Recent videos of interest

Activism & Human Rights

[Our most recent acquisitions only. Use the search box above to find more.]

• 5 broken cameras
  A deeply personal, first-hand account of non-violent resistance in Bil'in, a West Bank village threatened by encroaching Israeli settlements. Shot almost entirely by Palestinian farmer Emad Burnat, who bought his first camera in 2005 to record the birth of his youngest son, the footage was later turned into a galvanizing cinematic experience by co-directors Burnat and Davidi.
• A Question of Madness: The Furiosus
  A documentary on the life of assassin Dimitri Tsafendas, the man who changed the course of South African history.
• Afghan women: a history of struggle
  Examines the drafting of the Afghan Women's Bill of Rights. [Looks at] the pivotal role women's struggle for equality has played in the country's tumultuous political history and debunk the myth that current U.S. intervention in Afghanistan has liberated Afghan women from the tyranny of fundamentalism.
• An encounter with Simone Weil
  What response does seeing human suffering demand of us? Filmmaker Julia Haslett seeks an answer in the controversial French philosopher and activist Simone Weil (1909-1943), whose life and work took on this question in a dramatic way. Driving her obsession with Weil is the interwoven story of suffering within Haslett's own family.
• BAS! : Beyond the red light
  13 young girls sold into Mumbai's infamous network of gated brothels confront the inner and outer perils of life after rescue. The film explores the seemingly insurmountable challenges facing these young traumatised girls through a very intimate and honest lens where they are the storytellers.
• Bhopal: the search for justice
  “This documentary explores the continuing cover-up, analyzes the prospect for environmental and human justice in Bhopal, and exposes the responsibility of the multinational corporations”
• Budrus
  Tells the story of a Palestinian father and daughter who united Arab and Israeli factions to create a non-violent movement and save their village from destruction by Israel's Separation Barrier
• Constitute!: women's constitutional activism
  The largest social mobilization of women in Canadian history in the 20th century. Led by the Ad Hoc Committee of Canadian Women and the Constitution, women and other activists across the country fought to gain stronger equality provisions entrenched in the newly repatriated Constitution's Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
• Courting justice
  Illustrates how the constitution in post-apartheid South Africa partially lived up to its goals of promoting justice and human rights. Essential to keeping these promises, indeed mandated by the constitution, is a judiciary that includes women. By 2008, 18 percent of the superior court judges were women. This film is their story.
• Cultures of resistance
  In 2003, on the eve of the Iraq war, director Iara Lee embarked on a journey to better understand a world increasingly embroiled in conflict. After several years, travelling over five continents, Iara encountered growing numbers of people who committed their lives to promoting change. From Burma, where non-violent monks take on a dictatorship, to Brazil, where musicians transform guns into guitars, and myriad places in between, Cultures of Resistance celebrates the people standing up to exploitation and violence ...
• Dangerous living: coming out in the developing world
  “Explores the lives of gay and lesbian people in non-Western cultures, where most occurrences of oppression receive no media coverage at all”
• Earth Keepers
  Mikael Rioux, a young activist committed to the environment and worried about the legacy he will leave to his son, travels the world on a quest for concrete solutions to the problems faced by our planet. He meets the exceptional men and women behind innovative projects for the future of society.
• Egypt : we are watching you
  In 2005, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, whose National Democratic Party has been the dominant political force for 24 years, announced that Egypt would hold multi-party presidential elections. Unable to sit by while their country is on the brink of change, three women activists start a grassroots campaign to empower the public and hold their government accountable...
• END:CIV - Resist or Die
  Examines our culture's addiction to systematic violence and environmental exploitation, and probes the resulting epidemic of poisoned landscapes and shell-shocked nations. Based in part on Endgame, the best-selling book by Derrick Jensen, END:CIV asks: 'If your homeland was invaded by aliens who cut down the forests, poisoned the water and air, and contaminated the food supply, would you resist?'
• Fambul tok: a film about forgiveness
  Explores a culture that believes true justice lies in redemption and healing for individuals, and that forgiveness is the surest path to restoring dignity and building strong communities. Victims and perpetrators of Sierra Leone's brutal civil war come together for the first time in tradition-based truth-telling and forgiveness ceremonies. By reviving their ancient practice of fambul tok (family talk) Sierra Leoneans are building sustainable peace at the grassroots level
• Finding our way: moving beyond Canada's apartheid = Neba wheti hon'a e kwuznata
  Stories of conflict between Indigenous people, governments and industry: “... documentary film in 3 chapters with and about the Burns Lake band and the Cheslatta Carrier Nation, two First Nations bands located in central B.C., Canada”
• Flow
  “A look at the world's water crisis and how the causes of the depleting water supply are connected to pollution, human rights, and even politics.”
• Freedom of expression: resistance and repression in the age of intellectual property
  “Through news clips, film excerpts, music, legal cases, satire, and a wide range of other examples and illustrations, the concerns regarding traditional copyright laws' infringing on freedom of expression are examined and critiqued.”
• From under the bushy trees: [how can aid be delivered with justice and dignity?]
  Filmed in Powell River, B.C., as well as in Chad, Africa… Focuses on Gerri Graber, founder of Willing Hearts International Society Canada, and her efforts to build a school for the orphans of AIDS victims. Lynn Whitehouse, Canada's Honourary Consul for Chad, offers insights into the challenges of bringing aid to Africa.…
• Ghosts of Rwanda
  “Frontline marks the 10th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide with a documentary chronicling one of the worst atrocities of the 20th century. Illustrated are the failures that enabled the slaughter of 800,000 people to occur unchallenged by the world.”
• How to survive a plague
  The story of the brave young men and women who successfully reversed the tide of an epidemic, demanded the attention of a fearful nation, and stopped AIDS from becoming a death sentence. This improbable group of activists bucked oppression and infiltrated government agencies and the pharmaceutical industry, helping to identify promising new medication and treatments and move them through trials and into drugstores in record time.
• In search of Gandhi
  'What does it mean to actually live in the world's largest democracy? Adopting the conventions of a road-movie, the film crew travels down the famous trail of Gandhi's salt march, stopping at the same villages and cities where Gandhi and his followers raised their call for independence... '
• Invoking justice
  In Southern India, family disputes are settled by Jamaats, all male bodies which apply Islamic Sharia law to cases without allowing women to be present, even to defend themselves. Recognizing this fundamental inequity, a group of women in 2004 established a women's Jamaat, which soon became a network of 12,000 members spread over 12 districts. Despite enormous resistance, they have been able to settle more than 8,000 cases to date, ranging from divorce to wife beating to brutal murders and more.
• Iron Ladies of Liberia
  Chronicles the historic first year in office of Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, the first elected female head of state in Africa.
• Kiviaq versus Canada
  Zacharias Kunuk travels to Edmonton to meet Kiviaq, Canada's first Inuit lawyer, former Golden Gloves boxing champion, city alderman, and the only Inuk to play with the Edmonton Eskimos football team. Kiviaq is currently suing the federal government of Canada with a claim demanding equal rights for Inuit, whom, he argues, are neither defined in law nor granted the same privileges as other aboriginal people.
• L'affaire Coca-Cola = The Coca-Cola case
  Colombia is the trade union murder capital of the world. Since 2002, more than 470 workers' leaders have been brutally killed, usually by paramilitaries hired by private companies intent on crushing the unions. Among these unscrupulous corporate brands is the poster boy for American business: Coca-Cola. A searing indictment of a major corporate brand, The Coca-Cola Case takes us on a riveting legal game of cat and mouse via the U.S. federal court and the Stop Killer Coke! campaign.
• Liberty, equality, accommodation
  DVD only. The Herouxville Code of Conduct informed newcomers that women were not to be excised, stoned or burned alive. A storm of voices and opinions greeted that announcement and generated a unique expression of direct democracy. The film is about this unprecedented collective experience.
• Moolaade
  Motion Picture. It is the time for the young girls of a village to be purified by ritual circumcision. Colle has kept her daughter from being circumcised, and several of the girls go to her for refuge. Colle agrees to help them, and she invokes moolaade, a form of sanctuary.
• Mountains that take wing
  DVD only. Internationally renowned scholar, professor and writer Angela Davis, and 89-year-old grassroots organizer and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Yuri Kochiyama share intimate conversations about personal histories and influences that shaped them and their shared experiences in some of the most important social movements in 20th century United States.
• Paraiso for sale
  Depicts the struggles of local Bocas del Toro residents against land displacement by the escalating development of real estate housing for the growing population of American settlers.
• Passionate politics: the life and work of Charlotte Bunch
  Brings Charlotte Bunch's story to life, from idealistic young civil rights organizer, to lesbian feminist activist to internationally recognized leader. Charlotte's story is told by women from Asia, Africa, South America and the Caribbean who have worked with her to put women's rights on the global human rights agenda. Interwoven throughout the film are excerpts from Charlotte's personal letters that illuminate her determination to create a more just world.
• Pink saris
  DVD only.“The 'Pink Gang' is a group of women who wear pink saris as a symbol of their revolt against their society. They are victims of domestic violence, rape and social exclusion. Their champion is Sampat Pal Devi, who takes up their cases of social injustice.”
• Poetry of resilience
  In a small gathering in a Massachusetts town, 27 poets have come together for the first time to share their experiences as survivors of political atrocities. The poets' tales all vary, but they are united by the drive to bear witness to their past and to continue the process of healing. This documentary features six international poets who individually survived Hiroshima, the Holocaust, China's Cultural Revolution, the Kurdish Genocide in Iraq, the Rwandan Genocide, and the Iranian Revolution.
• Professor Norman Cornett: 'since when do we divorce the right answer from an honest answer?'
  Alanis Obomsawin pays tribute to Dr. Norman Cornett, a popular Religious Studies professor dismissed by McGill University in 2007. Addressing subjects as varied as palliative care and First Nations issues, Cornett won the respect of students with his unconventional approach.
• Rape for who I am
  'Interweaves the experiences of four [South African lesbian] women, victims of rape, as they prepare for an annual Gay Pride celebration. With courage and a remarkable resilience, they describe the immense prejudices they have had to endure in their townships.'
• Rock the boat: saving America's wildest river
  When satirical writer and avid kayaker George Wolfe organizes a boating expedition down the entire 52-miles of the notorious Los Angeles River, he and his motley crew become entangled in a legal controversy of national proportions. With startling images of the LA River, insightful interviews and a soft spot for humor, Rock the Boat looks at the challenges society faces in providing clean water to urban populations, and delivers a bright alternative to the current spate of doomsday docs.
• Saving face
  Every year in Pakistan, many women are known to be victimized by brutal acid attacks, with numerous cases going unreported. With little or no access to reconstructive surgery, survivors are physically and emotionally scarred. Many reported assailants, typically a husband or someone else close to the victim, receive minimal punishment from the state. Plastic surgeon Dr. Mohammad Jawad left his prominent London practice to return to his home country and help the victims of such attacks.
• Seoul train
  Seoul Train, with its footage of the secretive 'underground railroad', exposes the reality for North Koreans as they try to escape their homeland and China. The film also looks at the geopolitics behind the growing and potentially explosive humanitarian crisis.
• Sex positive
  Looks at the life of Richard Berkowitz, an AIDS activist who was at the forefront of the safe sex movement. With Dr. Joseph Sonnabend, a virologist and AIDS doctor, and Michael Callen, a musician and activist, Berkowitz helped the gay community recognize the importance of safe sex practices.
• Songs of freedom : compelling stories of courage and hope by Jamaican gays and lesbians
  Takes us inside the world of Jamaican gays and lesbians and tells... stories of individuals courageously carving out meaningful lives, despite the taboo against their sexual identity.
• Strong Coffee
  The coffee co-operative Cafe Femenino, created by a group of Peruvian women to bring financial independence for themselves.
• Suspino: a cry for Roma
  DVD only. 'Examines the persecution and discrimination inflicted upon European Roma. Focuses on Romania, where Europe's largest concentration of Roma are considered ‘public enemies’-- and Italy, where the Roma are classified as nomads and forced to live in camps while being denied human rights available to refugees and foreign residents.'
• Tales from the G20
  In June 2010, leaders from the twenty largest economies met in Toronto with representatives of corporate interests to discuss the policies that would shape the world for everyone else.This documentary traces the overt breakdown in civil liberties that occurred during the G20 Summit, from unmarked vans with snatch squads of plainclothes police to the pre-emptive arrest of activists now facing years in prison for organizing demonstrations. Directed by Open Media Initiative and uploaded to Vimeo for free viewing ...
• The end of immigration? / La fin de l'immigration
  DVD only. Montreal filmmakers look at the regressive immigration policies of the Canadian state and the people most affected.
• The experimental Eskimos
  Documents an extraordinary attempt at social engineering. The film follows Peter Ittinuar, Zebedee Nungak and Eric Tagoona, who, as 12-year-old boys, were shipped South in the early 1960s from their homes in the Canadian Arctic to attend public schools in Ottawa. All three went on to become activists and leaders, paving the way for aboriginal rights in Canada and around the world.
• The price of sex
  This inquiry into a dark side of immigration reveals the experiences of Eastern European women forced into prostitution abroad. Mimi Chakarova traveled from post-communist Eastern Europe to Turkey, Greece, and Dubai to uncover the harrowing personal accounts of women trafficked into modern-day sexual slavery.
• The Pruitt-Igoe myth
  Destroyed in a dramatic and highly publicized implosion, the Pruitt-Igoe public housing complex has become a widespread symbol of failure among architects, politicians and policy makers. The Pruitt-Igoe Myth explores the social, economic and legislative issues that led to the decline of conventional public housing in America, and the city centers in which the projects resided, while tracing personal and poignant narratives of those who lived in them.
• Toilet training: law and order (in the bathroom)
  Addresses the persistent discrimination, harassment, and violence that people who transgress gender norms face in gender segregated bathrooms. Using the stories of people who have been harassed, arrested or beaten for trying to use bathrooms, this groundbreaking film focuses on bathroom access in public space, in schools, and at work.
• Under Rich Earth
  In the remote mountain valley in Ecuador, farmers face eviction from their land to make way for a massive mining project. As the company's men move deeper into the valley, the tension between the mineros and the opposition reaches a breaking point. Abandoned by the police and ignored by their government, the farmers prepare to stand down the invaders on their own. Their resistance leads to a remarkable and historic confrontation with a band of mysterious armed men hiding in the cloud forest. In Spanish with ...
• United in anger: a history of ACT UP
  Feature-length documentary that [explores] ACT UP (the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) from a grassroots perspective--how a small group of men and women of all races and classes, came together to change the world and save each other's lives. The film takes the viewer through the planning and execution of a half dozen exhilarating major actions including Seize Control of the FDA, Stop the Church, and Day of Desperation, with a timeline of many of the other zaps and actions that forced the U.S. government and ...
• Water on the table
  Water on the Table features Maude Barlow, considered 'an international water warrior' for her crusade to have water declared a human right... [The film] presents several dramatic opposing arguments. Barlow's critics are policy and economic experts who argue that water is no different than any other resource, and that the best way to protect freshwater is to privatize it.
• We are legion: the story of the Hacktivists
  takes us inside the complex culture and history of Anonymous. The film explores early hacktivist groups like Cult of the Dead Cow and Electronic Disturbance Theater, and then moves to Anonymous’ own raucous and unruly beginnings on the website 4Chan. Through interviews... the film traces the collective’s evolution from merry pranksters to a full-blown, global movement.
• What are we doing here? has foreign aid hurt Africa?
  DVD only.Challenging viewers to rethink traditional humanitarian approaches, this film follows four young Americans as they experience firsthand the scope and intractability of Africa's suffering….Discussions focus on HIV/AIDS, armed conflict, child sponsorship, U.S. farm policies, and the role of NGOs.
• Where the water meets the sky
  A group of women in a remote region of northern Zambia learn how to make a film, as a way to speak out about their lives and to challenge the local traditions which have, until now, kept them silent.
• Why Democracy? Series
  DVD only. Ten one-hour films focused on contemporary democracy, made by filmmakers from around the world, including China, India, Japan, Liberia, USA, Bolivia, Denmark, Egypt, Pakistan and Russia. For more info see: www.whydemocracy.net
• Wiebo's War
  Wiebo's War tells the story of a man's epic battle with the oil and gas industry and asks provocative questions about an individual's civil liberties.
• ¡¿Revolución!?
  A political documentary examining the concept of revolution as created by Hugo Chavez. Using Don Quixote as his inspiration, Chavez is redefining Venezualan society with his 'Bolivian Revolution'. The documentary asks if there are a series of guidelines for a democratic and peaceful revolution. To answer the question, filmmaker, Gervais, interviews pro-Chavez and anti-Chavez militants, politicians and citizens within and without the barrios of Venezuala's cities. Note that this film CAN be used for classroom ...