Primary

Primary is a documentary film about the primary elections between John F. Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey in 1960. Primary is the first documentary to use light equipment in order to follow their subjects in a more intimate filmmaking style. This unconventional way of filming created a new look for documentary films where the camera’s lens was right in the middle of what ever drama was occurring. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with The Film Foundation in 1998.

Resisterhood

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 Take

In suburban Buenos Aires, thirty unemployed ceramics workers walk into their idle factory, roll out sleeping mats and refuse to leave. All they want is to re-start the silent machines. But this simple act - the take - has the power to turn the globalization debate on its head. Armed only with slingshots and an abiding faith in shop-floor democracy, the workers face off against the bosses, bankers and a whole system that sees their beloved factories as nothing more than scrap metal for sale.

Freedom Isn't Free — The Freedom Charter Today

Since its adoption in June 1955 by the Congress movement, the Freedom Charter has been the key political document that acted as a beacon and source of inspiration in the liberation struggle against Apartheid. It was reputedly the main source that informed democratic South Africa’s liberal constitution and a constant reference point for the ruling African National Congress (ANC) and rival political parties that it spawned since 1994, all claiming the Freedom Charter’s legacy. Freedom Isn’t Free assesses the history and role of the charter, especially in relation to key political and socio-economic aspects of developments in South Africa up to the present period. It includes rare archival footage with interviews of a cross-section of outspoken influential South Africans.

Demirkırat: Victory

Societies, like people, have turning points in their histories. These milestones sometimes silently and spontaneously knock on the door, and sometimes they explode like a terrifying thunderclap. The year 1950 was such a turning point for Turkey. A simmering social reaction against 27 years of power erupted in the spring of 1950. Society has cracked its quarter-century shell. Not by shedding blood in the streets, but by voting at the ballot boxes. "Demirkırat" was reared by the general vote. That's why the 14 May 1950 elections were always called the "White Revolution"...

Freedom For The Wolf

The Real Story of Fake Democracy. Filmed over three years in five countries, FREEDOM FOR THE WOLF is an epic investigation into the new regime of illiberal democracy. From the young students of Hong Kong, to a rapper in post-Arab Spring Tunisia and the viral comedians of Bollywood, we discover how people from every corner of the globe are fighting the same struggle. They are fighting against elected leaders who trample on human rights, minorities, and their political opponents.

Arrogance of Power

This documentary shows the fascist might of the Marcos regime and how militarisation and human rights violations were institutionalised in Philippine political life. The film exposes the human rights violations during the Marcos regime, unmasking the dictator's claims that there were no political detainees under martial law. Arrogance of Power (1983, TRT 38 mins.) is a documentary by AsiaVisions (previously named Creative Audio-Visual Specialists or CAVS) made originally in Super 8 migrated to U-matic and digitized for access.

A Greater Society

It’s the 2014 midterms and residents of a South Florida retirement community feel the weight of democracy on their shoulders. In one of the most influential counties of America’s largest swing state, these political kingmakers trade their golf clubs for clipboards and hit the pavement to get out the vote. A GREATER SOCIETY is a feature documentary to inspire voter turnout. Inside the gates of Wynmoor Village are three miles of manicured lawns lined with palm trees, a golf course, and carefully maintained condominiums. At first glance, it’s just another retirement community where elders go to enjoy their golden years relaxing by the pool and taking ceramics classes; but look further and you’ll see that the people who live in this community share something unique: the power to have a real impact on national politics.

Dissidents

An artist's sculpture is burnt down, a protester is charged with a criminal case, and a democracy movement is violently attacked. In the United States, three Chinese dissidents fight for democracy against a superpower through art, petition, and grassroots organizing, but not even exile is safe.

Demirkırat: Island

It is a famous saying: "One can come to power with a bayonet, but not sit on it." The organization, which carried out 27 May, came to power with a bayonet. Moreover, these young officers seized power that night by breaking the traditional chain of command. In the morning, a 10-year DP period was over, the support of the public was gained at first hand, and a brand new phase was reached. Now, the days that would mark the future of Turkey were beginning. Now, as those days put it, the "second republic period" was beginning.

Demirkırat: Rebellion

In the past, when spring came, there was a spring atmosphere in politics. But the spring of 1959 brought the CHP's spring offensive on the contrary. Seeing that the opportunity for a dialogue was completely lost after Menderes' plane crash, İsmet Pasha put on his boots in April and took his 46 deputies with him to the expedition. The chosen route was the route of the Great Offensive in the War of Independence. Uşak, where İnönü took the Greek Commander-in-Chief Trikupis prisoner, was the first stop...

12 Mart: Gripes

Revolutionaries passed before the streets of the 1960s on the road to democracy. Then the youth with the victory songs, the workers with the rebel flags, the rightists, the leftists and the putschists again. The country spent 12 years in the grip of the revolution and in the end all roads came to the same crossroads. Ankara was restless in the minutes when the ousted prime minister of the Democratic Party, Adnan Menderes, was hanged. The news of Menderes' execution had not yet come. There was an anxious wait in the houses. Ears were on the radio. Everyone was wondering what happened in Imrali. In the Assembly, the National Unity Committee was in a meeting. They were also trying to learn the fate of Menderes. Suddenly, news came that EP Chairperson Ragıp Gümüşpala and Secretary General Şinasi Osman wanted to meet with the committee urgently. The committee members did not break the request of their former commander Gümüşpala and made an appointment for 14:30...

Demirkırat: The Goverment

The spring of 1950 was also the spring of the multi-party regime in Turkey. A new 10 years, a new regime, a new government. The first test of democracy was beginning. The National Chief of the single-party period had returned to his Pink Mansion. The address of the opposition was clear now. When it comes to power... Power was shared by a tripartite trivet from the first day: DP Group in the Parliament. Celal Bayar in the Mansion and Adnan Menderes in the Prime Ministry..

Reality Winner

A state of secrets and a ruthless hunt for whistleblowers – this is the story of 25-year-old Reality Winner who disclosed a document about Russian election interference to the media and became the number one leak target of the Trump administration.

The Dark Figure

Art as a Weapon

Street art, creativity and revolution collide in this beautifully shot film about art’s ability to create change. The story opens on the politically charged Thailand/Burma border at the first school teaching street art as a form of non-violent struggle. The film follows two young girls (Romi & Yi-Yi) who have escaped 50 years of civil war in Burma to pursue an arts education in Thailand. Under the threat of imprisonment and torture, the girls use spray paint and stencils to create images in public spaces to let people know the truth behind Burma's transition toward "artificial democracy." Eighty-two hundred miles away, artist Shepard Fairey is painting a 30’ mural of a Burmese monk for the same reasons and in support of the students' struggle in Burma. As these stories are inter-cut, the film connects these seemingly unrelated characters around the concept of using art as a weapon for change.