1986 - The protest movement against the construction of the nuclear power plant in Brokdorf is on its last legs. Only one rural commune remains: the "Alternative Wohnkollektiv Regenbogen". For them, it could go on and on with endless consensus discussions, shearing sheep and naked communal bathing. One day, the lowland communards are joined by two city dwellers, Hanne and her son Niels. While Hanne gets used to scream therapy and raising vegetables surprisingly quickly - and even more quickly to the tantra games with commune guru Peter - Niels has less and less desire for the dogmatic commune rules. Out of defiance, he joins the violent nuclear power plant resistance, thus upsetting the tranquil chaos of the commune. The big bang, however, comes when a reactor explodes in distant Chernobyl. Exactly on the day Bobby Ewing dies, the petroleum prince from "Dallas" and series favorite of the commune.
An comedy set in 1960s Helsinki. The story revolves around Elsa, a resolute hatmaker who is in complete control of her life. Besides running her shop, she sometimes doubles as a fortune teller. When Jan, a Czechoslovakian jazz musician and Elsa's old lover comes to town to perform at a "peace and friendship festival", her well-organised life is jolted out of balance.
In antique Rome, a simple pepboy for chars becomes involved in a coup against Cesar. Rahatlocum is a North African Roman colony where Julius Caesar came to spend an expensive holiday. The revolt rumbles among the small people who find a leader in the person of Ben-Hur Marcel.
Milka is a state employee in the office for approval of the applications for registration of political parties. Her problem is how to make his escaped husband back, while her clients are only worried how to seize power.
David, a riot policeman who caused Nacho, a protester, to lose an eye during a demonstration, meets him at a dinner party.
Voigt, Kroske and Richter were among the first filmmakers who documented the events of the historic 9th of October 1989. Their “material” reflects them from different angles: protesters, workers, opposition members, policemen, street sweepers and functionaries. THE document of the “peaceful revolution”.
It’s the last dictatorship of Europe, caught in a Soviet time-warp, where the secret police is still called the KGB and the president rules by fear. Disappearances, political assassinations, waves of repression and mass arrests are all regular occurances. But while half of Belarus moves closer to Russia, the other half is trying to resist…
In the early years of the 20th century, Mohandas K. Gandhi, a British-trained lawyer, forsakes all worldly possessions to take up the cause of Indian independence. Faced with armed resistance from the British government, Gandhi adopts a policy of 'passive resistance', endeavouring to win freedom for his people without resorting to bloodshed.
A 16mm record of the anti-nuclear demonstration in Melbourne, Australia on Palm Sunday 1985. The soundtrack is made from several group chants recorded at Down to Earth Confests during the 1980's.
The story of Salvador Puig Antich, one of the last political prisoners to be executed under Franco's Fascist State in 1974.
An eleven-year-old Turkish boy, two young men from a small town, and a cuckolded policeman from the sticks all find their way to Berlin on May Day, where, in the district of Kreuzberg, emotions come to the boil every year.
The dramatised story of the Irish civil rights protest march on January 30 1972 which ended in a massacre by British troops.
Germany is in uproar; the new government has adopted a law which enables a government-controlled censorship. Media and cultural facilities are being inspected. The theatre house of Jan Reeberger is one of the inspected institutions. During the inspection two different world views collide, on the one side, there’s Jan with his idealistic and cosmopolitan worldview, on the other side, there’s Micky who is standing up for the new political system.
Oxana is a woman, a fighter, an artist. As a teenager, her passion for iconography almost inspires her to join a convent, but in the end she decides to devote her talents to the Femen movement. With Anna, Inna and Sasha, she founds the famous feminist group which protests against the regime and which will see her leave her homeland, Ukraine, and travel all over Europe. Driven by a creative zeal and a desire to change the world, Oxana allows us a glimpse into her world and her personality, which is as unassuming, mesmerising and vibrant as her passionate artworks.
Johan Falk hasn't been working for over a year since he resigned from the police. Most of all he wants to move out to the countryside, but fate has a different thought.
Santiago, capital of Chile during the Marxist government of elected, highly controversial president Salvador Allende. Father McEnroe supports his leftist views by introducing a program at the prestigious "collegio" (Catholic prep school) St. Patrick to allow free admission of some proletarian kids. One of them is Pedro Machuca, slum-raised son of the cleaning lady in Gonzalo Infante's liberal-bourgeois home. Yet the new classmates become buddies, paradoxically protesting together as Gonzalo gets adopted by Pedro's slum family and gang. But the adults spoil that too, not in the least when general Pinochet's coup ousts Allende, and supporters such as McEnroe.
For the first time in history people and machinery are working together, realizing a dream. A uniting force that knows no geographical boundaries. Without regard to race, creed or color. A new era where communication truly brings people together. This is the dawn of The Net.
As a director and his crew shoot a controversial film about Christopher Columbus in Cochabamba, Bolivia, local people rise up against plans to privatize the water supply.
Barcelona, Spain, June 1977. A chronicle of a demonstration held to demand the repeal of a 1970 Francoist law criminalizing homeless, prostitutes and homosexuals.
The story behind the resistance of the students against the arbitrary political reforming of the University of Theatre and Film Arts in Budapest.