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Current Concerns
Videos on issues in the news

Amateur Videos and Human Rights

As reported in the Washington Post, the digital revolution is helping to throw light into some of the world's darkest corners. Ordinary people going about their daily lives are now the first to document historic events. The photos at Abu Ghraib prison taken on soldiers' personal digital cameras, vacationers recorded the first images of the 2004 tsunami, London commuters provided cellphone photos used to investigate the July 2005 bombings on the transit system, and cellphone images were among the first glimpses of the recent coup in Thailand.

This development was first documented in our acclaimed release SEEING IS BELIEVING: Handicams, Human Rights and the News. Available on DVD with many bonus features including a Study Guide, this film crosses the world tracking media activists to look at what happens when regular people use camcorders to document what they see. What are the risks and responsibilities? What are the wider impacts on television, audiences, and society?

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva Reelected

As reported by Reuters (via Yahoo News), after being carried to re-election by his popularity with the poor, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is striving to reassure the business community he will not abandon market-friendly policies to create jobs and boost income.

Lula's balancing act between his political base and the economic and political elite is aptly captured in the documentary LULA'S BRAZIL, which as it tells of his rise to power also examines the achievements as well as the failures of his presidency compared to his campaign promises, revealing how his ambitious plans have been frustrated by a clash with national and international economic interests.

Russian Journalist Anna Politkovskaya Slain

The newspaper where slain Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya worked has offered almost $1 million for information leading to her killers amid widespread international condemnation of the murder. A gunman shot Politkovskaya, one of President Vladimir Putin's strongest critics, four times as she brought her shopping home to her Moscow apartment on Saturday evening. The 48-year-old mother-of-two died on the spot.

DEMOCRACY ON DEADLINE is a documentary about the danger and other challenges faced by journalists across the world, and journalists' essential role in democracy, features a 20 minute segment on Politkovskaya. It is now being released in honor of Politkovskaya's courageous work.

Tags: Anna Politkovskaya, Russian journalist, Chechnya

Shinzo Abe Almost Certainly Japan's Next PM

The Washington Post reported that the nationalist who has pledged to make Japan a more robust force on the world stage, Shinzo Abe, won the contest to become leader of Japan's ruling party Wednesday, all but clinching election as prime minister next week. Abe favors revising Japan's peace constitution.

The acclaimed recent release JAPAN'S PEACE CONSTITUTION is a timely, hard-hitting documentary places the ongoing debate over the constitution in an international context: What will revision mean to Japan's neighbors, Korea and China? How is the unprecedented involvement of Japan's Self-Defense Force in the occupation of Iraq perceived in the Middle East?

Tags: Japan, Prime Minister, Constitution

Japan’s Likely Next Premier in Hawkish Stand

As reported in the New York Times, Shinzo Abe, the nationalist politician who is expected to become Japan's next prime minister, said that Japan should revise the pacifist Constitution imposed on it by the United States. He made the statement as he formally declared his candidacy for the presidency of the governing Liberal Democratic Party, a post that would give him the prime ministership.

The acclaimed recent release JAPAN'S PEACE CONSTITUTION is a timely, hard-hitting documentary places the ongoing debate over the constitution in an international context: What will revision mean to Japan's neighbors, Korea and China? How has the US-Japan military alliance warped the constitution and Japan's role in the world? How is the unprecedented involvement of Japan's Self-Defense Force in the occupation of Iraq perceived in the Middle East?

Tags: Shinzo Abe, Japan, Military

Peru Gold Mine Shut by Farmer Protests

As reported on Yahoo News and elsewhere, production at Latin America's largest gold mine was at a standstill Tuesday amid mounting criticism from Peru's business sector over the government's refusal to remove farmers blockading the facility's access road. The farmers, meanwhile, insisted that their protest is over alleged depletion and pollution of water supplies and not because they want Yanacocha to provide them jobs, as the company maintains. Officials with the Yanacocha gold mine, majority owned by Denver-based Newmont Mining Corp., announced the shutdown late Monday, saying operations were impossible.

Our critically-acclaimed, award-winning film CHOROPAMPA: THE PRICE OF GOLD portrays the aftermath of a devastating mercury spill at Yanacocha that contaminated the village of Choropampa. The environmental catastrophe turned this quiet village into a hotbed of civil resistance.

Tags: Newmont Mining, Yanacocha, Goldmine

Under One Roof, Trial, Penalty and Civics Lesson

The New York Times published a long feature article by Michael Wilson about Red Hook Community Justice Center. Now six years old, the court in Red Hook, Brooklyn is one of a kind, the nation’s first multijurisdictional community court. It combines elements of criminal, family and housing courts not only under the same roof, but also before the same judge, Alex M. Calabrese.

Our acclaimed release RED HOOK JUSTICE was filmed over the course of nearly two years, as the filmmakers were granted unique access to film the daily activities of the Red Hook Community Justice Center, for in-depth look at the defendants and staff who are part of this increasingly influential experiment.

Iran Bans Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi's Rights Group

As reported on Yahoo News and around the world, Iran has declared as "illegal" a human rights group headed by Nobel Peace laureate Shirin Ebadi and vowed to prosecute its continued activities. But Ebadi, quoting Iran's constitution, responded that her center did not require a permit.

The acclaimed documentary SHIRIN EBADI: A SIMPLE LAWYER is an in-depth profile of the groundbreaking attorney, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003 for her tireless fight for democracy and human rights, in particular the struggle for the rights of women and children.

Tags: Iran, Ebadi, Nobel, peace

Russia's Hermitage Says Staff Took Part in $4.9 Million Theft

As reported on Bloomberg news and elsewhere, Russia's Hermitage Museum, which houses one of the world's largest collections of western European art, said staff members were involved in the theft of 221 exhibits worth 130 million rubles ($4.9 million).

Our acclaimed, award-winning documentary THE HERMITAGE DWELLERS as much about the people who work in Russia's renowned museum as it is about the glorious art housed in this St. Petersburg institution. We meet with several "Hermitage-niks" -- including Olga Bogdanova, the head of museum maintenance, icon curator Alexandra Kostsova, museum attendant Valentina Barbashova, and art handler Vadim Kuptsov, among others -- each of whom explains their own very personal reasons for considering the palace of Catherine the Great their "home."

Tags: Russia, Hermitage, art, museum

Criminal Justice in the News

As reported on CNN, James Crosby, the former head of Florida’s Department of Corrections (DOC) who was fired by Governor Jeb Bush in February after the string of scandals involving brutality, sex abuse, and corruption, has pleaded guilty to accepting over $100,000 in kickbacks. Our acclaimed film AMERICA'S BRUTAL PRISONS features stories about of Florida guards drenching inmates with burning pepper spray, kicking a prisoner to death, and testimony from a female guard who claims sexual assault and harassment by fellow guards. Crosby ran the prison in which the aforementioned man was kicked to death--after which he was promoted to run the entire DOC.

And, The Chicago Tribune reported that the infamous Burge Report was finally published. It stated that former Chicago Police Cmdr. Jon Burge led the torture of criminal suspects for two decades, coercing dozens of confessions with fists, kicks, radiator burns, guns to the mouth, bags over the head and electric shock to the genitals. Our film THE END OF THE NIGHTSTICK was an early investigation into these charges of institutional racism, torture and the cover-up, and also tells the story of a resistance movement, as local activist groups, including the Task Force to Confront Police Violence, refuse to let testimonies of police violence remain buried.

Tags: Florida, prison, brutality, Chicago, police, torture, Burge, racism

Chicago's Burge Report To Go Public

The Chicago Tribune reports that the Cook County Judge Paul Biebel Jr., who launched a probe into allegations of torture by former Chicago police Cmdr. Jon Burge and officers under him, ruled Friday that a report prepared by special prosecutors should be made public. In the mid-'70s through early '80s the Chicago police used electroshock, oxygen deprivation, hanging on hooks, the bastinado and beatings of the testicles. The torturers were white, and their victims black or brown.

Our long-popular film THE END OF THE NIGHTSTICK investigates the torture, institutional racism, violence and cover-up. It also tells the story of a Chicago grassroots movement that refused to let testimonies of police violence remain buried.

Tags: Burge, Chicago, police, brutality, torture, racism

Mafia "Boss of All Bosses" Captured in Italy

As reported in the New York Times and elsewhere, Bernardo Provenzano, the alleged boss of all bosses of the Sicilian mafia, was arrested near Corleone, Italy after 43 years on the run. Under the heavy hand of Mr. Provenzano , the Corleonese family dominated organized crime in Sicily for 30 years, and mounted an attack on the state that culminated in the 1992 murders of top anti-Mafia prosecutors, Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, and their bodyguards, in separate attacks.

Our 2006 release EXCELLENT CADAVERS (U.S. Theatrical Premiere July 12) -- a powerful, mind-boggling documentary -- is based on the eponymous book by Alexander Stille about the Sicilian Mafia, Falcone and Borsellino. Their work galvanized public outrage as Mafia foot soldiers testified in court that they threw bodies into vats of acid to liquefy them. The violence they described was embodied by the no-holds-barred photographs of death in the streets, made by Letizia Battaglia, who appears in the film.

Guinea Worm Disease on Verge of Oblivion

As reported in the International Herald Tribune, thanks to a relentless, 20-year campaign led by former President Jimmy Carter, Guinea worm is poised to become the first disease since smallpox to be pushed into oblivion. Fewer than 12,000 cases were found last year, down from three million in 1986.

The campaign to eradicate Guinea worm has been one of the most important international public health successes of the 20th century. The documentary GUINEA WORM takes us inside the multi-pronged fight against the disease. From the strategic planning level involving the World Health Organization and President Jimmy Carter; to governments' involvement in implementing plans for their countries; to the actual field doctors and villagers who are the "last battleground," GUINEA WORM is a case study of a hugely successful, major health initiative at work in the third world.

Muslim Pilgrims Face Attack in Iraq

Shia Muslim pilgrims on the road to the holy city of Kerbala faced a highway of bullets and bombs for intended for them on Friday, as reported on Yahoo News and elsewhere. Why do the pilgrims risk their lives to make this journey? What are the roots of these religious sojourns? And what is it like to make this pilgrimmage?

In 2004, following a 30-year moratorium during Saddam Hussein's dictatorship, Iraq's Shiite Muslim population were free to commemorate Ashura, the most important holy day on the Shiite calendar. Shia adherents from throughout the Mideast made the pilgrimage to Kerbala, Iraq's Holy City, to visit the tomb of Imam Hussein and Imam Abbas. In THE ROAD TO KERBALA, filmmaker Katia Jarjoura joins the procession with Hamid el Mokhtar, a Shi'ite poet and novelist imprisoned during Saddam's regime.

SHI'ISM: WAITING FOR THE HIDDEN IMAM illuminates the historical roots of this branch of Islam with a blend of contemporary and historical footage, interviews with Muslim scholars, philosophers, writers, politicians and religious leaders in Iran, Lebanon and Iraq, and visits Shia holy sites, including the Tomb of Imam Hussein in Kerbala.

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