Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin were both on the leading edge of protest in the 1960’s. Rubin became an entrepreneur and the chief spokesman for the Baby Boom generation. Hoffman remained active in environmental issues and grass roots politics, maintaining his anti-establishment stance until the end of his life. The 1986 debate featured in this one-hour video was the “final” debate for these two eloquent speakers, following 18 months of touring North America. Though many years had passed since their heyday as counterculture icons, thousands flocked to auditoriums to hear the opinions of Hoffman – idealistic, unrelenting champion for truth and justice – and Rubin – ‘the pragmatic voice of the new right’.
The Chomsky–Foucault debate was a debate about human nature, between Noam Chomsky and Michel Foucault in the Netherlands, in November 1971. Chomsky and Foucault were invited by the Dutch philosopher Fons Elders to discuss an age-old question: "is there such a thing as 'innate' human nature independent of our experiences and external influences?"
Too high, misused, unfair... a large part of the French and Europeans criticize taxes. From tax-rascal to tax revolt, the movement of yellow vests in France has returned to the center of attention the question of consent to tax. How to explain a different resistance to taxes from one country to another without tax pressure being an explanation? Is there a "good" tax? Jean Quatremer takes us on a journey to the tax center across Europe, to meet those who pay it, those who decide it, those who study it... or those who allow to avoid it.
Ex flower child goes looking for revolutionary hero and finds a brilliant no-quitter with a good appetite.
Captures the spirit and essence of the great San Francisco Human Be-In of January 14, 1967. Ten thousand people imbued with peace, love and euphoria. Set to hard rock such as only San Francisco blues can produce. BE-IN contains Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Timothy Leary, Michael McClure, Lenore Kandel and Buddha. Music by Blue Cheer.
National Center for Lesbian Rights, winner of the San Francisco Foundation 2009 Community Leadership Awards (the John R. May Award), for its pioneering spirit and unwavering commitment to advancing the civil and human rights of LGBT people. Its precedent-setting case victories have rewritten laws to change the legal landscape for all LGBT people and families across the nation. Through litigation, public policy advocacy, and public education, NCLR advocates on behalf of LGBT people and their families nationwide. For 30 years, NCLR has been at the forefront of pursuing justice, fairness, and legal protections for all LGBT people.
Michael Franti, winner of the San Francisco Foundation 2009 Community Leadership Awards (the Helen Crocker Russell Award) - artist, activist, founder of Spearhead, for embodying a social movement of justice and activism and being a voice for the vulnerable. By founding the music groups Spearhead and the Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy, as well as the Power to the Peaceful festival, Michael built an underground movement to spread a message of social justice and advocated for underrepresented people. His recent film, I Know I'm Not Alone, highlights the human cost of war and empowers people to utilize their vote and recognize their collective power to impact American foreign policy.
In the early ‘70s, founding member of Australian surf magazine Tracks, Albert Falzon, began filming off the North Coast of New South Wales, Hawaii, and Indonesia. He set out to make a film “that was a reflection of the spirit of surfing at the time” and the end result, Morning of the Earth, proved its worth as a vital document of surf culture and a powerful nature film.
In the 1970's, filmmakers Tom Burger, Bill McKiggan and Chuck Lapp began documenting the history and current struggles of inshore fishermen in Atlantic Canada to form a union. Until 1979 it was illegal for fishermen to form a union in Nova Scotia. The committed funding from the National Film Board was withdrawn for this film, however the filmmakers continued to edit the film by entering the NFB at night. The CBC refused to broadcast the film, but it was finally released in 1990 and broadcast nationally that year on Vision TV.
In April 1977, the small coastal town of Seabrook, New Hampshire became an international symbol in the battle over atomic energy. Concerned about the dangers of potential radioactive accidents, over 2,000 members of the Clamshell Alliance, a coalition of environmental groups, attempted to block construction of a nuclear power plant. 1,414 people were arrested in that civil disobedience protest and jailed en masse in National Guard armories for two weeks.
Pussy Riot make a comeback after a long absence to stand with Ukraine. Their story and their struggle are told through archival footage and interviews with the group’s members.
Directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Nick Reed & Ryan Azevedo, the film tells the story of activist and Claire’s Place Foundation Founder Claire Wineland through interviews and footage, exploring her fight with cystic fibrosis and how she has inspired millions to find purpose and to live proudly.
In suburban Buenos Aires, thirty unemployed ceramics 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. Armed only with slingshots and an abiding faith in shop-floor democracy, the workers face off against the bosses, bankers and a whole system that sees their beloved factories as nothing more than scrap metal for sale.
An apocalyptic sound of roaring machines incessantly intrudes into the habitats of man and nature. Barren landscapes and deserted villages linger in hypnotic restlessness. A self-destructive system meets resistance.
Olive trees have been a key element of life for populations in Palestinian land for generations. Since the creation of the state of Israel, historical inhabitants and trees face the uproot of their lives and culture. This documentary shows popular struggles in occupied Cisjordan through the testimonies of Palestinian families and the activists that protect them during olive harvest.
Bill Nye and Ken Ham debate whether creation is a viable model of origins in today's modern scientific era.
A student's increasingly intimate line of questioning causes his interview with a local horror host to take a vulnerable turn.
Norman Mailer and a panel of feminists — Jacqueline Ceballos, Germaine Greer, Jill Johnston, and Diana Trilling — debate the issue of Women's Liberation.
In his lifetime, Thomas Merton was hailed as a prophet and censured for his outspoken social criticism. For nearly 27 years he was a monk of the austere Trappist order, where he became an eloquent spiritual writer and mystic as well as an anti-war advocate and witness to peace. Merton: A Film Biography provides the first comprehensive look at this remarkable 20th century religious philosopher who wrote, in addition to his immensely popular autobiography The Seven Storey Mountain, over 60 books on some of the most pressing social issues of our time, some of which are excerpted here. Merton offers an engaging profile of a man whose presence in the world touched millions of people and whose words and thoughts continue to have a profound impact and relevance today.