Watch them by yourself, with a friend, or host a potluck supper/discussion if your screen is large enough for comfortable viewing. There is no better way to educate yourself and your community as to the issues involved in the ongoing Occupy Revolution.
Top Documentary Films is one of the best free documentary sites on the net. The majority of the films below are from there.
Here are some documentaries I can personally recommend, along with others I have yet to view. When you view a documentary you deem worthy of attention, leave a comment so we can share your find.
Capitalism: A Love Story - Michael Moore’s Capitalism: A Love Story comes home to the issue he’s been examining throughout his career: the disastrous impact of corporate dominance on the everyday lives of Americans (and by default, the rest of the world). But this time the culprit is much bigger than General Motors, and the crime scene far wider than Flint, Michigan. From Middle America, to the halls of power in Washington, to the global financial epicenter in Manhattan, Michael Moore will once again take film goers into uncharted territory. With both humor and outrage, Michael Moore’s Capitalism: A Love Story explores a taboo question: What is the price that America pays for its love of capitalism? Years ago, that love seemed so innocent.
Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price - Wal-Mart has become one of America’s most successful retail chains by offering everyday goods at low prices for working families. But just how is Wal-Mart able to charge less than many of their rivals, and what has their success done for their employees? Documentary filmmaker Robert Greenwald takes a look inside the discount retailer’s empire in Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price, and discovers a company short on scruples and long on shabby treatment of the people who work for them.
The Corporation - The Corporation is a 2003 Canadian documentary film written by Joel Bakan, and directed by Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbott. The documentary is critical of the modern-day corporation, considering its legal status as a class of person and evaluating its behaviour towards society and the world at large as a psychiatrist might evaluate an ordinary person. This is explored through specific examples. Bakan wrote the book, The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power, during the filming of the documentary. The documentary shows the development of the contemporary business corporation, from a legal entity that originated as a government-chartered institution meant to effect specific public functions, to the rise of the modern commercial institution entitled to most of the legal rights of a person.
RSA Animate - The RSA is an enlightenment organization committed to finding innovative practical solutions to today’s social challenges.Through its ideas, research and 27,000-strong Fellowship it seeks to understand and enhance human capability so we can close the gap between today’s reality and people’s hopes for a better world. At the heart of the RSA’s contemporary mission and public debates about the future prospects for the human race is the question: Can we go on like this? Will the ideas and values which transformed our world in the last two centuries be sufficient to find solutions to the challenges we now face or do we need new ways of thinking? Bringing great ideas to global audiences, cutting across traditional political battle lines, carrying out cutting-edge research and development projects, undertaking practical innovation itself and by mobilizing the talents the RSA is becoming the kind of organization this century urgently needs.
PsyWar - This film explores the evolution of propaganda and public relations in the United States, with an emphasis on the elitist theory of democracyand the relationship between war, propaganda and class. Includes original interviews with a number of dissident scholars including Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, Michael Parenti, Peter Phillips (Project Censored), John Stauber (PR Watch), Christopher Simpson (The Science of Coercion) and others. A deep, richly illustrated study of the nature and history of propaganda, featuring some of the world’s most insightful critics, Psywar exposes the propaganda system, providing crucial background and insight into the control of information and thought.
Inside Job - Charles Ferguson’s film – Inside Job – won the Academy Award for Best Documentary in 2011. It narrates the conflicts of interest between the finance industry, politicians, academics and regulators, which eventually led to the trillion-dollar collapse of 2008. Narrated by Matt Damon.
Julian Assange In Conversation With John Pilger - An extended interview with Julian Assange recorded during filming of John Pilger’s latest film The War You Don’t See. The attacks on WikiLeaks and its founder, Julian Assange, are a response to an information revolution that threatens old power orders, in politics and journalism. The incitement to murder trumpeted by public figures in the United States, together with attempts by the Obama administration to corrupt the law and send Assange to a hell hole prison for the rest of his life, are the reactions of a rapacious system exposed as never before.
Why We Fight - In 1961, as Dwight D. Eisenhower gave his final address to the nation before leaving the office of President of the United States, he warned that America must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence…by the military-industrial complex. Nearly 45 years later, as the United States finds itself waging a war in Iraq for reasons that seem increasingly unclear with the passage of time, Eisenhower’s statement becomes all the more pertinent, and the question becomes more apt: has the machinery the United States established to wage war helped prevent conflict, or has it done more to inspire it?
Mexico’s Drug War - Violence is running out of control in Mexico as rival drug cartels battle over the smuggling routes to America. Mexico’s president has declared war on the gangsters but the only result appears to be an escalation of the killings. More than 7000 people were killed in drug-related violence in Mexico in 2009 and 2010 has already got off to a gruesome and bloody start. The man who runs Mexico’s most powerful drugs cartel, Chapo Guzman, continues to elude capture. Ranked as one of the world’s richest and most powerful men, Guzman’s exploits are glorified in folk songs and his recent wedding was allegedly attended by senior Mexican officials. Katya Adler journeys deep into the heart of a shocking conflict, uncovering the human stories behind the seemingly random and disturbing violence. She asks whether the continuing freedom of the world’s most powerful drug runner, Joaquin Chapo Guzman, is evidence that the Government’s war is toothless.
Manufacturing Consent - Noam Chomsky and Edward Herman argue that corporate media, as profit-driven institutions, tend to serve and further the agendas of the interests of dominant, elite groups in society. A centerpiece of the film is a long examination of the history of The New York Times’ coverage of the Indonesian occupation of East Timor, which Chomsky says exemplifies the media’s unwillingness to criticize an ally of the elite. Until the release of ‘The Corporation’ (2003), “Manufacturing Consent” was the most successful feature documentary in Canadian history, played theatrically in over 300 cities around the world. It won 22 awards, appeared in more than 50 international film festivals and was broadcast in over 30 markets. It has also been translated into a dozen languages.
The World According to Monsanto - Monsanto is the world leader in genetically modified organisms (GMOs), as well as one of the most controversial corporations in industrial history. This century-old empire has created some of the most toxic products ever sold, including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and the herbicide Agent Orange. Based on a painstaking investigation, The World According to Monsanto puts together the pieces of the company’s history, calling on hitherto unpublished documents and numerous first-hand accounts. “This is a well made film. It was originally made in french. The producers go the extra mile in traveling the world to talk to those effected by Monsanto. Monsanto themselves decided not to participate in the film…and when you watch the film, you will understand why.” (This film is also available for free online viewing at Top Documentary Films.)
What in the World are They Spraying? - By now everyone has seen crisscrossing streaks of white clouds trailing behind jet aircraft, stretching from horizon to horizon, eventually turning the sky into a murky haze. Our innate intelligence tells us these are not mere vapor trails from jet engines, but no one yet has probed the questions: who is doing this and why. With the release of this video, all of that has changed. Here is the story of a rapidly developing industry called geo-engineering, driven by scientists, corporations, and governments intent on changing global climate, controlling the weather, and altering the chemical composition of soil and water — all supposedly for the betterment of mankind. Although officials insist that these programs are only in the discussion phase, evidence is abundant that they have been underway since about 1990 — and the effect has been devastating to crops, wildlife, and human health. We are being sprayed with toxic substances without our consent and, to add insult to injury, they are lying to us about it. Do not watch this documentary if you have high blood pressure.
All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace - A series of films about how humans have been colonized by the machines they have built. Although we don’t realize it, the way we see everything in the world today is through the eyes of the computers. It claims that computers have failed to liberate us and instead have distorted and simplified our view of the world around us. Adam Curtis is a documentary film maker, whose work includes The Power of Nightmares, The Century of the Self, The Mayfair Set, Pandora’s Box, The Trap and The Living Dead
Those are some great docs, thanks! I use JohnLocker just because it gets updated more often, but either way, the more documentaries the better!