Modern Conflicts
The Square – 2013
A group of Egyptian revolutionaries battle leaders and regimes, risking their lives to build a new society of conscience. . . . .
Jane – 2017
BY PETE HAMMOND
DEADLINE
One of the highlights of the recent Toronto Film Festival (and sure to be at the upcoming New York Film Festival) was the premiere of the extraordinary National Geographic documentary Jane which is based on 100 hours of recently discovered 16MM film footage of Jane Goodall’s first foray into the world of chimpanzees in 1962. Long thought lost, the footage shows a brave young woman at the beginning of what would become a remarkable lifelong journey with these amazing creatures.
Goodall, now 83, is considered the foremost expert on chimpanzees, and this film takes us back to the first expedition of a then-untrained 28-year-old Jane whose research revolutionized our understanding of the animals. She has been at it ever since. The images are so crisp and beautiful it looks like it was all filmed last week, and her new narration provides insight that is absolutely fascinating.
With a thrilling musical score from Oscar nominated composer Philip Glass this film from director Brett Morgen (Kurt Cobain: Montage Of Heck, The Kid Stays In The Picture) should be a prime Oscar contender not only for Documentary Feature, but also Original Music Score, and perhaps Film Editing for the sensational work in assembling the recently uncovered footage filmed by the great Hugo van Lawick, the National Geographic filmmaker who met, fell in love with and eventually married Goodall. In fact their very first meeting is chronicled and seen here.
“The film is very much a love story, except the love is not between man and woman. The love is between a woman and her work, and a man and his work,” Morgen said. National Geographic Documentary Films will be opening the film on October 20. Before that, Glass’s score will be performed live to picture on October 9 at the Hollywood Bowl, with Glass, Goodall and Morgen in attendance.
Morgan said he wanted Jane to be “like a cinematic opera” which is what led him to Glass in the first place. Watch the trailer above.
Snowden – 2016
BY JILL STEIN
THE GUARDIAN
On 6 June 2013, the Guardian broke the news National Security Agency (NSA) had ordered Verizon to provide it with the phone records of its customers. As the story developed it became clear that the two other major telephone networks as well as credit card companies were doing the same thing; and that the NSA and FBI were being provided with access to server systems operated by Google, Apple, Facebook, Yahoo, Microsoft and Skype.
On 11 June the Guardian reported the source as Edward Snowden, a 29-year-old who had been working at the NSA for four years.
Snowden believed it was important for him to publicly acknowledge his role in order to provide a human face to the story. He knew he was putting his life at risk and exposing himself to decades of incarceration. “My sole motive is to inform the public as to that which is done in their name and that which is done against them,” he explained. Snowden hoped to trigger a debate “about the kind of world we want to live in”. The US government began an immediate campaign to track, harass and silence him.
Meru – 2015
Three elite climbers struggle to find their way through obsession and loss as they attempt to climb Mount Meru, one of the most coveted prizes in the high stakes game of Himalayan big wall climbing. . .
Cartel Land – 2015
With unprecedented access, CARTEL LAND is a riveting, on-the-ground look at the journeys of two modern-day vigilante groups and their shared enemy – the murderous Mexican drug cartels. In the Mexican state of Michoacán, Dr. Jose Mireles, a small-town physician known as “El Doctor,” leads the Autodefensas, a citizen uprising against the violent Knights Templar drug cartel that has wreaked havoc on the region for years. Meanwhile, in Arizona’s Altar Valley – a narrow, 52-mile-long desert corridor known as Cocaine Alley – Tim “Nailer” Foley, an American veteran, heads a small paramilitary group called Arizona Border Recon, whose goal is to stop Mexico’s drug wars from seeping across our border.
More Headlines
Amy – 2015
Red Army – 2014
That Sugar Film – 2014
Kids
Blood Brother – 2013
Blood Brother is an intimate portrait of Rocky Braat, a young man who longed to find a family. He didn’t know it, but this desire would lead him to an AIDS hostel in India, a place of unspeakable hardship, where he would find almost more love and need than he could bear. . . Read more at IMDB or buy it now at Amazon.
Modern Conflicts
Dirty Wars – 2013
Investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill is pulled into an unexpected journey as he chases down the hidden truth behind America’s expanding covert wars. . . Read more at IMDB or buy it now at Amazon.
History
Our Man in Tehran – 2013
The events of the Iranian Hostage Crisis and Canada’s involvement, especially concerning Ambassador Ken Taylor, are explored. . . Read more at IMDB or buy it now at Amazon.
Drugs
The House I Live In – 2012
From the dealer to the narcotics officer, the inmate to the federal judge, a penetrating look inside America’s criminal justice system, revealing the profound human rights implications of U.S. drug policy. . . Read more at IMDB or buy it now at Amazon.
China
Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry – 2012
Ai Weiwei – Never Sorry is the inside story of a dissident for the digital age who inspires global audiences and blurs the boundaries of art and politics. Against a backdrop of strict censorship, Ai Weiwei, China’s most famous artist, uses social media to express himself and organize people. In response, Chinese authorities have shut down his blog, beaten him up, bulldozed his newly built studio, and held him in secret detention. Read more at IMDB or support this site and the filmmaker by buying it at Amazon.
Politics
Putin’s Kiss – 2012
19-year old Masha is a spokesperson in the government friendly and strongly nationalistic Russian youth organization, Nashi. The movement aims to protect Russia against its ‘enemies’. Masha was seduced by the high energy of the movement by the age of 15 and has got a lot of benefits in return for her loyalty. But then she starts seeing a group of critical journalists. Among them is the well-known blogger, Oleg Kashin, who compares Nashi with ‘Hitlerjugend’.
Music
Searching for Sugar Man – 2012
Two South Africans set out to discover what happened to their unlikely musical hero, the mysterious 1970s rock ‘n’ roller, Rodriguez. Read more at IMDB or support this site by buying it at Amazon.
Modern Conflicts
The Invisible War – 2012
An investigative documentary about the epidemic of rape of soldiers within the US military. Read more at IMDB or support this site by buying it at Amazon.
Medecine
How to Survive a Plague – 2012
The story of two coalitions — ACT UP and TAG (Treatment Action Group) — whose activism and innovation turned AIDS from a death sentence into a manageable condition. Read more at IMDB or support this site by buying it at Amazon.