Ana is a filmmaker who gets hooked on Crypto trading. Her husband and her father want her to go to therapy, but instead Ana decides in desperation and as a healing exercise to make a documentary about Bitcoin fever. With her enabling producer, a chaotic production crew of newly-converted crypto-speculators and an exasperated economist father who wants to protect his daughter from being bankrupted by a scam Bull Run takes us on a rollercoaster exploration of the world of Crypto Trading. With humour, honesty and insight, we meet the people and investigate the technology, diving head first into the culture of Crypto speculation. A world where normal citizens become pundits and every trade can make you rich or bankrupt you, and the line between investment and gambling is ever more blurred.
Tag Archives: justice
Searching for Nika
When Russian forces invaded Ukraine and bombed Kyiv, film director Stas Kapralov’s family dog, Nika, ran away… Determined to find her, Stas sets out into the devastation and documents his journey as he joins volunteers helping to rescue animals. Becoming a part of their cause, Stas films the trials and successes of the volunteers as he continues his search for Nika, which takes him to ‘Sirus’ Animal Shelter, the largest in Europe, housing 3,500 animals, and still receiving emaciated and hungry dogs daily. There he meets Alexandra, the shelter director, who regularly risks her life to find food for the animals and is determined never to abandon them. Alexandra’s iron inspires Stas, and even though he is unable to locate Nika, he does not give up hope and decides to take a more active role in helping the volunteers and animals in need.
Joining forces with another volunteer, Olena, Stas documents and aids in rescuing a blind and abandoned lion, Ruru, as she’s brought across the Ukrainian border to Poland. Later, he meets Alex, a volunteer who helped Kyiv inhabitants escape the city at the start of the war and now risks his life rescuing cats left behind by their owners… Among the rubble of a bombed and burned stables, Stas hears Yura’s story, whose horses were like family members, many dying in the bombings, as he now searches for a safe home for them… In another instance, Stas journeys to Harkov, experiencing mortar shelling first-hand, as he becomes part of urgent evacuations of animals at a zoo actively being bombed, where two volunteers had been killed in previous days…
What begins as a journey motivated by the disappearance of his dog, Nika, becomes a mission to document and aid in a humanitarian movement to help as many animals as possible in Ukraine. Documenting and participating in this journey, Stas discovers stories of altruism and humanity amidst the harshest landscape of war… and by the end of his journey, Stas finally finds out what happened to his dog Nika.
The Quiet Epidemic
After years of living with mysterious symptoms, a young girl from Brooklyn and a Duke University scientist are diagnosed with a disease said to not exist: Chronic Lyme disease. The Quiet Epidemic follows their search for answers, which lands them in the middle of a vicious medical debate.
What begins as a patient story evolves into an investigation into the history of Lyme disease dating back to its discovery in 1975. A paper trail of scientific research and buried documents reveals why ticks—and the diseases they carry—have been allowed to quietly spread around the globe.
Backlash: Misogyny in the Digital Age
In 2017, the #MeToo hashtag shook the world, sparking an unprecedented wave of sexual assault revelations in the Western world. Today, the storm of virulent misogyny is raging on, flooding our screens with harassment, defamation, sextortion, revenge porn, rape & death threats, and more. According to the UN, 73% of women are abused online.
Backlash: Misogyny in the Digital Age plunges us into the vortex of online misogyny and documents hatred towards women. This bleak opus, reminiscent of a psychological thriller, follows four women across two continents who have found themselves victims of vile online threats and harrassment. What is it like to live with this so-called virtual violence? That’s what we aim to show by closely following the victims in their daily lives. As in a horror movie, we witness in real time the waves of hate that assail them, the fear that pervades their private lives, and the loss of their sense of security in public spaces.
Their lives shattered by a loss of confidence, and sometimes shame, Backlash reveals the devastating effects digital violence has on their victims, and brings to light the singular objective of cyber-misogyny: to silence women who shine.
Many victims of cyber-violence experience unimaginable horrors, with results too tragic for words. Others, proud warriors, will stand tall and refuse to be silenced.
Television Event
At the height of the cold war, broadcaster ABC set about making a made-for-TV movie about the effects of a nuclear bomb on the ordinary American people, little knowing the obstacles and opposition they would face during its production, and the eduring impact it would have once broadcast – both in the US and in Russia.
With irreverent humor and sobering apocalyptic vision, Television Event reveals how a commercial broadcaster seized a moment of unprecedented television viewership, made an emotional connection with an audience of over 100 million and forced an urgent conversation with the US President on how to collectively confront and resolve the most pressing issue of the time – nuclear proliferation.
They narrowly succeeded in producing the most watched, most controversial made-for-TV movie ever, THE DAY AFTER (1983), that may also have played a part in averting nuclear war.
Blue ID
On October 4, 2012, a beaming Rüzgar Erkoçlar received his first testosterone injection, a joyous occasion in his gender affirmation.
Formerly a well-known actor throughout Turkey, Rüzgar hoped he could lead a private life as a transman. With a new job at a bakery and a supportive family and friends, things looked positive at first – until he was outed on Twitter and suddenly Rüzgar’s journey is thrust onto the front pages. A media frenzy ensues, and the question of trans-rights grips Turkey, with Rüzgar the reluctant figurehead.
It is against this backdrop that we join Rüzgar, and witness the many obstacles he is to overcome in order to live an authentic life and get his Blue ID.
The Watch Or The Time
´You have the watches, we have the time´, a Taliban commander infamously warned an American in 2002 Afghanistan. It was ominously accurate. Months earlier, America had swiftly ousted a flailing Taliban government, pledging to rebuild the embattled country. Fifty nations joined the ‘Operation Enduring Freedom´ war machine and for two decades, foreign armies poured into Afghanistan along with eye-watering amounts of foreign aid funding. Yet now the Taliban is back in charge of the entire country. So what went wrong?
The Watch Or The Time explores America and its allies’ ill-fated offensive in Afghanistan told by the foreigners and Afghans who lived it. The film tracks the arc of America’s longest war in modern history with these personal experiences, looking at the pitfalls of military intervention, humanitarian aid and the culture clash through the legacy of the West’s efforts in Afghanistan.
Did the thousands of expat-nation-builders foresee a Taliban victory? After so many other previous invasions, did the Afghans see the writing on the wall? And what is the price of the so-called peace in Afghanistan today?
You’ll meet a German armoured car salesman, an American sports trainer and women’s rights activist, a Canadian NATO psychological operations specialist, an Australian war photographer, an Afghan female graffiti artist from the Taliban heartland; Kandahar, Kabul University’s debate club vice-president, a local media producer dubbed Afghanistan’s Number 1 fixer, and a senior Taliban commander.
You’ll see ex-pats grapple with what they’ve left behind, Afghans struggle to make sense of the dramatic shift in their fates, while others celebrate the Taliban’s win.
As America and its allies try to wash their hands of responsibility in Afghanistan, The Watch Or The Time puts it front and centre again. This film presents the perspectives and ultimately asks, was it worth it? You decide.
The Pretendians
In Canada, a number of public figures have made the front pages for one reason: each has been alleged to be a ´Pretend Indian´. In other words, someone who claims distant indigenous identity but upon deeper scrutiny has been accused of stealing jobs and opportunities from real natives.
But why would someone fake an indigenous identity?
That question is the premise of The Pretendians, as we cross Canada revealing what really lies behind this explosive issue. We go on the hunt for knock-off west coast indigenous art, witness an explosion of dubious Status Indian Claims to get cheap fuel, and unpack where the claims of blood-quantum come from (that idea that one drop of Indian blood is enough to claim indigeneity). We meet people truly seeking, and asking, if they are indigenous – or not – and meets a university teacher fighting Pretendian persecution.
Eternal Spring: The Heist of China’s Airwaves
In March 2002, a state TV station in China was hijacked by members of outlawed spiritual group Falun Gong. Their goal was to counter the government narrative about their practice.
In the aftermath, police raids sweep Changchun City, and comic book illustrator Daxiong (Justice League, Star Wars), a Falun Gong practitioner, is forced to flee. He arrives in North America, blaming the hijacking for worsening a violent repression. But his views are challenged when he meets the lone surviving participant to have escaped China, now living in Seoul, South Korea.
Combining present-day footage with 3D animation inspired by Daxiong’s art, Eternal Spring retraces the event, and brings to life an unprecedented story of defiance, harrowing eyewitness accounts of persecution, and an exhilarating tale of determination to speak up for political and religious freedoms, no matter the cost.
Eternal Spring: The Heist of China´s Airwaves brings to life with stunning animation, the heist, and its repercussions.
¨an inspired mixed-media reflection¨
The Guardian
¨thrilling and emotional story of a group of Falun Gong practitioners who managed to take over Chinese State TV… A Story of immense bravery¨
Movies That Matter
¨A resounding success… an ultra-compelling, suspense-filled investigation¨
Avoir-Alire
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Winner of the Hot Docs Audience Award and the Rogers Audience Award at Hot Docs International Documentary Festival.
Winner of the Fischer Audience Award (Best International Feature) at the 24th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival.
Winner of the Human Values Award from the Greek Parliament.
Recipient of Grand Jury Documentary Award – Special Mention at Movies That Matter Festival in The Hague.
Activist Night film – Movies That Matter Festival.
Gun Shot Wound
Gun Shot Wound takes a hard look at routine gun violence in America through the eyes of its trauma surgeons. The film examines the crisis through a public health lens and highlights hospital-based violence intervention programs designed to combat the epidemic.
Every day in the United States, an average of 318 people are shot—about 116,000 victims each year. Most aren’t involved in mass shootings; instead they’re caught in the web of routine, almost invisible, gun violence. More than 35,000 of these victims will die from their wounds.
Dr. Amy Goldberg leads the team that treats more than 500 gunshot victims each year. In 2019, someone was shot every 6 1⁄2 hours in Phildelphia, where she works. We follow Dr. Goldberg on a busy Friday evening in the trauma centre. In the space of 12 hours, she’ll treat three gunshot victims and perform emergency life-saving surgery on one of them. And since 80% of gunshot victims survive in Philadelphia, Gun Shot Wound gives an authentic look at the daunting process of rehab and often permanent disability. Meanwhile, Dr Joseph Sakran shares his day-to-day experience treating gunshot victims in Baltimore and introduces viewers to Brandon Fisher. Brandon arrived at the trauma bay nearly dead with 13 bullet wounds and injuries in almost every cavity in his body. It took a multi-disciplinary team of surgeons and more than 15 surgeries for Brandon to recover.
Gun Shot Wound shows what really happens when someone gets shot and highlights how physicians and hospitals are not just treating patients, but going above and beyond to prevent gun violence.
Aquariums: The Dark Hobby
Hawaii is ground zero in the global struggle to save marine wildlife. Some species of fish have been driven to extinction by collectors, and others are severely diminished.
Elsewhere, cyanide and dynamite is used to hunt the tropical fish to be captured as ´pets´ and then their their fins cut, and swim bladders pierced with needles, they are sealed in bags to ship globally. 90% die within a year of capture, creating a demand for replacement.
These fish eat the algae growing on the coral. When they’re removed from the reef for sale, the coral dies – which produces 50% of earth’s oxygen.
Aquariums: The Dark Hobby is an expose of this viscous industry while also highlighting the work of Native Hawaiian Elders, conservationists and scientists who struggle to ensure the survival of these stunning tiny creatures that are targets of a trade worth billions.
Inside Maximum Security (series)
Five hardened criminals, One unique prison, in a ground-breaking observational documentary series, that will show you for the first time what prison is really like.
Singapore’s Changi Prison is a concrete purgatory, spartan to the extreme. There are no beds, no pillows and no chairs in the cells. A shower is done stooping above a toilet hole. Humiliating strip searches are routine, as a matter of security. Yet, practiced in this prison are some of the most sophisticated methods to reform the hearts and minds of the most recalcitrant prisoners. So much so that Singapore’s reoffending rates are among the lowest globally. Yet even at those low rates, at least 1-in-5 inmates are back in jail within 2 years after their release.
For the first time ever, six inmates, incarcerated multiple times and at least once at maximum security, agree to reveal their full identities, for our cameras to capture their lives behind bars, as they unfold. Will the regime in jail finally be enough for them to renounce a life of crime? Will this be their final stint in Changi Prison?
Episode 1 – Life in Lockdown
How hard is life in prison? We explore prison regime through the eyes of officers and inmates in Changi’s Maximum-security prison. How does an inmate live in a single-man cell?
In this first episode, we enter a world behind bars to meet the inmates. We follow Graceson, a gangster who manages to get himself a new tattoo in prison and is duly caned for it; Khai, a professional skateboarder who is just coming to terms with the loss of his career; Rusdi who is counting down to his release in 50 days using packets of snacks; And Boon Keng gets into trouble for keeping origami in his cell during a cell search.
Episode 2 – Keeping Bonds Beyond Bars
An inmate sentenced to maximum security prison has nothing more to lose. Or so some would think. But losing one’s freedom is nothing compared to losing one’s family.
We follow the residents of maximum security as they try to hang on to their relationships while in lockdown. Boon Keng attempts to reconnect with a daughter that he has not seen in years. Graceson’s tough persona unravels when his wife stops coming to visit him. Iskandar comes to terms with saying goodbye to his family as a death sentence looms over his drug trafficking charge. And family problems drive Khai to spiral, leading him to consider suicide.
Episode 3 – Breaking Bad Habits
Life in maximum security is predictable. It’s rules, routines and rigor. No questions asked. No choices given.
But what happens when inmates step out into a world where they’re free to make decisions?
Desperate to break his cycle of reoffending, Boon Keng takes matters into his own hands and seeks to confront his greatest obstacle. After being given a new lease of life, Iskandar grasps an opportunity he neglected in his childhood. Rusdi’s loved ones try to dissuade him from returning to a career that sent him on a downward spiral. Under the supervision of psychologists, Khai revisits his dark past.
Episode 4 – Road To Freedom
In the finale, our inmates try to ready themselves for their eventual return to the real world beyond the gates of Changi Prison.
Graceson seeks help from a psychologist to prepare him for a call with his daughter, whom he has not spoken to for a year. Khai takes another step in managing his emotions, by counselling other inmates in managing theirs. Boon Keng is granted an interview for a programme that would see him serving the last third of his sentence in the community, but will he be able to convince his interviewers that he will not return to drugs? After 20 years, Iskandar is taking his ‘O’ levels again, how will he fare this time? Rusdi’s will be released in a matter of days; will he be able to stay out of trouble, and get released as scheduled?