Meet The Censors

Censorship: lifting the lid on those calling all the shots

From a Kafkaesque office for social media in Germany and a South Sudan military headquarters, to conversations with an Iranian Ayatollah and Chinese news editors. Norwegian filmmaker Håvard Fossum intimately follows the daily working lives of the censors. With remarkable access to a secretive world, we get a rare insight into the ways information is controlled, from the Communist Party in Beijing to the corridors of power in Washington. Hearing the word censorship makes us cringe, but is it a misunderstood idea? If there's one thing the censors have in common, it's that they’re all convinced they’re working for a good cause. At once laugh-out-loud funny, deeply shocking and thought-provoking, this timely and intelligent doc will stay with you long after you watch it.

Imitating Life - The Audacity of Suzanne Heintz

Inside the world of an artist provocateur.

This film follows the unlikely but true story of photographer Suzanne Heintz, and an extraordinary act of defiance that catapults her life, and art, into the social media spotlight. She creates a mannequin family and embarks on a global crusade against societal pressure to conform, resulting in a raw, funny and intimate portrait of life through her lens. Part comedy, part drama, part real life – we witness it all.

I, Pastafari: A Flying Spaghetti Monster Story

Brave Pastafarians fight the sceptics to evangelise their message

With millions of believers worldwide, The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster is the world’s fastest growing religion. I, Pastafari follows a few brave members of the church, the Pastafarians, as they fight for their religious freedom to access privileges and exceptions in law granted to other religions. Along the way, the Pastafarians force intolerant skeptics to answer the question, “what is a real religion anyway?”

You've Been Trumped Too

The acclaimed film that the Trump Organization tried to suppress

Investigative journalist Anthony Baxter travels between the Presidential race and the timeless Scottish countryside to explore the troubling confrontation between a feisty 92-year-old Scottish widow and her family and Donald Trump. “There could not be a more important film than this,” wrote Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian, yet the film was temporarily shut down following legal threats from the Trump Organization. As thousands of journalists hang on every Trump utterance, wondering what he might say next, Baxter explores the consequences of his actions. In Scotland, Baxter discovers that Molly Forbes – now aged 92 – is without a proper working water supply, more than five years after Donald Trump’s workers first cut it off while constructing a luxury golf resort. As Donald Trump crisscrosses America in his campaign for President, Molly struggles to find enough water to wash up, feed her chickens, or even flush the toilet. You’ve Been Trumped Too is a remarkable document of the disconnect between political rhetoric and the lives of ordinary people.

Campesino

A journey deep into the tobacco fields of Cuba

An amateur photographer working as a skycap at Salt Lake City Airport documents the disappearing way of life of Cuba’s Campesino farmers over the last 15 years, forging friendships and capturing dignity and sacrifice while introducing us to a community brimming with character.

Yasuni Man

A journey into the heart of Ecuador's battle between preservation and exploitation

A desperate struggle between conservationists and oil interests plays out in Yasuni Man, as the indigenous peoples living in the heart of the Ecuadorian Amazon struggle to preserve their way of life against encroaching modernity. Filmmaker and biologist Ryan Patrick Killackey documents both the staggering biodiversity of the Yasuni region at risk of destruction alongside the Waorani people who call it home.

Current Sea

An environmental thriller that probes the murky depths of the Southeast Asian fishing industry

A compelling testimony to the possibilities of local activism, Current Sea follows investigative journalist, Matt Blomberg, and ocean activist, Paul Ferber, in their dangerous efforts to create a marine conservation area and combat the relentless tide of illegal fishing. Along the way a new generation of Cambodian environmentalists are inspired to create a better life for their people.

Ai Weiwei: Yours Truly

A monumental exhibition on Alcatraz inspires thousands to connect with prisoners of conscience worldwide

While under house arrest in Beijing, Ai Weiwei remotely transformed Alcatraz, a former island penitentiary and current national park, into a remarkable expression of socially engaged art. The final artwork at Alcatraz, Yours Truly, consisted of postcards beautifully illustrated with the national birds and flowers of the prisoners’ countries. Visitors were invited to write messages of hope to the imprisoned activists featured in the Lego portraits. By the time the exhibition ended, over 90,000 postcards had been sent. Then something even more astonishing happened: prisoners and their families began writing back.

Healing from Hate

Ex-Nazis help others save themselves from the hateful underbelly of American society

For decades, clandestine Neo-Nazi cells across the United States have recruited vulnerable youths trapped in a cycle of violence and isolation. They offer them a sense of belonging and self-worth, bolstered by political indoctrination. But when individuals become disillusioned, their only way out is to sever ties with everything and everyone they've ever known; a barrier demanding the strongest of wills to overcome. Enter Frank Meeink, Tony McAleer, Sammy Rangel and their team of reformed far-right extremists, who use empathy and understanding to make the transition to life after hate manageable, and put those escaping violence and coercion on the path to recovery and re-integration.