About the lists: Calls to socially distance and self-isolate are driving people to look for things to watch. But the sheer amount of options out there can be overwhelming. For this reason, we at the Centre for Screen Cultures are producing themed playlists of film, video, and television so you can organise your own series or festival at home (or home school). They will update here and here: https://screenculture.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/category/media-playlists/
Due to the Covid 19 pandemic, the 26th April 100-city launch of Stalking Chernobyl: Exploration After Apocalypse (Iara Lee, 2020) was cancelled; fortunately, this cancellation was not permanent but instead has moved ONLINE. The film can be accessed online from April 16 to April 26 for free and with subtitles in English, Russian, Ukrainian, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese and Azeri subtitles.
Additionally, on April 26, the International Chernobyl Disaster Remembrance Day, at 17:00 GMT, director Iara Lee will discuss the film with special guests and answer viewers’ questions via Zoom. One can register here: register here: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/upwod-ivpzgiitbmxnYJFwVpvif0jNPtzg
Information about the event is available here: https://www.facebook.com/events/736402863562489/
In addition to this screening, Cultures of Resistance Films, dedicated to creating and distributing films that advance public awareness about issues of social and economic justice, and that showcase creative efforts to promote peace and protect human rights, offers a list of other films from their collection as an act of solidarity with all of us in our various confinements:
Synthetic Pleasures (Iara Lee)
Is reality obsolete? From low-tech function like body piercing and artificially-stocked fishing pools, to the latest in bionics and VR gaming, Iara Lee’s cyber-age intellectual survey – call it a *.DOCumentary – downloads a Future Shockful of data and defines the parameters of advanced technologies that delete nature and reprogram mankind. Cryonics defy death; the Internet exists outside time and space; smart drugs and surgery upgrade the mind and body. But are we headed toward human optimization, or system crash? Timothy Leary, RU Sirius, Lisa Palac, John Barlow and others offer sound bytes against a mesmerizing screen display of cutting edge computer-graphics and archival clips. Exhilarating and disturbing, Synthetic Pleasures raises issues nobody today can afford to abort / retry / ignore.
Watch the full film here:
Youtube: https://youtu.be/mDCZoV-wjRg
Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/363024347
Modulations: cinema for the ear (Iara Lee)
Modulations is a feature-length documentary that captures a moment in history where humans and machines are fusing to create today’s most exciting sounds. It traces the evolution of electronic music as one of the most profound artistic developments of the twentieth century. By cutting back and forth between avant-garde composers, Kraftwerk’s innovative synthesizer drones, Giorgio Moroder’s glacial Euro-disco, Afrika Bambaataa’s electro-funk, and Prodigy’s current worldwide superstarstardom, Modulations celebrates, replicates, and illuminates the nomadic drift of the post-human techno sound.
Watch the full film here:
YouTube: https://youtu.be/icpDt6aQDww
Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/361554324
Cultures of Resistance (Iara Lee)
Does each gesture really make a difference? Can music and dance be a weapon of peace? Director Iara Lee embarked on a three-year, five-continent trek to find out. From AFRICAN countries’ sounds of resistance, moving on to BRAZIL where gun-guitars transform the reality of slum kids and ending in PALESTINIAN refugee camps in LEBANON, where photography, music and film have given a voice to the people, CULTURES OF RESISTANCE explores how art and engagement can be the ammunition in the war for peace and justice.
Watch the full film here:
YouTube: https://youtu.be/-nai21x7114
Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/398130884
The Suffering Grasses: When Elephants Fight, It’s the Grass that Suffers (Iara Lee)
With thousands dead and counting, the ongoing conflict in Syria has become a microcosm for the complicated politics of the region, and an unsavory reflection of the world at large. Against the backdrop of the Arab Spring and the complicated politics of the region, this film seeks to explore the Syrian conflict through the humanity of the civilians who have been killed, abused, and displaced to the squalor of refugee camps. In all such conflicts, large and small, it is civilians—women and children, families and whole communities—who suffer at the leisure of those in power and get caught in the crossfire of the hegemons. When elephants go to war, it is the grass that suffers!
Watch the full film here:
YouTube: https://youtu.be/ebTwcsTOHPM
Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/109720737
The Kalasha and the Crescent (Iara Lee)
The Kalasha of Pakistan’s Chitral Valley uphold a rich cultural heritage. Facing globalization and religious tensions, can their traditions survive? Iara Lee asks Kalash community members and outside observers to reckon with tough questions in The Kalash and the Crescent.
Watch the full film here:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXDOZ2YiXwM&t=6s
Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/68280995
Life is Waiting: Referendum and Resistance in Western Sahara (Iara Lee)
More than four decades after its people were promised freedom by departing Spanish rulers, Western Sahara remains Africa’s last colony. This film chronicles the everyday violence experienced by Sahrawis living under Moroccan occupation and voices their struggle for self-determination through creative resistance and non-violence.
Watch the full film here:
YouTube: https://youtu.be/9QzRzm4uFxU
Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/156483791
K2 and the Invisible Footmen (Iara Lee)
In K2 AND THE INVISIBLE FOOTMEN, filmmaker Iara Lee and her team chronicle the lives of the indigenous porters of Gilgit/Baltistan in Pakistan. These heroes of mountaineering make possible the ascent of K2, the second highest mountain in the world. Amid breathtaking scenery, the film depicts the courage and everyday sacrifices of these unacknowledged porters. It also provides a fresh look into Pakistan, a country typically portrayed in the foreign media as being merely a land of conflict and sectarian strife.
Watch the full film here:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-Lgf8CJnpI&t=14s
Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/125795026
Burkinabè Rising: the art of resistance in Burkina Faso (Iara Lee)
A small landlocked country in West Africa, Burkina Faso is home to a vibrant community of artists, musicians, & engaged citizens who carry on the revolutionary spirit of Thomas Sankara, killed in a coup d’état led by his best friend and advisor Blaise Compaoré, who then ruled the country as an autocrat for 27 years, til a massive popular insurrection led to his removal. Today, the spirit of resistance and political change is mightier than ever and it permeates every aspect of the Burkinabè life. It is an inspiration, not only to Africa, but to the rest of the world.
Watch the full film here:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tChxchNiAhY&t=367s
Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/292967328
Wantoks: Dance of Resilience in Melanesia (Iara Lee)
In 2018, the Solomon Islands hosted the Melanesian Arts & Cultural Festival, celebrating the country’s fortieth anniversary of independence. On neighboring island states, the struggle for freedom continues, as West Papua resists Indonesian occupation and the residents of New Caledonia still live under French rule. In all Melanesian countries, residents face the common challenge of climate change, as rising sea levels threaten to swallow both land and tradition. In this charged context, captivating performers are using their talents to celebrate local culture and draw international attention to their islands’ plight, with the hope of spurring international solidarity and prompting collective action against the perils of a warming world.
Watch the full film here:
YouTube: https://youtu.be/mI7iVY5It-0
Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/376028463
AND Cultures of Resistance Short Films!
Cultures of Resistance Films has produced more than fifty short films that are all available to stream on our website and YouTube channel. These films cover a variety of subjects, highlighting issues from indigenous rights in the Amazon to political cartoons in the Congo.
Website: https://culturesofresistancefilms.com/short-films
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/CulturesofResistance
Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/culturesofresist
Cultures of Resistance Films is a project of Caipirinha Productions, Inc. The mission of the project is to create and distribute films that advance public awareness about issues of social and economic justice, and that showcase creative efforts to promote peace and protect human rights.
For a filmography of Cultures of Resistance films, click here.
For more about director Iara Lee, click here.
For more about Caipirinha Productions, click here.
To read about how Cultures of Resistance Films are making an impact, click here.