Tag Archives: Corruption

The Spiders Web

The Spider’s Web: Britain’s Second Empire, is a documentary that shows how Britain transformed from a colonial power into a global financial power. At the demise of empire, City of London financial interests created a web of offshore secrecy jurisdictions that captured wealth from across the globe and hid it behind obscure financial structures in a web of offshore islands.

Today, up to half of global offshore wealth is hidden in British offshore jurisdictions – the largest global players in the world of international finance.

How did this come about, and what impact does it have on the world today?

This is what the Spider’s Web sets out to investigate. With contributions from leading experts, academics, former insiders and campaigners for social justice, the use of stylised b-roll and archive footage, The Spider’s Web reveals how in the world of international finance, corruption and secrecy have prevailed over regulation and transparency, and the UK is right at the heart of this.

 

“Want to know more about the menace of tax havens and the role of the City of London & Overseas Territories? Then this great film is a must”

Frederik Obermaier, Journalist (Pulitzer Prize 2017)

The Strategy of Silence

Valencia, July 2006. One of the worse subway disasters in history occurs when a train derails, killing 43. While relatives mourn the victims, attention turns to the arrival of the Pope five days later, a PR agency is hired to sweep the incident under the carpet and within a month the case is closed.

Faced with a media blackout and a wall-of-silence from the government, a small group of families of the victims led by Beatriz Garrote begin what at first appears to be a hopeless cause – to find the truth about what happened that fateful day and seek justice for those who died.

The Strategy of Silence chronicles their 9 year struggle, and along the way exposes government corruption, mass safety breaches, a cynical culture of cover-ups and both a media and judiciary in thrall to government officials.

From nothing the protests grow until they can no longer be ignored, Beatriz’s band of bereaved campaigners first take over their local television station and finally reach the European Parliament. They are granted an independent investigation vindicating their entire struggle and finally leading to the downfall of the leading PP party.

The Strategy of Silence is an inspiring under-dog story, that showcases government capacity for deception and abuse, but also the power that we as citizens can – with courage and tenacity – take back.

The Strategy of Silence from Sideways Film on Vimeo.

Somaliland: An Experiment In Democracy

In 1991 the northern section of Somalia declared itself an independent democratic state, since then Somaliland has struggled on its path to find international recognition while the rest of Somalia has become infamous for anarchy and violence.

Somaliland: An Experiment in Democracy follows the 2012 election spotlighting the difficulties of running an election in an undeveloped country with a fragile infrastructure. While threats from outside (including terrorism and piracy) and inside (such as factionalism and vote rigging) loom over the process, one man is tasked with keeping the election fair.

We follow Ali – an ex-investment banker from Toronto – who gave up his old life to run the electoral commission, and it is through him that we see the scale of the challenge facing Somaliland’s nascent democracy.

Somaliland: An Experiment in Democracy is a close up look at how democracy functions under difficult and unfamiliar circumstances, and gives an insight into why so many countries fail in their attempts to have a system based on popular representation.

Resistencia

“A thoroughly captivating window into history as never told by the winners — beautiful, enraging, profoundly inspiring.” Naomi Klein

June 28th, 2009. The Honduran people are preparing to vote in the first referendum in the country’s history. But, instead of waking up to ballot boxes, they see soldiers carrying out the first coup d’état in Central America in three decades.

This is the story of the two thousand farming families who challenged the coup by taking over the plantations of the most powerful landowner in the country and converting them into worker-run cooperatives.

Shot over four years, the film is both a testament to the capacity of an organized movement to transform the most fertile land in the country, as well as an account of the coup regime’s violent attempts to get the land back.

Burzynski: Cancer Cure Cover Up

Burzynski: The Cancer Cure Cover-up is the story of a pioneering biochemist who discovered a unique and proprietary method of successfully treating most cancers. This documentary takes the audience on a near 50-year journey both Dr. Burzynski and his patients have been enduring in order to obtain FDA-approved clinical trials of Antineoplastons. Defying the face of skepticism, legal attacks from state and federal agencies, and a powerful propaganda campaign to stop Burzynski – this doctor and his patients are still going strong.

Due to the continued failed efforts of state and federal agencies in their attempts to stop Burzynski from continuing to treat patients and expand his research, special interest groups have since launched a relentless propaganda campaign against Dr. Burzynski, and his supporters and patients, in hopes  that this game-changing innovation never reach the open market.

The primary reason that the cancer industry and its regulatory agencies fear the approval of Antineoplastons is purely economical.

If Antineoplastons were FDA-approved for just one cancer type this would mean that anyone of any age diagnosed with any type of cancer could legally insist their oncologist provide them with Antineoplastons “off-label”.   Given the gentle and nontoxic nature of these medications, most people would begin to opt for Antineoplastons as a first line of defense against their cancer instead of first choosing life-threatening yet profitable chemotherapy and radiation.

Burzynski: The Cancer Cure Cover-up investigates this hidden cancer treatment and the decades of failed lawsuits the US government and FDA have pursued in order to try to silence him.

Mad As Hell

The Young Turks, one the most popular online news show in the world, has amassed a YouTube network of over 2.4 million subscribers and 2 billion views. But that wasn’t always the case.

MAD AS HELL documents the tumultuous, at times hilarious and altogether astonishing trajectory of Cenk Uygur, The Young Turks’ main host and founder, as he traverses from unknown Public Access TV host to internet sensation by way of YouTube. When he ventures into national television by landing the 6 PM time slot on MSNBC, Cenk’s uncensored brand of journalism is compromised as he becomes a thorn in the side of traditional news media; his unwavering dedication to speaking the truth puts him at the nexus of the battle between new and old media, and makes MAD AS HELL not only entertaining, but incredibly timely as well.

 

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.

End of the Road

In 2008 the world experienced one of the greatest financial turmoils in modern history.  Markets around the world started crashing, stock prices plummeted, and major financial institutions, once thought to be invincible, started showing signs of collapse.  Governments responded quickly, issuing massive bailouts and stimulus packages in an effort to keep the world economy afloat.

Although we’ve been told that these drastic measures prevented a total collapse of our system, a growing sense of unease fills the population.  In the world of finance, indeed in all facets of modern life, cracks have started to appear.  What lies ahead as a result of these bold money printing measures?  Was the financial crisis solved, or were the problems merely kicked down the road?

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.


Twilight of the Yakuza

The Yakuza, Japan’s organised crime syndicates, are a dying breed. Their members are aging and the government of Japan has launched a large-scale crackdown on them to eradicate them once and for all. But who are the Yakuza? The cancer of a nation or a necessary evil in a country with one of the lowest crime rates in the industrialised world?

Undoubtedly the Yakuza are involved in crimes including extortion, fraud, murder, drugs & gambling. However, Japan has one of the lowest crime rates in the industrialised world, with crimes related to drugs -officially against the Yakuza code of honour- or street gangs strikingly low, a fact that many contribute to the presence of the Yakuza. Deeply rooted in Japanese society, they are seen as a necessary evil and ‘problem solvers’. They have been around since the 1700s and were said to protect the weak from the strong, following a rigorous code of honour. Several clans even contributed aid for the victims of the recent earthquake and Tsunami, all reasons why the public perception of the Yakuza in Japan is not solely a negative one.

Unlike the Mafia, the Yakuza is a legal, public group making them relatively easy to check on. Their offices are public, their members registered by the police and Yakuza members went as far as freely admitting their guilt in cases of crime investigations, as a part of their code of honour. In reaction to strict government measures against them, the Yakuza has ceased all cooperation with the law. As the police concentrate their resources on the Yakuza, many criminals simply don’t register with clans anymore and start operating underground, evading the grasp of police. A clear trend is emerging towards a new structure of organised crime in Japan, resulting in a steep decrease in the numbers of the traditional Yakuza while the underground is soaring – including foreign Russian and Chinese mafia’s.

This documentary deals with the struggle of the Yakuza for its survival and the restructuring of the organized crime scene in Japan. Furthermore, unprecedented access to the secret world of the Yakuza gives you an insight on who the Yakuza really are: criminals, outcasts, but also family men and a part of Japanese society.

Beyond Pollution

A thought provoking, in-depth look at the causes and effects of the most devastating man made environmental disaster America has ever experienced.

Beyond Pollution is a firsthand investigation into BP’s disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Traveling thousands of miles across the Gulf coast interviewing environmental experts, government officials, fisherman & distributors, scientists, drilling engineers, and key BP contractors, the film reveals, in depth the immediate and long term environmental, economic, and health impacts the tragedy is having on the local communities.

In the context of BP’s record on safety and the environment, the oil spill now seems sadly inevitable, so why weren’t measures put in place to avoid the disaster that will be felt for generations to come? How were they able to play down the consequences and avoid criminal responsibility, and how did their response further devestate those communities affected?

Beyond Pollution is an exhaustively researched and elegantly executed expose on an avoidable tragedy that began with an oil spill but had far-reaching, and unreported repercussions, uncovering what really happened, why, and who really benefited