Cultural Studies

The end of the Suharto regime ushered in an era of rapid sociopolitical upheaval in Indonesia. In this second installment of the Sun, Moon, Stars trilogy, filmmaker Leonard Retel Helmrich returns to the Sjamsuddin family to intimately capture the changes taking place in their country, including the troubling rise of Islamic fundamentalism.

Against a backdrop of social unrest that led to the ouster of Indonesia's long-time dictator President Suharto, The Eye of the Day begins filmmaker Leonard Retel Helmrich's award-winning trilogy Sun, Moon, Stars. It introduces us to an ordinary family living in the slums of Jakarta; a family Helmrich would return to and document for more than a decade.

For centuries, Marrakech's historic Djemaa el-Fna square has been home to the world's greatest storytellers; their craft even recognized by UNESCO as an "Intangible Heritage of Humanity." This wonderful documentary examines this age-old tradition and considers its place in the modern world.

Examining the history and cultural implications of one of the most popular websites in the world, Truth in Numbers? Everything According to Wikipedia provokes a deeper conversation on the power of new media, on how knowledge is collected, disseminated and controlled.

The incredible story of how a treasure trove of banned Soviet art worth millions of dollars was found in the desert of Uzbekistan develops into a larger exploration of how art survives in times of oppression. A fascinating documentary about a group of visionary artists and one man who risked his life to rescue their work.

Deep in the Amazon rainforest, three cities form a unique triple border between three South American countries: Brazil, Colombia and Peru. Beautifully photographed, Lands examines the impact of borders, commerce and urbanization on the lives of the local and indigenous population as well as the surrounding ecology.

An extraordinary and exquisite work of anthropology, directed by acclaimed filmmaker Rolf de Heer, Twelve Canoes paints a vivid portrait of the people, history, culture and place of the Yolngu people whose homeland is the Arafura Swamp of north-central Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory, Australia.

A fascinating documentary on the unique sexual culture of the Mosuo people, a small minority situated in the southwest of China, and one of the last remaining matriarchal societies in the world. The Fall of Womenland explores their history and present reality as well as the dangers that threaten their inherited way of life.

A behind-the-scenes look at the dangerous world of wartime news gathering, this incisive documentary tells the story of 24-year-old Ajmal Naqshbandi, a 'fixer' - someone hired by foreign journalists to gain access for their stories - who was kidnapped, along with an Italian reporter, by the Taliban in 2007.

In the background of the war in Iraq is an invisible army made up of more than 30,000 low-wage workers from South and Southeast Asia. Someone Else's War is the first documentary to investigate this new underclass created by American warfare and examine what it means to globalize the business of war.

An intimate and beautiful documentary that looks at what it's like to be gay in modern China, from the filmmakers of the Academy Award-winning documentary The Blood of Yingzhou District.

The educational version of the 2008 Academy Award® winner for Best Documentary Feature, Taxi to the Dark Side is the definitive investigation into the introduction of torture as an interrogation technique in U.S. facilities and the role played by key figures of the Bush Administration in the process.

On January 16, 2006, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf was inaugurated President of Liberia, the first elected female head of state in Africa. With unprecedented access, Iron Ladies of Liberia follows her historic first year in office.

What are the implications for democracy in Pakistan? Before his sudden resignation, President Musharraf agreed to discuss these issues over dinner at his official residence, the Army House. Supplemented by a diverse range of interviews, this documentary provides an important study of today's Pakistan.

From the director of the acclaimed Al-Jazeera documentary Control Room, this extremely prescient and insightful film shows how three women activists used digital cameras and a website to expose widespread fraud and violence in the country's last presidential elections - in which Mubarak won with 88.6% of the vote.

Over the past two decades India has experienced steady economic growth resulting in the rise of a new middle class. But what does it mean to actually live in the world's largest democracy? In Search of Gandhi seeks to discover the current and future state of democracy in India.

Is the small village of Durakovo - where residents unquestioningly obey a self-appointed leader - a microcosm of Russia today? For God, Tsar and the Fatherland deftly explores what drives the current strain of Russian patriotism, and why many of the country's citizens oppose Western-style democracy.

Che Guevara died in Bolivia while trying to ignite the sparks of revolution. Forty years later, the country's first indigenous President, Evo Morales, is promising to continue his work. This documentary takes a closer look at the successes and failures of Morales' 'revolution.'

Filmed across the Middle East, Bloody Cartoons looks at how and why 12 drawings in a Danish newspaper drew a small country into a confrontation with Muslims all over the world. Featuring interviews with key players, this documentary goes behind the controversy to investigate the roots of the crisis.

This is democracy - Japanese style. Campaign provides a startling insider's view of Japanese electoral politics in this portrait of a man plucked from obscurity by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) to run for a critical seat on a suburban city council.