Films that bring previously obscured truths about the political process to the attention of the public, showing for example how offices of public trust are used for private purposes.
SWEETWATER REMINDS FILMVIEWERS OF THE EARLY DAYS OF CIVIL RIGHTS PROGRESS In 1990, a man by the name of Nathaniel Clifton (played at age 78 by Everett Osborne) is driving a Chicago taxi. After his rider asks to increase the volume of an ongoing basketball game, a discussion begins, and the driver reveals that he […]
WOMEN TALKING RECOUNTS SEXUAL ABUSE IN BOLIVIA Mennonite “colonies” exist in Canada, the United States, and Bolivia. Women perform household chores and are not allowed educational opportunities. Such asymmetry evidently provokes the view of some men that they are superior, while women are mere objects. Between 2009–2009, about 150 women were raped, ages 5 to
ON SACRED GROUND TELLS THE TRUE STORY ABOUT THE DAKOTA PIPELINE PROTEST Directed by Josh Tickell, Joshua Tickell, and Rebecca Harrell Tickell, On Sacred Ground (subtitled It’s Time to Take a Stand) starts with a series of titles to provide filmviewers some background information, including the lawsuit filed against the Dakota Access Pipeline project by
EMANCIPATION FOLLOWS A SLAVE ON THE ROAD TO FREEDOM When Peter (played by Will Smith) hears from one of his masters that the Union Army is freeing slaves in Baton Rouge due to Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, effective January 1, 1863, he decides to flee horrible conditions near Clinton, Louisiana, where slaves are assisting in
HOLY SPIDER CELEBRATES A WOMAN WHO STOPPED A MASS MURDER During the year 2000, bad news came from the holy city of Mashhad, Iran. Women were being murdered, and the local police appeared unable to stop the continuing slaughter. Accordingly, in 2001 journalist Rahimi (played by Zar Amir-Ebrahimi) goes from Iran to Mashhad to investigate
SHE SAID TRACES THE BEGINNING OF #MeToo Women no longer play traditional roles. They work alongside men at most occupations today, including all layers of the film industry. However, gossip in Hollywood has long indicated that men doing the hiring impose a requirement on women when they open their pants during a job interview. Even
OPERATION MINCEMEAT REVEALS MORE WORLD WAR II SECRETS As more classified information about World War II is revealed, Operation Mincemeat reveals why the British landing on Sicily occurred with minimal casualties, based on a nonfiction book with the same title by Ben Macintyre, who updates information about the plot that was previously presented in the
Operation Mincemeat Read More »
DONBASS SHOWS LIFE IN EASTERN UKRAINE BEFORE 2022 Before the Russian offensive against Ukraine in 2022, a chuck of Eastern Ukraine had been seized by Russians in 2014 and governed as “New Russia.” Donbass, directed by Sergey Loznitsa, provides slices of life in that region in about 2015. Each of thirteen scenes is self-contained but
THE VIRTUES AND REPRESSION OF FALUN GONG ARE REVEALED IN UNSILENCED In the 1990s, an organization known as Falun Gong was introduced in China by Li Hongzhi. Unsilenced, a film based on true events in 1999, though with mostly fictional persons, exposes a period of Chinese history that few around the world fully understand due
MARGRETE: QUEEN OF THE NORTH CELEBRATES HOW PEACE IS MADE Directed by Charlotte Sieling, Margrete: Queen of the North is a biopic of the one who brought peace to Scandinavia in the fifteenth century. As queen of Denmark, she married the king of Norway, but became regent of both countries when both kings died. She
Margrete: Queen of the North Read More »