A documentary that takes an alternative approach to dealing with the global warming crisis. Cool It is a 2010 documentary film based on the book Cool It: The Skeptical Environmentalist's Guide to Global Warming by Danish political scientist Bjørn Lomborg. The film stars Lomborg, best known for authoring The Skeptical Environmentalist. It premiered in September in Canada at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival. ‘By bringing in a diverse group of big thinkers to take part in a very animated, sometimes agitated, discussion, the filmmaker has succeeded in bringing what could have been a very dry mountain of data, theories and experimental research to vibrant life.’ Los Angeles Times

Critic Reviews

‘Jam-packed but never disorienting, Cool It will definitely get your head spinning.’ Globe and Mail ‘Blond, boyish and with an irrepressible faith in human adaptability, Mr. Lomborg is the anti-Gore.’ New York Times ‘By bringing in a diverse group of big thinkers to take part in a very animated, sometimes agitated, discussion, the filmmaker has succeeded in bringing what could have been a very dry mountain of data, theories and experimental research to vibrant life.’ Los Angeles Times

Human Flow is director and artist Ai Weiwei's detailed and heartbreaking exploration into the global refugee crisis. Human Flow is a 2017 German documentary film co-produced and directed by Ai Weiwei about the current global refugee crisis. In the film the viewer is taken to over 20 countries to understand both the scale and the personal impact of this massive human migration. It was shot using various technologies, including drones, cameras and iPhones. Human Flow was screened in the main competition section of the 74th Venice International Film Festival. The New York Times calls it a "strangely beautiful movie” and credits the film for focusing on individuality amidst the large masses of people along with usage of drones to show the vastness and scale of our current global refugee crisis. GQ states that the film conveys a radical type of empathy to the viewer by focussing on human aspects, such as with the man walking to a makeshift graveyard where the bodies of his loved ones were buried – he started fleeing with 17 people and was now left with 12 – while the viewer is caught in a visceral moment of his grief. GQ notes the film's ability to have the camera constantly lingering in times of sadness to create a forceful humanisation. The Washington Post calls Human Flow "pungent conceptually and aesthetically" and notes that perhaps the audience's uncertainty of what camp they are led to is perhaps Ai's point that this does not matter. Overall, it gave the film a rating of 3/4 stars. The film received such high praise that it was selected for a group of 170 documentaries shortlisted for the Oscars and placed within the top 15.

Critic Reviews

‘Beautifully filmed testimonies that tear at your soul.’ Little White Lies ‘Difficult, but hugely important film-making.’ Times (UK) ‘Ai Weiwei's magnificent documentary stands as a companion piece to the BBC's series, Exodus: Our Journey To Europe.’ Independent (UK) ‘A powerful portrait of horror, hope and humanity emerges.’ Total Film (UK)

Awards

Bambi Awards 2017 Winner of the Bambi Award for Courage - Weiwei Ai Venice Film Festival 2017 Winner of the CICT-UNESCO Enrico Fulchignoni Award - Weiwei Ai Winner of the Fair Play Cinema Award - Special Mention - Weiwei Ai Winner of the Fondazione Mimmo Rotella Award - Weiwei Ai Winner of the Human Rights Film Network Award - Special Mention - Weiwei Ai Winner of the Leoncino d'Oro Agiscuola Award - Cinema for UNICEF - Weiwei Ai

Through a focus on the life of Dalton Trumbo (1905-1976), this film examines the effects on individuals and families of a congressional pursuit of Hollywood Communists after World War II. Trumbo was one of several writers, directors, and actors who invoked the First Amendment in refusing to answer questions under oath. They were blacklisted and imprisoned. We follow Trumbo to prison, to exile in Mexico with his family, to poverty, to the public shunning of his children, to his writing under others' names, and to an eventual but incomplete vindication. Trumbo is a 2007 American documentary film directed by Peter Askin, produced by Will Battersby, Tory Tunnell, and Alan Klingenstein, and written by Christopher Trumbo. It is based on the letters of Trumbo's father, Dalton Trumbo, an Oscar-winning screenwriter who was imprisoned and blacklisted as a member of the Hollywood Ten, ten screenwriters, directors and producers who refused to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) in 1947 during the committee's investigation of Communist influences in the Hollywood film industry. The film debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival and includes film clips and interviews, readings from Trumbo's letters by performers such as Michael Douglas, Joan Allen, Donald Sutherland, Liam Neeson, and Paul Giamatti, and a reenactment by David Strathairn of a speech given by Dalton Trumbo in 1970. The readings include parts of what the New York Times calls "Dalton Trumbo's remarkably stage-ready personal letters"[2] that cover the period from the late 1940s to the early 1960s. Interspersed with these are archival clips from the HUAC hearings, footage from home movies, and "exceptionally well-selected interview clips with Trumbo”.

Critic Reviews

‘The transporting power of this experience is in the passionate and almost outlandishly eloquent verbal expression Trumbo poured into his correspondence, and the vividly American principles he defends.’ film.com ‘It will serve as a fine entry point for younger auds interested in learning about theprice paid by moviemakers and their families swept up in the 1950s anti-Communist net.’ Variety ‘The film is an enlightening recap of '50s Red Scare politics, and a parade of actors giving meaningful, earnest readings of Trumbo's speeches and letters.’ Newsday.

Awards

Winner Freedom of Expression Award at the National Board of Review, USA