Karaoğlan: Strawberry Blossom (2003)

Primary

Primary is a documentary film about the primary elections between John F. Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey in 1960. Primary is the first documentary to use light equipment in order to follow their subjects in a more intimate filmmaking style. This unconventional way of filming created a new look for documentary films where the camera’s lens was right in the middle of what ever drama was occurring. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with The Film Foundation in 1998.

Joshua: Teenager vs. Superpower

When the Chinese Communist Party backtracks on its promise of autonomy to Hong Kong, teenager Joshua Wong decides to save his city. Rallying thousands of kids to skip school and occupy the streets, Joshua becomes an unlikely leader in Hong Kong and one of China’s most notorious dissidents.

Once Upon a Time in Venezuela

Once upon a time, the Venezuelan village of Congo Mirador was prosperous, alive with fisherman and poets. Now it is decaying and disintegrating—a small but prophetic reflection of Venezuela itself.

Blue

A thorough look at the 90's Turkish rock scene, one legendary stage band and its two members: Kerim Capli and Yavuz Cetin... An inquiry of their existential battles with the society, the industry and their own minds.

Gallipoli

As World War I rages, brave and youthful Australians Archy and Frank—both agile runners—become friends and enlist in the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps together. They later find themselves part of the Dardanelles Campaign on the Gallipoli peninsula, a brutal eight-month conflict which pit the British and their allies against the Ottoman Empire and left over 500,000 men dead.

The Corporation

Since the late 18th century American legal decision that the business corporation organizational model is legally a person, it has become a dominant economic, political and social force around the globe. This film takes an in-depth psychological examination of the organization model through various case studies. What the study illustrates is that in the its behaviour, this type of "person" typically acts like a dangerously destructive psychopath without conscience. Furthermore, we see the profound threat this psychopath has for our world and our future, but also how the people with courage, intelligence and determination can do to stop it.

Ararat

Interrogated by a customs officer, a young man recounts how his life was changed during the making of a film about the Armenian genocide.

God & Country: The Rise of Christian Nationalism

Examines the implications of Christian Nationalism, how it distorts not only our constitutional republic, but Christianity itself, and asks the question: What happens when a faith built on love, sacrifice, and forgiveness grows political tentacles, conflating power, money, and belief into hyper-nationalism?

Ms. President

A time-lapse documentary about Zuzana Čaputová's tenure as President follows her political work, personal dilemmas and the difficult challenges facing Slovak society.

Meeting Snowden

Moscow, Russia, December 2016. Edward Snowden, Larry Lessig and Birgitta Jónsdóttir meet for the first time in a secret place. Apparently, Russia is interfering in the US presidential elections while it mourns the death of its ambassador to Turkey. Snowden carefully chooses his interviews, so nobody really knows something about him. As the world prepares for Christmas, they gather to discuss the only issue that matters, their common struggle: how to save democracy.

120

During the Sarikamis Battle, the Ottoman army runs out of ammunition and appeals to the people of Van for help, who happen to have supplies. However, the First World War is on and all men are fighting at four corners of the empire and therefore can not respond to to the appeal. The young children of Van want to do something...

The Lark Farm

The Lark Farm is set in a small Turkish town in 1915. It deals with the genocide of Armenians, looking closely at the fortunes, or rather, misfortunes of one wealthy Armenian family.

A Taxi Driver

May, 1980. Man-seob is a taxi driver in Seoul who lives from hand to mouth, raising his young daughter alone. One day, he hears that there is a foreigner who will pay big money for a drive down to Gwangju city. Not knowing that he’s a German journalist with a hidden agenda, Man-seob takes the job.

1987: When the Day Comes

In 1987 Korea, under an oppressive military regime, a college student gets killed during a police interrogation involving torture. Government of officials are quick to cover up the death and order the body to be cremated. A prosecutor who is supposed to sign the cremation release, raises questions about a 21-year-old kid dying of a heart attack, and he begins looking into the case for truth. Despite a systematic attempt to silence everyone involved in the case, the truth gets out, causing an eruption of public outrage.

Girls State

What would American democracy look like in the hands of teenage girls? In this documentary, young female leaders from wildly different backgrounds in Missouri navigate an immersive experiment to build a government from the ground up.

Architects of Denial

Though both the historical and modern-day persecution of Armenians and other Christians is relatively uncovered in the mainstream media and not on the radar of many average Americans, it is a subject that has gotten far more attention in recent years.

From Atatürk to Erdoğan: Building a Nation

Turkey's history has been shaped by two major political figures: Mustafa Kemal (1881-1934), known as Atatürk, the Father of the Turks, founder of the modern state, and the current president Recep Tayyıp Erdoğan, who apparently wants Turkey to regain the political and military pre-eminence it had as an empire under the Ottoman dynasty.

Reality Winner

A state of secrets and a ruthless hunt for whistleblowers – this is the story of 25-year-old Reality Winner who disclosed a document about Russian election interference to the media and became the number one leak target of the Trump administration.

Keşif

Esma, Berk and Hasan are three people who try to escape the troubles of life with the help of a video game called Discovery. These three young people is sucked into the game in a mystical way. They find themselves in the battle of Gallipoli.

When a City Rises

Behind the gas masks of Hong Kong’s democracy movement, the often very young activists are just as diverse as the youths of the rest of the world. But they share a demand for democracy and freedom. They have the will and the courage to fight – and they can see that things are going in the wrong direction in the small island city, which officially has autonomy under China but is now tightening its grip and demanding that ‘troublemakers’ be put away or silenced. Amid the violent protests, we meet a 21-year-old student, a teenage couple and a new father.

The Last Apostle: Journies in the Holy Land

Dr. Mark Fairchild, world-renowned archaeologist, traces the hidden years of Saint Paul's life in the mountainous Turkish countryside of Rough Cilicia.

South of the Border

A road trip across five countries to explore the social and political movements as well as the mainstream media's misperception of South America while interviewing seven of its elected presidents.

Candlelight Revolution

“What kind of person do you think former President Park Geunhye is?” Sohn Seokhee, a journalist, gives a clear and sharp answer that he “shares the common ideas that people in our country have.” That common idea has led millions to bring candles to the streets, correcting a thread of history that has gone awry, and gather a sense of hope among people. Candlelight Revolution portrays the voices of citizens from various generations, political figures of different parties, and the witnesses of an administration under improper influence. It is a documentary that identifies the genuine structure of politics and society by following how Park entered politics along with government records up until March 10.

The Battle of Canakkale

Pilot Captain Salih Ekrem is a young air officer and one of the first Ottoman pilots.

Requiem for the American Dream

Through interviews filmed over four years, Noam 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 – while also looking back on his own life of activism and political participation. He provides penetrating insight into what may well be the lasting legacy of our time – the death of the middle class, and swan song of functioning democracy.

The Armenian Genocide

Explores the Ottoman Empire killings of more than one million Armenians during World War I. The film describes not only what happened before, during and since World War I, but also takes a direct look at the genocide denial maintained by Turkey to the present day.

Remake, Remix, Rip-Off: About Copy Culture & Turkish Pop Cinema

Turkey in the 1960s and 1970s was one of the biggest producers of film in the world. In order to keep up with the demand, screenwriters and directors were copying scripts and remaking movies from all over the world. This documentary visits the fastest working directors, the most practical cameramen and the most hardheaded actors to have a closer look into the country's tumultuous history of movie making.

Arada

The story of three Turkish men. They all grew up in Switzerland and all got deported after various criminal offenses.

The Maze

THE MAZE dissects the terror-attacks since Paris Bataclan in November 2015 and looks for common patterns. Why was intelligence failing? And why keep our governments pushing for more of the same? A road movie into surveillance reforms, power, money and cover-ups. A search for a way out of this maze - with a glimpse of hope on the horizon.

My boy, look at the stars

February 28 is Deniz Gezmiş's birthday… He would have been 75 years old today; but it only lived for 25 years, and in those 25 years, it had an impact that spanned 75 years. When you have a 25-year-old son, one feels better, what was done to him...

The New Corporation: The Unfortunately Necessary Sequel

Two decades after the initial exposé of the corporation, this follow-up unveils a world now fully remade in its image and perilously close to fascism.

News Without A Newsroom

As local newsrooms vanish, "News Without a Newsroom" explores journalism's uncertain future in the digital age. Through powerful stories and expert insights, the film examines the collapse of traditional media, the rise of misinformation, and the fight to preserve truth, trust and accountability in an era of disruption.

Atatürk: Father of Modern Turkey

Docudrama examining the life of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who founded the Republic of Turkey from the ruins of the Ottoman Empire. Monuments to him can be found in every city; the anniversary of his death is commemorated every year; derogatory words about him are punishable by law. Rarely has a politician changed a society so radically in such a short time as Atatürk did Turkey.

No

In 1988, Chilean military dictator Augusto Pinochet, due to international pressure, is forced to call a plebiscite on his presidency. The country will vote ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to Pinochet extending his rule for another eight years. Opposition leaders for the ‘No’ vote persuade a brash young advertising executive, René Saavedra, to spearhead their campaign. Against all odds, with scant resources and while under scrutiny by the despot’s minions, Saavedra and his team devise an audacious plan to win the election and set Chile free.

Palme

Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme was openly shot to death on a February evening 1986 on the streets of Stockholm. In one night, the country of Sweden was transfigured. “Palme” is about his life, his time, and about the Sweden he had created. About a man who altered history.

The Edge of Democracy

A cautionary tale for these times of democracy in crisis—the personal and political fuse to explore one of the most dramatic periods in Brazilian history. With unprecedented access to Presidents Dilma Rousseff and Lula da Silva, we witness their rise and fall and the tragically polarized nation that remains.

The Monroe Doctrine

The story of President Monroe's response to attempts by Spain to interfere in South America.

Democracy for $ale

In the United States of America, lobbyists, corporations and billionaires invest millions of dollars to ensure that a suitable candidate, one inclined to support their personal ambitions and economic projects, wins an election, which inevitably affects everything, from the selection of local officials to presidential elections, creates countless conflicts of interest and undermines what supposedly used to be a model democracy.

We The People 2.0

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.

Demokratie unter Druck – Europa vor der Wahl

Thoughts of a diversity of public and private citizens on the virtues of democracy, its faults, its decadence, its fall and the rise of populism.

Kampf auf der Bosporus-Brücke - Die Türkei und der gescheiterte Putschversuch

The night of July 15, 2016 changed the history of Turkey. On that day there were coordinated attacks by parts of the Turkish army, among others in Istanbul. The aim of the military: a coup against the government. The decisive confrontation occurred on the Bosporus Bridge. While President Erdogan was still on vacation, live at TV he called on the people who were devoted to him to stand against the military. As an enemy for the masses, he presented his adversary Fethullah Gülen, whom he branded as the coup leader. He also urged the imams of the country's mosques to condition the population to resist. And so it happens that at night thousands of agitated people take to the streets to oppose the armed insurgents. The death toll was high. 352 people died across Turkey during the attempted coup. The consequences are even more serious: Erdogan used this gift, as he called it himself, to undermine democracy, to arrange mass arrests of dissidents and to transform Turkey into a dictatorship.

A Greater Society

It’s the 2014 midterms and residents of a South Florida retirement community feel the weight of democracy on their shoulders. In one of the most influential counties of America’s largest swing state, these political kingmakers trade their golf clubs for clipboards and hit the pavement to get out the vote. A GREATER SOCIETY is a feature documentary to inspire voter turnout. Inside the gates of Wynmoor Village are three miles of manicured lawns lined with palm trees, a golf course, and carefully maintained condominiums. At first glance, it’s just another retirement community where elders go to enjoy their golden years relaxing by the pool and taking ceramics classes; but look further and you’ll see that the people who live in this community share something unique: the power to have a real impact on national politics.

Demirkırat: Pressure

Looking back at the turmoil of the 1950s today, it's hard not to be sad. Even though one knows the end of the story, he is always waiting for something to happen to prevent this bitter ending. He wants the mistakes made to be noticed, a common point to be agreed and the accident that says I am coming to be prevented. But in vain... After the accident today, all we can do is look at the causes of the accident and learn from it... Beginning from the mid-1950s, the democracy, which was knitted stitch by knot before, began to unravel again, stitch by stitch. A tense, harsh, vicious period has opened in the political arena... It seemed impossible to see the future and take precautions in that dusty smoke...

Atatürk - Father of the Turks

In the documentary, the life of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the last period of the Ottoman Empire, the War of Independence and the developments in the first years of the Republic of Turkey are told in parallel. The documentary prepared by Michael Adams consists of recordings made by the BBC in 1970 in Çanakkale, Samsun, Amasya, Sivas and Ankara, as well as historical footage.

Demirkırat: Chief

The multi-party democratic regime that we take for granted in Turkey today is actually the product of 23 years of struggle and search. From the establishment of the Republic until 1946, three attempts were made to transition from a single party to a multi-party. The first of these was in 1924. Progressive Republican Party came up against the Republican People's Party that ruled the country. However, this period, when a new republic was built in pain, did not allow an oppositional voice to survive. The Progressive Party was closed after six months. Some of the rulers were imprisoned. Some of them were sentenced on death rows in the case of the assassination of Atatürk.The second attempt was made six months later, in 1930, with the Free Party. But the Free Party survived only 97 days.Finally, after another 16 years, the Democrat Party came in 1946 and the one-party regime became history for Turkey, never to return.

12 March: Rematch

Demirkırat stumbled on March 12, 1971. Actually, you know, they shoot limping horses. But this time it didn't. Turkish democracy continued to run despite its wounds. Because March 12 was not a "seizure" but a "warning". The generals were saying, "If what we want is not done, we will seize it." The country was entering a new era under this Sword of Damocles. A president who was helpless in the face of events, a prime minister who had to leave his seat, a newly fallen parliament, four generals neither inside nor outside the power... Now, a solution would be tried to be found out of this complex equation. But how and with whom? No one knew the answer to these questions in Turkey on the morning of March 13.

September 12: From Cyprus to Frontline

Turkish democracy got over the 27th of May and the 12th of March and set off again, but the storm did not subside and the mutual reckoning was not over. On the contrary, new fronts were opened in the country and blood began to flow like a gutter. Finally, on September 12, there was a knock on the door again. Those who came that day changed everything, everything. Nothing would ever be the same again, nothing would be the same as before.

The Attorney

Song Woo-seok is a lawyer with no clients. When his friend's son is falsely accused of a crime and tortured, he takes up the case and the course of his life changes for good.

Demirkırat: Victory

Societies, like people, have turning points in their histories. These milestones sometimes silently and spontaneously knock on the door, and sometimes they explode like a terrifying thunderclap. The year 1950 was such a turning point for Turkey. A simmering social reaction against 27 years of power erupted in the spring of 1950. Society has cracked its quarter-century shell. Not by shedding blood in the streets, but by voting at the ballot boxes. "Demirkırat" was reared by the general vote. That's why the 14 May 1950 elections were always called the "White Revolution"...

Strike or Die

In October 1995, Forbach witnessed one of the most violent strikes in the history of contemporary France. A thousand or so miners took to the streets for a merciless struggle against a reform in their rights. Twenty years after the mines shut down, people’s will to fight is still alive, just hidden away somewhere.

Democracy (s)?

A year ago, thanks to the precious support of 7819 people, we started a journey in democracy (s). Over the weeks and months, according to meetings, exchanges and readings, we questioned this strange word: democracy. In France but also in Greece, Iceland, Belgium and Spain, we met citizens who are working to insert more democracy in their daily lives. Here is, in 90 minutes, the result of this adventure to try to grasp what this word contains.

Sakıp Sabancı

Working, working, working... Here are the words that make up a contemporary Turkish fairy tale. In fact, this fairy tale is not just the story of one person or a family. It is also the story of a country...