Panamá

This winner of the 1993 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature details the case that the 1989 invasion of Panama by the US was motivated not by the need to protect American soldiers, restore democracy or even capture Noriega. It was to force Panama to submit the will of the United States after Noriega had exhausted his usefulness.

Born into poverty in Panama, Cirilo McSween’s journey is one of defiance, resilience, and triumph over systemic barriers. Against the backdrop of Jim Crow America, he confronts racism while pursuing the American Dream. From his arrival in the U.S. as an ambitious immigrant to his rise as a trailblazing entrepreneur and civil rights activist, McSween’s life stands as a testament to determination and community. Through tireless advocacy for equality and opportunity, he helped shape both Panama’s identity and Chicago’s civil rights movement. A confidant of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a pioneering insurance executive, and a philanthropist empowering underserved communities, McSween’s story bridges nations and generations. CIRILO, A Legacy Untold illuminates a transformative figure whose legacy continues to inspire across the Americas.

A New Yorker journeys to the jungle in the Darien Gap of Panama to reconnect with an indigenous tribe he met and photographed 20 years ago. Their reunion highlights the profound power of photos and the human connection that transcends cultural barriers.

INVASION is a documentary about the collective memory of a country. The invasion of Panama by the U.S in 1989 serves as an excuse to explore how a people remember, transform, and often forget their past in order to re-define their identity and become who they are today.

Join scientists, as they visit Barro Colorado Island in the centre of the Panama Canal, travelling deep into nature’s most stunning habitats.

On August 15th, 1914, the Panama Canal opened, connecting the world's two largest oceans and signaling America's emergence as a global superpower.

Ferdinand de Lesseps, known as “The Great Frenchman”, will embark in the greatest adventure of his life: To unite the Pacific and Atlantic oceans through a Canal in the Isthmus of Panama – without knowing that this will cost him his reputation, thousands of innocent lives and the biggest financial scandal of all time, up to that point: the famous “Scandal of Panama”. Today, the French capital is known as “Paname”.

Growing up in poverty as a child, Dylan dreamt of travelling the world on a motorcycle. Many years later he broke the shackles of a normal life and took to the road. After journeying 200,000km across four continents, the road from Panama to Colombia comes to an end, swallowed up by an impenetrable jungle. Dylan has no choice but to take to the sea, building a raft powered by his motorcycle engine in the hope of reaching Colombia's road network 700km away. He must brave strong ocean currents and storm batterings in his journey from Central to South America.—Journeyman Pictures

A documentary feature film about the biggest global corruption scandal in history, and the hundreds of journalists who risked their lives to break the story.

Theodore Roosevelt was America's 26th president and a larger-than-life legend whose incredible story must be seen to be believed. Narrated by George C. Scott, this documentary weaves extremely rare archival footage with meticulous recreations alongside the music of John Philip Sousa in a dynamic panorama of the great events of Teddy Roosevelt in the early years of the 20th century.

The story of four-time World Champion Panamanian boxer Roberto Durán. A one man wrecking-ball who took on the world, transcended his sport and helped inspire a nation to rise up against its CIA funded dictator to achieve independence. From his days shining shoes on the street, to packing out arenas across the world, this is the story of modern Panama and its most celebrated child.

The sloth. Nature’s champion sluggard. One of the most misunderstood animals in the world. As recent as a century ago, the sloth was regarded as a "blunder of nature." To capture this story, the Moody Institute of Science did research in the laboratory and in the jungles of Panama. The message, Of Books and Sloths, points out the dependability and the accuracy of the Scriptures as compared with man's writings that must be constantly revised to correct inaccuracies.

Two friends who worked in the vinyl record shop Panamá Radio remember the post-II World War days when they entered the working scene of the city, the music of the times and all the artists that visited the shop.

In March 1973, the United Nations Security Council met in Panama City to debate the Panamanian claim for a new treaty that would end the colonial presence of the United States in its territory. The majority of the participating states of the Council recognize the justice of Panama's cause and give it their support, but the United States vetoes the resolution.

Afro-Antillean workers hired for the construction of the Panama Canal are brought from their homes to work in conditions that were not those promised. They, the descendants of African slaves and domesticated from England, manage to raise their voices against American injustices.

In 2000 in the jungles of Panama, a young journalist, named Ana, has a chance encounter with a tiny orphaned sloth, which she names Velcro. For nearly two years, the pair is inseparable until finally Ana travels up a remote river to reintroduce Velcro back to the wild. This is the story Ana’s return to Central and South America to see how much has changed since Velcro came into her life.

A playful yet critical exploration of a singularly Panamanian phenomenon, Reinas ushers us into the spectacular, strange and stressful world of queen ceremonies. An integral part of Panamanian folklore, our queens symbolize the festive aspect of our national spirit. But they also promote a very particular, potentially troubling idea of womanhood.

A small community of lovers of freestyle rap begins to grow in the parks and squares of Panama. From rapping on buses to on stage, the love of Hip-Hop abounds in their hearts.

Legends abound of diminutive forest-dwellers and dragons. It must be witchcraft, when entire expeditions fail to return. Evil awaits us in the rainforest, where wild animals and poisonous snakes lurk. Rising wafts of fog appear as if emanations from hell. But, do they really exist – the evil spirits of the rainforest? Is the fog in the high cloud forests really the breath of the underworld? On our expedition we encounter the animals of the cloud forest and the mountain rainforests. We witness the birth of peccaries and listen in on the early morning concert of howler monkeys, in their impressive habitat beneath the canopy of the rainforest. We also discover how the ecosystem rainforest actually works on our journey and learn why cyanbacteria are so good for our global climate. We also visit a mushroom farm of a very special kind. Come along with us on our journey through the World Natural Heritage site of La Amistad in Panama – all filmed in fantastic 3D!

Panamanian women tell their struggle to overcome inequality and discrimination in the political and public sphere and for the right to universal suffrage which they obtained in 1946.