A Counter-History of the Internet

This documentary looks at the computer hacker community in New York City of today, its meetings and conferences, political annotations, and historically explores the roots of the original definition 'hacking' amongst the model train enthusiasts at MIT.

Hacks is a 73 minute European documentary exploring what nature of "Hacking" is in a social context. In HACKS, the Austrian multimedia artist Christine Bader examines who is the computer hacker and what moves him or her. Is the hacker a Robin Hood in cyber space or an anarchistic agitator? Bader speaks with Dutch, German and American communication freaks who are working with various kinds of network issues, like making the Internet accessible to individual persons (Felipe Rodriguez, founder of Internet provider Xs4all), creating a meeting place in cyber space, or designing an ultramodern communication network on a ‘multimedia art ship‘. ‘Hackers are not encumbered by technical, financial or organizational problems, they just want to do things‘, Rodriguez thinks. That the technological means ‘just to do things‘ are now freely available is demonstrated by the numerous computer initiatives that whiz past in HACKS.

"Cicada 3301: Internet Mystery" explores the enigmatic online puzzle known as Cicada 3301. In a quest that captivated the internet, this video delves into the intricate challenges and cryptographic puzzles presented by Cicada 3301, engaging viewers in the mysterious world of code-breaking and online intrigue.

Programming prodigy and information activist Aaron Swartz achieved groundbreaking work in social justice and political organizing. His passion for open access ensnared him in a legal nightmare that ended with the taking of his own life at the age of 26.

Freenet

A feature-length documentary about the Free Kevin movement and the hacker world.

A portrait of the hacking community. In an effort to challenge preconceived notions and media-driven stereotypes Hackers Are People Too lets hackers speak for themselves and introduce their community to the public.

Uncompromising millennial radicals from the United States and the United Kingdom attack the system through dangerous technological means, which evolves into a high-stakes game with world authorities in the midst of a dramatically changing political landscape.

A cable system designed by controversial Chinese company Huawei Technologies enables communication between an expert and a machine. Time succumbs to space in a "New Cold War" played out in technological materials.

They call themselves Fancy Bear, Cozy Bear or Voodoo Bear. Elite units of the Russian secret services are hidden behind these code names. They are among the most dangerous hackers in the world. The bears were already in the computer of then-Chancellor Angela Merkel in 2015, interfered in the US election campaign in 2016 and are currently influencing the war in Ukraine. The makers of the successful YouTube channel “Simplicissimus” in co-production with funk and SWR are back and show the destructive potential of state hacking with this documentary. With the help of leading German hackers, cyberspace experts and a lot of humor, they delicately demystify the Russian bears: Who are the people behind them? How do they operate? And what makes them so incredibly dangerous?

From the front lines of the bankrupt Chicago Tribune, to the vibrant local online publishing and start-up scene, pioneering journalists struggle to reinvent a storied, yet troubled industry. "Mashed Media" visits bloggers, independent publishers, hacker journalists, and social media mavens working in the trenches of Chicago, providing a rare and intimate look at the future of journalism now.

The Weight of Sight is a playful and very personal essay where director Truls Krane Meby, through a massive archive of his own material - anything from DV-tapes to 35mm - explores the last 20 years of digital development - how it’s influenced the images we make, and our bodies. What kind of images do we get of the world now that everyone is a photographer, and what does it do with how we unfold our identities? How has the internet both captured and freed us? And will Truls even dare to show this film?

One of the first works by María Cañas, an excessive metadiscursive exercise on the “pig character” of current information and archive culture.

Hackers in Wonderland is a 2000 documentary film, produced and directed by Russell Barnes, about hackers in the United Kingdom.

REVOLUTION OS tells the inside story of the hackers who rebelled against the proprietary software model and Microsoft to create GNU/Linux and the Open Source movement.

In this PBS documentary, technology experts Gina Smith and John Levine provide a light, plain English introduction to the Internet, World Wide Web and related technologies for work and home use.

Max "Adlersson" Herzberg, 20 years of age, from Dresden decided not to spend his life working. Ever since, he reviews knives and other products, unboxes limited fan editions of mainly gangsta rap albums, gives talks about himself, drinks, swears and bawls in town, humiliates others, cracks borderline jokes and crosses every boundary he sees - Max is a YouTube creator and makes a decent living off of it. Most of Max's friends have their own channels on YouTube, some even quite successfully. Max and his gang are dubious role models but without a doubt, they are celebrities of their generation having more than 300.000 active fans. Is Max a violence-glorifying influencer with far-right tendencies or a usual adolescent, just trying to find himself and happens to be born into a time where the lines between private life and public self-display are blurring? He might be both, possibly without being overly aware of it.

After finding some videos she uploaded to YouTube when she was a child, Manuela attempts to follow the trail she herself has left on the Internet. A search that looks into all that things that won't never die and that, especially, thinks about the way we look at ourselves.

This is a thoughtful and mature documentary that considers whether online rage has real-world consequences. Baddiel has experienced antisemitic abuse on Twitter, where he has 785,000 followers. He has had brushes with what is called “cancel culture” and “callout culture”, when users have criticised his use of blackface on TV in the 1990s, for which he has apologised. He is also a self-confessed social media addict – by which he really means Twitter, his primary focus here – and self-aware enough to admit that while he feels he needs it to promote his work, he also understands that he has a psychological need for an audience, and by extension, for audience approval.

Friends since high school, 20-somethings Kaleil Isaza Tuzman and Tom Herman have an idea: a Web site for people to conduct business with municipal governments. This documentary tracks the rise and fall of govWorks.com from May of 1999 to December of 2000, and the trials the business brings to the relationship of these best friends. Kaleil raises the money, Tom's the technical chief. A third partner wants a buy out; girlfriends come and go; Tom's daughter needs attention. And always the need for cash and for improving the site. Venture capital comes in by the millions. Kaleil is on C-SPAN, CNN, and magazine covers. Will the business or the friendship crash first?