Mankiller

Directors: Valerie Red-Horse Mohl
Run Time: 57 minutes
“Crafted from archival footage and live interviews with Mankiller’s political colleagues, friends, and family, it’s a supremely moving story, and one that provides a telling snapshot of American social history during the last half century.”
-Eve Macsweeny, Vogue.

The Sentence

Directors: Rudy Valdez
Run Time: 86 minutes
“The Sentence finds truth in the old wisdom that the loved ones of the imprisoned are in prison, too.”
-K. Austin Collins, Vanity Fair.

Complicit

Directors: Heather White & Lynn Zhang

Run Time: 90 minutes

“Complicit reveals the suffering, pain, and frustration of the workers who are victims not only of poisonous chemicals but also of long working hours, poor ventilation, and the staggering legal hurtles to obtain financial compensation after their lives have been turned upside down by debilitating diseases.”

-Frederic & Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality & Practice: Resources for Spiritual Journeys.

Decade of Fire

Directors: Vivian Vazquez Irizarry & Gretchen Hildebran
Run Time: 76 minutes
“Though many popular explanations for the Bronx’s 1970s suffering were long ago understood to be racist nonsense, the heartfelt film represents a self-portrait of those lies’ impact. As it chronicles an inspiring wave of rebuilding and community organizing, the film also warns of new threats in need of opposition.”
-John DeFore, The Hollywood Reporter.

The Sandman

Director: Lauren Knapp

Run Time: 19 minutes

“Examining the reasons why a doctor opposed to capital punishment has engaged in dozens of Georgia executions, this film provides unique insight into the challenges of the modern-day death penalty in America.”
– Robin Konrad, Howard University School of Law

Once Was Water

Director: Christopher Beaver

Run Time: 55 minutes

 “A fascinating exploration of one city’s historic campaign to conserve water. This inspiring story of how Las Vegas made peace with nature is a twenty-first century guide to sustainability. Once Was Water is a must-see for anyone interested in water, the environment, and improving their community.”

– David Soll, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire

The Rise and Fall of the Brown Buffalo

Director: Phillip Rodriguez

Run Time: 57 minutes 

“There was his style: a Chicano attorney who materialized in Los Angeles courtrooms in loud ties, bearing business cards embossed with the Aztec god of war and, on at least one occasion, a gun.. . .Oscar “Zeta” Acosta was not only large, he was larger than life. The son of a peach picker, he was an activist lawyer who helped defend the “Eastside 13,” the 13 men indicted by a grand jury for their role in planning the East L.A. school walkouts of 1968.  But his place as one of pop culture’s most indelible characters came via his pal Hunter S. Thompson, who used Acosta as the inspiration for “Dr. Gonzo” in the drug-fueled roman à clef “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.”

– Carolina A. Miranda, Los Angeles Times.

Crime + Punishment (2018)

Director: Stephen Maing

Run Time: 112 minutes

“Sensitive portraiture and vigorous investigative reporting, Crime + Punishment tracks the struggle of minority police officers within the NYPD to reshape the culture of law enforcement itself. Maing’s film also proves arresting in its composition, its moody, city-spanning drone photography, its occasional playful looseness. But its power rises from the courage of its subjects, men and women who don’t necessarily want to be fighting the system – they’re eager to be out there in their city, policing the way they consider just.”
– Alan Scherstuhl, The Village Voice.

Labels: Police, Social Justice

Tribal Justice (2017)

Director: Anne Makepeace

Run Time: 87 minutes

“Tribal Justice provides a compelling and humane face for tribal sovereignty… In this clear-eyed and honest film, we gain a sense of the humanity residing within the tribal justice system and with it, the optimism for tribal communities to succeed on their own terms.”– N. Bruce Duthu, Professor of Native American Studies, Dartmouth College.

Labels: Tribal Sovereignty

The If Project (2015)

Director: Kathlyn Horan

Time Run: 88 minutes

“It’s an especially remarkable achievement, given our level of intimacy with the subjects; we even follow three of the inmates as they are being released, and in the days and months afterwards. No matter their crime, each of them has a story worth hearing, and if the goal of incarceration is rehabilitation, there is no question that the writing workshops are a marvelous thing.” – Christopher Llewellyn Reed, Film Festival Today.

Label: Prison System

Death by Design: The Dirty Secret of Our Digital Addiction (2016)

Director: Sue Williams 

Run Time: 73 and 53 minutes versions

“Both jaw-dropping and heartbreaking, Death by Deign forces the view to reconsider their whole approach to technology and this mad and unsustainable obsession with constantly upgrading.” – Hannah Clugston, Aesthetica Magazine

Labels: Electronics, Pollution, Environment, Sustainability

This is Home: A Refugee Story (2018)

Director: Alexandra Shiva

Run Time: 91 minutes

“An engaging, respectful, and realistic account of refugee resettlement in America… A must-seen in classes engaging refugeeism and resettlement as well as for communities interested in learning more about the realities and challenges of resettlement for newly arrived refugees.” – Dr. Diya Abdo, Associate Professor of English, Founder/Director, Every Campus A Refuge, Guilford College.

“Warm, personable… Hopeful, positive… offers constructive counterpoint that dilutes the strident nativist voices of those who would demonize refugees…” – The Utah Review.

Labels: Refugee crisis, Middle East, Immigration

Keepers of the Future: La Coordinadora of El Salvador (2017)

Director: Avi Lewis

Run Times: 24 minutes

“This film brings together two crucial topics that are rarely discussed in conjunction: community organization and the climate crises… In Keepers of the Future we see firsthand how organizing can overcome vulnerability.” 

– Michael Dougherty, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Illinois State University.

Labels: Environmentalism, Conservation, El Salvador

A Dangerous Idea: Eugenics, Genetics, and the American Dream (2018)

Director: Stephanie Welch

Run Time: 106 minutes

“A Dangerous Idea is extremely timely because with the current administration we are seeking a renewed threat of biologically determined politics.” – Robert Reich, author and former U.S. Secretary of Labor.

“You have these people who… just seem to have missed the whole point of the country. And they actually think that the founding reality of profound inequality is fine with them. And that view even tries to masquerade as science.” – Van Jones, activist, commentator, author, and non-practicing attorney. (film website)

Label: Activism, Civil Rights, Discrimination, Genetics

The Most Dangerous Year (2018)

Director: Vlada Knowlton

Run Time: 89 minutes

“Timely, personal and eye-opening, The Most Dangerous Year” takes a clear stance on a controversial issue – but more critically, it humanizes the hot button topic of gender identity and documents the community level fight for civil rights.” 

– Paul Carlson, Escape Into Film (full review)

Labels: LGBTQ, Civil Rights, Social Justice

Awake: A Dream from Standing Rock (2017)

Directors: Josh Fox, James Spione, Myron Dewey

Run Time: 89 minutes

“Our students ask: what are we to do? And for those of use who don’t know what to say, Awake shows us what we must do, and how we must do it. And we must do it now! We are at Standing Rock: if we do not act to protect Earth now, who will?”  

- Ronnie D. Lipschultz, Professor of Politics & Provost of Rachel Carson College, University of California, Santa Cruz

Labels: Standing Rock, Activism

Killing for Love (2018)

Director: Marcus Vetter and Karin Steinberger

Run Time: 120 minutes

“There are moments in the totally riveting Killing for Love when a fictional thriller suggests itself, complete with casting. The two young people (they met when he was 18, she a couple of years older) on trial for murdering her parents suggest the sort of British actors we are so rich in. She softly spoken, almost inaudible, hinting at unspeakable attentions from her mother, the educated voice evoking her Canadian-European background; he, round-faced and bespectacled, looking far younger, quick wit enunciated in perfect English, is from a German diplomatic family. The letters produced smolder with passion. What a drama!” – Martin Hoyle, Financial Times (film press & reviews)

Labels: Murder, Love, Revenge

The Reluctant Radical (2017)

Director: Lindsey Grayzel

Run Time: 77 minutes

“The Reluctant Radical is the most striking environmental documentary I’ve seen to date and I have seen plenty. It is an absolute must-see.” – The Marin Post.

“He was told he was crazy, but crazy is sitting idle by as disaster for young people is knowingly locked in.” 

– Dr. James Hansen

“The Reluctant Radical follows activist Ken Ward as he confronts his fears and puts himself in the direct path of the fossil fuel industry.”  – promotional materials

Labels: Environmentalism, Climate change