Hi all, new decent documentaries are being produced in large numbers, with the ease now of obtaining film making equipment and doing it yourself. I just attended two this part week, done by "small folks" hoping to make an impact. I have in my possession about 35 films, maybe more and some of these are probably available for free, or a few bucks on Google, or perhaps You Tube. I want to get some of the ones I am aware of and have seen in many cases up this week under my Resource section. I have some there already.
At any rate, it is a fine short term personal mission for some of you to draw attention to these locally in your groups and encourage watching. Buy them if you have money and show them at church (yea sure, not easy to do), or wherever. I frequently attend films and lectures put on by Argusfest here in Denver. www.argusfest.org. Newer version of that website is being created that will have archived films, but I am not sure how soon. I have been attending Argusfest events for a bit over 2 years now. If you have the time and can raise some money, creating a similar venture would be a great mission. Jason, like so many lightworkers, gets a little dissapointed at times, he has been doing this since about 2000 or so, and has an email list of 2000 folks, yet only a few show up each week, maybe between 5 and 20 most of the time.
At any rate, in this little piece here I am copying some notice sent out in the Argusfest email today, about documentary films available this month by Starz theaters, which are some old theaters downtown that carry material mainstream theaters do not. I suspect many cites in the United States may have similar programs and that is why I am placing this here, to give let you know these movements are occurring and you may not even be aware of a few local organizations where you live. I suggest a lot of these films I have seen are available world wide, if you can find where to look.
The Border Wall
 The Border Wall is Wayne Ewing's uncompromising investigation into the potential repercussions of the Department of Homeland Security's proposal to erect 670 miles of fence that would divide private properties, communities, wildlife reserves-and lives.... more details
The Garden Scott Hamilton Kennedy's impassioned documentary focuses on a fourteen-acre community garden in South Central Los Angeles-and the pitched battle for its survival between a group of mostly immigrant farmers and the well-connected developer who's determined to raze it.... more details Microcosms These three documentary shorts explore the effects of global-relief efforts. Her Life is My Teacher explores one man's motivation and lifelong passion to improve the lives of women in southern India.; No Strings focuses on performances by puppetry troupes for children in war-torn areas; and Come Back to Sudan concerns the return of three young refugees to their homeland. more details
Obscene: A Portrait of Barney Rosset and Grove Press The battle over obscenity laws in the 1950s and 1960s is encapsulated by this profile of Barney Rosset-publisher of William S. Burroughs, Henry Miller, Malcolm X, and others-who took his free-speech crusades all the way to the Supreme Court in the name of art.... more details
Pray the Devil Back to Hell When warlord Charles Taylor became Liberia's president, a brutal civil war began that led to more than 250,000 deaths and the flight of a million. In the face of stalled peace talks, thousands of women staged protests-forcing a resolution many thought impossible.... more details
Prince of Broadway The life of an illegal immigrant from Ghana who hustles knockoff duds in New York City's wholesale district is turned upside down when a former girlfriend saddles him with a toddler she claims is his. Kinetic handheld camerawork captures the chaos.... more details
Slingshot Hip Hop As fast-paced as its name suggests, Slingshot Hip Hop offers an inside look at Palestinian hip hop-a genre born of frustration with the checkpoints, walls, and outbreaks of street violence that shape a new generation's daily life.... more details
Stop the Presses!  In their exhaustive, compelling report on the decline of the American newspaper in the postliteracy era, Manny Mendoza and Mark Birnbaum consider the concomitant rise of cable news and the blogosphere-and what it may mean for the future of democracy.... more details
Taking Root: The Vision of Wangari Maathai Nobel Prize winner Wangari Maathai went from reforesting the hills of her native Kenya to leading a political movement that would bring down a twenty-four-year dictatorship. This persuasive documentary weighs the dangers and triumphs of her mission.... more details
They Killed Sister Dorothy Via courtroom footage and shockingly candid interviews, Colorado-based filmmaker Daniel Junge (Iron Ladies of Liberia, SDFF 30) chronicles the search for justice following the execution of an activist nun in Brazil and its implications for the future of the rainforest.... more details
Thing with No Name Sarah Friedland's highly personal look at the tragic epidemic of AIDS in Africa focuses on two HIV-positive Zulu women in the starkly beautiful province of KwaZulu-Natal who acquire valuable antiretroviral drugs-only to experience mixed feelings and mixed results.... more details
The Third Wave In 2005, four young volunteers arrived in a Sri Lankan village devastated by the tsunami to help out for two weeks. But as they came to know the locals and the extent of their troubles, they committed instead to a year-long rescue mission, captured in this documentary.... more details
Torn from the Flag Featuring stunning archival footage and powerful interviews with key players from both sides of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, Torn from the Flag vividly recaptures a pivotal moment in world history.... more details
Waltz with Bashir Shot first on video, then recast in haunting animation, Israeli military vet Ari Folman's documentary unfolds as an exorcistic dreamscape in which his old buddies from the 1982 war with Lebanon grapple with posttraumatic stress disorder.... more details
War Child First-time director C. Karim Chrobog documents the life story of Sudanese hip-hop artist Emmanuel Jal, once a child soldier who carried an AK-47 at age seven. Now he raps about the horrors of his war-torn homeland, pleading for peace.... more details Not really ArgusFest related, I just love Wesley Willis!
Wesley Willis's Joyrides Chicago street artist, cult musician, and chronic schizophrenic Wesley Willis survived a violent childhood to devote his much-too-short life to the creative process. Documentarians Chris Bagley and Kim Shively chronicle his improbable rise to fame.... more details
Witch Hunt From Emmy award-winning documentarians Don Hardy and Dana Nachman comes Witch Hunt-a gripping, Kafkaesque, and true account of the breakdown of the American legal system during a high-profile child molestation trial in 1980s California... more details
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