Polluting Paradise

The Way Things Go

June 1987 •English

Artists Peter Fischli and David Weiss create the ultimate Rube Goldberg machine. The pair used found objects to construct a complex, interdependent contraption in an empty warehouse. When set in motion, a domino-like chain reaction ripples through the complex of imaginative devices. Fire, water, the laws of gravity, and chemistry determine the life-cycle of the objects. The process reveals a story concerning cause and effect, mechanism and art, and improbability and precision, in an extended science project that will mesmerize the mind.

Im Reich Des Squatters

April 2020 •German

Bil'in Habibti

January 2006 •English

The Israeli filmmaker Shai Corneli Polak records the building of the 'security wall' through Palestinian territory at the village of Bil'in. The villagers protest mostly peacefully, while the Israeli army doesn't react peacefully. By now the Israeli High Court has ruled that the building of the wall was illegal.

Khamsin

January 2019 •French

Lebanon today. The traces of the civil war are all too tangible as government corruption becomes unbearable. In a country where conflict and peace are caught in an endless cycle, musicians from different backgrounds pool their talents to create an underground music scene. Each evokes his or her representation of Lebanon: its shifting geographical, political, historical and social borders, its painful passage through conflict and instability. A touching portrait of a young generation trying to build an oasis in a hostile environment where the forces of destruction continue to wreak havoc.

Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing

October 2006 •English

Shut Up and Sing is a documentary about the country band from Texas called the Dixie Chicks and how one tiny comment against President Bush dropped their number one hit off the charts and caused fans to hate them, destroy their CD’s, and protest at their concerts. A film about freedom of speech gone out of control and the three girls lives that were forever changed by a small anti-Bush comment

Boll Mo: Sexism in Kosova

January 2023 •English

A documentary exploring sexism and patriarchy in Kosova.

United States of Hate: Muslims Under Attack

May 2016 •English

BBC Three examines an upsurge in Islamophobia in America, meeting both Texan anti-Islam groups and American Muslims. Award-winning director and producer Steph Atkinson asks how America got here and whether the fears between these different groups are justified.

Uprising!

June 2015 •Portuguese

"Levante" won Canal Futura's annual documentary competition in 2014 and was filmed in Brazil, Mexico, Japan, Gaza and Hong Kong. It first aired at 22pm on the 25th June on Canal Futura. The film is about inspiring people around the world who use technology to speak out against injustice such as Filipe Peçanha from Midia Ninja who used the Japanese Twitcasting app to broadcast the Brazilian protests of 2013 from his smartphone, Noor Harazeen from Palestine who created the first English-speaking youtube news channel in Gaza, and Howard Kong from the Apple Daily newspaper in Hong Kong who used a drone to film the conflicts between police and protesters in 2014.

The Scavengers

January 1993 •Portuguese

In this documentary Coutinho examines the plight of the people who live off the waste of the Brazilian cities. These people make their living by scavenging the immense urban garbage dumps searching for whatever they can find to sell as well as whatever they can find to eat.

Biùtiful cauntri

March 2008 •Italian

Sieben Mulden und eine Leiche

April 2007 •German

Thomas Haemmerli is about to celebrate his fortieth birthday when he learns of his mother's death. A further shock follows when he and his brother Erik discover her apartment, which is filthy and full to bursting with junk. It takes the brothers an entire month to clean out the place. Among the chaos, they find films going back to the 1930s, photos and other memorabilia.

Where are you Bucharest?

January 2014 •Romanian

What does a retired police officer, a dog trainer, the founder of a political party and anti-government protesters have in common? They've all met on the streets of Bucharest, 23 years after the Romanian Revolution, determined to reclaim the public space. Vlad Petri is following their stories for one year, from the first days of the anti-government protests to the final days of the Referendum against the President. The film raises questions about the role of the public space, the power of the individual and the understanding of democracy in a society caught between a communist past and an uncertain future.

Resisterhood

August 2020 •English

Resisterhood is a film about the power of women, hope and resistance in modern American politics. After the 2016 elections, we follows six diverse Americans as they fight for social justice on the streets and in the halls of power.

The Art of Protest

October 2020 •English

Welcome to a never-before-seen tour of the creations by resistance artists around the world. From the streets of Moscow to the shores of Los Angeles and featuring interviews with Tom Morello, Dave Navarro, Moby, Shepard Fairey, and more, this powerful film brings a message of hope and change through radical resistance and righteous social uprising.

A Litany for Survival

October 2020 •English

A Litany for Survival' explores the shades between love, rage, and rebellion as a black person surviving in America. Two months before the shocking revelation of Daniel Prude's murder video surfaced, BLM activists organize at the Mayor's house to make their case for equal human rights in the heavily segregated city of Rochester, NY.

Pornography: Andrea Dworkin

October 1991 •English

Radical feminist Andrea Dworkin's expose on the pornography industry.

The Whole World is Watching

January 1971 •English

This color educational film is about Anti-Vietnam Protestors in Washington D.C. during late April/Early May 1971. The 1971 May Day Protests were a series of large-scale civil disobedience actions in Washington, D.C., in protest against the Vietnam War. This was made in 1971 by the Metropolitan Police Department.

The Big One

September 1997 •English

The Big One is an investigative documentary from director Michael Moore who goes around the country asking why big American corporations produce their product abroad where labor is cheaper while so many Americans are unemployed, losing their jobs, and would happily be hired by such companies as Nike.

Because My Bike Was There...

January 1966 •Dutch

On 19 March 1966, a photo exhibition about the police intervention during the wedding of Beatrix and Claus opened in Amsterdam. After the opening, filmmaker Louis van Gasteren filmed how, in the distance, policemen began beating up a young man, seemingly without any provocation. This footage was shown that same evening on television. Van Gasteren interviewed the victim, a 22-year-old student, who declared that he was walking in that direction because his ‘bicycle was there’. That became the title of this short film, in which Van Gasteren used slow motion to analyse the objectionable actions taken by the police.

Persecution Blues: the Battle for the Tote!

July 2011 •English

In 2010, the iconic Tote Hotel – last bastion of Melbourne’s vibrant music counterculture – was forced to close by unfair laws. Filmed over 7 years, “Persecution Blues” depicts the struggle of more than 20,000 fans – and the bands who inspire them – to preserve their history and protect their future, and puts the audience on the front line of an epic-scale culture war.