Kremlin’s propaganda film about Ukraine war plays to empty cinemas

Alexei wasn’t sure if he had entered the right cinema auditorium as he put down the popcorn and plunged into his chair. The room was dark and quiet, with only three other audience members scattered across the large Moscow theatre that could fit more than 100 people.

It was a Friday evening and Alexei had come to see The Witness, Russia’s first feature-length film about its invasion of Ukraine that premiered across the country on 17 August.

Gaza Rolls Out The Red Carpet For Film Festival Amid The Ruins

Filmmakers in the Gaza Strip this week held a film festival amid the ruins of a neighborhood that was devastated by the worst fighting of last summer's war with Israel.

Eight months after the war, most of Gaza City's Shujaiyeh district has yet to be rebuilt. But festival organizers bulldozed through the rubble, hauled in massive power cables, and grappled with the threat of unexploded weapons lingering from the July-August conflict.

Zero Conscience in “Zero Dark Thirty”

At the same time that the European Court of Human Rights has issued a historic ruling condemning the C.I.A.’s treatment of a terror suspect during the Bush years as “torture,” a Hollywood movie about the agency’s hunt for Osama bin Laden, “Zero Dark Thirty”—whose creators say that they didn’t want to “judge” the interrogation program—appears headed for Oscar nominations. Can torture really be turned into morally neutral entertainment?

'Central Park Five' Documentary On New York Justice System Breakdown Pulls Filmmaker Into Legal Battle

The documentary begins in New York’s Central Park, with a large, hazy moon poking through a network of bare tree branches, followed by a sobering reminder of what happened there: On April 19, 1989, passersby discovered a jogger, beaten, raped and left for dead, in this section of the park.

The documentary goes on to recount what happened next: Five teenagers – all of them either black or Latino, and from Harlem -- were convicted of the crime, sent to prison for nearly a decade or more and released, only to later see all of their convictions vacated in 2002. A serial rapist who happened to cross paths in prison with one of the wrongly convicted teens, confessed to the crime. His DNA matched evidence found in the park. No physical evidence was ever found conclusively linking the five teens to the rape and assault.

Zero Conscience in “Zero Dark Thirty”

At the same time that the European Court of Human Rights has issued a historic ruling condemning the C.I.A.’s treatment of a terror suspect during the Bush years as “torture,” a Hollywood movie about the agency’s hunt for Osama bin Laden, “Zero Dark Thirty”—whose creators say that they didn’t want to “judge” the interrogation program—appears headed for Oscar nominations. Can torture really be turned into morally neutral entertainment?

Film review: 'Last chance' looks at refugee claimants fleeing homophobia

From December 7 to December 9, you can watch Paul Émile d’Entremont’s documentary Last Chance for free at the website of the National Film Board of Canada.

Last Chance, an NFB film directed by Paul Emile d'Entremont, views the Canadian Immigration refugee process through the eyes of four LGBT refugee status claimants.

These refugees have come to Canada from Jamaica, Colombia, Lebanon, Nicaragua and Egypt seeking sanctuary in one of the few places on earth that accepts sexual orientation as basis for a refugee claim. But it appears that the recently opened door for such claims may soon be slamming shut.