Down and Out in America

Warrior of Light

2001

A feature-length documentary on Yvonne Bezerra de Mello, award-winning artist and human-rights activist who has gained international recognition for her work with street children in Rio. The film recounts how a woman turned her back on a wealthy lifestyle, driven into action by the execution of 8 streetkids by military police in 1993. In subsequent years Yvonne's struggle to better the lives of endangered and abandoned children has led her to found "Projeto Uere" ("Children of Light") a radical project committed to protection and education of kids who live in the streets and slums of Rio which has brought her into conflict with Brazil's wealthy elite.

I Swear

2025

Diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome at 15, John Davidson navigates his way against the odds through troubled teenage years and into adulthood, finding inspiration in the kindness of others to discover his true purpose in life.

For You at the Front!

1942

From the start, Vertov made himself known as an irreconcilable enemy of “acted films,” which he regarded as a violation of truth. At the peak of World War II, however, such lofty artistic principles proved impractical. Vertov’s poetic and patriotic For You, Front! is a fiction film with a script and two actors. In a letter to her fiancé, a soldier on the front, Saule asks if there is anything he needs from “our beloved Kazakhstan.” Yes there is, he replies: lead, which can be used to make bullets to kill the enemies of “our beloved country.”

The Pimp and His Trophies

2014

Kurosawa's Way

2011

Eleven major film makers from Europe, America and Asia talk about Akira Kurosawa and discover surprising influences on their own work.

Laila

1980

Laila Paattinen is a working woman. Tired of low-paying jobs, she completed a five-month course in dry-wall installation. Because she had chosen a non-traditional job for women, she ran into resistance in the marketplace. She finally solved her problems by opening her own dry-wall application business. A useful film for women seeking non-traditional jobs.

Hunger

2008

The story of Bobby Sands, the IRA member who led the 1981 hunger strike during The Troubles in which Irish Republican prisoners tried to win political status.

Liberty: Mother of Exiles

2019

A look at the history of the Statue of Liberty and the meaning of sculptor Auguste Bartholdi's creation to people around the world.

Yusuf Hawkins: Storm Over Brooklyn

2020

The 30-year legacy of the murder of black teenager Yusuf Hawkins by a group of young white men in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, as his family and friends reflect on the tragedy and the subsequent fight for justice that inspired and divided New York City.

My Legacy

2014

My Legacy follows Helen as she explores the often tenuous relationship between a mother and daughter made more complex by the legacy of residential school.

Blame It on Fidel!

2006

A 9-year-old girl weathers big changes in her household as her parents become radical political activists in 1970-71 Paris.

When Pride Becomes Prejudice

A short documentary immersing you in the intimacy and harsh reality of young LGBTQ+ artists, working in Los Angeles in the midst of the glamorous neighborhood of West Hollywood.