This beautiful documentary explores the actions that 13 indigenous communities in Mexico are collectively taking to defend their environments from destruction and contamination by industrial and commercial projects that are threatening the water, air and land where they live. Francesco Yaboada Yabone. Mexico. 62min

‘Los Paraguayos’ takes us on an audiovisual journey showing us the Guarani nation and contemporary Paraguay: historians, anthropologists, writers and artists’ attempt to untie the knots of a reality full of contrasts.

El estado de las cosas / The State of Things

(Marcos Loayza, 2007, 76 min)

Documentary that explores the social, cultural, linguistic, and ethnic diversity of Bolivia. Class and regional divisions of the Bolivian state are questioned in this film that investigates the aspirations of the people in relation to the state and to the universal rights of every individual.

Director: Eduardo Carrillo
Duration: 20min

The conflict in Colombia through the eyes of displaced children.
Eduardo Carrillo's short film Little Voices.

Little Voices is a film made with children who are displaced and victims of violence in Colombia. This film is driven by children's stories, which they told using their own voices and drawings. The result is a unique and powerful hybrid of documentary and computer animation, rooted in the real experiences of displaced children in Colombia.

Little Voices has won several prices in Spain and Italy and a special mention by UNICEF prize International Television Festival in 2003.

2006, Brasil, USA
by Jeff Zimbalist, Matt Mochary

FAVELA RISING celebrates the strength of the human spirit to assert itself in the face of human rights violations, social injustice, and unexpected adversity. Chronicling the rise to greatness of the AfroReggae movement, the film shows how the music and culture of Brazil's underclass transform into a catalyst for grassroots social-change. But most of all, FAVELA RISING is the story of a community that works. The success of the film should be judged on how well it serves to activate its viewers; how well it inspires action.
Jeff Zimbalist (Co-Director)

The Take
by Naomi Klein & Avi Lewis
2004, Argentina, 89 minutes

About the 'recovered factory movement' in Argentina

In suburban Buenos Aires, thirty unemployed auto-parts workers walk into their idle factory, roll out sleeping mats and refuse to leave.

All they want is to re-start the silent machines. But this simple act - The Take - has the power to turn the globalization debate on its head.

2004, Cuba – France, 133 min
Director: Maurice Dugowson

Based on the book “Che, Ernesto Guevara, una legende du siede” (by Pierre Kalfon)

A prismatic portrait of both the man and the myth of Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara.

This documentary retraces Guevara’s life and political career, beginning with his youth in 1950’s Argentina, when he set out on the road, writing travel diaries, poetry, and stories. His wanderings through the Andes, Patagonia, Peru, and the Chilean desert informed his identity not as a citizen of one nation but as a Latin American. Following his medical studies, he left Argentina forever, dedicating his life to fighting imperialism, poverty, and social injustice throughout the continent.

Dir: David Caneva,
2006, Colombia

A documentary about the women who had to assume the status of head of the refugee families because of the loss of men due to the armed conflict in Colombia. The film exposes the crude reality of the manner in which the Colombian government has abandoned these communities, while attempting to help integrate them with the society that denies their existence.

Dir. Ishmail Blagrove Jr,
Cuba - UK, 2005, 58 mins, Colour

Hasta Siempre takes the viewer on a journey through the lives of ordinary Cubans, examining the results of the Cuban revolution from the perspective of the Cuban people, and asks the question: Can the revolution survive after the death of Fidel Castro?

Dir.: Rodrigo Vazquez.
2006 (Bolivia – UK) – 21 mins -
*UK Premier with Movimientos*

Set in the mountainous region of Llallagua, Bolivia, Vazquez's short documentary takes a look at the reality of child miners working in the region.

La Fabri-K
Dir. Lisandro Perez Rey
Cuba, 2005, 65 mins, Colour

The film explores the separation of four Cuban families and their efforts to remain connected despite politics and distance. There's enough in it to move and irritate just about everyone with a stake in the details. And that's the documentary's greatest strength -- its bullheaded insistence on story over ideology...a brave stand against the politics of hate...
-Ana Menendez/ The Miami Herald

2007 – London, UK - 33 min
Director: Isabel Rodriguez

For 503 days protestors demonstrated their support for a trial for dictator Augusto Pinochet in Spain - who sought his extradition from UK under charges of torture and murder during the Chilean dictatorship 1973 - 1990. Participating in what became known as the piquete de londres following the arrest of Pinochet in London, 16 October 1998, protestors clamoured for justice for the disappearance and murder of over 4,000 people of different nationalities, mostly Chilean. They occupied Parliament Square, the stretch outside the House of Lords and as close as possible to Pinochet's residence in Virginia Waters. "503" mixes real footage and news reports with individual testimony. This short film explores personal experiences describing the historical and renewed feelings to support a trial for Pinochet, challenging a system of amnesty that protects a history of injustice in Chile.

Spain/Chile, 2005: 87 min
Director: Manel Mayol

This powerful documentary chronicles the battle of Chile’s Pehuenche-Mapuche people against the wealthy Spanish-Latin American hydroelectric corporation ENDESA. After hundreds of years of successfully seeing off all invaders – from Incas to conquistadores – these mountain dwellers who live above the Bíobío river are losing their homes, villages and past to a giant hyrdro-electric dam that floods their lands.
www.switchoffthemovie.com

State of Fear is a brilliant and moving film, which is both a portrait of Peru and a chronicle of terror and response - fanaticism, bravery, heroism, abject fear and the way everyone is affected by such events. It is what Orwell called the aim of great art, which was both imaginative in craftsmanship and politically committed at its heart."–Paul TherouxAuthor How can an open society balance demands for security with democracy? Based on the findings of the Peruvian Truth and Reconciliation Commission, State of Fear follows events in Peru, yet serves as a cautionary tale for a nation like the United States.

Director:
Sofia Buchuck
Year: 2006
Duration: 30 mins

The film focuses on the experiences of Latin Americans in London since the 1970s, and how they have changed the capital

Cuba, 2007
Director: Ishmahil Blagrove, Jr. Asst
Producer: Natasha Tsangarides
Edited by: Catherine Arend
Second Camera: Yannis Mendez
Duration: 59 minutes
Language: Spanish with English subtitles

With Or Without Fidel is a ground-breaking documentary that features Cuba’s leading politicians, intellectuals and dissidents, who debate the future direction of the Island’s 48 year-old revolution.How do Cubans feel about their own identity and freedom of speech? For the first time, the people of Cuba question the values that western democracy holds sacred and the price Cubans have paid for their independence.
With Or Without Fidel is an extremely rare glimpse into the heart of Cuban society. While the BBC, CNN and other correspondents were expelled from the country, Rice N Peas Films was given unprecedented access to produce an honest portrayal of the Island.Filmed during the most precarious period in Cuba’s history, With or Without Fidel reveals the aspirations and vulnerabilities of a country on the brink of change.

70 min
Spanish, with English subtitles
Director: Marcelo Andrade
Calle y Media collective

The Old Man And Jesus: Prophets Of Rebellion examines the the lives of two men who live on the streets of Caracas in the middle of a fascist offensive that tries to halt the revolutionary process taking place in Venezuela and fueled with the arrival of Hugo Chavez to the presidency. The wise poetry of the Old Man and the explosive verb of Jesus give a direct account of the commitment to liberation that grows from the Venezuelan people, far beyond the influence of leaders or enlightened vanguards.