Friday, August 3, 2012

Tales from the G20 (2011) 55 min

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. Exclusion zones, overlapping layers of security fencing and an estimated 25,000 police and military personnel transformed the downtown area into an armed camp. Over 1.3 billion dollars were spent on security measures, more than all previous G8/G20 meetings combined. This documentary traces the overt breakdown in civil liberties that occurred during the 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.

The Celluloid Closet (Special Edition) (1995) 102 min

A documentary surveying the various Hollywood screen depictions of homosexuals and the attitudes behind them throughout the history of North American film.

The Story of the Weeping Camel (2003) 87 min

 When a Mongolian nomadic family's newest camel colt is rejected by its mother, a musician is needed for a ritual to change her mind.

Children Underground (2001) 104 min

Makers of documentary went to live with parent-less children in Bukharest underground. Movie shows number of lost children struggling through everyday life full of violence

Sound and Fury (2000) 80 min

This Academy award nominated documentary looks deep into the controversial use of cochlear implants to give the deaf the gift of sound.  The movie was followed up with "Sound and Fury Six Years Later." by the same director, Josh Aronson.

Promises (2001) 106 min

  Jewish and Palestinian children are followed for three years and put in touch with each other, in this alternative look at the Jewish-Palestinian conflict. The three filmmakers followed a group of seven local children between 1995 and 1998. They all have a totally different background. These seven children tell their own story about growing up in Jerusalem. Through this portrait of their generation, we see how deep rooted and almost insoluble the problems of the Middle East have become. When the protagonists speak out in an epilogue a couple of years later, it becomes apparent that all have lost their childlike innocence.