Planet Local Voices is video and podcast series featuring cutting-edge thinkers, writers, movement-builders and activists from across the world, united by a planet local vision of ecological economies, healthy communities and local food systems. The series includes 33 episodes and address topics such as food and farming, energy, mental health, education, economics, community, spirituality, activism, and more.
This 1Dime documentary is about the history and evolution of US Democracy, based on the political theory of Sheldon Wolin and his book “Democracy Incorporated: Managed Democracy and the Specter of Inverted Totalitarianism” and the Expanded Edition of his book “Politics and Vision: Continuity and Innovation in Western Political Thought.
Humanity is more than ever threatened by its own actions; we hear a lot about the need to minimize footprints and to reduce our impact. But what if our footprints were beneficial? What if we could meet human needs while increasing the health and well-being of our planet? This is the premise behind permaculture: a design process based on the replication of patterns found in nature.
In 2007, Ole and Maitri Ersson bought the rundown Cabana apartment complex in the city and immediately began to de-pave parking spaces to make space for what today is a huge permaculture coliving space and urban food forest. Today, the Kailash Ecovillage has 55 residents who all help farm where there was once pavement, grass, a swimming pool, and an overgrown weed patch.
A Quest for Meaning is an inspiring journey that connects personal growth and social change. It tells the story of two friends, Marc and Nathanael, who leave everything behind to go question the workings of the world and look for alternative ways of thinking and living. Produced and distributed with the help of thousands of citizens around the globe, this uplifting, life-changing journey renews our confidence in our capacity to bring about change, within ourselves and within society.
System Update isn’t just a film—it’s a rallying call for a better future. This film shows how radical shifts in political, economic, and social systems can protect people from climate change. After all, the majority of people across the globe want the changes needed, as UN data has shown. System Update offers insights, new ideas, and inspiration for action. Watch now and be part of this global movement. Our societies need to be updated just like you would update your computer.
We are living in a time of profound transition, a moment when humanity must choose its path forward. The old systems—of empire, domination, and exploitation—are showing signs of weakness, and in their wake, we have the opportunity to build something far more life-affirming. A new story is unfolding, one that calls us to remember our deep connection to the Earth and to one another.
Our present moment is saturated in dystopian, apocalyptic fantasies of the future. As the late Mark Fisher said, "It's easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism.” We can envision a thousand ways that humanity might destroy itself and the rest of the world, but positive visions of the future remain severely lacking in comparison. Why is that? The Dark Ages led to the Renaissance. Feudalism led to capitalism. No era remains stagnant forever.
In his final long-form documentary interview - filmed over four years - Chomsky unpacks the principles that have brought us to the crossroads of historically unprecedented inequality. Tracing a half-century of policies designed to favor the most wealthy at the expense of the majority, Chomsky lays bare the costly debris left in its wake: the evisceration of the American worker, disappearance of the living wage, collapse of the dream of home ownership, skyrocketing higher education costs placi...
Shadows of Liberty reveals the extraordinary truth behind the news media: censorship, cover-ups and corporate control. Filmmaker Jean-Philippe Tremblay takes a journey through the darker corridors of the US media, where global conglomerates call the shots. For decades, their overwhelming influence has distorted news journalism and compromised its values.
Fourteen years after his first visit and 2011 film The Ultra Zionists, Louis Theroux meets some of the growing community of religious-nationalist Israelis who have settled in the West Bank. Louis Theroux spends time with the growing community of Israeli religious-nationalist settlers.
Filmed over the course of two years, SEEDS OF CHANGE chronicles the intersecting stories of lifelong farmer, Mark McBrine, and several incarcerated men as they grow their own food on a five-acre prison garden unlike any other. In a place where life is routinely defined by shame and despair, good food can be a gateway to meaning, wellness and dignity. This is a story about the power of using organic agriculture as a means to reform our food systems and change the course of people's lives.
In 1998, university professor Kembrew McLeod (Associate Professor of Communication Studies at the University of Iowa) made headlines when he successfully trademarked the phrase "freedom of expression" to call attention to the extremes of intellectual property law. But in the years since, as fewer and fewer corporations have come to dominate the media landscape, copyright law has only become more restrictive.
The Epstein files coverup. The environmental toxicity crisis. The cost of life crisis. Permanent war. Masked stormtroopers. Corrupt politics. One global crime syndicate. A crime so big you can't see it. Or the billionaires who run it. Learn the tools. Take back our economy. Take back our future. Let’s get to work.
This debut feature film by journalist Abby Martin is a documentary about the historic nonviolent Great March Of Return protests, which occurred every week from March 2018 until December 2019, but covers so much more. It tells the story of Gaza past and present, showing rare archival footage that explains the history never acknowledged by mass media.
For more than three decades, transnational corporations have been busy buying up what used to be known as the commons -- everything from our forests and our oceans to our broadcast airwaves and our most important intellectual and cultural works. In This Land is Our Land, acclaimed author David Bollier, a leading figure in the global movement to reclaim the commons, bucks the rising tide of anti-government extremism and free market ideology to show how commercial interests are unde...
Straddling a line between documentary and science fiction, Werner Herzog's Lektionen in Finsternis is an epic visual poem set in the burning oil fields of Kuwait following the 1990-1991 Persian Gulf War. Herzog, as much a daredevil as a documentarian, took his small crew in a helicopter and, floating above the fields, photographed jaw-dropping footage of the blazing, blackened landscape.
When Black neighborhoods in scores of cities erupted in violence during the summer of 1967, President Lyndon Johnson appointed the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders — informally known as the Kerner Commission — to answer three questions: What happened? Why did it happen? And what could be done to prevent it from happening again?
In this provocative video essay, Kirby Ferguson dives headfirst into the brave new world of artificial creativity — specifically, AI-generated art — and the storm of wonder, fear, and ethical questions it’s kicking up.Part 1: The Rise of the Machines (0:00–6:30)AI image generation began as a clumsy experiment back in 2015, spitting out bizarre, low-res abstractions.
"Project Censored The Movie: Ending the Reign of Junk Food News" takes an in-depth look at what is wrong with the news media in the U.S. today and highlights the work of 40-year veteran media democracy organization Project Censored and their commitment to media literacy education as an antidote to top-down, managed news propaganda and censorship.
Purpose asks the central question of our time: What is the purpose of our economies — and how can we change them? Director Martin Oetting follows two visionaries, Katherine Trebeck (founder of the Wellbeing Economy Governments alliance) and Lorenzo Fioramonti (who rises from alliance supporter to Italian Minister), as they work to shift our economic systems away from endless GDP growth and toward wellbeing...
This moment in time, across the world, requires a revolution in human values: An end to the absurdist thinking that war or violence is the solution to any problem."Dr. King called it a sickness. The belief that the use of force or the threat of violence is the most reliable way to solve problems. Ignoring real needs that stabilize households like a house or food or work worth doing. All ignored to favor the hammer. Domination as virtue. It's called militarism.
70 years ago Costa Rica abolished its army and committed itself to fostering a peaceful society. It has been reaping the benefits ever since. In his famous "Cross of Iron" speech in 1953, President Eisenhower critiqued the military-industrial complex while asking, "Is there no other way the world may live?" In Costa Rica today, we glimpse another way to live.
The Century of the Self tells the untold and sometimes controversial story of the growth of the mass-consumer society. How was the all-consuming self created, by whom, and in whose interests? (Includes all parts of this multi-part series.
Uncovering how Israel profits from surveillance technologies using occupied Palestinian territories as a testing ground. Israel punches way above its weight when it comes to arms sales. The 97th country by population, it is the ninth largest arms dealer in the world with a $13bn military-industrial complex.
If you wanted to change an ancient culture in a generation, how would you do it? You would change the way it educates its children. The U.S. Government knew this in the 19th century when it forced Native American children into government boarding schools. Today, volunteers build schools in traditional societies around the world, convinced that school is the only way to a 'better' life for indigenous children. But is this true?
From South Korea to Serbia to the Philippines, people power uprisings have toppled authoritarian regimes — armed with nothing but conviction and solidarity. This comprehensive video series by historian Jeremy Brecher examines how mass strikes, general strikes, and nonviolent people power uprisings have served as the ultimate check on tyranny throughout history — and what lessons they hold for Americans today.
When lawmakers seek to review a list of books, librarians find themselves on the frontlines of a national battle. Across the U.S., librarians face the impact of uniting against library collection standards that include restrictions on race-related and LGBTQIA+ content. Drawing on historical context, The Librarians, directed by Kim A. Snyder, explores the broader implications for education and public life.
In US-blockaded Cuba, ingenious mechanics and inventors revive old machines to survive during a time of scarcity. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, Cuba was plunged into crisis. Fuel, food and spare parts vanished almost overnight. This character-led documentary shows how common Cubans refused to give up – and instead built a new culture of radical repair.
This stunning film takes you on a hypnotic journey, reaching to the past to understand the origins of the catastrophic environmental transitions we now face. Over two years, director Matt Anderson traveled 16,000 miles to document firsthand our modern industrial world and the environmental destruction in its wake. In the process, he discovered exciting strategies to help humanity transcend the coming ecological and psychological crisis.
School Circles is an independent documentary that explores the practice of democratic schools in the Netherlands. The film shows students, teachers and staff members coming together to dialogue, discuss proposals, mediate conflicts and make decisions about their school life. These schools not only challenge the mainstream education, but also democracy as we know it.
A feature doc with George Monbiot, Sir Peter Bazalgette and Robin Dunbar that explores the current crisis in social connection, juxtaposed with its fascinating historical origins. Through a series of intimate interviews and beautifully shot scenes, The Power of Friendship unravels the complex tapestry of human relationships, offering viewers a poignant look at the essence of friendship and advice on how to nurture it.
Leaving behind their cosmopolitan life, a couple and their three young children travel the ends of the earth searching for a new perspective on life. In their five-year journey across six continents, they live with some of the oldest indigenous communities on the planet. From the banks of Lake Superior in Michigan to the heart of the Amazon, from the Australian outback to the Kalahari Dessert, from the Andes to the jungles of India, they gain access to tribal sages never filmed or interviewed...
At a time when many are disillusioned with big banks and big business, and growing inequity in our country, employee ownership offers a real solution for workers and communities. SHIFT CHANGE visits thriving cooperative businesses in the U.S. and Spain, sharing on-the-ground experiences from the worker-owners on the front lines of the new economy.
We the People 2.0 describes the growing people’s revolt against destructive corporate activities in the US to stop toxic dumps, mines, drilling, etc. Communities are seizing back the right to say no through local lawmaking, outlawing oligarchy. The story unfolds through the eyes of rural people who have faced decades of toxic dumps, drilling and mines in their communities.
Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch’s War on Journalism pulls back the curtain on Fox News, revealing how it built a media empire on spin, fear, and partisan propaganda. Through insider accounts and damning footage, the film exposes how "fair and balanced" was always a marketing ploy—designed to manipulate, divide, and serve the powerful.
What if, in the midst of global uncertainty and ecological distress, we chose to focus our attention on the ways people come together—across cultures and continents—to care for life’s most essential gift? "Water is Love" embodies this hope. Rooted in the power of shared humanity and the wisdom that emerges from community, this film shifts the narrative from despair to possibility, spotlighting tangible solutions and responses to the climate crisis.
Money Talks exposes the questionable tactics that big drug companies use to make record profits by playing with the safety of our family’s health care. Using misleading advertising, attractive “drug reps” who wine and dine doctors and other unethical practices, the drug industry makes billions of dollars every year selling us unsafe, unnecessary and overpriced drugs.
What does Superman tell us about the ethics of closed borders? Superman was created in 1938 by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, two sons of Jewish immigrants, and his origin story is fundamentally a refugee narrative: a child launched from a dying world, taken in by strangers, raised as one of their own. That parallel has always been there, but it takes on a sharper edge when set against actual history.
When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1990, Cuba's economy went into a tailspin. With imports of oil cut by more than half – and food by 80 percent – people were desperate. This film tells of the hardships and struggles as well as the community and creativity of the Cuban people during this difficult time. Cubans share how they transitioned from a highly mechanized, industrial agricultural system to one using organic methods of farming and local, urban gardens.
InterReflections is an experimental, mixed genre narrative feature film by Peter Joseph, adapted from his book The New Human Rights Movement. The ambitious, nearly 3 hour work challenges not only contemporary thinking about society, it challenges the very art of filmmaking itself with an unprecedented avant-garde style.
Michael Moore’s Capitalism: A Love Story comes home to the issue he’s been examining throughout his career: the disastrous impact of corporate dominance on the everyday lives of Americans (and by default, the rest of the world). But this time the culprit is much bigger than General Motors, and the crime scene far wider than Flint, Michigan.
Critics have called this original Zeteo documentary a ‘gut-punching’, ‘extraordinary investigation’ that you must watch to truly ‘see Israel’. ‘Israel’s Reel Extremism’ is an on-the-ground examination of Israel and its society after many months of war, seen initially through the prism of viral social media posts from Gaza - and exclusive interviews with the soldiers behind them.
The story of how a mining town recovered from its legacy of pollution and prospered by building community around the battle to save their beautiful river. Born in the California Gold Rush, Nevada City was once the scene of some of the most destructive environmental practices on earth. By the 1960s, the town was a backwater, its extractive industries dying. Then it was discovered by the "back to the land movement.
From air strikes to field executions, Fault Lines investigates the killings of civilians by the Israeli military in Gaza and the role of the United States in the war. As Israel’s bombing campaign continues in Gaza and the humanitarian crisis deepens to catastrophic levels, the Biden administration has not wavered in its support for Israel.
Lawns are undeniably an American symbol. But what do they really symbolize? Pride and prosperity? Or waste and conformity? Gimme Green is a humorous look at the American obsession with the residential lawn and the effects it has on our environment, our wallets and our outlook on life. From the limitless subdivisions of Florida to sod farms in the arid southwest, Gimme Green peers behind the curtain of the $40-billion industry that fuels our nation's largest irrigated crop-the lawn.
Not Business As Usual is a provocative look at capitalism and its unintended price of success. The film tracks the changing landscape of business with the rising tide of conscious capitalism through the stories of local entrepreneurs who have found innovative ways to bring humanity back into business.
Living the Change explores solutions to the global crises we face today – solutions any one of us can be part of – through the inspiring stories of people pioneering change in their own lives and in their communities in order to live in a sustainable and regenerative way. Directors Jordan Osmond and Antoinette Wilson have brought together stories from their travels around New Zealand, along with interviews with experts able to explain how we came to be where we are today.
“Alter Natives” is a documentary about transition initiatives and ecosocial regeneration; a collective project to make visible transformative experiences in our geographies and inspire other possible futures. “Alternatives”, from Latin Alter (other) and Nativus (born), refers to the search for new realities, and new origins. This is the starting point for this documentary project: showing innovative initiatives of socio-ecological transition.
From cave paintings to virtual reality, Beware of Images embarks on a fascinating journey through the history of mediated representation. This is the history of media you will never find on TV.Thanks to the filmmaker, Beware of Images has been released for free, in the spirit of the gift!
Opening with a powerful ‘deep time’ perspective, from the beginning of the Earth to our present moment, BAFTA-winning director Peter Armstrong's new film recognises the fundamental unsustainability of today’s society and dares to ask the big question: What will follow? Around the world, fresh shoots are already emerging as people develop the skills, will and resources necessary to recapture the initiative and re-imagine civilisation, often in the ruins of collapsed mainstream economies.
In this profound film, permaculture designer Andrew Faust invites us to reclaim our place in the grand story of life on Earth—a story that reveals how deeply we're woven into the living fabric of this planet. Faust weaves together cosmology, geology, biology, and ecology into a unified vision: We're stardust from ancient suns, animated by the dynamic forces of a self-regulating superorganism called Gaia. For 4.
This 35-minute film is a united call for a new economy, delivered by those who have committed their lives to working for systemic change. We live in a time of multiple crises, from climate chaos, poverty, and war to skyrocketing costs of living. It can seem overwhelming – until we realise that we have the power to change things.
Globalized capitalism is destroying the biosphere while political unrest and war continue to dominate the headlines. Where might we turn for guidance in order to navigate these uncertain times? Enter Tamera: a radical intentional community 40 years in the making, whose research may provide keys to humanity’s survival. They recognized that most utopian communities fail due to the unresolved shadows around love, sex, money and power.
This feature length investigation by Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit exposes Israeli war crimes in the Gaza Strip through the medium of photos and videos posted online by Israeli soldiers themselves during the year long conflict. The I-Unit has built up a database of thousands of videos, photos and social media posts. Where possible it has identified the posters and those who appear.
Shadow World reveals the shocking realities of the global arms trade – the only business that counts its profits in billions and its losses in human lives. Directed by Johan Grimonprez (“dial H-I-S-T-O-R-Y”) and in part based on Corruption Watch UK founder Andrew Feinstein’s globally acclaimed book The Shadow World: Inside the Global Arms Trade, th...
"One of the best things you'll (n)ever see." Separated Interbeings is a film collage of our diverse and complex world caught on camera, creatively put together to open deeper perspectives and insights on the world we live in. It is a 34-part series, separated into two volumes. Watch Volume 2 (parts 19-34) here.
Carne Ross was a government highflyer. A career diplomat who believed Western Democracy could save us all. But working inside the system he came to see its failures, deceits and ulterior motives. He felt at first hand the corruption of power. After the Iraq war Carne became disillusioned, quit his job and started searching for answers.
"Scott Noble may have outdone himself with Counter Intelligence. The Psywar filmmaker amassed a tour de force of power elite and deep state scholars weighing in and synthesizing decades of research. From the rise of the national security state and mass proliferation of state/corporate propaganda to the normalization of constant, now remote (drone) warfare and the ongoing decay of constitutional rights, Noble lays out some of the most significant, yet oft-overlooked or outright censored i...
A powerful and timely investigation into the media’s role in war, tracing the history of embedded and independent reporting from the carnage of World War One to the destruction of Hiroshima, and from the invasion of Vietnam to Afghanistan and the disaster in Iraq. As weapons and propaganda become even more sophisticated, the nature of war is developing into an electronic battlefield in which journalists play a key role, and civilians are the victims.
A film on Climate Change, Degrowth and System Change. The effects and risks of climate change are compelling young people the world round to call upon radical system change as the only solution to avoid a catastrophic collapse. This film studies the role economic growth has had in bringing about this crisis, and explores the alternatives to it, offering a vision of hope for the future and a better life for all within planetary boundaries.
“This beautiful film is the perfect antidote to the cynical narrative that says people are inherently selfish... This film will melt your heart. Guaranteed.” – Rob Hopkins, author; co-founder Transition Network Together We Grow is a 40-minute documentary telling the story of Common Unity. Introducing a thriving hub helping to build resilience into its local community by growing, sewing, repairing, sharing – you name it, Common Unity is doing it!
This documentary is a bold celebration of remix culture — making the case that true creativity doesn’t come from thin air, but from reimagining what already exists. It’s not about being original. It’s about being transformative. Part 1: The Remix Has Always Been With Us The film kicks off with an energetic tour through the remix world we live in — from viral memes to genre-bending music.
Why is it that some children thrive while others do not? Is it a matter of genetics, IQ, socioeconomic background or education? BRAIN MATTERS reveals that learning begins way before children go to school and that it's the experiences children are exposed to that determine their chances for future success.
In America, most female homicide victims are killed by their current or former partner, and one in four women experiences domestic violence or abuse. In this documentary, I ask a simple question: is it possible to reduce these endemic levels of male violence? In search of an answer, I hear gut wrenching testimonies from survivors and victims’ families, and gain vital insights from social workers and psychologists who work with violent men.
Join acclaimed director Velcrow Ripper on a journey deep inside the global revolution of the heart that is erupting around the planet. Occupy Love explores the growing realization that the dominant system of power is failing to provide us with health, happiness or meaning. The old paradigm that concentrates wealth, founded on the greed of the few, is causing economic and ecological collapse.
Revolution: Food is all about the positive changes taking root in our modern food system. It focuses on real farmers who are growing, raising real food and the consumers who are demanding it.
Economist and bestselling author Juliet Schor lays out a positive vision for rethinking our relationship to consumer goods in this accessible and timely analysis of the devastating ecological, social, and personal costs of mass consumerism. Ranging from cutting-edge developments in economic theory, social analysis, and ecological design to real-world examples of these ideas being put into practice around the world, Schor makes a compelling case that preserving dwindling natural resour...
This is a story about clothing. It’s about the clothes we wear, the people who make them, and the impact the industry is having on our world. The price of clothing has been decreasing for decades, while the human and environmental costs have grown dramatically. The True Cost is a groundbreaking documentary film that pulls back the curtain on the untold story and asks us to consider, who really pays the price for our clothing?
“As long as rabbits don't have historians, history will be written by the hunters.” With the tremendous success of his book, A People’s History of the United States, Howard Zinn radically changed the way Americans see themselves. His friend Noam Chomsky says that Zinn literally transformed a generation’s conscience. This 2016 adaptation of Zinn's masterpiece focuses on the rise of labor in the 19th century.
Feeding Ourselves weaves intimate stories from the hopes and convictions of rural BC farmers and producers as they navigate undercurrents of uncertainty with our food system. Their commitment to local food culture inspires us to appreciate the significance and potential of feeding ourselves. For a limited time, the filmmakers have generously made the film available for free, in the spirit of the gift!
Five years in the making, this hour-long film documents the uprising that swept Chile from October 2019 to March 2020, showing how everyday people sustained six months of rebellion by creating extensive networks of self-determination and mutual aid. This is an inspiring portrayal of the tactics that gave demonstrators control of the streets, the organizing strategies that enabled the movement to act effectively while remaining leaderless, and the importance of time and space...
Tawai is a word the nomadic hunter-gatherers of Borneo use to describe the connection they feel to their forest home. In this dreamy, philosophical and sociological look at life, Bruce Parry (of the BBC's Tribe, Amazon & Arctic) embarks on an immersive odyssey to explore the different ways that humans relate to nature and how this influences the way we create our societies.
What distinguishing feature do the world's healthiest and happiest societies have in common? According to acclaimed author Richard Wilkinson, the answer is simple: they have far less income inequality than other societies. In this new film based on his international best-seller The Spirit Level, Wilkinson focuses on why the U.S.
What if telling a story that gives hope by pointing out solutions was the best way to solve the ecological, economical and social crises that shake our world? Following the publication of a study forecasting the possible extinction of mankind by 2100, Cyril Dion and Mélanie Laurent travelled through 10 countries to understand the reasons for this upcoming catastrophe and to find out how to prevent it.
In the face of widespread ecological destruction, social injustice, economic deprivation, there are powerful countercurrents. 'Ordinary' people in several parts of India are resisting the disruption of their lives by constructing alternatives in the form of sustainable farming, community-led ecotourism and conservation, revival of crafts, activity-based learning, decentralized water harvesting, local governance and direct democracy.
How might your life be better with less? MINIMALISM takes the audience inside the lives of minimalists from all walks of life—families, entrepreneurs, architects, artists, journalists, scientists, and even a former Wall Street broker—all of whom are striving to live a meaningful life with less.
This critically acclaimed look at American war propaganda exhumes five decades of remarkable archival footage to show how presidents from both parties have relied on fear-driven political spin and craven media complicity to sell a succession of wars to the American people. The result is an invaluable introduction to how propaganda, public relations, and perception management function in democratic societies. Essential viewing for courses in media studies, political science, journalism, and U.
When Rachel Carson’s "Silent Spring" was published in 1962, the book became a phenomenon. A passionate and eloquent warning about the long-term dangers of pesticides, the book unleashed an extraordinary national debate and was greeted by vigorous attacks from the chemical industry. But it would also inspire President John F.
Donald Trump is portrayed as a "populist" committed to average working-class people, but his policies benefit wealthy elites at the expense of everyone else. His administration includes 13 billionaires -- including Elon Musk, the world's richest oligarch -- and he is cutting taxes on the rich and corporations while imposing a consumption tax on the poor through tariffs. Ben Norton explains how Trump is waging a class war.
About eighteen years ago, watching The Corporation inspired us - a few friends from Lawrence, KS - to launch Films For Action and “be the media” in our home town. We hosted dozens of film screenings, launched this website, and started to curate the best docs and videos in our library. Over the years, millions of people started coming here to watch “films for action,” thanks to people simply sharing these films on social media with their friends. That's it.
Neoliberalism – a business-backed ideology committed to cutting taxes, busting trade unions, gutting government regulations, and privatizing public services – is the dominant political and economic philosophy of our time. Yet despite capturing both major parties and shaping and controlling virtually every aspect of our lives, it’s a term that’s rarely mentioned in mainstream media and politics, let alone explained or scrutinized.
Brave New Films exposes Wal-Mart's unscrupulous business practices through interviews with former employees, small business owners, and footage of Walmart executives. (2:22) - How Walmart Destroys Communities - Whether it's a family rum hardware store or a small eye glass store, when Walmart opens in small towns like Middlefield, Ohio long established, independently run stores are hurt. The Hunter family open H&H Hardware in 1962.
A secret museum in an art hotel sparks intrigue when it's revealed to be a creation of controversial artist, Banksy. Using art as a form of political resistance, the hotel highlights the reality of life under Israeli military occupation. WALLED OFF journeys through the hotel, Palestine, and a relevant past to dismantle the mainstream media's bias towards the Palestinian struggle for freedom and equality.
In Uganda’s 2021 presidential election, music star, activist and opposition leader Bobi Wine, together with his wife, rallies his people in a dangerous fight for freedom from President Museveni’s oppressive 35-year regime.
INHABITANTS follows five Native American communities as they restore their traditional land management practices in the face of a changing climate. For millennia Native Americans successfully stewarded and shaped their landscapes, but centuries of colonization have disrupted their ability to maintain these processes. From deserts, coastlines, forests, mountains, and prairies, Native communities across the US are restoring their ancient relationships with the land.
As a wave of anti-boycott legislation has swept through the country, so has a counter-wave in defense of freedom of speech. Everyday Americans are challenging these laws for their constitutionality in a nation-wide battle likely to go all the way to the Supreme Court.[This film has been made available for free via the filmmakers, Just Vision. Their work relies on the generosity of people like you.
If you think U.S. news has a liberal bias, this assumption-shattering film from Noam Chomsky, Edward Herman, and Justin Lewis will have you thinking again. Making the common-sense case that mainstream news media are more committed to their bottom-line interests as large corporations than to left-wing advocacy, they dissect how news content gets shaped within a narrow, and ultimately conservative, institutional frame that marginalizes the progressive perspectives of a broad cross-section of th...
What happened to Dad? As filmmaker, Jen Senko, tries to understand the transformation of her father from a non political, life-long Democrat to an angry, right-wing fanatic, she uncovers the forces behind the media that changed him completely: a plan by Roger Ailes under Nixon for a media takeover by the GOP, The Powell Memo urging business leaders to influence institutions of public opinion -especially the universities, the media and the courts, and under Reagan, the dismantling of the Fairn...
Western views and the legal system tend to view nature as property, and as a resource from which wealth is extracted, a commodity whose only value is to provide for human needs. But for millennia indigenous communities have viewed themselves as part of nature. As pressures on ecosystems mount and as conventional laws seem increasingly inadequate to address environmental degradation, communities, cities, regions and countries around the world are turning to a new legal strategy known a...
A Simpler Way follows a community in Australia who came together to explore and demonstrate a simpler way to live in response to global crises. Throughout the year the group built tiny houses, planted veggie gardens, practised simple living, and learned how to live in community. Download the film at happenfilms.
The Corporation (2003) examined an institution within society; The New Corporation reveals a world now fully remade in the corporation's image, perilously close to losing democracy.
The words "health care" and "comedy" aren't usually found in the same sentence, but in Academy Award winning filmmaker Michael Moore's new movie 'SiCKO,' they go together hand in (rubber) glove. The film weighs the plight of the uninsured (and the insured who must deal with abuse from insurance companies) against the record-breaking profits of the pharmaceutical industry.
'In the Eye of the Storm' is a six-part documentary series about the dramatic journey and inspiring vision of one of the foremost political figures of our age, the maverick Greek economist Yanis Varoufakis. Opening with a whistleblowing account of his epic battle with the European Union, economist turned politician Yanis Varoufakis weaves a gripping narrative about the fate of our civilisation in this groundbreaking series, joining the dots...
“Once in a while a film comes along that has profound impact – this is a delicious taste of what can be.” - Polly Higgins “ A stunning and sensitive journey into ecology, humanity and spirituality.” - The Cube Cinema, Bristol. Wetheuncivilised is now offered for free, in the spirit of the gift! If you'd like to show your thanks, you can buy the film on this page.
Advertising & the End of the World features an illustrated presentation by Sut Jhally of the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Making the connection between society's high-consumption lifestyle and the coming environmental crisis, Jhally forces us to evaluate the physical and material costs of our consumer society.
Do you ever feel like we're swimming in an ocean of bullshit? This ground-breaking and viral 50-part series from John Vervaeke seeks to understand why this is so, and answer the question: what can we do about it? We are in the midst of a mental health crisis. There are increases in anxiety disorders, depression, despair, and suicide rates are going up in North America, parts of Europe, and other parts of the world.
This film presents an optimistic alternative to apocalyptic doom and gloom. Directed by Emmy Award nominee João Amorim, the film follows journalist Daniel Pinchbeck, author of the bestselling 2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl, on a quest for a new paradigm that integrates the archaic wisdom of tribal cultures with the scientific method. As conscious agents of evolution, we can redesign post-industrial society on ecological principles to make a world that works for all.
The Power of Nightmares is a BBC documentary 3-part film series. The films compare the rise of the Neo-Conservative movement in the United States and the radical Islamist movement, making comparisons on their origins and claiming similarities between the two.
All our knowledge comes from nature and yet nature is a source of many mysteries. India is a country of breathtaking natural beauty. What is less known is India’s wealth of ancient knowledge about connecting with nature to create a more meaningful life. Travel with us on a journey through lush rainforests, sacred groves, cloud forests, city forests, food forests and deep valleys of the Himalayas to unravel some of these mysteries.
""A masterpiece! By far the most inspiring economics film I have ever seen. This film is a gift to humanity. Everyone should watch it." - Prof. Jason Hickel"An intrepid group of economists is on a mission to flip our understanding of the national debt upside down. FINDING THE MONEY follows economist Stephanie Kelton on a journey through Modern Money Theory or “MMT”.
Economic globalization has led to a massive expansion in the scale and power of big business and banking. It has also worsened nearly every problem we face: fundamentalism and ethnic conflict; climate chaos and species extinction; financial instability and unemployment. There are personal costs too. For the majority of people on the planet life is becoming increasingly stressful. We have less time for friends and family and we face mounting pressures at work.
Money & Life is a passionate and inspirational essay-style documentary that asks a provocative question: can we see the economic crisis not as a disaster, but as a tremendous opportunity? This cinematic odyssey connects the dots on our current economic pains and offers a new story of money based on an emerging paradigm of planetary well-being that understands all of life as profoundly interconnected.
The Corporation is today's dominant institution, creating great wealth but also great harm. This 26 award-winning documentary examines the nature, evolution, impacts and future of the modern business corporation and the increasing role it plays in society and our everyday lives.
A film about the citizen-led community-energy movement in Europe and the visionaries lighting the way. Imagine upending the traditional energy system and giving the power of clean electricity production back to your neighbors. We the Power follows friends, families and visionaries as they break down legislative barriers and take power back from big energy companies to put it in the hands of locals and strengthen their towns.
Revolution or Death is a three-part collaboration between Peter Gelderloos and subMedia. Part 1, 'Short Term Investments,’ examines the official response to the climate crisis and how it's failing. In Part 2, ‘Heads Up, the Revolution is Already Here’ we talk with movements around the globe that provide inspiring examples of what realistic, effective responses look like.
Do you shape the world or does it shape you? Drawing on leading thinkers from around the world, and with a torrent of mind-expanding ideas and information, THE LOTTERY OF BIRTH will make you think again about what it means to be free. Starring: Kathleen Taylor, Nicholas Woodeson, George Monbiot, Howard Zinn, Jeff Schmidt, Michael Albert, Bill Fletcher Jr.
This 42-minute film is bursting with examples of exciting localization initiatives across the world. The global economy is putting all life on Earth at risk. However, there is a powerful counter-trend. Millions of people are working to bring about a system shift - supporting cultural and biological diversity, social justice, genuine democracy, and our health and happiness.
"In a time when many are questioning institutional integrity across society, seeking accurate and relevant information to help make sense of our supposedly post-truth era, Noble shines a spotlight into our dark past while providing a crucial class context often missing or obscured in mainstream accounts. It is precisely this sort of work that can provide a foundation for mapping a better, brighter, and more just future for all.
AFFLUENZA diagnoses a serious social disease - caused by consumerism, commercialism and rampant materialism - that is having a devastating impact on our families, communities, and the environment. We have more stuff, but less time, and our quality of life seems to be deteriorating. With the help of historians and humorous archival film, AFFLUENZA reveals the forces that have dramatically transformed us from a nation that prized thriftiness - with strong beliefs in "plain livi...
THE ENCAMPMENTS follows student organizers at elite universities, including the recently detained Mahmoud Khalil, as they take a historic stand against their institutions’ investments in the Gaza genocide. While originally scheduled for later release, we have chosen to bring it to audiences early with the blessing of those featured, driven by the urgent need to challenge the misinformation surrounding Mahmoud, the student movement, and all who feel the moral duty to stand against genocide.
Most colleges prepare students to read a map of the world that's both outdated and distorted. From economics to history to politics to ecology, modern schools are failing to prepare students for the future on a fundamental level. To put it simply, most colleges are still running on a set of assumptions that were developed during the 20th century.
We live in a time of great uncertainty and confusion. Events keep happening that seem inexplicable and out of control. Donald Trump, Brexit, the War in Syria, the endless migrant crisis, random bomb attacks. And those who are supposed to be in power are paralysed - they have no idea what to do. This film by Adam Curtis is the epic story of how we got to this strange place.
United Natures explores the rights of Mother Earth, environmental philosophy, wisdom, spirituality, and the potential for a neo-indigenous future for humanity. Directed and produced by Peter Charles Downey, who most recently made Spiritually Incorrect, United Natures stars some of the world’s most foremost environmental activists and...
The Commons is a documentary film about communities re-asserting sustainable futures using consensus, equity and shared resources – ancient Commons principles. The film explores increasing privatization and destruction of commons, primarily in the United States. It also shows how many activists are re-taking commons, re-establishing communities controlling their own commons: maker spaces, land trusts, cooperatives, local food production and distribution, shared housing, free...
Oscar-nominated filmmaker Raoul Peck (I Am Not Your Negro) takes a deep dive into the writing of George Orwell (1984) to explore its potent relevancy to our current times.
This epic four hour doumentary explores the "ingredients" that contributed to the rise of fascism, focusing on Germany and Italy. It argues that fascism wasn't a simple anomaly but emerged from a complex mix of historical, social, and psychological factors. Key ingredients discussed include: Spiritualizing Violence: The glorification of war and struggle, as exemplified by Ernst Junger's writings on World War I (0:47).
Who Rules America? takes a comprehensive look into the governing system of the United States of America and reveals the behind-the-scene powers that rule the nation. There are two Americas; one in which people have freedom in choosing their leaders within the framework of the constitution living in the land of the free, and another, wherein all is dedicated to the ruling 1% and within which a hidden network of power governs including the media, Wall Street , the Military and Corporati...
The Stars at Night is a journey of young filmmakers, experts, artists and writers to the darkest skies around the world in a quest to re-discover the connection human storytelling has with the stars. The film explores a deeper connection to the disappearing night sky by looking at the roots of storytelling, and ancient people’s need to explain their cosmology through story.
Biophilic Design is an innovative way of designing the places where we live, work, and learn. We need nature in a deep and fundamental fashion, but we have often designed our cities and suburbs in ways that both degrade the environment and alienate us from nature. The recent trend in green architecture has decreased the environmental impact of the built environment, but it has accomplished little in the way of reconnecting us to the natural world, the missing piece in the puzzle of su...
What if working together for the good of all was the most common business model? Watch as several organizations strive towards building a more cooperative future. By putting humanity before the bottom line, they are finding their place in a new economy no longer dominated by profits and big business.
Documentaries have an incredible power to raise awareness and create transformative changes in consciousness both at the personal and global levels. Since 2006, we've watched hundreds of social change documentaries and cataloged the best of them in this library.
Plutocracy, by filmmaker Scott Noble, is the first documentary series to comprehensively examine early American history through the lens of class. Support the filmmaker's next film with a donation via his website."Absolutely brilliant on numerous levels, Scott Noble’s Plutocracy is the story of the American working class… I look forward to the day when this series will become part of the historical educatio...
For the first time in history, mental illness and suicide have become one of the greatest threats to school-aged children. Many parents still view dangers as primarily physical and external, but they’re missing the real danger: kids spending more time online and less time engaging in real life, free play, and autonomy. What are the effects on the next generation's mental, physical, and spiritual health?
One in five Americans, along with millions of children, are prescribed psychiatric drugs daily, and often for a lifetime. MEDICATING NORMAL follows the stories of five high-functioning people whose doctors prescribed pills to help with common problems such as stress, mild depression, insomnia and grief with devastating impact on their lives. This is the untold story of the serious consequences that can occur when profit-driven medicine intersects with human beings in distress.
The Trap is a series of three films by Bafta-winning producer Adam Curtis (The Century of the Self, The Power of Nightmares) that explains the origins of our contemporary, narrow idea of freedom. It shows how a simplistic model of human beings as self-seeking, almost robotic, creatures led to today's idea of freedom.
In this Emmy-winning documentary, acclaimed Muslim filmmaker Deeyah Khan meets U.S. neo-Nazis and white nationalists including Richard Spencer face to face and attends the now-infamous Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville as she seeks to understand the personal and political motivations behind the resurgence of far-right extremism in the U.S.
The Crisis of Civilization investigates how global crises like ecological disasters, financial meltdowns, dwindling oil reserves, terrorism, and food shortages are converging symptoms of a single, failed global system. Weaving together archival film footage and animations, film-maker Dean Puckett, animator Lucca Benney and international security analyst Dr. Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed, offer a stunning wake-up call proving that 'another world' is not merely possible, but on its way.
With little hope of the genocide in Gaza subsiding, dock workers in major Italian port cities have organized strikes and large demonstrations to halt arms shipments to Israel. These actions are a direct response to the refusal of international institutions and governments around the world to confront the carnage. Though the genocide continues, the dockworkers’ industrial disruption offer us a model of resistance. Will the Italian way spread to the imperial core — and can it end the genocide?
When two young American Jews raised to unconditionally love Israel witness the brutal way Israel treats Palestinians, their lives take sharp left turns. They join a movement of young American Jews battling the old guard to redefine Judaism’s relationship with Israel, revealing a deepening generational divide over modern Jewish identity.
Narrated by Rosario Dawson. Produced by Martin Sheen and Maria Florio (Oscar, Best Documentary). Vigilantes Inc., America’s New Vote Suppression Hitmen tells the story of how the GOP has created an army of self-appointed “voter fraud” hunters, not government officials, who are using new laws – and dormant old Jim Crow laws – to challenge literally hundreds of thousands of voters in each of a dozen swing states, denying Americans of color the right to have their ballots counted.
Since it mysteriously appeared on YouTube on July 18, 2012, ‘Propaganda’ has been described as ‘1984 meets The Blair Witch Project’, ‘A mouthful of scary porridge’, and ‘Even better than Triumph of The Will.’ It topped Indiewire’s top 10 films to watch out for at IDFA, where it had its world premiere.
COMMUNITIES OF HOPE is a film born from a quest to discover a regenerative culture. It is an invitation to discover a new way of life. A way of life measured by the rhythms of nature, the depth of human connection, the vast horizon of human potential. It’s the way of life in ecovillages.
Within Reach explores one couple's pedal-powered search for a place to call home. Mandy and Ryan gave up their jobs, cars, and traditional houses to 'bike-pack' 6500 miles around the USA seeking sustainable community. Rather than looking in a traditional neighborhood, they begin to recognize that community is the secret ingredient to living sustainably on this planet.
Your brain isn’t broken, but it may seem like that because of how the screen age overwhelms your biology. Neurologist Richard Cytowic argues that attention is a finite energy budget, not a virtue, and modern life is engineered to exhaust it. Subscribe to Big Think on Substack Richard Cytowic is Professor of Neurology at George Washington University.
A raw and reflective exposé of one woman’s journey, interwoven with the wisdom of others to illuminate the broader human experience. Originally from working-class Britain and moving toward the American Dream, she begins to see through the distorted narratives of the inherited world and discovers the transformative power of inner work. With no desire to polarize into extremes, she works to embrace both the spiritual and physical aspects of life, integrating them into one lived experience.
A deeply personal and reflective cross-cultural journey unpacking the quiet yet powerful forces shaping women’s relationship with beauty. Through authentic, vulnerable sharing and immersive storytelling, the film unravels the societal conditioning, unspoken expectations, and deeper truths behind power, desirability, and self-worth, ultimately seeking to redefine beauty beyond the mirror in an image-driven world.