Documentaries on Race, Ethnicity and Migration
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- DirectorTim WolochatiukStarsLyna HartGlen AnaquodAlicia HamelinFor over 130 years till 1996, more than 100,000 of Canada's First Nations children were legally required to attend government-funded schools run by various Christian faiths. There were 80 of these 'residential schools' across the country. Most children were sent to faraway schools that separated them from their families and traditional land. These children endured brutality, physical hardship, mental degradation, and the complete erasure of their culture. The schools were part of a wider program of assimilation designed to integrate the native population into 'Canadian society.' These schools were established with the express purpose 'To kill the Indian in the child.' Told through their own voices, 'We Were Children' is the shocking true story of two such children: Glen Anaquod and Lyna Hart.
- DirectorJeremy EarpSut JhallyStarsBo DerekAna ObregónJack ShaheenThis groundbreaking documentary dissects a slanderous aspect of cinematic history that has run virtually unchallenged form the earliest days of silent film to today's biggest Hollywood blockbusters. Featuring acclaimed author Dr. Jack Shaheen, the film explores a long line of degrading images of Arabs--from Bedouin bandits and submissive maidens to sinister sheikhs and gun-wielding "terrorists"--along the way offering devastating insights into the origin of these stereotypic images, their development at key points in US history, and why they matter so much today. Shaheen shows how the persistence of these images over time has served to naturalize prejudicial attitudes toward Arabs and Arab culture, in the process reinforcing a narrow view of individual Arabs and the effects of specific US domestic and international policies on their lives. By inspiring critical thinking about the social, political, and basic human consequences of leaving these Hollywood caricatures unexamined, the film challenges viewers to recognize the urgent need for counter-narratives that do justice to the diversity and humanity of Arab people and the reality and richness of Arab history and culture.
- DirectorRebecca Cammisa"Which Way Home" is a feature documentary film that follows unaccompanied child migrants, on their journey through Mexico, as they try to reach the United States. We follow children like Olga and Freddy, nine-year old Hondurans, who are desperately trying to reach their parents in the US.; children like Jose, a ten-year old El Salvadoran, who has been abandoned by smugglers and ends up alone in a Mexican detention center; and Kevin, a canny, streetwise fourteen-year old Honduran, whose mother hopes that he will reach the U.S. and send money back to her. These are stories of hope and courage, disappointment and sorrow. They are the children you never hear about; the invisible ones.
- DirectorB.Z. GoldbergJustine ShapiroCarlos BoladoStarsMoishe Bar AmB.Z. GoldbergShlomo GreenSeveral Jewish and Palestinian children are followed for three years and put in touch with each other, in this alternative look at the Jewish-Palestinian conflict. The three filmmakers followed a group of seven local children between 1995 and 1998. They all have a totally different background. These seven children tell their own story about growing up in Jerusalem. Through this portrait of their generation, we see how deep rooted and almost insoluble the problems of the Middle East have become. When the protagonists speak out in an epilogue a couple of years later, it becomes apparent that all have lost their childlike innocence.
- DirectorBill BrummelStarsBryon WidnerJulie WidnerBrooke BeckIn this hour, MSNBC goes inside the world of Bryon Widner, a former skinhead "pit bull", as he undergoes painful treatments to remove the physical representation of the hate he had exhibited to the world for more than half his life.
- DirectorMegan MylanJon ShenkStarsSantino Majok ChuorJarrid GeduldPeter Kon DutLost Boys of Sudan is a feature-length documentary that follows two Sudanese refugees on an extraordinary journey from Africa to America. Orphaned as young boys in one of Africa's cruelest civil wars, Peter Dut and Santino Chuor survived lion attacks and militia gunfire to reach a refugee camp in Kenya along with thousands of other children. From there, remarkably, they were chosen to come to America. Safe at last from physical danger and hunger, a world away from home, they find themselves confronted with the abundance and alienation of contemporary American suburbia.
- DirectorCary McClellandImran BaburStarsVaneeza AhmadArieb AzharAbdullah KhanSix bold people navigate the dangerous waters of Pakistan's current crisis to discover a new tomorrow: a cricket star starts a progressive political party, a female journalist goes behind Taliban lines, an ex-mujahid seeks redemption, a trucker crosses dangerous territory to feed his family, a supermodel pushes feminism through fashion, and a subversive Sufi rocker uses music to heal.
- DirectorNegin FarsadDean ObeidallahStarsLewis BlackScott BlakemanDavid CrossComedians Negin Farsad and Dean Obeidallah lead an all-star Muslim comedy performing in big cities, small towns, liberal enclaves, conservative hotbeds, rural and everything in between to explore the issue of Islamophobia. Watch them onstage as they hilariously challenge racial, gender and religious stereotypes. With added humor by Jon Stewart, David Cross and Lewis Black.
- DirectorÖzgür DoganOrhan EskiköyStarsEmre AydinErsin BüyükgölBirgül HuzOne year in the life of a Turkish teacher, teaching the Turkish language to Kurdish children in a remote village in Turkey. The children can't speak Turkish, the teacher can't speak Kurdish and is forced to become an exile in his own country. On the Way to School is a film about a Turkish teacher who is alone in a village as an authority of the state.
- StarsMorgan FreemanJordan BrownJustin JacksonA documentary of the history of American slavery from its beginnings in the British colonies through the years of post-Civil War Reconstruction, this series examines the integral role slavery played in shaping the new country and challenges the long held notion that it was exclusively a Southern enterprise. Remarkable stories of individual slaves offer fresh perspectives on the slave experience.
- DirectorJose Antonio VargasAnn LupoStarsEmelie SalinasLeonila SalinasJose Antonio VargasIn 2011, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jose Antonio Vargas outed himself as an undocumented immigrant in the New York Times Magazine. 'Documented' chronicles his journey to America from the Philippines as a child; his journey through America as an immigration reform activist/provocateur; and his journey inward as he re-connects with his mother, whom he hasn't seen in 20 years.
- DirectorMary RobertsonStarsWill LymanNikki DangerfieldCaleb DangerfieldFrom PBS and FRONTLINE: Sixty years after the Supreme Court declared separate schools for black and white children unconstitutional, FRONTLINE examines the comeback of segregation in America. The film focuses on Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where a group of mostly white parents are trying to form their own city with its own separate school district, leaving behind a population of black students. Through the battle in Baton Rouge, FRONTLINE shows the growing racial divide in American schools and the legacy of Brown v. Board of Education. Also this hour: FRONTLINE updates the story of Omarina Cabrera, a struggling student from the Bronx who today is excelling at an elite prep school in New England due to a groundbreaking program to stem the high school dropout crisis. Drawing on the 2012 film, Middle School Moment, FRONTLINE follows Omarina's achievements and challenges and shows the contrasts to her twin brother, who has remained in the Bronx.
- DirectorNancy BuirskiStarsJane AlexanderLindsay Almond Jr.Edward L. AyersA racially charged trial and a heartrending love story converge in this documentary about Mildred and Richard Loving, set during the Civil Rights era.
- DirectorBill SiegelStarsEamonn AndrewsMuhammad AliDavid SusskindThe legal battles of the great American boxer against being conscripted into the US military during the Vietnam War.
- DirectorJoshua OppenheimerAnonymousChristine CynnStarsAnwar CongoHerman KotoSyamsul ArifinA documentary which challenges former Indonesian death-squad leaders to reenact their mass-killings in whichever cinematic genres they wish, including classic Hollywood crime scenarios and lavish musical numbers.
- DirectorNeil DiamondCatherine BainbridgeJeremiah HayesStarsAdam BeachChris EyreRussell MeansThe history of the depiction of Native Americans in Hollywood films.
- DirectorMichael Beach NicholsChristopher K. WalkerStarsRyan SchockHeather CookLee CookWhen a noted white supremacist moves into their town, the residents of Leith, North Dakota do what they can to prevent him from taking control of the municipality.
- DirectorZach IngrasciChris TempleStarsYara IbrahimZach IngrasciChris TempleTwo filmmakers fully embed themselves in a Syrian refugee camp, providing an intimate look at the world's most dire humanitarian crisis.
- DirectorAva DuVernayStarsMelina AbdullahMichelle AlexanderCory BookerAn in-depth look at the prison system in the United States and how it reveals the nation's history of racial inequality.
- DirectorNick BroomfieldStarsNick BroomfieldHsiao-Hung PaiNick Broomfield met Hsiao Hung Pai, a journalist who was working for the Guardian, when making his feature film 'Ghosts' (about the Morecambe Bay Chinese Cockle Pickers ). As an experiment and using the latest in undercover technology, Nick worked with Hsiao to make a Undercover film set in a Chinese brothel in Finchley. There are over 2000 'illegal' brothels in London,largely ignored by the police and the authorities, which employ 80% foreign nationals, mostly illegal, that are easily exploited by the brothel owners. The film has a very different feel from the normal undercover film. This is due to the camera being mounted in the center of spectacles, which causes the participants to look directly into the camera, achieving a great intimacy and the possibility of making a character lead undercover film. This is also a very subjective story, told through the eyes of Hsiao Hung Pai, an immigrant herself, who though a very experienced undercover reporter went through great personal trauma revisiting this territory.
- DirectorGeeta Vasant PatelRavi PatelStarsRavi PatelGeeta Vasant PatelChampa V. PatelAn Indian-American man who is about to turn 30 gets help from his parents and extended family to start looking for a wife in the traditional Indian way.
- DirectorFrank MartinStarsHalle BerryAvery BrooksColin PowellA two-part, four-hour documentary series honoring African-American servicemen and women.
- DirectorStefan AustDirk LaabsStarsStefan AustTino BrandtUwe BöhnhardtAn underground neo-nazi organisation evades law enforcement whilst performing horrific acts of crime and violence. But for how long?
- DirectorJoachim FestChristian HerrendoerferStarsGert WestphalStephen MurrayArtur AxmannThis meticulously assembled film dissects the Third Reich with an analytical blade, charting Hitler's improbable rise, his mastery of crowd psychology and his consummate skill in exploiting others' weaknesses.
- DirectorMatthew OrnsteinStarsDaryl D. DavisKenneth NwadikeJeff SchoepDaryl Davis is an accomplished musician who was played all over the world. He also has an unusual hobby, particularly for a middle aged black man. When not displaying his musical chops, Daryl likes to meet and befriend members of the Ku Klux Klan. When many of these people eventually leave the Klan with Daryl's support, Daryl keeps their robes and hoods; building his collection piece by piece, story by story, person by person, in hopes of one day opening a museum of the Klan.