Portraits of Freedom

Palermo, Sicily, Italy, 2017. Twenty-five years after the murders of anti-mafia judges Giovanni Falcone, on May 23, 1992, and Paolo Borsellino, on July 19, 1992; and on the occasion of the tributes held in memory of both heroes, skeptical photographer Letizia Battaglia, chronicler of their titanic combat, criticizes the opportunism of shady characters who, like businessman Ciccio Mira, profit from the commemoration of both tragedies.

The tale of an activist’s journey during the turbulent years of Martial Law, until his capture in the mountains and the dark, nine years of imprisonment that followed, leading to his birth as a poet.

A chronicle of the production problems — including bad weather, actors' health, war near the filming locations, and more — which plagued the filming of Apocalypse Now, increasing costs and nearly destroying the life and career of Francis Ford Coppola.

In the north of the Philippines lies the area of Banaue, known for its rice cultivation. Roger lives here in a small village. Roger is thirteen and has five brothers and sisters. As the oldest, he is responsible for the daily firewood. To get this, Roger sets off into the mountains every other day. At seven in the morning, they start. A truck takes Roger and his four friends out into the steep, forested slopes above the rice terraces. With them on the back of the truck are the 'scooters', homemade wooden scooters with which the firewood is driven down to the valley. Once they reach the top, they cut down smaller logs, chop them up and pack their scooters full of them. After this strenuous work, the great fun begins. On bumpy paths and at breakneck speed, they make their way back to the village. Races and tricks are part of the fun, of course.

A journey through the life and outstanding work of the Spanish photographer and filmmaker Ramón Masats.

The documentary about the history and struggle for Press Freedom of Mosquito Press during the dark days of Marcos dictatorship.

A music documentary on MNL48, a franchise of the highly successful Japanese idol group, AKB48. The film looks into the girls as they perform within a music subculture that tries to get a foothold in a market of an overtly critical audience.

French actress Marion Cotillard travelled to the Philippines to meet with children and young people on climate change and what they want big-polluting governments to do about it. One of the girls she met is Marinel, a survivor of the Super Typhoon disaster in the Philippines in 2013, who is taking action on climate change in her own community. She participates in Plan International’s climate change adaptation projects and now teaches at youth camps to pass on everything she has learnt to the younger children. Marinel travelled to Paris with Plan International for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21) in December 2015.

OBAIDA, a short film by Matthew Cassel, explores a Palestinian child’s experience of Israeli military arrest. Each year, some 700 Palestinian children undergo military detention in a system where ill-treatment is widespread and institutionalized. For these young detainees, few rights are guaranteed, even on paper. After release, the experience of detention continues to shape and mark former child prisoners’ path forward.

Good Copy Bad Copy is a documentary about copyright and culture in the context of Internet, peer-to-peer file sharing and other technological advances.

In 1975, soon after the end of the Vietnam War, Hoa Thi Le and Hue Nguyen Che fled the country on a small boat. After nine days at sea, they docked in the Philippines, where they were utilized as background extras for “Apocalypse Now.”

Winter 2019. Spanish war photographer Gervasio Sánchez, who documented with his camera the long and tragic siege of Sarajevo during the Bosnian War (1992-95), returns to the city in search of the children he met among the ruins, those who survived to grow up, live and remember.

Produced by the Army Pictorial Service, Signal Corps, with the cooperation of the Army Air Forces and the United States Navy, and released by Warner Bros. for the War Activities Committee shortly after the surrender of Japan. Follow General Douglas MacArthur and his men from their exile from the Philippines in early 1942, through the signing of the instrument of surrender on the USS Missouri on September 1, 1945. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2013.

Meet Duewand Collier Jr.-Male, 68 years old, American Citizen, a child conceived in the backdrop of the Philippines-American Mutual Defense Treaty, born and raised with Catholic guilt. He has made peace with his past and now tells his story-a story of love.

During a military uprising known as “El Porteñazo”, a priest is photographed while trying to help a soldier wounded in combat. The photo travels the world and is awarded the most important prizes in photojournalism, such as the Pulitzer Prize and the World Press. Throughout this documentary, photographers, editors and witnesses reveal various aspects surrounding that image: who is the priest, who was its author, the events that surrounded the photographic event, what was its political role and what said image represents in the history of Venezuelan journalism. Additionally, it allows the presentation of other photographs, some unpublished, that Rondón managed to capture in those difficult moments.

Tommy Robinson goes on the offensive by documenting how his own “hit piece” on his character was being constructed by the taxpayer-funded BBC for their popular investigative news special “Panorama.” In the film he manages to capture footage of the blackmailing of his former employees to invent stories, along with an organization—known as “Hope not Hate”—on set with the BBC, intimidating ex-employees of Robinson during interviews. The host of “Panorama” at the time of filming is caught on camera casually using racist and homophobic slurs during a £220 champagne lunch with the same ex-employee they had planned to coach for a fake interview in which the BBC would possibly edit in which to make it appear as, “a gender, a sexual thing against Tommy Robinson,” according to the host. Within 24 hours of releasing the film, social media giant Facebook made a public statement of their own and removed Tommy Robinson’s accounts permanently.

In 2008, Natasha, a newly rich woman, decides to open an independent TV station in Russia and builds an open-minded team of outcasts. By 2020, Natasha has lost everything to Russia's war between Propaganda and Truth.

Iran, January 16th, 1979. Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi flees after being overthrown. Ayatollah Khomeini returns to Tehran and proclaims the Islamic Republic on April 1st, 1979. In the same year, Saddam Hussein seizes power in Iraq and, after several border skirmishes, attacks Iran on September 22nd, 1980, initiating a cruel war that will last eight years. Since its outbreak, correspondent Saeid Sadeghi documented it from its beginning to its bitter end.

The film is about inspiration, reminding the power of collective action, the importance of preserving the heritage of Santa Ana, and the boundless potential that lies within the community. It is a story that deserves to be told, a story that will resonate with audiences of all ages and backgrounds.

A shocking new 2 hour film by B.A. Brooks. This 2010 release is a follow up to "The Decline And Fall Of America" which was released in 2008. "The American Matrix - Age Of Deception" details news items that all people should be aware of such as the economic collapse of The United States and the formation of the a New World Order. See what has really been going on in America today.