Berlino

Kelvin and His Friends

August 1988 •English

A closely observed portrait of a single man in his 40's who lives in St. Kilda. Although he has none of the trappings of conventional existence, Kelvin's obsessive interest in born again Christianity, physical culture and recent German/Jewish history has given him a way of making sense of the world and led him to a number of people, friends through whom we see something of his life and beliefs.

A Europa é um Jardim

February 2024 •Portuguese

Aan ons den arbeid

November 2007 •English

Documentary that shows the changing attitude towards immigrant labor in The Netherlands. The documentary follows three immigrants that arrived in Holland 30 years ago to work in a bakery.

America Today

January 1934 •English

One of the key works in creating the American social documentary film, this 1934 newsreel compilation crams a lot of information into just 11 minutes. Skillfully edited, the picture captures a panorama of international events centered on the labor movement. Scenes include Mussolini, Hitler and FDR preparing for war, Nazi soldiers persecuting German Jews, a political strike in Paris, the Scottsboro demonstration in Washington, DC, police violence against striking steelworkers in Pennsylvania and union members stopping scab workers from delivering milk during a dairy farmers strike in Wisconsin. Under the direction of pioneering documentarian Leo Hurwitz, the images are edited together to create a powerful image of a world that, in his view, desperately needed radical change.

Becoming Ourselves: How Immigrant Women Transformed Their World

February 2013 •English

A social justice organization based in Oakland-Asian Immigrant Women Advocates-focused on building the collective leadership of limited-English speaking immigrants, and empowered women and youth to become powerful agents of social change.

Dreaming of Democracy

August 2013 •English

A desperate journey in the heart of Thessaloniki. Seven Iranians, each one for his personal reasons, leave their homeland and embark on a life journey. Europe can provide them with a different life. It can provide them with human rights. An obligatory stop on the way is Greece. There, they meet each other, they are imprisoned and they realize that “democracy” isn’t what they imagined. They try in any way they can to flee the country, living to the fullest every last moment they spend here. Thessaloniki is their new homeland for now. So, they try to become one with the city, to experience “Greek democracy”

Batchan

March 2020 •Portuguese

Teachings of an Issei. Advice, spirituality and challenges.

The Hasty Man Drinks His Tea with a Fork

January 2003 •English

A blend of drama and documentary, this film follows several people caught up in the turmoil of the modern world. The drama centres on a woman who has burned out and who holds up her own despair – and her attempts to rebuild her life – as a mirror to the rest of us. With a blend of gravity and humour, Sylvie Groulx's film shows the absurdity of a society dedicated to the cult of speed at all costs.

Robot Somnambulism

December 2018 •Chinese

In this era, robotic peo- ple making humanized machine, is it a hopeless tragedy, or the beginning of a brave new world?

Forbidden: Undocumented and Queer in Rural America

July 2016 •English

Forbidden: Undocumented and Queer in Rural America is an award-winning 2016 documentary about Moises Serrano, who grew up queer and undocumented in Yadkinville, North Carolina.

Welu De Fasli

August 2017 •Indonesian

Fasli is a child born and raised in Kampung Kalo, Lengko Ajang, Manggarai Timur, East Nusa Tenggara. This film is about Fasli and his family; a conversation among the sounds of candlenuts.

Sewing Sisters

January 2022 •Korean

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, girls aged 12 to 16 began working at Pyeonghwa Market. Running sewing machines, they also study the Labor Standards Act under the tutelage of Jeon Taeil. On September 9, 1977, they were imprisoned fighting against the government that closed labor classes, shouting, “The next Jeon Taeil will be a woman!” Now the middle-aged girls recall the memories of the life of female workers, social contempt, and stigma. Watching the sunrise in the East Sea, they admire, ‘How fair it is because everybody can see it.’ Sewing Sisters rewrites the history of maledominated Korean labor struggles in the 1970s with news interviews of female workers belonging to the Cheonggye Clothes Union.

Travelers

June 2023 •Tagalog

The diaspora of Filipinos around the globe is driven mostly by the economics of supply and demand. The yearning for something better, stability, and self-validation leads a handful of sojourners from the provinces of the Philippines into the arms of one of its former colonial masters — the USA. But what happens when they finally get what they want? And how? Filmmaker Dennis Empalmado explores the musings of Filipino expatriates and hopeful immigrants in "Naglalakbay" (Travelers).

My Father

January 2000 •English

This short documentary is a tribute to the unknown father. Emerging filmmaker Danic Champoux poses the question "How many men still have to uproot themselves and leave their families to get work?" as he sets out to search for his own father. He wonders about these men who are labourers, itinerants, and mostly nameless, but who are all exemplary providers. But at what cost? This film was produced as part of the Libres Courts collection of first-time documentary shorts.

Wanda Gosciminska – A Textile Worker

June 1975 •Polish

The life of a female weaver is thrown onto the socio-political canvas of pre-war and post-war communist Poland through the use of expressive allegorical and symbolic imagery in this imaginative take on the documentary form.

Evaporating Borders

March 2014 •English

Evaporating Borders is a poetically photographed and rendered film on tolerance and search for identity. Told through 5 vignettes portraying the lives of migrants on the island of Cyprus, it passionately weaves themes of displacement and belonging.

Spellbound

March 2002 •English

This documentary follows 8 teens and pre-teens as they work their way toward the finals of the Scripps Howard national spelling bee championship in Washington D.C.

Paper Dolls

October 2006 •English

Paper Dolls follows the lives of transgender migrant workers from the Philippines who work as health care providers for elderly Orthodox Jewish men and perform as drag queens during their spare time. It also delves into the lives of societal outcasts who search for freedom and acceptance.

God Grew Tired of Us

December 2006 •English

Filmmaker Christopher Quinn observes the ordeal of three Sudanese refugees -- Jon Bul Dau, Daniel Abul Pach and Panther Bior -- as they try to come to terms with the horrors they experienced in their homeland, while adjusting to their new lives in the United States.

The Harvest (La Cosecha)

July 2011 •English

The story of the children who work 12-14 hour days in the fields without the protection of child labor laws. These children are not toiling in the fields in some far away land. They are working in America.