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political rants - movies
recommended viewing

the corporation
 [buy it] [website] [wikipedia article]
"A balanced and intelligent documentary exploring the nature and spectacular rise of the dominant institution of our time. Taking its legal status as a "person" to its logical conclusion, the film puts the corporation on the psychiatrist's couch to ask "What kind of person is it?" Provoking, witty, sweepingly informative, The Corporation includes forty interviews with corporate insiders and critics - including Milton Friedman, Noam Chomsky, Naomi Klein, and Michael Moore." Essential viewing, multi-award winning.

the power of nightmares
 [download it] [website] [wikipedia article]
"Should we be worried about the threat from organised terrorism or is it simply a phantom menace being used to stop society from falling apart? In the past our politicians offered us dreams of a better world. Now they promise to protect us from nightmares. The most frightening of these is the threat of an international terror network. But just as the dreams were not true, neither are these nightmares. This 3-part documentary explores how the idea that we are threatened by a hidden and organised terrorist network is an illusion."

the century of the self
[download it] [website] [wikipedia article]
"This series is about how those in power have used Freud's theories to try and control the dangerous crowd in an age of mass democracy." - Adam Curtis. To many in both politics and business, the triumph of the self is the ultimate expression of democracy, where power has finally moved to the people. Certainly the people may feel they are in charge, but are they really? The Century of the Self tells the untold and sometimes controversial story of the growth of the mass-consumer society in Britain and the United States. How was the all-consuming self created, by whom, and in whose interests?

the trap: what happened to our dreams of freedom?
[download it] [website] [wikipedia article]
Explores the concept and definition of freedom, specifically "how a simplistic model of human beings as self-seeking, almost robotic, creatures led to today's idea of freedom". Curtis argues that we have forgotten other ideas of freedom. We are in a trap of our own making, a trap that controls us, deprives us of meaning, and causes death and chaos abroad.

the yes men
 [buy it] [website] [wikipedia article]
"The Yes Men are culture jamming activists who practice "identity correction". They pretend to be powerful people and organizations, and then use their newfound authority to espouse what they think those groups really stand for." This hilarious film follows the couple as they pose as the World Trade Organisation (WTO).”

fahrenheit 9/11
 [download it] [buy it] [website] [wikipedia article]
”One of the most controversial and provocative films of all time, Fahrenheit 9/11 is Academy Award-winning filmmaker Michael Moore's searing examination of the Bush administration's actions in the wake of the tragic events of 9/11.” Australian readers may prefer to check out Time to Go John.

life and debt
 [buy it] [website] [wikipedia article]
”Life & Debt is a woven tapestry of sequences focusing on the stories of individual Jamaicans whose strategies for survival and parameters of day-to-day existence are determined by the U.S. and other foreign economic agendas. By combining traditional documentary telling with a stylized narrative framework, the complexity of international lending, structural adjustment policies and free trade will be understood in the context of the day-to-day realities of the people whose lives they impact.“

the take
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”In suburban Buenos Aires, 30 unemployed auto-parts 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.” An inspiring film from Naomi Klein

the revolution will not be televised
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"A brilliant piece of journalism documenting the first (failed) media coup of the 21st Century. This multi-award winning and inspiring movie follows the April 2002 attempted coup d'état of Hugo Chávez.

control room
 [buy it] [download it] [website] [wikipedia article]
"A compelling documentary chronicling the working methods of the Al-Jazeera news agency the US government has manipulated news coverage in Iraq is a 'quintessential journalistic document'."

dollar a day dress
 [download it] [website]
”BBC’s Panorama travelled the world to create "The dollar a day dress" - a symbol of how the world trade system harms the poor. Reporter Steve Bradshaw travelled from the Sahara to the Andes to discover some of the harsh truths about free trade and its impact on the developing world.“

bowling for columbine
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”An alternately humorous and horrifying film about the gun culture of the US. Why do 11,000 people die in America each year at the hands of gun violence? The film's strength is in the larger picture it paints - of a culture in conflict with itself, with the thin veneer of nationalism that covers the US's deepest, media-soaked fears. This is a flat-out brilliant cinematic essay on the issue of violence in American society.”

outfoxed - rupert murdoch's war on journalism
 [buy it] [download it] [website] [wikipedia article]
”Fox is not objective. Fox is a Republican propaganda machine. This film examines how media empires, led by Rupert Murdoch's Fox News, have been running a "race to the bottom" in television news. This film provides an in-depth look at Fox News and the dangers of ever-enlarging corporations taking control of the public's right to know.”

the oil factor
[website]
”After assessing today's dwindling oil reserves and skyrocketing use of oil for fuels, plastics and chemicals, "The Oil Factor" questions the motives for the U.S. wars in the Middle-East and Central Asia where 3/4 of the world's oil and natural gas is located. With exclusive footage shot on location in Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan, the film documents the spiralling violence now engulfing both Iraq and Afghanistan, a country conspicuously absent from the commercial media's news segments.”

the edukators (fiction)
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"A young waitress joins her two non-violent, but still radical, young activist friends. However, suddenly all three get involved in unplanned kidnapping of a wealthy businessman. Great acting, a witty dialogue and a surprise ending." Cannes nominated, German with subtitles.

fight club (fiction)
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”Fight Club follows a lonely, unfulfilled young man who finds his only comfort in feigning terminal illness and attending disease support groups. He goes on to form an anarchistic activist group. This fabulously berserk runaway train of a movie is post-MTV filmmaking at its most assured and courageous. David Fincher’s ability to subvert expectation by delivering such an ultimately positive message is the film’s greatest achievement.”

votergate
 [download it] [website] [wikipedia article]
“This investigative documentary uncovers the truth about new computer voting systems, which allow a few powerful corporations to record our votes in secret. It covers the key issues from Georgia to Washington State, the stunning evidence, whistleblowers and the inspiring individuals who are working now to take back their democracy. “

fallujah - the hidden massacre
 [download it] [wikipedia article]
”A documentary aired on Italian TV in 2005 which documents the use of chemical weapons, particularly incendiary bombs, and the indiscriminate use of violence against civilians and children by military forces of the USA in Fallujah, Iraq. A graphic and stunning document.

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