Musa Hadid, Mayor of Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank, is a man with a difficult job. Every day he is confronted with life in an effective war zone; street demonstrations and armed conflict with the Israeli Army. He needs to keep his constituents safe, and provide a response to these ongoing violations of sovereignty. When the bullets aren’t flying, he turns to an endless array of minor civil issues; everything from fixing the doors at the local school, to overseeing the demolition of a public toilet. He also has to plan a Christmas parade. Continue reading Mayor (2020)

Every year in Texas the American Legion runs ‘Boys State’, a political education program that mimics the structure of state government. 1 200 promising teenagers are brought from all over the state, arbitrarily divided into two political parties, and then set against each other. It’s mock political combat as each side picks a candidate, sets up a campaign, and tries to get their man elected ‘Governor’. Continue reading Boys State (2020)

Bursting out of the vibrant LA punk scene of the early 80s: The Go Go’s: Belinda Carlisle, Jane Wiedlin, Kathy Valentine, Charlotte Caffey and Gina Shock. Five charismatic young woman who played their own instruments, wrote their own songs, and bemused the male run music industry who knew one cardinal rule: GIRL BANDS DON’T SELL RECORDS. Proving them wrong, the Go Go’s would produce some of the best pop songs of the era, although success came at the expense of their personal relationships. Continue reading The Go Go’s (2020)

At the Montreal Transit Authority lost property office, a steady stream of punters comes looking for lost items. They are missing their bus passes, their glasses, their keys, their more idiosyncratic personal possessions; one woman is looking for her distinctive tuque (it fits her head perfectly), another for a pink binder covered in butterflies. Continue reading Prayer for a Lost Mitten (2020)

The 1960s were a time of enormous change; societal conventions were overturned amidst a push for greater equality, driven by an energetic youth movement and progressive activists and political leaders. But as the 60’s gave way to the 70s, the idealism petered out; the War in Vietnam raged on, Watergate destroyed the public’s faith in their public institutions, and the oil shock ended the long running post WWII economic boom. Continue reading The Decline of Western Civilization (1981)

In 1991, eight people became part of a living ecological experiment. They sealed themselves inside a giant terrarium, dubbed ‘Biosphere 2’, where they would live in a closed environment for two years. During this period they would need to generate their own food, and manage the sphere’s atmosphere and water resources, to make sure they stayed alive. Continue reading Spaceship Earth (2019)

During a regular everyday August, a small film crew roams New York City, chatting to regular folk. They are lining up for welfare, lazing on the beach, cruising the city’s waterways, working on art projects, analysing the future, thinking about Hurricane Sandy, and dressing up as a make believe astronaut to raise people’s spirits. All of them are worried. Continue reading The Hottest August (2019)

Approaching middle age, and tired of their lives, John and Molly Chester drop out and take up residence on a chunk of land outside LA. Their dream is to turn it into a self sustaining eco farm, and this doco charts their ups and downs. Continue reading The Biggest Little Farm (2018)