The Price of Democracy

Joshua: Teenager vs. Superpower(en)

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.

President(ko)

This documentary celebrates the life of former President Kim Dae-joong, who fought for democracy in South Korea and peace in the Korean Peninsula. It marks the 10th anniversary of his passing and covers his challenging journey, from his childhood on an island to his imprisonment, exile, near-death experiences, and ultimately becoming the president.

Blooming over the line(ko)

Born in 1918 in the ideal village of independence activists in the northern part of Manchuria, pastor Moon Ik-hwan lost his childhood friend Yun Dong-ju under Japanese oppression and Chang Chun-ha during the Yusin regime. Moon survived the mass of modern Korean history, giving hope everywhere suffering.

Kim Dae Jung Must Not Die(ko)

Kim Dae Jung, who stands next to people in the middle of caotic history! A young businessman Kim Dae Jung recognized the victims of ideology. He decided to be a politician to make his country where people's politic and democracy are rooted. The price of being leave from a guaranteed future and take the first step on a bumby road was kidnapping, death threats, imprisonment, and a death sentence that shook him to the core, but even in his final moments, when he was sentenced to death, Kim never wavered. "Democracy will be recovered. I believe in it." The life of President Kim Dae-jung, a death row inmate who survived from the throes of death, four parliamentary elections, and three unsuccessful presidential campaigns, is etched into the modern history of South Korea.

Gwangju Video: The Missing(ko)

There are people whose lives have been shaken by the 'Gwangju Video'. On May of 1980, the course of their lives changed in front of a huge wave of truth in Gwangju. The people who made and spread the 'Gwangju Video' are also the people who had their bodies on the waves. The hidden stories of these people, the 40th anniversary of the Gwangju Uprising, and the pursuit to trace the missing 4 hours of mass shooting will be revealed for the first time.

Let's be Together(ko)

Beyond Now, Nyein(ko)

Choi Jinbae from Korea and Nyein Thazin from Myanmar are an international couple. They married seven years ago in Mandalay and, after a ceremony in Korea, planned to return. But COVID-19 left them stranded in Seoul. One day, a photo arrives from Myanmar showing a village destroyed by the coup. Urged by fellow Myanmar people to share their country's reality with the world, Choi picks up a camera. An ordinary family's life is suddenly thrust into questions of pain, solidarity, and the ethics of bearing witness.

The Forgotten President: Kim Young-sam's Era of Reform(ko)

Names of Revolution(ko)

Names of Revolution recalls the memories of those who participated in the struggle to rewrite the history of the “Busan-Masan Democratic Protests,” which has been under-represented in modern Korean history. As the then college students, seamstresses, mold technicians, combat police, workers, bus drivers, advertising planners, and photojournalists pour out their memories from over 40 years ago before the camera, vivid words come to life.

The Hinzpeter Story(ko)

In May of 1980, the city is locked down and phone lines are dead because of protests and struggles in demand of democracy. Just when Gwangju was being ignored by the media, Jurgen Hinzpeter, a reporter from Germany, sneaks in despite the danger!

존경하고 사랑하는 국민여러분(ko)

Kim-Gun(ko)

KIM-GUN searches for the whereabouts of a young man whose identity has sparked a national controversy over the 1980 May 18 Gwangju Uprising. Starting with the vague memories of those who had crossed paths with him during that time, the film tracks down those who participated in the Uprising as “Citizen Soldiers.” It also traces KIM’s final steps, based on photographic clues found in the firearms he carried and the “Surveillance Truck No. 10” in which he rode. By identifying KIM-GUN, we believe that we can find valuable leads to resolving the ongoing controversy over May 18. Why did a nameless young man join the Uprising? Why did he take up arms? Where has he gone afterwards? It is the answers to these questions that the film seeks.

No Name Stars(ko)

This year is the 30th anniversary of the Gwangju Democratization Movement. Though the country commemorates the event as the official historical records, it does not include any 'real' accounts of the people who experienced it firsthand. The students who were part of the movement; the female vendors who made rice balls for the students; the female high school students cooked at the government building; now, past their middle age, they live as ordinary citizens in Gwangju city. How is the event remembered by these people?

The Blue Roof from the Window(ko)

My family has lived in a house across from the Blue House, the presidential palace, for 50 years. During the era of military dictatorship, the Blue House was a place of fear and inaccessibility. But as South Korea democratized, more and more people were allowed to approach it. I had grown up surrounded by countless protests, but it was the first time their sound followed me home. The never-ending noise made the house where I was born and raised feel unfamiliar. But the place they now stood was the very spot where I had held a candle to protest just months before. My right to raise my voice also guarantees theirs.

The Yearbook: Waiting for the Teacher(ko)

On May 27, 1980—the last day of the Gwangju Uprising—students at Sinheung High School in Jeonju defied martial law. Their teacher disciplined them to protect them, but this act of love left forty years of misunderstanding. Now in his nineties, the teacher reunites with his former students to finally offer each other the reconciliation they had long set aside.

9 Days in the Summer(ko)

Poliboy(ko)

In spring 1987, 14-year-old Song Gwi-cheol runs away from his abusive father to Seoul. Lost at Cheongnyangni Station, he meets a fugitive student activist who brings him to Korea University. Nicknamed “Jung-dol,” he finds a surrogate family among the campus movement. By June, Jung-dol joins the pro-democracy protests, becomes part of the student­run nongak ensemble, and masters the janggu drum. His journey from street orphan to activist and talented drummer embodies the spirit of Korea’s 1987 student uprising.

A Taxi Driver(ko)

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(ko)

In 1987 Korea under an oppressive military regime, the unlawful interrogation and death of a college student ignite ordinary citizens to fight for the truth and bring about justice.

Excavator(ko)

20 years after discharge from the army and now an excavator driver, a former paratrooper who had been mobilized to suppress the May 18th Democratic Uprising in Korea in 1980, happens to find a skull in the ground one day. Driving his excavator, he pays visits to his former superiors one by one and realizes they were all both assailants and victims of the times.

Heart of a Dog(en)

Lyrical and powerfully personal essay film that reflects on the deaths of her husband Lou Reed, her mother, her beloved dog, and such diverse subjects as family memories, surveillance, and Buddhist teachings.

South of the Border(en)

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.

Ex Libris: The New York Public Library(en)

A documentary about how a dominant cultural and demographic institution both sustains their traditional activities and adapts to the digital revolution.

To Be Takei(en)

Over seven decades, actor and activist George Takei journeyed from a World War II internment camp to the helm of the Starship Enterprise, and then to the daily news feeds of five million Facebook fans. Join George and his husband, Brad, on a wacky and profound trek for life, liberty, and love.

Fuck(en)

A documentary on the expletive's origin, why it offends some people so deeply, and what can be gained from its use.

As I Was Moving Ahead, Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty(en)

A compilation of over 30 years of private home movie footage shot by Lithuanian-American avant-garde director Jonas Mekas, assembled by Mekas "purely by chance", without concern for chronological order.

Downloaded(en)

A documentary that explores the downloading revolution; the kids that created it, the bands and the businesses that were affected by it, and its impact on the world at large.

Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction(en)

An impressionistic portrait of the iconic actor Harry Dean Stanton comprised of intimate moments, film clips from some of his 250 films and his renditions of American folk songs.

Gringo: The Dangerous Life of John McAfee(en)

The strange story of John McAfee, who went from millionaire software mogul to yogi, Kurtz-like jungle recluse to potential murderer, and most recently a prospective presidential candidate for the American Libertarian Party.

Listen to Me Marlon(en)

With exclusive access to his extraordinary unseen and unheard personal archive including hundreds of hours of audio recorded over the course of his life, this is the definitive Marlon Brando cinema documentary. Charting his exceptional career as an actor and his extraordinary life away from the stage and screen with Brando himself as your guide, the film will fully explore the complexities of the man by telling the story uniquely from Marlon's perspective, entirely in his own voice. No talking heads, no interviewees, just Brando on Brando and life.

She's Beautiful When She's Angry(en)

A documentary that resurrects the buried history of the outrageous, often brilliant women who founded the modern women's movement from 1966 to 1971.

Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country(en)

Going beyond the occasional news clip from Burma, the acclaimed filmmaker, Anders Østergaard, brings us close to the video journalists who deliver the footage. Though risking torture and life in jail, courageous young citizens of Burma live the essence of journalism as they insist on keeping up the flow of news from their closed country.

Champs(en)

A documentary about the sport of boxing, as seen through the eyes of champions Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield and Bernard Hopkins.

Iverson(en)

Iverson is the ultimate legacy of NBA legend Allen Iverson, who rose from a childhood of crushing poverty in Hampton, Virginia, to become an 11-time NBA All-Star and universally recognized icon of his sport. Off the court, his audacious rejection of conservative NBA convention and unapologetic embrace of hip hop culture sent shockwaves throughout the league and influenced an entire generation. Told largely in Iverson's own words, the film charts the career highs and lows of one of the most distinctive and accomplished figures the sport of basketball has ever seen.

A Decade Under the Influence(en)

A documentary examining the decade of the 1970s as a turning point in American cinema. Some of today's best filmmakers interview the influential directors of that time.

The U.S. vs. John Lennon(en)

A documentary on the life of John Lennon, with a focus on the time in his life when he transformed from a musician into an antiwar activist.

We Live in Public(en)

In 1999, Internet entrepreneur Josh Harris recruits dozens of young men and women who agree to live in underground apartments for weeks at a time while their every movement is broadcast online. Soon, Harris and his girlfriend embark on their own subterranean adventure, with cameras streaming live footage of their meals, arguments, bedroom activities, and bathroom habits. This documentary explores the role of technology in our lives, as it charts the fragile nature of dot-com economy.

The Class of ‘92(en)

A detailing of the rise to prominence and global sporting superstardom of six supremely talented young Manchester United football players (David Beckham, Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Phil and Gary Neville). The film covers the period 1992-1999, culminating in Manchester United's European Cup triumph.

Birth of the Living Dead(en)

A behind the scenes look into George Romero's groundbreaking horror classic Night of the Living Dead.

This Place Rules(en)

Acclaimed for his unfiltered reporting and deadpan humor, Andrew Callaghan brings his gonzo style reporting to the undercurrents that led to the January 6 Capitol Riot. As one of the best-known and hardest working journalists of his generation, the 25-year-old ventures on a wild RV journey through America to take the pulse of a divided nation.