Mission Asset Fund - 2014 Community Leadership Awards

This short explores the possibility that Louis XVII, son of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, escaped death during the French Revolution and was raised by Indians in America.

In 2011, the villagers of Imider shut down a water pipeline to Africa's biggest silver mine to save their oasis. Eight years later, they sing while harvesting the fruits of their militancy.

A Foot in the Door tells the story of Kindergarten to College (K2C), the first universal children’s savings account program in the United States. Launched by the City and County of San Francisco, the program automatically provides a college savings account to children when they start kindergarten.

Every year at Christmas, the women of the Slavonian Ladies' Auxiliary celebrate their culinary heritage by getting together to make pusharatas (a type of Croatian doughnut) for the people of Biloxi, Mississippi.

In the same vein as Meri's other documentations, this one takes advantage of the glasnost policy to discuss the social and ecologic impact of the Russian oil industry on the natives and the lands they inhabit.

A heartwarming exploration of a community art project by photographer Tawfik Elgazzar providing free portraits for locals and passers-by in Sydney, Australia's Inner West. The film explores the nature of individuality, cultural diversity and the positive joy for the photographer of seeing his subjects smile.

An Indonesian student in London attempts to deal with the absurdity of confinement and immobility due to then-ongoing coronavirus lockdown by talking to his parents – who also face similar movement restrictions in Jakarta – over the phone.

Short documentary about the making of the 1938 film "Jezebel."

Brian Bolland’s artwork is instantly recognizable to comic book enthusiasts all over the world. Known for his amazing cover art, it was a rare inclusion into the body of a graphic novel, Batman: The Killing Joke, that helped the perennial story of Batman and The Joker remain a fan favorite for decades to come. Combined with the graphic novel’s original script – which is more than just the telling of a story, but an intricate map explaining every stop along the way to the end of a fantastic journey – this documentary reveals the artistic process behind The Killing Joke’s distinct style. We’ll learn how artists and writers excelled at conveying story and human emotion one panel at a time, mesmerizing readers with unforgettable stories and humanized depictions of heroes and villains. And why after nearly 30 years in print, Batman: The Killing Joke is more thought provoking than ever, as its socio-economic themes are relatable to generation after generation.

Olive trees have been a key element of life for populations in Palestinian land for generations. Since the creation of the state of Israel, historical inhabitants and trees face the uproot of their lives and culture. This documentary shows popular struggles in occupied Cisjordan through the testimonies of Palestinian families and the activists that protect them during olive harvest.

With an off beat sense of humour, the film looks at the politics and glamour of lipstick and the dilemmas of the modern woman in a marketed world.

Through one woman's experience as an adopted person and also as a mother who relinquished her child in 1971, this documentary highlights the many complex issues associated with adoption.

Moscow, January 1948. In the bitter cold, a large crowd attends the State Funeral of the Yiddish actor and director Solomon Mikhoels. An official proclamation mourns the death of "a great People's Artist of the Soviet Union." What people are really mourning is the death of the most popular Jewish theater in the Soviet Union, and the man who kept it alive against all odds for over 20 years. No doubt many suspected the truth: he had just been assassinated by Stalin's secret police.

Some 1960s hackers known as phone phreaks found a way to avoid long-distance charges. Two of those phreaks just happened to be students named Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs.

A short documentary about a female truck driver in the United Kingdom.

In interviews, various actors and directors discuss their careers and their involvement in the making of what has come to be known as "cult" films. Included are such well-known genre figures as Russ Meyer, Curtis Harrington, Cameron Mitchell and James Karen.

A group of filmmakers shadow some glamour photographers in order to discover the skill involved in getting 'magic' to appear on the photos.

In a quiet corner, far removed from big money, celebrity status and drug scandals lies the true value of sport. This is a film about friendship and purpose in masters athletics, a place where every five years, getting older means becoming the youngest. Younger follows a group of female athletes in their 60s, 70s and 80s over the course of a year as they prepare to compete in masters competitions. In these competitions, athletes compete in age groups that span five years, 60-64, 65-69 etc. When an athlete moves up an age group they are then the youngest, and this means they are more likely to win or break records. So, as they approach the top end of their classification, they look forward to being a year older and moving up to the next group where they will be the new kid on the block again.

A café in the north of Brussels. Days are punctuated by the songs that the customers sing at all hours, to amuse themselves, to remember or to pass the time. Those songs transform the place little by little, making the film a strange musical.

Poet Layli Long Soldier crafts a searing portrait of her Oyate’s connection to the Black Hills, through first contact and broken treaties to the promise of the Land Back movement, in this lyrical testament to resilience of a nation.