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System Update isn’t just a film—it’s a rallying call for a better future. This film shows how radical shifts in political, economic, and social systems can protect people from climate change. After all, the majority of people across the globe want the changes needed, as UN data has shown. System Update offers insights, new ideas, and inspiration for action. Watch now and be part of this global movement. Our societies need to be updated just like you would update your computer.

A Simpler Way follows a community in Australia who came together to explore and demonstrate a simpler way to live in response to global crises. Throughout the year the group built tiny houses, planted veggie gardens, practised simple living, and learned how to live in community. Download the film at happenfilms.

Five years in the making, this hour-long film documents the uprising that swept Chile from October 2019 to March 2020, showing how everyday people sustained six months of rebellion by creating extensive networks of self-determination and mutual aid. This is an inspiring portrayal of the tactics that gave demonstrators control of the streets, the organizing strategies that enabled the movement to act effectively while remaining leaderless, and the importance of time and space...

When lawmakers seek to review a list of books, librarians find themselves on the frontlines of a national battle. Across the U.S., librarians face the impact of uniting against library collection standards that include restrictions on race-related and LGBTQIA+ content. Drawing on historical context, The Librarians, directed by Kim A. Snyder, explores the broader implications for education and public life.

From cave paintings to virtual reality, Beware of Images embarks on a fascinating journey through the history of mediated representation. This is the history of media you will never find on TV.Thanks to the filmmaker, Beware of Images has been released for free, in the spirit of the gift!

Advertising & the End of the World features an illustrated presentation by Sut Jhally of the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Making the connection between society's high-consumption lifestyle and the coming environmental crisis, Jhally forces us to evaluate the physical and material costs of our consumer society.

Money & Life is a passionate and inspirational essay-style documentary that asks a provocative question: can we see the economic crisis not as a disaster, but as a tremendous opportunity? This cinematic odyssey connects the dots on our current economic pains and offers a new story of money based on an emerging paradigm of planetary well-being that understands all of life as profoundly interconnected.

In the face of widespread ecological destruction, social injustice, economic deprivation, there are powerful countercurrents. 'Ordinary' people in several parts of India are resisting the disruption of their lives by constructing alternatives in the form of sustainable farming, community-led ecotourism and conservation, revival of crafts, activity-based learning, decentralized water harvesting, local governance and direct democracy.

Straddling a line between documentary and science fiction, Werner Herzog's Lektionen in Finsternis is an epic visual poem set in the burning oil fields of Kuwait following the 1990-1991 Persian Gulf War. Herzog, as much a daredevil as a documentarian, took his small crew in a helicopter and, floating above the fields, photographed jaw-dropping footage of the blazing, blackened landscape.

This 1Dime documentary is about the history and evolution of US Democracy, based on the political theory of Sheldon Wolin and his book “Democracy Incorporated: Managed Democracy and the Specter of Inverted Totalitarianism” and the Expanded Edition of his book “Politics and Vision: Continuity and Innovation in Western Political Thought.

We live in a time of great uncertainty and confusion. Events keep happening that seem inexplicable and out of control. Donald Trump, Brexit, the War in Syria, the endless migrant crisis, random bomb attacks. And those who are supposed to be in power are paralysed - they have no idea what to do. This film by Adam Curtis is the epic story of how we got to this strange place.

When Black neighborhoods in scores of cities erupted in violence during the summer of 1967, President Lyndon Johnson appointed the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders — informally known as the Kerner Commission — to answer three questions: What happened? Why did it happen? And what could be done to prevent it from happening again?

This debut feature film by journalist Abby Martin is a documentary about the historic nonviolent Great March Of Return protests, which occurred every week from March 2018 until December 2019, but covers so much more. It tells the story of Gaza past and present, showing rare archival footage that explains the history never acknowledged by mass media.

Carne Ross was a government highflyer. A career diplomat who believed Western Democracy could save us all. But working inside the system he came to see its failures, deceits and ulterior motives. He felt at first hand the corruption of power. After the Iraq war Carne became disillusioned, quit his job and started searching for answers.

When two young American Jews raised to unconditionally love Israel witness the brutal way Israel treats Palestinians, their lives take sharp left turns. They join a movement of young American Jews battling the old guard to redefine Judaism’s relationship with Israel, revealing a deepening generational divide over modern Jewish identity.

THE ENCAMPMENTS follows student organizers at elite universities, including the recently detained Mahmoud Khalil, as they take a historic stand against their institutions’ investments in the Gaza genocide. While originally scheduled for later release, we have chosen to bring it to audiences early with the blessing of those featured, driven by the urgent need to challenge the misinformation surrounding Mahmoud, the student movement, and all who feel the moral duty to stand against genocide.

With little hope of the genocide in Gaza subsiding, dock workers in major Italian port cities have organized strikes and large demonstrations to halt arms shipments to Israel. These actions are a direct response to the refusal of international institutions and governments around the world to confront the carnage. Though the genocide continues, the dockworkers’ industrial disruption offer us a model of resistance. Will the Italian way spread to the imperial core — and can it end the genocide?

"One of the best things you'll (n)ever see." Separated Interbeings is a film collage of our diverse and complex world caught on camera, creatively put together to open deeper perspectives and insights on the world we live in. It is a 34-part series, separated into two volumes. Watch Volume 2 (parts 19-34) here.

This stunning film takes you on a hypnotic journey, reaching to the past to understand the origins of the catastrophic environmental transitions we now face. Over two years, director Matt Anderson traveled 16,000 miles to document firsthand our modern industrial world and the environmental destruction in its wake. In the process, he discovered exciting strategies to help humanity transcend the coming ecological and psychological crisis.

For the first time in history, mental illness and suicide have become one of the greatest threats to school-aged children. Many parents still view dangers as primarily physical and external, but they’re missing the real danger: kids spending more time online and less time engaging in real life, free play, and autonomy. What are the effects on the next generation's mental, physical, and spiritual health?

This documentary is a bold celebration of remix culture — making the case that true creativity doesn’t come from thin air, but from reimagining what already exists. It’s not about being original. It’s about being transformative. Part 1: The Remix Has Always Been With Us The film kicks off with an energetic tour through the remix world we live in — from viral memes to genre-bending music.

In this Emmy-winning documentary, acclaimed Muslim filmmaker Deeyah Khan meets U.S. neo-Nazis and white nationalists including Richard Spencer face to face and attends the now-infamous Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville as she seeks to understand the personal and political motivations behind the resurgence of far-right extremism in the U.S.

Lawns are undeniably an American symbol. But what do they really symbolize? Pride and prosperity? Or waste and conformity? Gimme Green is a humorous look at the American obsession with the residential lawn and the effects it has on our environment, our wallets and our outlook on life. From the limitless subdivisions of Florida to sod farms in the arid southwest, Gimme Green peers behind the curtain of the $40-billion industry that fuels our nation's largest irrigated crop-the lawn.

Who Rules America? takes a comprehensive look into the governing system of the United States of America and reveals the behind-the-scene powers that rule the nation. There are two Americas; one in which people have freedom in choosing their leaders within the framework of the constitution living in the land of the free, and another, wherein all is dedicated to the ruling 1% and within which a hidden network of power governs including the media, Wall Street , the Military and Corporati...

When Rachel Carson’s "Silent Spring" was published in 1962, the book became a phenomenon. A passionate and eloquent warning about the long-term dangers of pesticides, the book unleashed an extraordinary national debate and was greeted by vigorous attacks from the chemical industry. But it would also inspire President John F.

Do you shape the world or does it shape you? Drawing on leading thinkers from around the world, and with a torrent of mind-expanding ideas and information, THE LOTTERY OF BIRTH will make you think again about what it means to be free. Starring: Kathleen Taylor, Nicholas Woodeson, George Monbiot, Howard Zinn, Jeff Schmidt, Michael Albert, Bill Fletcher Jr.

The Crisis of Civilization investigates how global crises like ecological disasters, financial meltdowns, dwindling oil reserves, terrorism, and food shortages are converging symptoms of a single, failed global system. Weaving together archival film footage and animations, film-maker Dean Puckett, animator Lucca Benney and international security analyst Dr. Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed, offer a stunning wake-up call proving that 'another world' is not merely possible, but on its way.

Brave New Films exposes Wal-Mart's unscrupulous business practices through interviews with former employees, small business owners, and footage of Walmart executives. (2:22) - How Walmart Destroys Communities - Whether it's a family rum hardware store or a small eye glass store, when Walmart opens in small towns like Middlefield, Ohio long established, independently run stores are hurt. The Hunter family open H&H Hardware in 1962.

AFFLUENZA diagnoses a serious social disease - caused by consumerism, commercialism and rampant materialism - that is having a devastating impact on our families, communities, and the environment. We have more stuff, but less time, and our quality of life seems to be deteriorating. With the help of historians and humorous archival film, AFFLUENZA reveals the forces that have dramatically transformed us from a nation that prized thriftiness - with strong beliefs in "plain livi...

Join acclaimed director Velcrow Ripper on a journey deep inside the global revolution of the heart that is erupting around the planet. Occupy Love explores the growing realization that the dominant system of power is failing to provide us with health, happiness or meaning. The old paradigm that concentrates wealth, founded on the greed of the few, is causing economic and ecological collapse.

If you wanted to change an ancient culture in a generation, how would you do it? You would change the way it educates its children. The U.S. Government knew this in the 19th century when it forced Native American children into government boarding schools. Today, volunteers build schools in traditional societies around the world, convinced that school is the only way to a 'better' life for indigenous children. But is this true?

The Stars at Night is a journey of young filmmakers, experts, artists and writers to the darkest skies around the world in a quest to re-discover the connection human storytelling has with the stars. The film explores a deeper connection to the disappearing night sky by looking at the roots of storytelling, and ancient people’s need to explain their cosmology through story.

Economic globalization has led to a massive expansion in the scale and power of big business and banking. It has also worsened nearly every problem we face: fundamentalism and ethnic conflict; climate chaos and species extinction; financial instability and unemployment. There are personal costs too. For the majority of people on the planet life is becoming increasingly stressful. We have less time for friends and family and we face mounting pressures at work.

Oscar-nominated filmmaker Raoul Peck (I Am Not Your Negro) takes a deep dive into the writing of George Orwell (1984) to explore its potent relevancy to our current times.

Revolution or Death is a three-part collaboration between Peter Gelderloos and subMedia. Part 1, 'Short Term Investments,’ examines the official response to the climate crisis and how it's failing. In Part 2, ‘Heads Up, the Revolution is Already Here’ we talk with movements around the globe that provide inspiring examples of what realistic, effective responses look like.

The Century of the Self tells the untold and sometimes controversial story of the growth of the mass-consumer society. How was the all-consuming self created, by whom, and in whose interests? (Includes all parts of this multi-part series.

A powerful and timely investigation into the media’s role in war, tracing the history of embedded and independent reporting from the carnage of World War One to the destruction of Hiroshima, and from the invasion of Vietnam to Afghanistan and the disaster in Iraq. As weapons and propaganda become even more sophisticated, the nature of war is developing into an electronic battlefield in which journalists play a key role, and civilians are the victims.

Not Business As Usual is a provocative look at capitalism and its unintended price of success. The film tracks the changing landscape of business with the rising tide of conscious capitalism through the stories of local entrepreneurs who have found innovative ways to bring humanity back into business.

The Corporation is today's dominant institution, creating great wealth but also great harm. This 26 award-winning documentary examines the nature, evolution, impacts and future of the modern business corporation and the increasing role it plays in society and our everyday lives.

What if, in the midst of global uncertainty and ecological distress, we chose to focus our attention on the ways people come together—across cultures and continents—to care for life’s most essential gift? "Water is Love" embodies this hope. Rooted in the power of shared humanity and the wisdom that emerges from community, this film shifts the narrative from despair to possibility, spotlighting tangible solutions and responses to the climate crisis.

The Power of Nightmares is a BBC documentary 3-part film series. The films compare the rise of the Neo-Conservative movement in the United States and the radical Islamist movement, making comparisons on their origins and claiming similarities between the two.

Feeding Ourselves weaves intimate stories from the hopes and convictions of rural BC farmers and producers as they navigate undercurrents of uncertainty with our food system. Their commitment to local food culture inspires us to appreciate the significance and potential of feeding ourselves. For a limited time, the filmmakers have generously made the film available for free, in the spirit of the gift!

A Quest for Meaning is an inspiring journey that connects personal growth and social change. It tells the story of two friends, Marc and Nathanael, who leave everything behind to go question the workings of the world and look for alternative ways of thinking and living. Produced and distributed with the help of thousands of citizens around the globe, this uplifting, life-changing journey renews our confidence in our capacity to bring about change, within ourselves and within society.

The story of how a mining town recovered from its legacy of pollution and prospered by building community around the battle to save their beautiful river. Born in the California Gold Rush, Nevada City was once the scene of some of the most destructive environmental practices on earth. By the 1960s, the town was a backwater, its extractive industries dying. Then it was discovered by the "back to the land movement.

What does Superman tell us about the ethics of closed borders? Superman was created in 1938 by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, two sons of Jewish immigrants, and his origin story is fundamentally a refugee narrative: a child launched from a dying world, taken in by strangers, raised as one of their own. That parallel has always been there, but it takes on a sharper edge when set against actual history.

The Epstein files coverup. The environmental toxicity crisis. The cost of life crisis. Permanent war. Masked stormtroopers. Corrupt politics. One global crime syndicate. A crime so big you can't see it. Or the billionaires who run it. Learn the tools. Take back our economy. Take back our future. Let’s get to work.

In Uganda’s 2021 presidential election, music star, activist and opposition leader Bobi Wine, together with his wife, rallies his people in a dangerous fight for freedom from President Museveni’s oppressive 35-year regime.

As a wave of anti-boycott legislation has swept through the country, so has a counter-wave in defense of freedom of speech. Everyday Americans are challenging these laws for their constitutionality in a nation-wide battle likely to go all the way to the Supreme Court.[This film has been made available for free via the filmmakers, Just Vision. Their work relies on the generosity of people like you.

“This beautiful film is the perfect antidote to the cynical narrative that says people are inherently selfish... This film will melt your heart. Guaranteed.” – Rob Hopkins, author; co-founder Transition Network Together We Grow is a 40-minute documentary telling the story of Common Unity. Introducing a thriving hub helping to build resilience into its local community by growing, sewing, repairing, sharing – you name it, Common Unity is doing it!

In his final long-form documentary interview - filmed over four years - Chomsky unpacks the principles that have brought us to the crossroads of historically unprecedented inequality. Tracing a half-century of policies designed to favor the most wealthy at the expense of the majority, Chomsky lays bare the costly debris left in its wake: the evisceration of the American worker, disappearance of the living wage, collapse of the dream of home ownership, skyrocketing higher education costs placi...

Fourteen years after his first visit and 2011 film The Ultra Zionists, Louis Theroux meets some of the growing community of religious-nationalist Israelis who have settled in the West Bank. Louis Theroux spends time with the growing community of Israeli religious-nationalist settlers.

The Corporation (2003) examined an institution within society; The New Corporation reveals a world now fully remade in the corporation's image, perilously close to losing democracy.

The Commons is a documentary film about communities re-asserting sustainable futures using consensus, equity and shared resources – ancient Commons principles. The film explores increasing privatization and destruction of commons, primarily in the United States. It also shows how many activists are re-taking commons, re-establishing communities controlling their own commons: maker spaces, land trusts, cooperatives, local food production and distribution, shared housing, free...

This epic four hour doumentary explores the "ingredients" that contributed to the rise of fascism, focusing on Germany and Italy. It argues that fascism wasn't a simple anomaly but emerged from a complex mix of historical, social, and psychological factors. Key ingredients discussed include: Spiritualizing Violence: The glorification of war and struggle, as exemplified by Ernst Junger's writings on World War I (0:47).

Purpose asks the central question of our time: What is the purpose of our economies — and how can we change them? Director Martin Oetting follows two visionaries, Katherine Trebeck (founder of the Wellbeing Economy Governments alliance) and Lorenzo Fioramonti (who rises from alliance supporter to Italian Minister), as they work to shift our economic systems away from endless GDP growth and toward wellbeing...

“Once in a while a film comes along that has profound impact – this is a delicious taste of what can be.” - Polly Higgins “ A stunning and sensitive journey into ecology, humanity and spirituality.” - The Cube Cinema, Bristol. Wetheuncivilised is now offered for free, in the spirit of the gift! If you'd like to show your thanks, you can buy the film on this page.

Humanity is more than ever threatened by its own actions; we hear a lot about the need to minimize footprints and to reduce our impact. But what if our footprints were beneficial? What if we could meet human needs while increasing the health and well-being of our planet? This is the premise behind permaculture: a design process based on the replication of patterns found in nature.

Michael Moore’s Capitalism: A Love Story comes home to the issue he’s been examining throughout his career: the disastrous impact of corporate dominance on the everyday lives of Americans (and by default, the rest of the world). But this time the culprit is much bigger than General Motors, and the crime scene far wider than Flint, Michigan.

Critics have called this original Zeteo documentary a ‘gut-punching’, ‘extraordinary investigation’ that you must watch to truly ‘see Israel’. ‘Israel’s Reel Extremism’ is an on-the-ground examination of Israel and its society after many months of war, seen initially through the prism of viral social media posts from Gaza - and exclusive interviews with the soldiers behind them.

Leaving behind their cosmopolitan life, a couple and their three young children travel the ends of the earth searching for a new perspective on life. In their five-year journey across six continents, they live with some of the oldest indigenous communities on the planet. From the banks of Lake Superior in Michigan to the heart of the Amazon, from the Australian outback to the Kalahari Dessert, from the Andes to the jungles of India, they gain access to tribal sages never filmed or interviewed...

What happened to Dad? As filmmaker, Jen Senko, tries to understand the transformation of her father from a non political, life-long Democrat to an angry, right-wing fanatic, she uncovers the forces behind the media that changed him completely: a plan by Roger Ailes under Nixon for a media takeover by the GOP, The Powell Memo urging business leaders to influence institutions of public opinion -especially the universities, the media and the courts, and under Reagan, the dismantling of the Fairn...

Tawai is a word the nomadic hunter-gatherers of Borneo use to describe the connection they feel to their forest home. In this dreamy, philosophical and sociological look at life, Bruce Parry (of the BBC's Tribe, Amazon & Arctic) embarks on an immersive odyssey to explore the different ways that humans relate to nature and how this influences the way we create our societies.

We the People 2.0 describes the growing people’s revolt against destructive corporate activities in the US to stop toxic dumps, mines, drilling, etc. Communities are seizing back the right to say no through local lawmaking, outlawing oligarchy. The story unfolds through the eyes of rural people who have faced decades of toxic dumps, drilling and mines in their communities.

The words "health care" and "comedy" aren't usually found in the same sentence, but in Academy Award winning filmmaker Michael Moore's new movie 'SiCKO,' they go together hand in (rubber) glove. The film weighs the plight of the uninsured (and the insured who must deal with abuse from insurance companies) against the record-breaking profits of the pharmaceutical industry.

This film presents an optimistic alternative to apocalyptic doom and gloom. Directed by Emmy Award nominee João Amorim, the film follows journalist Daniel Pinchbeck, author of the bestselling 2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl, on a quest for a new paradigm that integrates the archaic wisdom of tribal cultures with the scientific method. As conscious agents of evolution, we can redesign post-industrial society on ecological principles to make a world that works for all.

""A masterpiece! By far the most inspiring economics film I have ever seen. This film is a gift to humanity. Everyone should watch it." - Prof. Jason Hickel"An intrepid group of economists is on a mission to flip our understanding of the national debt upside down. FINDING THE MONEY follows economist Stephanie Kelton on a journey through Modern Money Theory or “MMT”.

Revolution: Food is all about the positive changes taking root in our modern food system. It focuses on real farmers who are growing, raising real food and the consumers who are demanding it.

A film on Climate Change, Degrowth and System Change. The effects and risks of climate change are compelling young people the world round to call upon radical system change as the only solution to avoid a catastrophic collapse. This film studies the role economic growth has had in bringing about this crisis, and explores the alternatives to it, offering a vision of hope for the future and a better life for all within planetary boundaries.

Do you ever feel like we're swimming in an ocean of bullshit? This ground-breaking and viral 50-part series from John Vervaeke seeks to understand why this is so, and answer the question: what can we do about it? We are in the midst of a mental health crisis. There are increases in anxiety disorders, depression, despair, and suicide rates are going up in North America, parts of Europe, and other parts of the world.