Timelines

Three girls die before their 21st birthdays. Kayleigh, 19, a victim in a fatal car accident; Amber, 16, bullied into taking her own life; and Jenna, 20, lost a fight with a rare disease. Soon after, their stories go viral and the world is given access to their lives and deaths.

Kayleigh wrote a bucket list that was shared the world over after her death, inspiring thousands of strangers to live her dreams. Amber seemed to have it all, her suicide sent shockwaves through her small town, questions are asked and a portrait of online bullying and torment emerge. Jenna is diagnosed with a disease so rare that doctors didn’t know how to treat it, turning to social media to find support and raise awareness, her campaign ‘Get Me to 21’ makes her a star, and saves lives but sadly not her own.

Timelines is a documentary about three young girls who lived and died on the internet, a story about grief in the digital age and how personas are shaped online. And for the families the question remains, how do you say goodbye, when death goes viral?

Timelines from Sideways Film on Vimeo.

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.

Princes of the Yen

Princes of the Yen reveals how post-war Japanese society was transformed to suit the agenda of powerful interest groups, and how citizens were kept entirely in the dark about this. History is now repeating itself around the world.

Based on a book by Professor Richard Werner, a visiting researcher at the Bank of Japan during the 90s crash, during which the stock market dropped by 80% and house prices by up to 84%. The film uncovers how the Bank of Japan pumped up and then crashed the Japanese economy, with an aim of inducing change. Today, what happened in Japan 25 years ago is repeating itself in Europe, with an aim of centralizing power in the Eurozone.

The film shows why it is important for central banks to be accountable and transparent. It also explains how International Financial Organizations such as the IMF seek to impose conditions on countries that are mainly of benefit to dominant Western interests. For anyone interested in understanding recent developments and the significance of the establishment of institutions such as the AIIB and the BRICS led New Development Bank, Princes of the Yen provides the background.

Princes of the Yen reveals with clarity the control levers that underpin the dominant ideology of the 21st Century. Piece by piece, reality is deconstructed to reveal the world as it is, not as those in power would like us to believe that it is.

“Because only power that is hidden is power that endures.”

97% Owned

When money drives almost all activity on the planet, it’s essential that we understand it. Yet simple questions often get overlooked – questions like: Where does money come from? Who creates it? Who decides how it gets used? And what does that mean for the millions of ordinary people who suffer when money and finance breaks down?

97% Owned is a new documentary that reveals how the creation of credit and the mystery that surrounds it, is at the root of our current social and economic crisis.

Referring to the 97% of the world’s money supply that is represented by credit this thought provoking film presents serious research and verifiable evidence on our economic and financial system and is the first documentary to tackle this issue from a UK-perspective

Featuring frank interviews and commentary from economists, campaigners and former bankers, it exposes the privatised, debt-based monetary system that gives banks the power to create money, shape the economy, cause crises and push house prices out of reach.

Fact-based and clearly explained, 97% Owned demonstrates how the power to create money is the piece of the puzzle that economists were missing when they failed to predict the crisis.