Cinema Politica is honoured to offer The Nettie Wild Collection - featuring five of the director, writer and producer’s signature, award-winning, critically acclaimed works. Nettie Wild is one of Canada’s most internationally recognized and nationally celebrated documentary filmmakers. Her ground...

One man risks his family and future to stop the tar sands of the Keystone XL oil pipeline from crossing his land. Shot in the forests, pastures, and living rooms of rural East Texas, Above All Else follows David Daniel, a retired high-wire artist and circus performer, from the moment that he disc...

In Sarayaku, Yasuni and Lago Agrio—a region devastated by the Chevron Texaco corporation—, several indigenous communities are still trying to make their voices heard. Denouncing the social, cultural, environmental and human damage caused by oil extraction, they propose profoundly different ways o...

This feature documentary relates the experience of various militant anarchists from Quebec, who represent different sides of this political movement. Drawing from more than 40 hours of interviews, countless manifestations, and numerous libertarian initiatives, this film strives to be a tool for p...

Argentina’s troubled history, culminating in the major crisis of 2001, has seen the rise of a wave of original artistic and cultural expression. This documentary introduces us to several creators and artist collectives who use artistic expression as a means to deliver powerful social statements, ...

Another News Story goes 'behind the scenes' of the news crews reporting the refugee story at the height of the European crisis. It takes the viewer to the other side of the camera and inspires us to re-evaluate our relationship with the global media and how we consume news.

​Shot across nine cou...

How does imagery influence the development of sexual identities and how might representations of sexuality change the way we understand it? The male-dominated multi-billion-dollar mainstream pornography industry recreates a restrictive image of sexuality, but growing numbers of women directors ar...

In Honduras, the most dangerous country in the world to be a land defender, Berta Cáceres' death has not silenced the many campesinxs fighting for justice and Indigenous Sovereignty. They mourn Berta's assassination with powerful chants of 'Berta Didn't Die, She Multiplied!' This documentary will...

In the aggressive search for the 'black gold' that drives Western economies, multinational corporations are working to extract billions of dollars of oil reserves from beneath Ecuador's rainforest. This film investigates the operations of the EnCana Corporation, a firm that, despite proud public ...

Twenty eight concerned citizen groups are demanding that at least a moratorium be placed on the billion-dollar shale gas industry operations until the “infant industry” methods can be proven to be safe. Citizens are worried about well water contamination, heavy industrialization of rural areas, i...

This documentary upends the stereotypical images of black men as fathers to the extent that it seems, as one dad says, that “Black men loving is political” and “almost radical”. We are taken into the world of responsible parenting where we explore what being a father means to these men. The famil...

THE BLOCKADE is a unique view from within on the most massive, longest, and politically most significant student protest in the country, since 1971, that started in April of 2009 at the Faculty of humanities and Social Sciences in Zagreb. The struggle against the commercialization of education an...

Burkinabè Rising showcases creative nonviolent resistance in Burkina Faso. A small, landlocked country in West Africa, Burkina Faso is home to a vibrant community of artists and engaged citizens, who provide an example of the type of political change that can be achieved when people come together...

In an unmarked office at the end of a dirt track, veteran activist David Kato labours to repeal Uganda’s homophobic laws and liberate his fellow lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender men and women, or “kuchus.” But David’s formidable task just became much more difficult. A new “Anti-Homosexualit...

Exploring the fragile dynamic between settler activists and indigenous land/water defenders, the film “The Caretakers” articulates the effects of colonization on the environment and Indigenous peoples and asks the question, “How do we work in solidarity as settlers on these lands wanting to be al...

Le mouvement de défense des droits des personnes en situation de handicap et leurs proches est né au Québec dans les années 70, dans la foulée des mobilisations des autres groupes sociaux opprimés et discriminés. Mouvement jeune, il a pris son essor rapidement et a obtenu plusieurs gains importan...

This film is part of the CRUDE GOLD series, and is focused on a particular mining company. The story of how Gran Colombia Gold came to be formed is the story of abuses of power against a worker's union as a rightful owner of the mine. The story takes place in Segovia, a town with a long and proud...

The Santurban paramo has become an example of community struggle to protect water sources successfully. Lawyers, community leaders and activists united to mobilized and demanded the protection of natural resources threatened by Vancouver-based Eco Oro projects. A palpable urgency surrounds this s...

In 2003, on the eve of the Iraq war, acclaimed filmmaker Iara Lee embarked on a journey to better understand a world increasingly embroiled in conflict and, as she saw it, heading for self-destruction. After several years, traveling over five continents, Iara encountered growing numbers of people...

From the waterfronts of Vancouver to the mountaintops of Mexico, this journey lifts the veil of idealism. They discover the challenges and hardships of organic farmers. They see that for a lot of inner city families do not have access to fresh food, let alone the land to grow their own. They real...

The colourful and joyous festival of Durga Puja is one of the largest religious festivals in India. However, while the goddess is celebrated, millions of Indian women live another reality, much less revered. This haunting visual poem examines the contradiction between the spiritual worship of fem...

The chronicle of a typical pharmacy of the Vancouver Downtown Eastside, where most clients are on a treatment that requires taking daily doses of methadone witnessed by the pharmacist. The pharmacy is a site of rituals and repeated interactions where quiet routine and confrontation follow each ot...

This film examines our culture’s addiction to systematic violence and environmental exploitation, and probes the resulting epidemic of poisoned landscapes and shell-shocked nations. Based in part on Endgame, the best-selling book by Derrick Jensen, END:CIV asks: “If your homeland was invaded by a...

The documentary follows Tamara, a first time actor who plays the role of Jessica, a teenager who gradually finds herself trapped in a sexual exploitation ring and on the verge of being trafficked. Now a national spokesperson on the issue, Tamara explores the complexity of her role both on and off...

Three Arab-Canadian men are detained and tortured for months and years in Syria and Egypt. Upon their release they return to Canada struggling to find some answers as to why they were detained and tortured. An internal inquiry into their cases, the Iacobucci Inquiry, reveals that the Canadian gov...

Dean Wilson used to be an IBM salesman. Now he is possibly the most outspoken drug addict in Canada. As president of the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU) he is a loud and articulate advocate for street addicts from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, one of Canada’s poorest neighbourhoods,...

A former neo-Buddhist who has become an ardent defender of Orthodox values, Dmitry Enteo riveted public attention after performing several eccentric actions on himself. He calls himself an orthodox ‘actionist’, and opposes the creative activity of the Voyna and Pussy Riot art groups. Having gathe...

A journalist is delving for years into the organization of the Greek neoNazi party “Golden Dawn”. The financial collapse, the political instability and the family relations are placed into the spotlight as the documentary is trying to discover “what’s in the head of GoldenDawners, who pose as vic...

This film takes a closer look at the effect on the local people living in the area of the Canadian oil sands in Alberta. Through a young Norwegian woman’s eyes we get an insight into the complicated industry's navigations between the lack of governmental rules and regulations, and the violations ...

This documentary examines the U.S. government's marijuana regulations, and how these laws have influenced public perceptions of the drug. Narrated by noted pot advocate Woody Harrelson, the film opens with a series of comically outdated anti-drug reels before chronicling America's relationship wi...

Enter the badlands of Bundelkhand in central India and you have entered a place of desolation, dust and despair. And yet it is hope that we discover as we follow the pink sari-clad women of Gulabi Gang. These women travel long distances by cart and tractor, bus and train, to wrest justice for wom...

UNITED IN ANGER: A HISTORY OF ACT UP is a unique feature-length documentary that combines startling archival footage that puts the audience on the ground with the activists and the remarkably insightful interviews from the ACT UP Oral History Project to explore ACT UP (the AIDS Coalition to Unlea...

This collaborative doc offers unique perspectives across cultures and generations; A young woman challenges the expansion of oil rigs in the North Sea while a seasoned community organizer interprets satellite weather reports for fisherman struggling to survive on India’s increasingly volatile coa...

The film draws us into the lives of two young leaders: Marylynn Poucachice, a mother of five, and Norman Matchewan, the soft-spoken son and grandson of traditional chiefs. Both spent their childhoods on the logging blockades their parents set up to win a sustainable development plan protecting th...

Shy sandwich-maker Mahoma Lopez unites his undocumented immigrant coworkers to fight abusive conditions at a popular New York restaurant chain. The epic power struggle that ensues turns a single city block into a battlefield in America’s new wage wars. // Rachel Lears and Robin Blotnick, USA, 201...

In 1971, it took a group of rebellious, longhaired friends on a rickety boat to get the topic of the environment on the global agenda. They fell short of their primary goal – to block nuclear weapon testing on the volcanic island of Amchitka – but the young Canadian organization Greenpeace discov...

In December 2005, Daniel McGowan was arrested by Federal agents in a nationwide sweep of radical environmentalists involved with the Earth Liberation Front-- a group the FBI has called America's "number one domestic terrorism threat." For years, the ELF—operating in separate anonymous cells witho...

The film presents the emblematic case of the defense of Wirikuta, sacred territory to the Huichol people, against the threat of mining exploitation. This native people to this land, launches a spiritual crusade to protect life, evidencing the internal contradictions in our materialistic world.

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On the night of July 2, 1990, three young men in the neighborhood of Jackson Heights went out armed with a claw hammer, a plumber’s wrench and a kitchen knife, hunting for “a gay guy to stretch out.” After deciding not to attack a gay couple walking along the avenue because they didn’t “like the ...

Rumored to be the descendants of Alexander the Great, the Kalash people have in fact inhabited northern Pakistan's Chitral valley since long before the legendary conqueror came to the region. They uphold a rich cultural heritage, with polytheistic beliefs, seasonal festivals, and a variety of oth...

"Kettling" is a police tactic used to control large crowds during protests. Officers surround the crowd from all sides, pushing them together into a smaller area. In many cases an individual's only means of exiting the kettle is through arrest.

Set against the backdrop of the Toronto G20 in 2010...

Nine-year-old Otsí:tsa's innocence is destroyed when violence engulfs her community during the Oka Crisis, a 78-day standoff that erupted between the Mohawk Nation and the Canadian Government during the summer of 1990. Otsí:tsa, however, has something to prove - not only to herself, but to the wo...

In 1994, the 1st of January, Aborigenal people from Chiapas in Mexico assessed publicly their disaffection of the system, describing it as a vector of poverty and injustice. In the context of globalisation, they also warned the rest of the planet that another world must be possible.

The Zapatist...

This one-hour documentary unearths the little known story of the women, men, and children who studied and taught at Canada’s racially segregated Black schools. It is a poignant and unfailingly honest evocation of the struggle of African Canadians to achieve dignity and equality through education-...

The film tells the story of a war waged on imagination. The film abstractly portrays the conflict between artists on either side of Israel's militarized borders, and explores how a powerful creative mind survives, and even thrives, under pressure. When Azzadeh, a young Jewish American poet, trave...

An animal / human experiment to find the highest dose of a chemical that, when administered to a group of test subjects in a clinical trial, does not result in a fatality due to short-term toxicity. This dose is then used for longer-term safety studies of the same species, lasting anywhere from t...

In August 2012, mineworkers in one of South Africa’s biggest platinum mines began a wildcat strike for better wages. Six days later the police used live ammunition to brutally suppress the strike, killing 34 and injuring many more. Using the point of view of the Marikana miners, this film follows...

This is a documentary about Director Kelly Anderson’s personal journey, as a Brooklyn “gentrifier,” to understand the forces reshaping her neighbourhood along lines of race and class. The story begins when Anderson moves to Brooklyn in 1988, lured by cheap rents and bohemian culture. By Michael B...

Tanzania is one of the largest gold producers in Africa. Multinational mining companies operate mines across the country. But as these companies turn greater profits and Tanzania becomes a major investment destination, hundreds of people are bearing the cost, at times with their lives. IN THE SHA...

This film is a dramatic, exposé documentary which explores 'Canada’s role in Industries of War and Peace’. Through diverse interviews and case studies this documentary unveils the specific interests and profits that are made by certain corporations, individuals and agency within Canada. By examin...

From the Arab Spring to the European Summer, from the Occupy Movement to the global climate justice movement, a profound shift is taking place: humanity is waking up to the fact that the dominant system of power is failing to provide us with health, happiness or meaning. The old paradigm that con...

Former West Bank settler Lia Tarachansky looks at Israelis’ collective amnesia of the fateful events of 1948 when the state of Israel was born and most of the Palestinians became refugees. She follows the transformation of Israeli veterans trying to uncover their denial of the war that changed th...

In the shocking and hilarious New York Times "Critics' Pick" documentary ORGASM INC., filmmaker Liz Canner takes a job editing erotic videos for a drug trial for a pharmaceutical company. Her employer is developing what they hope will be the first Viagra drug for women that wins FDA approval to t...

OUT RUN follows LGBT activists in conservative parts of the world who choose to seek highly visible positions as elected politicians. Bemz Benedito, a transgender candidate for Congress in the Philippines, and David Kuria, a gay activist running for the Senate in Kenya, campaign to become the fir...

As if there weren’t enough weapons here on earth, space has become the newest arena for countries around the globe to launch their struggle for supremacy. Denis Delestrac’s film Pax Americana and the Weaponization of Space is packed full of some truly startling facts — everything from the “Rods o...

Three former political prisoners tell the story of their imprisonment in the “Perm-36” prison camp. Years later they return to the camp (now a museum) to participate in the “Pilorama” Forum, a campsite reflecting, mirror-like, Russian society haunted by phantom pains after the fall of the Soviet ...

"Pinkwashing" is a term activists have coined for when countries engaged in terrible human rights violations promote themselves as "gay friendly" to improve their public image. Israel is the country most famous for this strategy, having initiated it as part of a rebranding campaign has been enga...

The creative commons documentary PREEMPTING DISSENT builds upon the book of the same name written by Greg Elmer and Andy Opel. The film is a culmination of a collaborative process of soliciting, collecting and editing video, still images, and creative commons music files from people around the wo...

When the North American Free Trade Agreement went into effect, Canada debated it. In the sovereign state of Chiapas, one of Mexico’s poorest regions, they went to war over it. A vital account of a monumental deadlock, A PLACE CALLED CHIAPAS is an on-the-ground report of the Zapatista National L...

After the (in)justice system fails the survivor of a brutal, racially-driven sexual assault, she becomes a motorcycle-riding, ass-kicking vigilante who takes on the attackers of other womyn who've suffered the same fate. A RED GIRL'S REASONING, a no-holds-barred, neo-noir action/thriller featurin...