British Films | North American Films
12 Years a Slave: a film impoverished by its confrontational approach and narrow focus on slavery
Steve McQueen, “12 Years a Slave” (2013) British director Steve McQueen’s third film “12 Years
Tag: Propaganda Films
Films made with an obvious bias to serve a larger agenda or to mitigate a controversial topic and make it safe for general public consumption.
Middle Eastern Films | Russian and Soviet Films
The Syrian Diary: a valuable historical document giving an alternate viewpoint on the Syrian civil war
“The Syrian Diary” (Rossiya 24, 2013) Made for Russian television, this documentary follows Rossiya 24
Fair and balanced bashing of Fox News on “Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch’s War on Journalism”
Robert Greenwald, “Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch’s War on Journalism” (2004) An impassioned documentary intended to rouse
Masters of Money (Episode 3:Marx): failing to challenge and question important economic and political issues
Will Yearsley, “Masters of Money (Episode 3:Marx)” (2012) The third and final episode of this
Remote Control War: technical detail substitutes for a proper inquiry into the ethics of using drones and robots in conflicts
Leif Kaldor, “Remote Control War” (2011) “Remote Control War” presents as a sober documentary on
Zero Dark Thirty: a journey into a heart of darkness … in its “heroine”
Kathryn Bigelow, “Zero Dark Thirty” (2012) This film purports to document the hunt for World
Samsara: compassion for humanity is the intent of a meditation on cycles of life, death and rebirth
Ron Fricke, “Samsara” (2011) Fourth in a series of wordless visual documentaries by Ron Fricke
Chinese and Chinese-language Films
The Guillotines: long-winded wuxia film groans under the weight of being all things to all people
Andrew Lau Wai-keung, “The Guillotines” (2012) An overly fussy and long-winded film on brotherhood and
Tsar to Lenin: an incredible compilation of archival footage of the Russian Revolution
Herman Axelbank and Max Eastman, “Tsar to Lenin” (1937) Presented by Mehring Books and the
German and German-language Films
Algol, Tragedy of Power: modern Faustian morality tale of individual and social corruption with a conservative message
Hans Werckmeister, “Algol, Tragedy of Power / Algol, Tragödie der Macht” (1920) A wonderful science