Tag Archives: State

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.

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.

Broken Harmony: China’s Dissidents

Broken Harmony: China’s Dissidents tells the story of Hua Ze, an ordinary Chinese citizen for whom a discovery of corruption led her into a hidden world of dissidents, citizen journalism, police harassment and kidnappings.

Once a mild mannered TV director, Hua Ze discovered that an old friend reporting on alleged corruption after the Sichuan earthquake had disappeared, along with any mention of him online. Following a trail of leads over the great internet fire wall of China, she discovers not just the fate of her friend, but the truth behind Sichuan’s fatal building code violations, a jaw-dropping array of human rights abuses across China and comes to the realization that the entire internet in China is a state controlled fiction.

Hua’s awakening takes her into a new world of dissidents, journalists and human rights lawyers. As she begins her own reporting, pressure from the government is swift, and her world is turned upside down. She is forced out of her job and placed under surveillance. One by one, her new friends are arrested or detained. Phones are tapped and secretive threats and warnings are made. But Hua cannot turn a blind eye to the corruption and she pays the price.

When ordinary Chinese citizens go to extraordinary lengths to fight human rights abuses, the risks are enormous, even life-threatening. Broken Harmony reveals Hua’s courageous acts and willingness to lose everything to fight for justice and the rule of law.

BAKUR: Inside the PKK

Shot in secret, BAKUR: Inside the PKK is the worlds first documentary made with inside access to the Kurdish separatist group, who are considered a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the US and NATO. The result is an inside look at the undeclared war going on in Turkey for decades. This was the first time any film crew had ever accessed these camps.

To date, the PKK has lost over 30 thousand of its members in combat against the Turkish State. What is the PKK’s perception of the state, justice and authority? What constitutes the foundation of their relationship to the people? How did the Kurdish movement evolve over the years into a battle for freedom founded on the women’s rights movement? How do the guerrillas who have been living under wartime conditions for 40 years manage to survive all year-round in the harsh outdoor living conditions in the mountains?

In search for answers to all of these questions, BAKUR: Inside the PKK introduces the audience to men and women who have chosen to join the armed resistance in order to create a new future. We witness life in three guerrilla camps located in three different regions of Kurdish territory within the Turkish borders.

Beautifully shot over months, we follow the lives of guerrilla fighters including the training and graduation of new recruits, their justice system and the progressive philosophies that guide them.

 

BAKUR: Inside the PKK from Sideways Film on Vimeo.

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.

ISIL: Rebranding An Old Story

ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and Levant) has undoubtedly become a real, illusive threat to the whole of the Middle East. In spite of what we see on the surface, so many questions have arisen that give pause for reflection about the many factors involved in sustaining this terror group. Who are funding them? Who benefits most from the disorder and chaos across the region? Who are the major players behind the scenes?

This comprehensive documentary answers all of these questions. It takes us to the formation of ISIL explaining the process through which they have been funded, armed, and equipped by countries including the US, Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and more, and explores how western interference in the region has led to the chaos in which ISIL are able to thrive.