OUR TOP 10 LISTS

10. FIVE BROKEN CAMERAS

Emad Burnat, a Palestinian farmer living in the village of Bil'in—which famously chose nonviolent resistance against the Israeli army as they made a Jewish settlement—wants to document his family’s life. But as conflicts arise, and force is implemented, his innocence is lost with the breaking of each camera. Every conflict has two sides and infinite angles. Five should get the conversation going again.

Check out the film guide for FIVE BROKEN CAMERAS

Author: Paul Ohan

9. BIG BOYS GONE BANANAS!*

Story time. Swedish filmmakers make a documentary about Dole Food Company in 2009. Before it premieres in the festival circuit they are sued by Dole and must fight a well-funded PR machine to save their film and reputations. Directors Fredrik Gertten and Margarete Jangård fought back the only way they knew how, they made a documentary about the ordeal. Ha!

Check out the film guide for BIG BOYS GONE BANANAS

Author: Paul Ohan

8. CHASING ICE

How does one take a picture of global warming? The glaciers, naturally. Photographer James Balog’s ambitious Extreme Ice Survey is masterfully documented by Jeff Orlowski, with the help of 30 well placed cameras across three continents to gather proof positive that the earth is melting. We’d love to see how the non-believers in Washington are going to spin this.

Check out the film guide for COMPLIANCE

Author: Paul Ohan

7. WEST OF MEMPHIS

For many, the West Memphis Three are synonymous with wrongful conviction since being found guilty in 1994. Despite a lack of physical evidence against the three Arkansas teenagers found guilty of the ritual murder of three eight-year-old boys. It’s just a mar on our culture. Director Amy Berg examines the crime and its aftermath, providing a voice for the victims’ families and verdict dissenters as they seek the truth in the matter. It’s a tough one.

Check out the film guide for WEST OF MEMPHIS

Author: Paul Ohan

6. AI WEIWEI: NEVER SORRY

Ai Weiwei is known for many reasons: artist, architect, activist. But one thing he has never been in his career, since his return home to his native China, is sorry. Were it not for his international accreditation and for friends in high places Mr. Weiwei may have ended up another incarcerated political prisoner, silenced by an oppressive regime (is that politically correct?). Taking to twitter, using social media, along with art (the original social media) we’re given an extra dimension to a brave and witty man of the people.

Check out the film guide for AI WEIWEI: NEVER SORRY

Author: Paul Ohan

5. 1/2 REVOLUTION

2012 is looking like the film world’s Arab Spring. Directors Omar Shargawi and Karim El Hakim weave a story together of young friends living just down the street from Tahrir Square during Egypt’s revolution. Told through stolen handheld moments on simple video cameras, from the continually developing revolution, we’re given a visceral and humanizing peek into life on the ground.

Check out the film guide for 1/2 REVOLUTION

Author: Paul Ohan

4. A FIERCE GREEN FIRE

Break out your Birkenstocks, your clove cigarettes, Red Rocks bootlegs, and lave your cynicism behind. Inspired by New York Times environmental journalist, Philip Shabecoff’s work, we’re gifted with a stunning tapestry of five different stories that proves we are all, in the end, really connected. If hippy chic isn’t for you— please—keep your trendy clothing on, just change your minds.

Check out the film guide for A FIERCE GREEN FIRE

Author: Paul Ohan

3. WE'RE NOT BROKE

We're Not Broke explores how the government maybe (juts maybe) allowed the financial inequality between corporations, the one percent and the rest of us, to develop leading to the United States being on the grip of the worst economic recession since the Great Depression. Light is finally shed on the back dealings, pocket stuffing, and tax-loopholes that have contributed to the near annihilation of the middle class, in only one generation. Baby Boomers, we don’t mean to look at you, but…

Check out the film guide for WE'RE NOT BROKE

Author: Paul Ohan

2. THE HOUSE I LIVE IN

Eugene Jarecki turns his acute lens on the ephemeral war on drugs, and its repercussions: destruction of families, overcrowding of the penal system, and increased poverty on fringe communities. The irony to the equation is drugs are cheaper, purer, and more available today than ever. THE HOUSE I LIVE IN is an unflinching depiction the failure of America’s drug war, but one with the potential to effect change.

Check out the film guide for THE HOUSE I LIVE IN

Author: Paul Ohan

1. THE AMBASSADOR

You have got to love this. An enigmatic and decadent white diplomat arrives in central Africa, dark glasses, riding boots, and cigarette holder in tow. He recently bought an ambassadorship and claims to be a businessman spearheading a diplomatic mission to start a factory to employ the locals. Unofficially, he has come to gain access to the area’s vast reserves of diamonds. In this post-colonial economy, nearly everyone is out to rip off everyone else, and the dangers become all too real. Quelle gonzo…

Check out the film guide for THE AMBASSADOR

Author: Paul Ohan