These incisive documentaries amplify the voices of those on the front lines of the struggle for social justice around the globe. Be it women rising against nuclear armament, citizens confronting police violence, individuals fighting social stigma or artists finding creative means to fight the power, all of these films reinforce the power of the individual to stand up and push for change.
Festival Programme
Films — by Strand
Mobilise
All Light, Everywhere
A reminder that “every frame excludes a world beyond its edges”, this visionary film essay explores the entangled histories of cameras, weapons, policing and justice – and the limits of our perceptions.
All These Sons
The work of community leaders seeking to curb gun violence on the streets of Chicago is captured with gritty complexity in this confronting documentary from Oscar-nominated filmmakers Bing Liu and Joshua Altman.
The Monopoly of Violence
Un pays qui se tient sage
People from all sides of the cultural battlefield confront smartphone footage of the French gilets jaunes protests and the police crackdown they inspired in this intelligent and innovative documentary.
Mothers of the Revolution
Mothers of the Revolution tells the story of one of the longest protests in history, when between 1981 and 2000, thousands of women from around the world came together at Greenham Common to take a committed stand against nuclear proliferation.
The Reason I Jump
Taking as its inspiration the groundbreaking book of the same name by autistic thirteen-year-old Naoki Higashida, this documentary attempts to present the world as it might be experienced by neuro-divergent individuals.
River
Let this exultant ode to the life-sustaining waterways that criss-cross our planet wash over you, captured in jaw-dropping imagery by Mountain director Jennifer Peedom.
When a City Rises
This urgent documentary takes an intimate look at young political activists in Hong Kong as they take a determined stand against a global superpower to fight for freedom, democracy and a better future.
White Cube
Can an indigenous art economy compete with a multinational plantation? Artist Renzo Martens travels into the Congo to see if he can bring local art to the international stage and return the profits where they belong.