This documentary, Rwanda Alive: Those Who Listen, was filmed on the 10th year commemoration of the Rwandan genocide, and brings us into the life of a young survivor named Ingrid. Ingrid, now 17, takes us through her painful past, describing how she miraculously escaped the killing mobs, and how she envisions the future for herself and her country. She and her classmates from Kigali participate in a series of videoconferences with American students, and together with their peers, resolve not to ever let genocide happen again. Those Who Listen is a … [Read more...]

This is a short documentary film on the lives of a few families who have lost their loved ones during the tragic attacks of 9/11. From building schools in Afghanistan to providing cultural spaces of dialogue, these families show how their relative’s spirit survives through their acts of compassion for others in the Muslim community. Their creation of the organization Our Voices Together encourages others to continue their call for a safer, more compassionate world. 13 minutes. … [Read more...]

With opening words by Richard Gere, this film documents the remarkable courage of Nawang, a 13-year-old Buddhist Nun and Bagdro, a 20-year-old Buddhist monk who lead freedom demonstrations against the Chinese occupation of Tibet. Following a brutal military crackdown, they’re arrested and endure horrific torture until a global movement spearheaded by Amnesty International and International Campaign for Tibet culminates in their release. Through the power of a positive mind and inspired by the Dalai Lama, Bagdro and Nawang forgive their former … [Read more...]

With unprecedented access to the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping, The Peacekeepers provides an intimate and dramatic portrait of the struggle to save “a failed state.”The film follows the determined and often desperate manoeuvres to avert another Rwandan disaster, this time in the Democratic Republic of Congo (the DRC). Focusing on the UN mission, the film cuts back and forth between the United Nations headquarters in New York and events on the ground in the DRC. We are with the peacekeepers in the ‘Crisis Room’ as they balance … [Read more...]

This film tells the stories of Khaled El-Masri and Binyam Mohamed, two men who have survived extraordinary rendition (a procedure in which a nation sidesteps its human rights commitments by sendingforeign suspects another country for interrogation under less humane conditions), secret detention, and torture by the U.S. government working with various other governments worldwide. Outlawed features relevant commentary from Louise Arbour, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, U.S. President George W. Bush, Michael Scheuer, the chief architect … [Read more...]

This filim documents the results of two decades of armed conflict between the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and the Ugandan government in the Northern Uganda, which has caused some nearly two million civilians to be displaced from their homes. While the LRA have been perpetrators of these crimes, the Ugandan People’s Defense Forces (UPDF), the national army, has also committed human rights violations against civilians that include extrajudicial killing and torture. Through the personal stories of torture survivors, Between Two Fires advocates … [Read more...]

This is a rough cut documentary made by several young Americans to document the war in Northern Uganda, in which children are being abducted by a rebel army and forced to fight as child soldiers. AID organizers from across the country that have already seen the film say it is one of the most affecting documentaries they’ve ever watched; as Bethany Egan at Grove City College put it, “I can’t even express to you the impact that it had on my heart and mind.” … [Read more...]

Foreign Policy Association’s “Great Decisions 2008 Edition” is a continuation of the highly coveted series of documentaries that highlight 8 pressing social issues of 2008. Each topic is comprehensively examined as how it relates to the future of the United States as well as the world. This years topics consist of: “Exiting Iraq: Deadline for Democracy,” “The European Union at 50,” “Dangerous Dialogue,” “Reexamining Russia,” “Waning War Machine? The State of the U.S. Military,” “The Latin American Left,” “Out of Balance: … [Read more...]

Electronic voting machines count about 87% of the votes cast in America today. But are they reliable? Are they safe from tampering? From a current congressional hearing to persistent media reports that suggest misuse of data and even outright fraud, concerns over the integrity of electronic voting are growing by the day. And if the voting process is not secure, neither is America’s democracy. The timely, cautionary documentary Hacking Democracy exposes gaping holes in the security of America’s electronic voting system. … [Read more...]

Masako Hashida was 15-years-old in 1945 when the atomic bomb was dropped on her city. In peacetime she would have gone to school. But like all her friends at that time in history, she was drafted to work at the Mitsubishi weapons factory in Nagasaki. Her job was making torpedoes. The second atomic bomb to be used on a human population was dropped on Nagasaki while Hashida was working at that factory, located less than one mile from the blast. She is an atomic bomb survivor. In her own words Hashida talks about what she witnessed and what she felt that … [Read more...]