For months, the FBI have been investigating Russian interference in the American presidential elections. ZEMBLA is investigating another explosive dossier concerning Trump’s involvement with the Russians: Trump’s business and personal ties to oligarchs from the former Soviet Union. Powerful billionaires suspected of money laundering and fraud, and of having contacts in Moscow and with the mafia. What do these relationships say about Trump and why does he deny them? How compromising are these dubious business relationships for the 45th president of the United States? And are there connections with the Netherlands? ZEMBLA meets with one of Trump’s controversial cronies and speaks with a former CIA agent, fraud investigators, attorneys, and an American senator among others.
Exclusive access to chief diplomat of the EU Federica Mogherini as Europe faces a crumbling world order.
The Cambridge Analytica scandal broke in March 2018. Several media outlets, including The Guardian, which had attempted to alert the public even before the US presidential election, revealed how the personal data of 87 million Facebook users had been collected and exploited by this company to promote Donald Trump. Conducted over several months by director Thomas Huchon, this investigation reveals a new aspect of the affair, detailing both how the data was used and the little-known role of the man who financed and orchestrated this massive manipulation: the ultra-conservative billionaire Robert Mercer, who heads the highly successful investment fund Renaissance Technologies. The man who bought the far-right website Breitbart News in 2012 also controls Cambridge Analytica, and decided to use both to impose his political agenda on the entire nation.
As President Trump continues to drain the swamp, social media stars Diamond & Silk are on a mission to expose what’s left of it. Americans cannot trust the mainstream media to report about the Democrats Dummycrats. If the media won’t report the truth…Diamond & Silk will.
'Sad! A Love Story' is a feature currently being written by Avital Ash. It follows a happy couple whose relationship falls apart when Donald Trump becomes president. The dramedy is as much an exploration of the lingering effects of sexual assault as it is a darkly comedic look at DUT (Dating Under Trump). Avital Ash wrote & directed this short as a chemistry test and to prove to Amir Blumenfeld that he is also a good dramatic actor. Andrew Mueller shot and voices the 'director'.
夢,還沒有完
In the Netherlands, 200,000 young people are concerned about the end of the world and the major climate disasters they may experience. They learn from Greta Thunberg that the world will end if we continue like this. Climate depression and eco-anxiety have recently become official diagnoses. Robin (26 die/them), Melih (16 he/him) and Armando (21 he/him) turn their concerns into action. How far will they go and how lonely is their struggle? Documentary about the biggest problem of our time and the pressure this puts on a growing generation.
Go down the valley, into the dusty quarry where there is nothing near and far, just you and your mind straining to catch the slightest trembling. You can hear the crackling of fire in the distance. One must burn with full consciousness to become complete. A monochromatic deep dive into the blurred boundaries of consciousness and unconsciousness.
The unceasing monologue of the distinctive regional painter Jiří Bakala ranges thematically from blunt denunciations of political conditions, through subtle recollections of moments of personal happiness, to existential reflections on the meaning of existence. He does all this with a paintbrush in one hand and a bottle of vodka in the other.
A reportage filmed for Pathé captures the inauguration of the second President of the Philippines, Manuel Luis Quezon, in the presence of members of the US Senate. The US allowed its colony to have its own president for an experimental period of ten years from 1935. Quezon fled to the US during World War II, where he led a government in exile.
Human hands can be both destructive and healing, Jeffrie Po suggests in his experimental film with spiritual outreach. He portrays a human being as a faun who roams the jungle dauntlessly, yet is destructive. The forest with vanishing cattle becomes a battlefield between dark powers and the power of salvation.
A collective work, made at the beginning of the 1990s, was the result of a workshop lead by German filmmakers, such as Michael Wulfes and Christian Weisenborn. Its authors, who now belong among the stars of the Philippine cinema, depict intimate portraits of children living in the streets of Manila.
Using VHS tape and direct addresses to the camera, a man crafts a moving self portrait examining his definition of family and life during his mid-20s.
Excerpts from the 1942 propaganda film Toyo no Gaika celebrate the Japanese occupation of the Philippines during World War II. Named after a Japanese victory song, the film uses the power of the cinematic image for ideological purposes. A parade of visual symbols, emphasizing the patriotism of the victor and the defeat of the enemy, includes portraits of captured American generals and a trampled American flag.
When a person is between thirty and forty, he or she experiences a crisis that leads to a rediscovery of one’s own identity, the director of Chinese-Filipino origin reflects in her autobiographical essay. The inner monologue, in which she searches for a definition of nation in a neo-colonial world, is underlined by impressionistically blurred fragments of memories and contemporary reality.
This avant-garde, associative collage equates the system’s relationship to Filipino citizens as a marriage. But instead of a wedding full of majestic gestures, we witness a tyrannical system led by a conductor-like figure representing colonial domination and a military regime. The work, which was created under German cinematographer Christoph Janetzko's direction, borrows on archived records from such classic Filipino documentary filmmakers as Nick Deocampo and Ricky Orellana.
More than the namesake of one of the most iconic sneakers, Stan Smith has lived a champion’s life on and off the tennis court. Chronicling his rise from collegiate superstar to World No.1 and beyond, Smith blazed new paths for athletes, both as a fashion icon and a humanitarian. Complete with intimate first-person accounts and dynamic archival materials, Danny Lee’s film brings us closer to the man behind the shoe.
Documentary charting the Derek and Clive phenomenon. The two foul-mouthed toilet attendants were the creations of Peter Cook and Dudley Moore and were responsible for some of the filthiest comedy to come out of Britain. Despite being banned from radio and television the duo achieved great success and a cult status, but the act broke up one of the greatest comedy partnerships of recent years. Featuring excerpts from the actual records and video footage of Cook and Moore.
If you think Burning Man is all about naked dancers tripping on substances, think again. This debut documentary by Renea Roberts takes an intelligent and thoughtful look at how the promotion of a gift economy ethic influences a host of social elements. The focus is on community and the power of gifting.
Follows longtime collectors and a new generation of buyers from the trading card industry, diving deep into the real-time trading card fever as the hobby goes nuclear.