Tag Archives: Democracy

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.

Burning From the Inside

German and Greek nationalists have paradoxically joined forces, and grown in numbers promoting a fascist agenda while on both sides, antifascists have risen to challenge them amidst a backdrop of global recession, finger-pointing and scapegoating. 

Burning from the Inside charts the rise of the Greek Nazis ‘Golden Dawn’ – the ‘monstrous’ child of the crisis – the changes they brought to Greek society after their entry to parliament, their collaboration with German Neo-Nazis in the formation of ‘Black International’, and their fall two years later with the murder of the anti-fascist Pavlos Fissas.

Through the trajectory of the party, we question the political and social structures of Greek leadership that fomented the rise of fascism and corruption, as well as the dis-function of Capitalism and Democracy in the country that gave birth to it. We also look at the role of Germany as the ‘queen of Europe’ and the extent to which she is responsible for developments in southern European countries.

While the rise of far right may seem unthinkable, dramatic scenes of racially motivated blood shed on the streets of Athens, police brutality linked to membership of far-right organisations and institutional racism in Greece tell a different story. Meanwhile, in Germany a more subtle, insidious message reaches the public with headlines blaming ‘lazy Greeks’ and other minorities within the country. Burning from the Inside is a visceral indictment of a deadly minority on the fringes of Europe that we ignore at our peril.

Groundswell Rising

Groundswell Rising shows how Fracking – an untested energy extraction process – has contaminated drinking water and jeopardized health. We meet scientists, doctors and farmers across the political spectrum engaged in a David and Goliath struggle against Big Oil and Gas, decrying a process that puts profits over people.

Homeowners near wells suffer from respiratory ailments and property devaluation. A former industry employee shows skin lesions and edema, a result of working on drilling rigs, while others witness mistakes (5% of all wells leak) and explosions, against a back drop of rising ill health, as more and more suffer, from nose bleeds to asthma.

But there is cause for hope.

Local mothers groups unite to win some protections, while lease holders outraged by the corporations strong-arm tactics win local bans. Common Cause uncovers corruption as corporations buy influence to evade environmental protection laws, and the movement begins to gather momentum as actor Mark Ruffalo and singer Natalie Merchant support—and sometimes lead—their efforts.

Grassroots efforts have achieved bans, moratoriums, and referendums on Fracking, giving hope to others worldwide faced with the same nightmare. Transcending the genre of environmental film, Groundswell Rising’s passionate stories inspire and empower.

“Groundswell is ultimately a rousing, convincing rallying cry that the little guys, working in numbers, can triumph” LA Weekly

“But however you stand on the issue, you’re likely to be moved by the film’s portraits of grassroots activists managing to make their voices heard despite the opposition of major corporations and the big money at their disposal.” The Hollywood Reporter

Freedom From Choice

Life is about choice. What we eat, what we read, who we elect; every day we make choices that determine how we want to live.

But what if these choices are just an illusion?

In an era where regulations and red tape rule every industry, where lobby groups and big business wield more influence than ever before, our daily choices have become increasingly limited. And with all our options so deliberately handpicked, are we really making a choice at all?

Freedom From Choice examines the current state of life and personal choice today. Experts from many different fields offer a frank and startling look at the hidden limitations in our daily lives. Focusing on key areas such as food, medicine, finance, and media, Freedom From Choice provides viewers with a glimpse at the myriad of ways their lives are being dictated, and tells us who stands to gain.

Guardians of the New World

Until recently, many of us thought we were safe online and that the Internet provided a safe haven to share ideas and democratise information with the security of privacy. But then headlines emerged with stories of Wikileaks, Snowden and the NSA.

Guardians of the New World introduces us to the world of hacker culture. Emerging from the 70’s counterculture around conceptions of personal freedom, decentralisation of power and sharing, hacking really came to prominence with the emergence of the Internet as a ubiquitous public forum from the late 90’s onwards.

Hackers have emerged as both a threat to government and civilian security, or its saviour, often depending on your point of view.

Governments are starting to see the dangers presented both from outside their borders and within from this subculture of devoted keyboard warriors and are responding with force. In the USA the authorities do their best to keep up with those suspected of online subversion, while other governments have threatened to switch off the Internet all together. Far from being safe behind their screens, the new digital revolutionaries are being thrown behind bars, or in some countries like Syria tortured, while hackers in other countries do their best to support them, and keep their networks secure.

Guardians of the New World gives context to this often misunderstood subculture. For behind closed doors, in bedrooms and living rooms across the world, a war is being fought that will affect us all, and the battlefield is online.

America’s Surveillance State

We live in the United States of Surveillance – with cameras positioned on every street corner and much more invisible spying online and on the phone. Anyone paying attention knows that privacy is dead. All of this is not happening by accident – well funded powerful agencies and companies are engaged in the business of keeping tabs on what we do, what we say, and what we think.

To many in the world today, the face of America also has a big nose for sniffing and sifting mountains of data – phone calls, emails and texts. And with many mouths silenced by paranoia to keep what they decide is secret, secret.  America has become a Surveillance-Industrial State where everyone’s business has become its business, and where one huge US intelligence Agency has been given the sanction and unlimited amounts of money to spy on the whole world.

Mass Surveillance is the focus of this new 6 part investigative documentary series examining who is watching whom and why.

J Street: The Art of the Possible

J Street is on the frontlines of the world’s most “intractable” problem. An upstart lobby group in Washington, D.C., J Street dares to assert what to many seems obvious: that a two-state solution is Israel’s only future, and any peace deal will require robust American participation. It sees itself playing David to AIPAC, the Israel Lobby’s Goliath, and, less than five years old, has been making surprising gains.

With full access to the inside workings of a lobby group struggling to represent the centre ground of Jewish American thought, this documentary tracks J Street as it attempts to change what it means to be pro-Israel in America. We see their missteps and their triumphs as they push the Obama administration to take an active role in negotiating a two-state solution, fend off accusations of harbouring ‘anti-Israel’ objectives and gain influence among America’s Jewish population.

In this urgent political story told with the intimacy of cinema vérité, we feel the pulse of an organization, taking viewers to high-level strategy meetings, and long nights on the road. It is here that our characters come to life and the J Street story unfolds. J Street: The Art of the Possible is at once a gripping story about the desperate need for a two-state solution, and a captivating glimpse at the role of Lobbyists in the American political process.

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?

Propaganda

Controversial to its core, this hard-hitting anti-Western propaganda film, which looks at the influence of American visual and consumption culture on the rest of the world from a North Korean perspective, has been described as ‘either a damning indictment of 21st Century culture or the best piece of propaganda in a generation.’

Propaganda signals the birth of a new genre-bending generation of film maker. Using the ‘fake North Korean propaganda’ found-footage device, Slavko Martinov first parodies its language and stylings, before targeting the mountain of hypocrisies and contradictions that make up the modern Western narrative. In doing so, Propaganda delivers a devastating blow to those who might be quick to laugh at ‘backward’ ideologies before considering how 21st century political and cultural trends have weakened any claims to the moral high ground.

A Whisper to a Roar

Whisper to a Roar presents the inspiring and dangerous work of democracy activists in five countries around the world – Egypt, Malaysia, Ukraine, Venezuela and Zimbabwe.

The film’s subjects span the full spectrum of democratic activists: student leaders (Venezuela); young professionals (Egypt); currently active opposition politicians (Malaysia and Zimbabwe) and a former president (Ukraine). These heroes tell their compelling personal stories of struggle with the oppressive regimes ruling their countries, now or in the past.

The activists come from a variety of cultures and live on different continents, yet they all take enormous risks to pursue political freedom for their people and aspire for accountable government. In each country, the regimes and rulers that oppress their people use remarkably similar techniques and the activists’ most successful techniques are also remarkably alike, regardless of their circumstances.

The presence in the film of accomplished democrats, both the famous and the unsung, from diverse cultures and religions, will inspire and instruct viewers around the world of widely varying ages, nationalities, and political persuasions.

“This deft digest from the director Ben Moses is by turns shocking and inspiring…”
New York Times

“In the case of the new documentary A Whisper to a Roar, democracy and the fight for freedom are not only moving, but also deeply personal, thought-provoking and inspiring.”
The Huffington Post

“An expertly drawn primer on the soft dictatorships that constrained five different countries and the peaceful revolutions that sought to expunge them”
The Village Voice

“The film is not only a riveting documentary, but also offers inspiration to people everywhere who seek to make governments accountable to the citizens they serve”
Hillary Clinton

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.