Why We Vote

The Summer Help(en)

At their university in Eastern Europe, they are future bankers, journalists and politicians. In America, they are just “the help.” From Martha’s Vineyard to Myrtle Beach, thousands of international students descend upon summer resorts and tourist towns in the U.S. to clean hotel rooms, wash dishes and make pizza for Americans on vacation. Who are these students and what will they find when they get to the country of their dreams? Why do they work at two, three and sometimes four jobs for minimum wage? Is America what they thought it would be? In this documentary, we meet students from Bulgaria who dream about going to America to do the jobs that most American teenagers don’t want to do. What will they find when they get there and how will it change them? At a time of foreclosures and unemployment in the U.S., The Summer Help reminds us that America still represents hope and fulfills dreams for young people from around the world… even if it’s just for one summer.

Chicken Elections(sr)

Present day: a small village somewhere in rural Serbia. Reports on the upcoming parliamentary elections drone from the radio while a local traffic policeman tries to teach his old grandmother how to use a mobile phone. Glimpses of this old lady, who lives a lonely life on a remote farm, become the red thread running through the film with its snapshot-like portraits of everyday life in the tiny community. There’s the grocer’s shop the men visit to talk about money and politics. Or the postman who delivers on his moped the ballot papers for the forthcoming elections. The policeman who stops cars as he fancies. The school with a handful of children in the overlarge classroom. The pub in which something approaching merriment occasionally arises. And the recurrent visits to the old peasant woman: Her matter-of-fact inventory of aches and pains delivered to the local doctor, her worries about increasing thievery confided in the village priest.

Campaign Manager(en)

This brief portrait follows 28-year-old campaign manager John Grenier as he maps out strategies for Barry Goldwater’s 1964 presidential run and engineers a takeover of the Republican convention.

If These Halls Could Talk(en)

Eleven college students from different backgrounds participate in a retreat to discuss their experiences of race and racial prejudice. The circle is facilitated by Lee Mun Wah.

Milikᵘ tshishutshelimunuau(fr)

The journey of a young candidate running in the Pessamit community band council elections.

We The People 2.0(en)

American citizens who are normally marginalized, forgotten and left to fend against toxic dumps and other violations, come to understand that the only way to survive and save their communities is to challenge the system head-on.

Playboy: College Girls(en)

Year in, year out, Playboy magazine's college pictorials are a big hit. Now, for the first time ever, our course in collegiate beauty comes to video with some of the most beautiful student bodies in the nation.

President Trump: Tweets from the White House(en)

The engrossing one-hour special uses evocative archive and a cast of charismatic political experts and former members of Trump's administration, to unpick how, in just 140 characters, Twitter has changed the way political communication takes place in the US. It is the story of a social medium platform and the first social media president, which reveals how both Twitter and Trump have grown their brands at the same speed over the course of the last decade. Each tweet is a window into the context of our times, and the mind of Donald J. Trump. In chronological order, they take us on a journey into some of the most important stories, events and issues of the modern world - an election result that polarized a country, the first ever meeting of a US president with a North Korean leader, immigration, pandemics, race relations, impeachment, and the 2020 presidential race.

Wings Over Water(en)

Wings Over Water tells the fascinating story of naval aviation's critical role in making the U.S. a world power. Film highlights include archival footage of some of the most terrifying and intense airspace battles fought and the intriguing interviews of the veterans who took part in them. This is the story of naval aviation from its conception to the important role it played in battles fought, won, and lost, all the while examining American foreign policy, foreign relations, and long-simmering international conflict. An evocative, powerful, and informative documentary, Wings Over Water is the story behind the story: how and why America developed maritime aviation technology, what it meant to our past, and what it means to our future.

The Victory Squad(en)

A promotional film about the U.S. Republican party drafting volunteers on Election Day, encouraging their fellow party members to vote and helping them get to their polling place.

Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson(en)

Fueled by a raging libido, Wild Turkey, and superhuman doses of drugs, Thompson was a true "free lance, " goring sacred cows with impunity, hilarity, and a steel-eyed conviction for writing wrongs. Focusing on the good doctor's heyday, 1965 to 1975, the film includes clips of never-before-seen (nor heard) home movies, audiotapes, and passages from unpublished manuscripts.

Cured(en)

Mentally ill. Deviant. Diseased. And in need of a cure. These were among the terms psychiatrists used to describe gay women and men in the 1950s, 1960s, and early 1970s. And as long as they were “sick”, progress toward equality was impossible. This documentary chronicles the battle waged by a small group of activists who declared war against a formidable institution – and won a crucial victory in the modern movement for LGBTQIA+ equality.

Hacking at Leaves(en)

Hacking at Leaves documents artist and hazmat-suit aficionado Johannes Grenzfurthner as he attempts to come to terms with the United States' colonial past, Navajo tribal history, and the hacker movement. The story hones in on a small tinker space in Durango, Colorado, that made significant contributions to worldwide COVID relief efforts. But things go awry when Uncle Sam interferes with the film's production.

Represent(en)

In the heart of the American Midwest, three women take on entrenched political systems in their fight to reshape local politics on their own terms.

A Decent Home(en)

Mobile homes have long been an affordable option for people who struggle with the cost of other housing in the United States. But now the economy of mobile home parks is under threat as private equity firms are buying up properties and looking to squeeze more money out of mobile home owners. Filmmaker Sara Terry uses this backdrop to explore urgent class issues that resonate across America, and especially in the high-priced rental market of New York City.

Democracy at the limit? America's uncertain future(de)

Pauline Hanson: Please Explain!(en)

Director Anna Broinowski explores how Pauline Hanson's speech in 1996 and the decades of debate that followed has influenced Australia today; the impact of her political career on modern multicultural Australia, and the people who have helped her transition from local fish shop owner to Member for Oxley. Featuring many of Hanson's critics, opponents, advisors and commentators, from former Prime Minister John Howard, to current members of the media, including Margo Kingston and Alan Jones; and leading Indigenous commentator, Professor Marcia Langton.

America My Country(en)

A family’s trip across the United States from San Francisco to New York depicts America as a big and beautiful land of varied climates with rugged mountains, green forests, vast plains, rivers and lakes, ocean expanses, spacious farmland and huge cities. Famous places visited include the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone Park, Washington, D.C., the Old North Church in Boston, and Independence Hall in Philadelphia.

Under the Stars(fr)

Paying tribute to some of America's only surviving drive-ins – and those who keep them running – this heartfelt documentary captures efforts to preserve these nostalgic theaters in small-towns across the country.

America's Treasures(en)

From the desk on which Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence to Dorothy's ruby slippers, the National Museum of American History houses many of America's greatest treasures and icons. Learn the stories of how they came to be a part of the museum's collection, and meet the people who have restored some of these treasures.