one of thousands of Chinese entrepreneurs who have settled across the continent in search of new opportunities. He has just bought his fourth farm and business is booming.

In northern Zambia, Mr Li, a project manager for a multinational Chinese company is upgrading Zambia’s longest road. Pressure to complete the road on time intensifies when funds from the Zambian government start running out.

Meanwhile Zambia’s Trade Minister is on route to China to secure millions of dollars of investment.

Through the intimate portrayal of these characters, the expanding footprint of a rising global power is laid bare – pointing to a radically different future, not just for Africa, but also for the world.

Egypt: Behind the Revolution

Filmed primarily in Egypt in March of 2011, soon after the January revolution, this film introduces you to the Egyptians who lived under Mubarak and helped to bring him down.

Including interviews with revolutionaries from all walks of life fighting for a new start in Egypt, we get an inside glimpse at the sequence of events that led to what some are calling the first Facebook revolution.  Ordinary people give their reasons for taking to the streets of Egypt to call for freedom and reforms, and what led them to demand Mubarak’s resignation.

This broad-ranging film gives the events of January 2010 both the context necessary to fully understand how a powerful regime could fall so suddenly, as well as on-the-ground testimonials that fill in important details that went unreported at the time.

From the brewing discontent that preceded the revolution, to the 18 days of often brutally suppressed protests when success seemed far from inevitable, this film puts us in the centre of the action. Finally, Egypt: The Story Behind the Revolution captures the peoples joy and relief when Mubarak steps down after thirty years in power.

The Devil Operation

The charismatic Father Marco Arana, named a Hero of the Environment in 2009 by TIME Magazine, has been so effective in advocating against the US-owned Yanacocha mine that he’s code-named “the Devil” and targeted in a campaign of harassment and terror.

When one colleague is threatened with rape and another is killed, the activists fight back, capture a spy, and uncover a military-scale operation of surveillance and violence that shocks even them.

When billions of dollars are at stake, just how far are corporations willing to go to protect their bottom line?

A gripping David and Goliath tale of corporate espionage unfolds in this exposé of torture, intimidation, and murder of Peruvian eco-activists and indigenous farmers. Shocking video footage, horrifying photos, and meticulous reports compiled by private security firms working for gold mines are uncovered by the filmmakers to reveal the truth in this real-life political thriller.

Afghan Memento

In 1988, Olivier Brodard -a twenty one year old idealist- made a six-month humanitarian trip to Afghanistan under Soviet occupation with $50,000 in his backpack destined for the local populations.

Entering illegally via Pakistan Olivier, along with his friend Paul Castella, made the arduous journey on foot, camel and tank to the Pansir Valley. They met commander Massoud and shared the daily life of the afghan people witnessing first hand the front line of the Afghan battle against the Soviet Union.

When Olivier reluctantly returned home to Switzerland, he had a terrible car accident. After weeks in a deep coma, he woke up with severe amnesia and the new challenge of rebuilding his life.

With the help of his detailed diaries and photographs taken at the time, Olivier attempts to explore his memories and recover a part of his own identity that had been lost.

Afghan Memento tells the story of a fearless journey made by two men in their prime, but more than that, it is an elegant rendering of where our experiences, memories and identity intersect.

Parallel Worlds

As the world prays for a breakthrough at the latest round of Middle-East peace talks, a film that shows the conflict from the inside, and why the talks will fail.

Filmed during the 2009 Gaza War, three conflicted, Jewish-Israelis, navigate toward their differing visions of Israel’s future: and thereby the future of the conflict itself.

The Teacher: Erez, an ideological settler, founded two of the largest youth movements in Israel – he plans to train a generation of hyper-nationalist, pro-military leaders to shape Israeli society in the decades to come.

The Peace Activist: Mihal runs a Jewish/Arab peace group planning to bridge the ethnic divide when at it’s most pronounced – Israeli Independence Day. To Israel’s Jews a day of great celebration but to Palestinians known simply, as The Nakba: The Catastrophe. The group must hold together as the war rages on and find a way to accept each other’s frank confessions of mutual suspicion and a thirst for revenge.

The Photographer: At 23 years old, Mor finds herself straddling the fault lines of Israeli society. Recently atheist but raised religious orthodox and ultra-nationalistic, her love for Israel is all that’s left of her traditional upbringing, but as she begins to see what life can be like for Israel’s Arab population, her faith is tested once again.

Instead of the endlessly rehearsed contestable facts, this film focuses on the atmosphere in which they are created. From mortars raining down in Southern Israel to the collision of pro and anti-war marches in Tel Aviv, this is the story of five months in the life of the Arab/Israeli conflict as seen from the streets. And the lives of three unique individuals reacting to the history unfolding around: of lives lived in exceptional conditions, and the beliefs that crystallise under the intense pressure of life at the centre of our geo-political world.

The Unreturned

Iraq’s continuing middle-class refugee disaster is a crucial but unacknowledged reason why peace in Iraq remains so elusive. Forty percent of Iraq’s professional class is now displaced in neighboring countries. This is an unmitigated disaster for Iraq, a shattered nation that desperately needs its native professional class to help rebuild.

The Unreturned, filmed in Syria and Jordan, lets the displaced Iraqi middle class speak for itself.

This film vividly portrays the lives of five displaced Iraqis from different ethnicities and religions. Caught in an absurdist purgatory of endless bureaucracy, dwindling life savings, and forced idleness, these refugees nevertheless radiate vitality and warmth. With an unflinching eye, candid dialogue, and a subtle touch of humour, The Unreturned captures scenes of daily life that are both personal and illustrative of the larger issues facing Iraq.

Generation OS13: The New Culture of Resistance

Generation OS13 is an explosive insight into the attack on civil liberties occurring in western democracies and how artists, musicians, journalists and authors encourage the peoples right to resist against Banker occupation.

Examining economic dictatorships, puppet regimes, tax havens, tax dodgers, and the debt based money system the film explains why ‘you can not count on the law makers to see shit when it first happens’. For a new era, generation OS13, the repression will not be tolerated; do ‘the government really think they can win that war if the young people are like fuck this, you cant beat that you, can’t beat us, its Impossible’ – Saul Williams.

Featuring Painter, poet & song writer Billy Childish, Harry Malt from Bare Bones, Luke Turner from The Quietus, journalist Huw Nesbitt, broadcaster Max Kaiser, author Nicholas Shaxson & Artists Anika, Comanechi, Gaggle’s & Saul Williams.

“Those bailouts were absolutely required to save your civilisation, now if you talk about bail outs for everyone else you have to say to say to those people suck it in and cope buddy, suck it in and cope”

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