Dawn Mikkelson’s Risking Light is a meditation on forgiveness, layered with a theme that is rarely seen on the screen—forgiving the unforgivable. Five years prior to making the film, Mikkelson met Mary Johnson and O’Shea Israel, a meeting she describes as a life-changing event that would lead to the development of Risking Light. It was then she learned that Johnson had chosen to forgive Israel for the murder of her son, which motivates the tone of humanistic mission in the film.
Herself
Herself
Himself
Himself
A short experimental documentary film about a teenager who suffers from mental health issues as a result of childhood bullying.
This film tells the stories of three British soldiers who died last year following lengthy battles with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). John Paul Finnigan from Liverpool, Kevin Williams from London, and Kevin Holt from Doncaster were in the same regiment, 2-Rifles, which served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Through personal videos, voice notes, interviews and letters, this film reveals the private battle these men fought with their mental health. While candid conversations with soldiers’ friends and families, document how their illnesses affected those around them.
Since the renewed Intifada began in 2000, there have been over 75 Palestinian suicide bombings. This is the story of 0ne-the bombing of bus 32 in Jerusalem in June 2002. The film connects the stories of a group of ordinary Israelis-Jews and Arabs. Each of them holds a clue to someone who died that day.
Scott Castle served in the U.S. Marine Corps for four years. While assigned to 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division he served three combat tours in Iraq, including the First and Second Battles of Fallujah.
Julie Mendez was a 17 year old teenager when she saw the "be all that you can be" Army recruiting messaging and decided to enlist. Her life would change forever when she was deployed to serve in the Iraq War. Her experiences changed her and she returned home to face feelings of isolation and depression. Always a creative person, Julie turned to art to help her process her experiences and begin to heal her PTSD.
Bobby served in the United States Army for 10 years in a Criminal Investigation Division (CID) unit. During that time, he was deployed once to Iraq in September 2006, where he developed PTSD.
"The Jock: a Montford Point Marine" unveils the harrowing yet inspiring journey of an American Marine from the segregated boot camp of Montford Point, North Carolina. Raised on the tough streets of Philadelphia, Dave Culmer is drawn to the Marines, enchanted by the impeccable attire and imposing stature of a local Marine. After being dismissed from high school, he finds his path leading him not to the widely known Parris Island boot camp, but to the lesser-known Montford Point. His path to becoming a Marine is fraught with discrimination and grueling trials that push him to his physical and mental limits. Amid the struggle, he learns resilience, embodying the relentless spirit of Montford Point that drove these men to exceed expectations set by a society that predicted their failure.
Jeffrey Ferguson has been on death row for 26 years. Now he has just one hour left before he is put to death. Would you forgive the man who killed your daughter?
The worlds of a former neo-Nazi and the gay victim of his senseless hate crime attack collide by chance 25 years after the incident that dramatically shaped both of their lives. They proceed to embark on a journey of forgiveness that challenges both to grapple with their beliefs and fears, eventually leading to an improbable collaboration...and friendship.
Over the years, Raul Ries, a military veteran (US Marine Corps) has reached out to those who are serving or have served in our armed forces. He has spoken to countless men and women from various theaters of military conflict, after their return home. In 2006, 40 years after fighting in the jungles of Vietnam, Ries experienced flashbacks for the first time. Subsequently, he found three of the men closest to him, who fought alongside of him in the Marine Corps unit ALPHA 1/7, and have suffered the consequences. Together again, they are taking the hill and finding healing.
In Iraq 2003 Corporal Martin Webster filmed fellow soldiers beating Iraqi youths during rioting in Al Amara. Two years later, a British newspaper obtained his footage. The story that ran led to outrage across the world.
It is hard to find a family home where all the members have gone to live their separate lives in different parts of the world. Travelling between different continents, the director visits divorced parents and their new partners and also meets her sister who decided to join an alternative community. Their family exists on archival films and photographs only. Is it still possible to put it all together against all odds?
Follow filmmaker Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers as she creates an intimate portrait of her community and the impacts of the substance use and overdose epidemic. Witness the change brought by community members with substance-use disorder, first responders and medical professionals as they strive for harm reduction in the Kainai First Nation.
About young Soviet men who fought in Afghanistan and are trying to find their place in a peaceful life. They share their experience with older WWII veterans, talk about their post-war traumas and what they think now about violence. At the moment there are almost 2 years left before Soviet troops withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Story of psychological pressure which former Soviet Afghan soldiers have to deal with in peaceful life. Through the story of Ruslan we are shown how public indifference often leads to drug usage.
OBAIDA, a short film by Matthew Cassel, explores a Palestinian child’s experience of Israeli military arrest. Each year, some 700 Palestinian children undergo military detention in a system where ill-treatment is widespread and institutionalized. For these young detainees, few rights are guaranteed, even on paper. After release, the experience of detention continues to shape and mark former child prisoners’ path forward.
After marrying a settler, Mary Two-Axe Earley lost her legal status as a First Nations woman. Dedicating her life to activism, she campaigned to have First Nations women's rights restored and coordinated a movement that continues to this day. Kahnawake filmmaker Courtney Montour honours this inspiring leader while drawing attention to contemporary injustices that remain in this era of truth and reconciliation.
Colebrook Blackwood Reconciliation Park is where the Colebrook Training Home once stood. It is now a permanent memorial for the Aboriginal children of the “Stolen Generation” and their families.
Dramatic and deeply personal film about the psychological impact of killing on the lives of five soldiers. Representing a cross section of nationalities, gender, class and race, these soldiers reveal intimate memories about the central act of war, the killing of another human being. How do these individuals make sense of what they have done? What happens when time challenges their carefully constructed stories? Consciously apolitical but deeply psychological, Hidden Battles examines the strength and struggles of men and women who kill and how they create a life for themselves afterward.