#docoftheday

Recommendation on May, 9 2020:

Reporter

A feature documentary about Nicholas D. Kristof, the two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for the New York Times, who almost single-handedly put the crisis in Darfur on the international radar. In the summer of 2007, Kristof traveled to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to shine his light into the darkest pockets of conflict, in hopes of making the rest of the world take notice.

REPORTER is a clarion call — a potent reminder that real reporting is crucial to our democracy and our world-awareness and perception.

Recommendation on May 8, 2020:

A Man Can Make A Difference

"That was cold-blooded mass murder and I can prove it!" With these words Benjamin Ferencz became the chief prosecutor in the Nuremberg Trial against the murder gangs of the SS 70 years ago. A little man who travels around the world with a big mission. Benjamin Ferencz is more than just a living legend.

His experiences of that time became the driving force in his tireless fight against war crimes all over the world. His mean: the enforcement of an international criminal court. On the way there, many would have declared him crazy, but if the main entrance was locked, he would come through the window.

Recommendation on May 6, 2020:

Plastic China

The laughter of playing children echoes through a vast hilly landscape of plastic waste mountains. The Chinese recycling plant is home to Pen and his daughter Yi Jie, who is desperately looking for an education - and Chef Kun, who is determined to improve his family's lot. Over time, one man moves closer to prosperity, whilst the other stagnates in poverty.

PLASTIC CHINA is a poetic documentation that exposes the lives of those on the fringes of global capitalist realities, a far cry from the communist dream.

Recommendation on May 5, 2020:

Justice For Sale

JUSTICE FOR SALE follows the young, courageous Congolese human rights lawyer Claudine who refuses to accept that justice is indeed 'For Sale' in her country.

When Claudine investigates the case of a soldier convicted of rape, she discovers that his trial was unfair and that he was convicted on the basis of little evidence. In her journey to obtain justice, she uncovers a system where the basic principles of law are ignored. And in a system that fails everyone loses.

Recommendation on May 4, 2020:

China's van Goghs

Vincent van Gogh sold only one painting in his lifetime - Zhao Xiaoyong has sold over 90,000 copies of van Gogh’s paintings in the past 20 years.

Living in China, the world’s fastest developing country, Zhao has been through great transitions. First from a peasant to a rural migrant worker. Then he learnt how to copy iconic Western paintings. Now Zhao is in the midst of a new transition – from copy maker to original artist. CHINA'S VAN GOGHS not only presents how this painter pursues his dream, but also tells the human story of challenge and struggle during his journey.

Recommendation on May 3, 2020:

5 Broken Cameras

When his fourth son, Gibreel, is born, Emad, a Palestinian villager, gets his first camera. In his village, Bil'in, a separation barrier is being built and the villagers start to resist this decision.

For more than five years, Emad films the struggle, which is led by two of his best friends, alongside filming how Gibreel grows. Very soon it affects his family and his own life. Daily arrests and night raids scare his family; his friends, brothers and himself are either shot or arrested. One camera after another is shot at or smashed. Each of the 5 cameras tells part of his story.

Recommendation on May 2, 2020:

I Will Not Be Silenced

I WILL NOT BE SILENCED takes us on a journey of one woman’s fight for the rights of rape survivors in Kenya. After Australian Charlotte Campbell-Stephen is gang raped in Nairobi, her long quest for justice through the Kenyan legal system becomes a wider campaign for women’s rights.

Charlotte’s courageous actions are giving Kenyan women strength to confront Nairobi’s rape crisis. An impressive documentary about an incredible women.

Recommendation on "Labour Day" (May 1, 2020):

Black Gold

Multinational coffee companies now rule our shopping malls and supermarkets and dominate an industry worth over $80 billion, making coffee the most valuable trading commodity in the world after oil. But of what we pay for our lattes and cappuccinos almost nothing reaches the coffee farmers. Many are forced to abandon their coffee fields.

BLACK GOLD tells the story of Tadesse Meskela and his struggle to keep his 74,000 Ethiopian coffee farmers from Western exploitation. It exposes the truth behind each cappuccino and demands each and every one of us to wake up and smell the coffee.

Recommendation on April 30, 2020:

Family Protrait in Black and White

Olga is foster mother of 16 bi-ethnic orphans. She calls them "my chocolates" and raises them to be patriotic Ukrainians. Some residents of her small town in Eastern Ukraine, neighboring Russia, consider Olga a saint – but many believe she is just crazy.

A massively stigmatising attitude towards relationships between Ukrainian girls and students from Africa who come to Ukraine to study is widespread in parts of the population - and makes hundreds of children who are born in these relationships abandoned and growing up as orphans. The reality about the life of bi-ethnic children in Ukraine.

Recommendation on April 29, 2020:

Salma

When Salma, a Muslim girl from rural India, reaches puberty, her parents lock her away. Forced into marriage and separated from any educational opportunities, she spends 25 years writing her plight in poems that she secretly writes on discarded scraps of paper. Finding their way into the hands of a publisher, these fragments ultimately bought her freedom.

It is precisely because Salma has found such an unlikely way out that her experiences and poems are remarkable, because they reflect the living conditions of thousands of other girls and women.

Recommendation on April 28, 2020:

People of a Feather

Featuring groundbreaking footage from seven winters in the Arctic, PEOPLE PF A FEATHER takes you through time into the world of the Inuit in Canada's Hudson Bay. A unique relationship with the eider duck connects their past, present and future. Eider down, the warmest feather in the world, allows both Inuit and bird to survive the harsh Arctic winters.

When the natural sea ice and ocean currents start to change, disrupted by the massive hydroelectric dams powering New York and eastern North America, the traditional life of the Inuit and the existence of the eider duck are threatened. A wakeup call to implement energy solutions that work with nature.

Recommendation on April 27, 2020:

The Border Fence

THE BORDER FENCE is a political satire about populism and its absurd consequences.

In spring 2016, Austrian politicians fear an "onslaught of war refugees" via Italy and announce a new border fence. The residents fear the fence just as much as the supposedly threatening alienation of their homeland.

Two years later, the fence is still rolled up in its container, as the feared "refugee rush" never took place.

Recommendation on April 26, 2020:

The Invisible War

The brutality of war rages beyond the battlefield. As the number of women in the American military increases, so does the number of rapes. An estimated 30 percent of servicewomen and at least 1 percent of servicemen are sexually assaulted during their enlistment – not by the enemy, but by their fellow soldiers.

With stark clarity and escalating revelations, THE INVISIBLE WAR exposes the rape culture in the armed forces, investigating the institutions that promote these crimes, as well as the profound personal and social consequences.

Recommendation on April 25, 2020:

How to Survive a Plague

Faced with their own mortality, an unusual group of mostly HIV-positive people began their protest against the medical establishment.

HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE is the story of how activism and innovation turned AIDS from a death sentence into a manageable condition.

Blisteringly powerful, the film transports us back to a vital time of unbridled death, political indifference, and staggering resilience and constructs a commanding archetype for activism today.

Recommendation on April 24, 2020:

Above All Else

A man risks his family and future to prevent the construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline through his land. Shot in the forests, pastures, and living rooms of rural East Texas, ABOVE ALL ELSE follows David Daniel, a retired high-wire artist and circus performer, from the moment that he discovers survey stakes on his land.

The film accompanies him through years of activism to four decisive days in September 2012, when Daniel scrapes a group of neighbors and environmental activists around him for the final action: a blockade in the treetops.

Recommendation on April 23, 2020:

Milk

All too often, breast milk, one of the most natural things in the world, is questioned. How else could the business around infant formula be that big?

Through an intimate and artistic lens, MILK brings a universal perspective to the commercialisation and politics surrounding infant feeding. From the judgement placed on women who bottle feed their babies, to the stigma of breastfeeding in public.

What are the rights of a mother and a baby? A thought-provoking examination of the way we feed our babies around the world.

Recommendation on Earth Day, April 22, 2020:

Planetary

We are in the midst of a global crisis of perspective. We have forgotten the undeniable truth that everything is connected. PLANETARY is a provocative and breathtaking wakeup call, a cross continental, cinematic journey, that explores our cosmic origins and our future as a species.

PLANETARY is a poetic and humbling reminder that it's time to shift our perspective. The film asks us to rethink who we really are, to reconsider our relationship with ourselves, each other and the world around us - to remember that: we are planetary.

Recommendation on April 21, 2020:

Return to Homs

Nineteen-year-old Basset is the goalkeeper for the Syrian national soccer team. When revolution breaks out the charismatic young man becomes an iconic protest leader and singer. His songs reflect his dream of peaceful liberation from Assad's brutal regime. Osama is a 24-year-old media activist and pacifist wielding his camera to document the revolution.

But when the army cracks down and their beloved Homs becomes a bombed-out ghost town, the two former peaceful protesters take up arms and transform into renegade insurgents - with devastating results.

Recommendation on April 20, 2020:

Peace Officer

PEACE OFFICER is a documentary about the increasingly militarized state of American police told through the story of 'Dub' Lawrence. The former sheriff established and trained his rural state's first SWAT team only to see that same unit kill his son-in-law in a controversial standoff 30 years later.

Driven by an obsessed sense of mission, Dub uses his own investigation skills to uncover the truth in this and other recent officer-involved shootings in his community, while tackling larger questions about the changing face of peace officers nationwide.

Recommendation on April 19, 2020:

Conflict

Based on the Webby award-winning miniseries this hour-long version delves even more deeply into some of the world’s best conflict photographers as they take us behind the lens and into their lives. CONFLICT witnesses their personal and professional battles to engage with, understand, handle, capture and present different forms of conflict in the hopes of making the world better.

An extraordinary film in which photographers bring us closer to the most important human conflicts of our time.

Recommendation on April 18, 2020:

China Reversed

The story of the Chinese diaspora to Austria, the life of first and second generation Chinese in Vienna, the economic remigration from Austro-Chinese to their homeland and the consequence of cultural exchange in both directions.! Most came to Vienna by chance. Working in Chinese restaurants, dreaming of their own business, or bringing their family. China Reverse is the story of the Chinese diaspora ... in both directions.

Recommendation on April 17, 2020:

Building Hope

Audience Award winner at SXSW and Maui Film Fesitvals BUILDING HOPE tells the inspiring story of a rural African community which build the area's first high school despite of drought, flood, and fundraising challenges: the Mahiga Hope High School.

“Inspirational Red Bull for the humanitarian soul and proof positive that you can help fix our broken world and make a difference in the lives of countless others.” – The Austin Chronicle

Recommendation on April 16, 2020:

The Art of Moving

The London Migration Film Festival goes online - including the documentary THE ART OF MOVING: Daya Al-Taesh is an anti-IS satirical web series created by a group of Syrian video activists. They produce their from Turkey.

After receiving threats from IS supporters there as well, they set off for Istanbul. Their goal: to broadcast an improved topical-comedy show for Syrian TV. But obstacles keep arising in an already unstable situation, pressuring the group’s work and friendships. They are forced to make decisions about the future of their activism and the possibility of stable life in Istanbul or elsewhere.

Recommendation on April 15, 2020:

Evolution of Violence

Guatemala. The war ended long ago. Though the people want to forget it, the violence continues, and it has spread throughout the society like cancer. Each day, journalists wait to report on the next murder victim and a social worker helps the relatives of women who have been killed.

The society suffers from the aftermath of the 36-year civil war. Mass graves are found in the mountains, former rebels mourn their comrades and a war criminal has nightmares about all the things he's done. There is still no peace in Guatemala.

Recommendation on April 14, 2020:

Private Revolutions - Young, Female, Egyptian

PRIVAT REVOLUTIONS – YOUNG, FEMALE, EGYPTIAN is a documentary about four young Egyptian women with different social background who are sovereign, eloquent and determined. For almost two years we follow their everyday lives and their struggle in post-revolutionary Egypt.

Their fight for justice and gender equality leads to constant clashes with their men-dominated surrounding. Nevertheless, they keep going and that's what the movie wants to show: Their courage, sensitivity and their stamina.

Recommendation on April 13, 2020:

Angry Buddha

János Orsós is of Romani descent, a teacher, and a Buddhist. Inspired by the history of the Dalits or "untouchables" in India, birthplace of both Romani culture and Buddhism, he founded a school in a small Hungarian village with the goal of enabling teenagers from the poorest Romani ghettos to attend universities.

ANGRY BUDDAH documents János' resolute battle against the difficultieshe faces over three years, while simultaneously painting affectionate and honest portraits of the Romani youth who use humour and their own vitality to survive in a world of poverty and prejudice.

Recommendation on April 12, 2020:

Unpaved Road to Peace

The peace agreement between the government and the FARC ended the 53-year war in Colombia in 2016. For many years, the village of Caldono was on the front line between the warring factions. Many people from the village joined the FARC at a young age and terrorized their own neighbors.

Now the former FARC fighters are returning. The village chief Farid tries to create a dialogue between the villagers and ex-guerilleros. Despite his efforts to appease, many are not yet ready for forgiveness. What are the chances of a true peace?

Recommendation on April 11, 2020:

Little Alien

They’re teenagers who fled crisis regions and undertook an extremely dangerous journey to Europe, all alone, hoping for one thing: to live. After arriving here, they fight to live normal lives, struggling against a system that demands they sacrifice their youth to an uncertain future.

LITTLE ALIEN is a personal and touching film about young refugees - thoughtful and also in today's time highly topical.

Recommendation on April 10, 2020:

Weapon of War

Wherever war breaks out, the number of rapes is rising to dreadful levels. During the decades of conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo possibly hundreds of thousands of women and girls were raped. In WEAPON OF WAR military perpetrators unveil what lies behind this brutal behavior and the strategies of rape as a war crime

An ex-rebel tries to reconcile with his past and decides to meets one of his victims in an attempt to ask for forgiveness. Captain Basima is working as a priest in Congo's army and confronts perpetrators of rape. He urges them to change. Just like he did.

Recommendation on April 9, 2020:

Solo - Out of a Dream

In 1994, 11 year-old Leonardo, was portrayed in the award-winning documentary SOLO - THE LAW OF THE FAVELA. His dream was to become soccer players, to escape the poverty and violence of the slum in Rio de Janeiro.

As a result of the film, Leonardo was invited to join Dutch topclub Feyenoord at the age of 14. He made his dream come true and became a professional player for Feyenoord and Ajax, and in his later days went on to play in Austria, Hungary and Germany. Now 31, rich and famous, he travels back to Rio de Janeiro to meet old friends, against the background of the world championships in Brasil. SOLO - OUT OF A DREAM tells the story of a life that was was destined by the camera.

Recommendation on April 8, 2020:

In the Bazaar of the Sexes

A lonesome middle-aged bachelor, a divorced single mother and a jovial young mullah are the protagonists of this intimate account of gender relations in Iran. Their stories revolve around temporary marriage, also called lust-marriage, a Shia practice that allows a man and a woman to legally marry for a fixed period of time ranging from one hour to 99 years. Religiously sanctified prostitution or a loophole for couples to have a relationship within the rigid Islamic laws?

Religious dogma meets macho sentimentality meets female realities. A relentlessly honest, eye-opening and sometimes funny account of Islamic sexual and gender politics.

Recommendation on April 7, 2020:

Malala: A Girl From Paradise

Malala Yousafzai is a resilient and articulate girl from Pakistan's Swat Valley.
When she was shot in the head, the 16-year-old schoolgirl turned into a symbol of hope for the millions of children in Pakistan who are illiterate and have little chance of an education.

The Taliban thought they would silence the girl's campaign to educate Pakistani children.
They were wrong. Malala survived, her activism is stronger than ever and she is the youngest Nobel Peace prize winner ever.

MALALA: A GIRL FROM PARADISE tries to give a better understanding of Malala's home country.

Recommendation on April 6, 2020:

Return of a President

Brutally forced out of Madagascar by a military coup d’état, now exiled in South Africa, Madagascar’s democratically elected president Marc Ravalomanana turns to the international community to help mediate a diplomatic solution – and suddenly finds himself navigating a political minefield. There are many other interests at play than simply reinstalling democracy in his country.

The exil president is determined to peacefully win back his homeland from the coup leader Rajoelina. RETURN OF A PRESIDENT tells the inside story of the five-year battle to bring Ravalomanana home and reinstall democracy in Madagascar.

Recommendation on April 5, 2020:

The Price of Sex

A documentary about young Eastern European women who've been drawn into a netherworld of sex trafficking and abuse. It is a story told by survivors; a film that gives a voice to women who were supposed to be silenced by shame, fear and intimidation.

Director Mimi Chakarova takes us on a personal, investigative journey into the shadowy world of sex trafficking from Eastern Europe to Turkey, Dubai and Greece. Told through undercover footage and the personal accounts of trafficked women, this film exposes the root causes of why women continue to be sold into prostitution against their will and examines what can be done to stop it.

Recommendation on April 4, 2020:

Heartbound: A Different Kind of Love Story

In the small northern region of Jutland, Denmark, over 900 Thai women are married to Danish men: a trend that started 25 years ago when a former sex worker from Northeastern Thailand married a Jutland native. Since then she has helped lonely local men and impoverished women from her village find someone to marry and share life with.

HEARTBOUND follows four of these Thai-Danish couples over ten years in an intimate chronicle that explores universal questions of love and romance, dreams and everyday hardship, life and death, and the very nature of family.

Recommendation on April 3, 2020:

Welcome to Refugeestan

Almost seventeen million people worldwide - refugees, displaced people and migrants - live in camps which, taken together, could be equivalent to a virtual country the size of the Netherlands. And yet the names of these places do not appear on any map. The ways that have been developed to run the camps are both: efficient and absurd.

WELCOME TO REFUGEESTAN explores this "land of camps", from Kenya to Tanzania, Jordan and the Greece/Macedonia border as well as at the UNHCR’s headquarters in Geneva. It reveals an immense system that combines humanitarian concerns with the management of the undesirable who rich countries want to keep out, whatever the cost.

Recommendation on April 2, 2020:

Big Boys Gone Bananas!*

What is a big corporation capable of in order to protect its brand? BIG BOYS GONE BANANAS!* has been called a classic David Vs Goliath story - but it is more about freedom of speech and what happens to a documentary filmmaker when he goes up against a large corporation such as Dole Foods.

How far will Dole go to shift the focus off of them and onto the filmmaker even after their own CEO has admitted wrong doing in a court of law which has been captured on film? Media spin, dirty tricks and PR tactics, lawsuits and corporate bullying come into play to try to destroy the filmmaker.  A cautionary tale, a real life-lesson learning experience - and a tribute to the importance of criticizing grievances despite everything.

Recommendation on April 1, 2020:

Novaya

Laudatee Willy-Brandt-Documentary Award for Freedom and Human Rights  2019

“Novaya Gazeta” is one of the first independent newspaper of post-Soviet Russia – and one of the last remaining today. It specializes in investigative reports and is a three times Nobel Prize nominee. Since 2000, five journalists and a lawyer of the editorial board have been murdered. NOVAYA is a peephole into the daily work of their colleagues, giving us front row seats during one of the hardest period of the paper‘s life.

How will they respond to the kidnapping of one of their editors? How far will these journalists go in their search for truth, potentially endanging their own lives or the lives of their loved ones?

Interview with director Askold Kurov

Recommendation on March 31, 2020:

Cooking History

Who would have imagined that wars could also be fought with pots, pans, and pepper shakers? In contrast with classic documentaries recalling war memories, the Slovakian film director focuses on one particular aspect: the sensual element of war. Military chefs have a unique, and until now, unshared influence on the battlefield. “A hungry soldier doesn’t feel safe,” explains a sausage-wielding army cook.
Feeding troops is a tactical strategy used to truly astounding results in major European conflicts of the 20th century. Six wars, 10 recipes, and 60,361,024 dead – Cooking History is a fascinating retelling of the past.

Recommendation on March 30, 2020:

Gasland

In May 2008, filmmaker and director Josh Fox is offered $100,000 to allow drilling for gas exploration in his garden. Surprised by the tempting offer, he tries to find out what the consequences might be for him to accept it. This question sends him on a journey with frightening and astonishing results, all the way to a family who can set their tap water on fire.

Oscar nominee GASLAND is the shocking story about a practice that is understudied and inadequately regulated and changes our perception of fraking.

Recommendation on March 29, 2020:

Human

What is it that makes us human? Is it that we love, that we fight? That we laugh? Cry? Our curiosity? The quest for discovery?

Driven by these questions, filmmaker and artist Yann Arthus-Bertrand spent three years collecting real-life stories from 2,000 people in 60 countries. Working with a dedicated team of translators, journalists and camera staff, Yann captures deeply personal and emotional accounts of topics that unite us all; struggles with poverty, war, homophobia, and the future of our planet mixed with moments of love and happiness.

Recommendation on March 28, 2020:

Walls

The world is increasingly more divided by walls. There are human beings on either side of them. The brilliant editing of WALLS connects the people living and working on the different sides of the most famous walls of our time: between Mexico and the U.S., Spain and Morocco, Israel and Palastine as well as South Africa and Zimbabwe.

A true cinematic experience not entering the geopolitical discussion but exploring WALLS as a global recurring issue.

Recommendation on March 27, 2020:

Raving Iran

Resistance can have many faces: Anoosh and Arash are at the center of Tehran’s underground techno scene. Tired of hiding from the police and their stagnating career, they organize one last manic techno rave under dangerous circumstances in the desert. Back in Tehran they try their luck selling their illegally printed album without permission. When Anoosh is arrested, there seems to be no hope left.

But then they receive a phone call from the biggest techno festival in the world. Arriving in Switzerland, they are overwhelmed by their own dream. The haze of the instant euphoria evaporates quickly when the seriousness of the situation starts to dawn on them.

Recommendation on March 26, 2020:

The Yes Men Fix the World

THE YES MEN FIX THE WORLD is a screwball true story about two gonzo political activists who, posing as top executives of giant corporations, lie their way into big business conferences and expose the people profiting from Hurricane Katrina and other shocking events. Included: one of the very few underwater ballet scenes you will ever see in a political documentary.

The reality which the Yes Men discover in the US market raises the question why we have given the market more power than any other institution to determine our direction as a society.

Recommendation on March 25, 2020:

Bitter Seeds

Every 30 minutes a farmer in India kills himself in despair because he can no longer provide for his family. Will Ramkrishna be next? BITTER SEEDS is the story of a cotton farmer at the epicenter of the suicide crisis region and a young woman who wants to become a journalist. Ramkrishna’s plight is her first assignment.
The film examines the high suicide rate among Indian cotton farmers, deeply in debt after switching to genetically modified seeds.

Within a gripping character-based narrative BITTER SEEDS raises the critical question of how we can allow Western companies to maximize their profits by depriving ordinary farmers of their livelihoods.

Recommendation on March 24, 2020:

Stranger in Paradise

"We don’t want you. We just can’t do it." In a classroom, a teacher uses math to explain to a group of refugees what their arrival will cost society. The asylum seekers try to refute the figures. They will work, won’t they, and contribute to society? The teacher shatters their illusions: half of them will never find work. In three acts, director and screenwriter Guido Hendrikx explains the European view of the refugee crisis. The man receives three groups of migrants, each time adopting a different attitude.

Hendrikx shows where the refugees’ dreams clash with reality and forces us to think hard about our own position. Is it human to categorize someone else’s life?

Recommendation on march 23, 2020:

Ai Weiwei: The Fake Case

After 81 days of solitary detention world famous Chinese artist Ai Weiwei is put under house arrest. He suffers from sleeping disorder and memory loss, 18 cameras are monitoring his studio and home, police agents follow his every move, and heavy restrictions from the Chinese authorities weigh him down.

Ai Weiwei is shaken, but during the year on probation he steadily finds new ways to provoke and challenge the Chinese authorities in his fight for human rights. Ai Weiwei strongly believes that China is ready for change. And he will do everything to make it happen.

Recommendation on World Water Day (March 23, 2020):

About Water

Two-thirds of the earth's surface is covered with water, 94 percent of which comes from the oceans, 4 percent from groundwater, and 1. 7 percent from the ice masses at the North and South Poles. Only a very small part of the fresh water resources is accessible to humans. 2 billion people worldwide have no access to clean drinking water.

“Despite water, without water, with water" – these could be the headlines for the three episodes of ABOUT WATER, in which director Udo Maurer confronts the viewer with impressions of people in extreme situations.

Recommendation on March 21, 2020:

The Age of Stupid

It's the year 2055 and the world has been destroyed and ravaged by climate change. London is underwater, Sydney is on fire and nuclear war has turned India into a wasteland. An archivist looks back at old footage from the year 2008 to understand why humankind failed to address climate change.

Starring Pete Postlethwaite, this bold, provocative film warns of the dire consequences of our failure to stop climate change.

Recommendation on March 20, 2020:

Pray the Devil Back to Hell

PRAY THE DEVIL BACK TO HELL chronicles the remarkable story of the brave and visionary Liberian women who came together to end a bloody civil war and bring peace to their shattered country. Armed only with white T-shirts and the courage of their convictions they came together to a silent protest outside of the Presidential Palace and prayed for peace. Their actions made a decisive contribution to restarting the stalled peace negotiations.

PRAY THE DEVIL BACK TO HELL honors the strength and perseverance of the women of Liberia and is a compelling testimony of how activism can alter the history of nations.

Recommendation on March 19, 2020:

Power to the Children

POWER TO THE CHILDREN tells the story of children in India who take their lives into their own hands. In order to counter social wrongs and environmental pollution, they form children's parliaments, elect their own ministers and fight for respect for their rights. In doing so, they not only change their own lives for the better, but those of the entire village community.

The film tells from the perspective of children about their challenges and actions in a society in which children are expected to follow the example of adults. But these children are taking a new path - with determination, courage and creativity.

Recommendation on March 18, 2020:

Granito: How To Nail a Dictator

"Granito: How to Nail a Dictator" is a story of destinies joined by Guatemala's past, and how a documentary film, intertwined with a nation's turbulent history, emerges as an active player in the present. In Granito, characters sift for clues buried in archives of mind and place and historical memory, seeking to uncover a narrative that could unlock the past and settle matters of life and death.

GRANITO: HOW TO NAIL A DICTATOR tells of wrongs done and justice sought - and how a documentary from former times plays a key role in the trial of the dictator.

Recommendation on March 17, 2020:

Miners Shot Down

In August 2012, mineworkers in one of South Africa’s biggest platinum mines began a wildcat strike for better wages. Six days into the strike, the police used live ammunition to violently suppress the strike, killing 34 and injuring many more. The police insisted that they shot in self- defense.

MINERS SHOT DOWN tells a different story, a tragedy that arises out of the deep fault lines in South Africa’s nascent democracy, of enduring poverty and a twenty year old, unfulfilled promise of a better life for all.

Recommendation on March 16, 2020:

Bikes vs. Cars

BIKES VS. CARS shows an aspect of the climate crisis that is rarely talked about, but absolutely should be talked about: cities where the entire surface is consumed by the car. Noisy and dirty traffic chaos is growing steadily. The bike is a great tool for change, but the powerful interests who benefits from the private car invest billions each year on lobbying and advertising to protect their business.

In the film we meet activists and thought leaders who fight for better cities and refuse to stop riding despite the increasing number killed in traffic.