Working Man’s Death

In today’s technological age – is heavy manual labour disappearing or is it just becoming invisible?

Physical work was once celebrated with hymns of praise. But workers today must be content with encouraging one another that their hard work is better than no work at all.

This series looks at the state of physical work in today’s world. Work that is dreary, demanding and at time dangerous.

(Special TV version for Aljazeera, from documentary feature Working Man’s Death)

Watch Part 2 “Brothers”
Watch Part 3 “Ghosts”
Watch Part 4 “Heroes”

Update: Winner “Undefeated”

— Documentary (Feature) —

“Hell and Back Again” Danfung Dennis and Mike Lerner

From his embed with US Marines Echo Company in Afghanistan, photojournalist and filmmaker Danfung Dennis reveals the devastating impact a Taliban machine-gun bullet has on the life of 25-year-old Sergeant Nathan Harris. The film seamlessly transitions from stunning war reportage to an intimate, visceral portrait of one man’s personal struggle at home in North Carolina, where Harris confronts the physical and emotional difficulties of re-adjusting to civilian life with the love and support of his wife, Ashley. Masterfully contrasting the intensity of the frontline with the unsettling normalcy of home, HELL AND BACK AGAIN lays bare the true cost of war.

“If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front” Marshall Curry and Sam Cullman

On December 7th, 2005, federal agents conducted a nationwide sweep of radical environmentalists involved with the Earth Liberation Front — an organization the FBI has called America’s “number one domestic terrorism threat.”

IF A TREE FALLS: A STORY OF THE EARTH LIBERATION FRONT is the remarkable story of the group’s rise and fall, told through the transformation and radicalization of one of its members, Daniel McGowan. Part coming-of-age tale, part cops-and-robbers thriller, the film interweaves a chronicle of McGowan facing life in prison with a dramatic investigation of the events that led to his involvement with the ELF. Using never-before-seen archival footage and intimate interviews — with cell members and with the prosecutor and detective who were chasing them — IF A TREE FALLS asks hard questions about environmentalism, activism, and the way we define terrorism.

“Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory” Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs

The story of the West Memphis Three, from their 1993 murder convictions to 2011 release from prison.

“Pina” Wim Wenders and Gian-Piero Ringel

PINA is a feature-length dance film in 3D with the ensemble of the Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch, featuring the unique and inspiring art of the great German choreographer, who died in the summer of 2009.
Wim Wenders takes the audience on a sensual, visually stunning journey of discovery into a new dimension: straight onto the stage with the legendary Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch ensemble, he follows the dancers out of the theatre into the city and the surrounding areas of Wuppertal – the place, which for 35 years was the home and centre for Pina Bausch’s creativity.

“Undefeated” TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay and Richard Middlemas
Under the stewardship of Coach Bill Courtney, the Manassas High School football team has reversed its reputation as a perennial loser and established a winning record that is a source of pride for its players. The problems faced by several of the young men, however, threaten to undermine the team’s chances of making the playoffs.

— Documentary (Short Subject) —

“The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement” Robin Fryday and Gail Dolgin

In the days leading up to Barack Obama’s victory in the 2008 election, a former civil rights activist looks back on the early days of the movement.

“God Is the Bigger Elvis” Rebecca Cammisa and Julie Anderson
In 1963, actress Dolores Hart, best known for her roles opposite Elvis Presley and her performance in the teen drama WHERE THE BOYS ARE, chose to leave Hollywood behind and become a Benedictine nun.

“Incident in New Baghdad”James Spione

U.S. Army Specialist Ethan McCord recalls the tragic incident in Iraq that triggered his debilitating post-traumatic stress disorder and altered his view of the war

“Saving Face” Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
A British-Pakistani plastic surgeon works to help women who have been injured in acid attacks, while his patients struggle to come to terms with the aftermath of their disfigurement.

“The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom” Lucy Walker and Kira Carstensen

In the wake of the devastating tsunami in Japan, the people of the region hardest hit by the disaster draw a measure of hope from the annual cherry blossom season as they fight to rebuild their lives.

Diaz traces the growth of global poverty back to colonization in the 15th century, and features interviews with a number of economists, sociologists, and historians who explain how poverty is the clear consequence of free-market economic policies that allow powerful nations to exploit poorer countries for their assets and keep money in the hands of the wealthy rather than distributing it more equitably to the people who have helped them gain their fortunes. Diaz also explores how wealthy nations (especially the United States) seize a disproportionate share of the world’s natural resources, and how this imbalance is having a dire impact on the environment as well as the economy. The End of Poverty was an official selection at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival.

In 1975, an organization called Operation Babylift was created to help mothers in Vietnam find adoptive parents for their children the United States, and Mai Thi Hiep, one such child, found herself relocated to Tennessee at the age of seven. Mai Thi Hiep was given the new name Heidi Bub, and encouraged by her new mother to turn her back on the life and culture she had left behind. Bub easily assimilated into American life, but by the time she had entered college, she had a severe falling out with her adopted mother and decided to renew contact with Mai Thi Kim, the mother she had left behind.

Bub had hoped to find the love and acceptance that her adopted mother was unable to give her, but after traveling to Danang to visit Kim and her family,Bub discovered this would be neither simple or easy to arrange — Bub soon discovered just how different she and her mother had grown to be, Kim’s husband bluntly (though without malice) points out that Heidi was the product of his wife’s infidelity while he was fighting in the war, and one of Bub’s half-siblings asks what their relatively prosperous American relative intends to do to support the family financially. A provocative look at the unexpected consequences of both war and family, Daughter From Danang is a documentary that follows Heidi Bub’s journey to Vietnam, and what she found there.

Daughter From Danang was awarded the Jury Prize for Best Documentary Feature at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival.

Winner Webby Awards DOCUMENTARY: INDIVIDUAL EPISODE

Winner of the Sundance Audience Award. Awards.

Check out infos and trailers of this years nominees. Who will win? Place your bets!

Exit through the Gift Shop
Banksy and Jaimie D’Cruz

This is the inside story of Street Art – a brutal and revealing account of what happens when fame, money and vandalism collide. Exit Through the Gift Shop follows an eccentric shop-keeper turned amateur film-maker as he attempts to capture many of the world’s most infamous vandals on camera, only to have a British stencil artist named Banksy turn the camcorder back on its owner with wildly unexpected results.

One of the most provocative films about art ever made, Exit Through the Gift Shop is a fascinating study of low-level criminality, comradeship and incompetence. By turns shocking, hilarious and absurd, this is an enthralling modern-day fairytale… with bolt cutters.

Gasland
Josh Fox and Trish Adlesic

It is happening all across America and now in Europe and Africa as well – rural landowners wake up one day to find a lucrative offer from a multinational energy conglomerate wanting to lease their property. The Reason? In America, the company hopes to tap into a huge natural gas reservoir dubbed the Saudi Arabia of natural gas. Halliburton developed a way to get the gas out of the ground—a hydraulic drilling process called fracking—and suddenly America finds itself on the precipice of becoming an energy superpower.

But what comes out of the ground with that natural gas? How does it affect our air and drinking water? GASLAND is a powerful personal documentary that confronts these questions with spirit, strength, and a sense of humor. When filmmaker Josh Fox receives his cash offer in the mail, he travels across 32 states to meet other rural residents on the front lines of fracking. He discovers toxic streams, ruined aquifers, dying livestock, brutal illnesses, and kitchen sinks that burst into flame. He learns that all water is connected and perhaps some things are more valuable than money.

Buy DVD at Amazon USA

Inside Job
Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs

From Academy Award® nominated filmmaker, Charles Ferguson (“No End In Sight”), comes INSIDE JOB, the first film to expose the shocking truth behind the economic crisis of 2008. The global financial meltdown, at a cost of over $20 trillion, resulted in millions of people losing their homes and jobs. Through extensive research and interviews with major financial insiders, politicians and journalists, INSIDE JOB traces the rise of a rogue industry and unveils the corrosive relationships which have corrupted politics, regulation and academia. Narrated by Academy Award® winner Matt Damon, INSIDE JOB was made on location in the United States, Iceland, England, France, Singapore, and China.

Buy DVD or Blu-ray at Amazon USA

Restrepo
Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger

Read our review here

“Restrepo” is a feature-length documentary that chronicles the deployment of a platoon of U.S. soldiers to Afghanistan’s Korengal Valley. The movie focuses on a remote 15-man outpost, Restrepo, named after a platoon medic who was killed in action. It was considered one of the most dangerous postings in the US military. This is an entirely experiential film: our cameras never leave the valley, we dont interview generals or diplomats. Our only goal is to make you feel as though you have just done a 90-minute deployment. This is war, full stop. The conclusions are up to you.

Buy DVD or Blu-ray at Amazon USA

Waste Land
Lucy Walker and Angus Aynsley

“Waste Land” is an award winning documentary by director Lucy Walker – An uplifting feature documentary highlighting the transformative power of art and the beauty of the human spirit. Top-selling contemporary artist Vik Muniz takes us on an emotional journey from Jardim Gramacho, the world’s largest landfill on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, to the heights of international art stardom. Vik collaborates with the brilliant catadores, pickers of recyclable materials, true Shakespearean characters who live and work in the garbage quoting Machiavelli and showing us how to recycle ourselves.

Buy DVD at Amazon.com

Working Man’s Death

In today’s technological age – is heavy manual labour disappearing or is it just becoming invisible?

Physical work was once celebrated with hymns of praise. But workers today must be content with encouraging one another that their hard work is better than no work at all.

This series looks at the state of physical work in today’s world. Work that is dreary, demanding and at time dangerous.

(Special TV version for Aljazeera, from documentary feature Working Man’s Death)

Watch Part 1 “Lions”
Watch Part 2 “Brothers”
Watch Part 3 “Ghosts”

Working Man’s Death

In today’s technological age – is heavy manual labour disappearing or is it just becoming invisible?

Physical work was once celebrated with hymns of praise. But workers today must be content with encouraging one another that their hard work is better than no work at all.

This series looks at the state of physical work in today’s world. Work that is dreary, demanding and at time dangerous.

(Special TV version for Aljazeera, from documentary feature Working Man’s Death)

Watch Part 1 “Lions”
Watch Part 2 “Brothers”
Watch Part 4 “Heroes”

Watch Part 1 “Lions”
Watch Part 3 “Ghosts”
Watch Part 4 “Heroes”