Subgenre Sampler
Politics: 623 Films to Buy & Rent
- Reality (2023)
- Dir. Tina Satter
Feat. Sydney Sweeney, Josh Hamilton, Marchánt Davis
- A potent chamber drama that re–enacts true events surrounding a government security breach related to Russian interference in the 2016 US…
- Merkel (2022)
- Dir. Eva Weber
- A fittingly admirable portrait of the one of the great diplomats of modern times, Angela Merkel, chancellor of Germany for sixteen years, and most…
- Belfast (2021)
- Dir. Kenneth Branagh
Feat. Caitriona Balfe, Judi Dench, Jamie Dornan…
- Richly evocative cine–memoir from director Kenneth Branagh, depicting a young boy's childhood in late 60's Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Set…
- Big Deal (2021)
- Dir. Craig Reucassel
- Documentary presented by Craig Reucassel, who investigates Australia's billion–dollar political lobbying industry and how it corrupts…
- Breaking Bread (2020)
- Dir. Beth Elise Hawk
- Inspiring documentary set around the A–Sham Arabic Food Festival in Haifa, Israel, where Arab and Jewish chefs combine their cultures and food…
- Dissident, The (2020)
- Dir. Bryan Fogel
- A documentary about Jamal Khashoggi, Washington Post journalist and dissident who was murdered by agents of the Saudi government while working in…
- I Am Greta (2020)
- Dir. Nathan Grossman
- A portrait of teenage climate change activist Greta Thunberg, which starts with her one–person school strike outside Swedish parliament, and…
- Irresistible (2020)
- Dir. Jon Stewart
Feat. Steve Carell, Chris Cooper, Mackenzie Davis…
- Political satire directed by The Daily Show's Jon Stewart (ROSEWATER), with Steve Carrell playing a retired veteran who runs for mayor in a…
- Plot Against America, The (TV Mini-series) (2020)
- Dir. Thomas Schlamme
Feat. Winona Ryder, Anthony Boyle, Zoe Kazan…
- Created by David Simon (THE WIRE) and Ed Burns, this HBO mini–series adapts Philip Roth's 2004 prescient novel of the same name imagining an…
- Roadkill (TV Mini-series) (2020)
- Feat. Hugh Laurie, Millie Brady, Helen McCrory…
- Four part British political thriller starring Hugh Laurie as a charismatic Justice Minister on the cusp of a major promotion when a secret in his…
- Brexit: The Uncivil War (TV Mini-series) (2019)
- Dir. Toby Haynes
Feat. Benedict Cumberbatch, Lee Boardman, John Heffernan…
- Television drama depicting the lead–up to the 2016 referendum through the activities of the strategists behind the Vote Leave campaign, that…
- Collective (2019)
- Dir. Alexander Nanau
- A blistering Romanian documentary following a heroic team of journalists from the newspaper Gazeta Sporturilor who attempt to uncover the country's…
- Hail Satan? (2019)
- Dir. Penny Lane
- Chronicling the extraordinary rise of one of the most colorful and controversial religious movements in American history, HAIL SATAN? is an inspiring…
- Incitement (2019)
- Dir. Yaron Zilberman
Feat. Yehuda Nahari Halevi, Amitai Yaish, Daniella Kertesz
- Tense, slow–building thriller depicting Israeli right–wing extremist Yigal Amir in the year leading up to his assassination of the…
- Irishman, The (2019)
- Dir. Martin Scorsese
Feat. Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci…
- Unwieldly but fascinating Scorsese crime drama, in which the director reunites with good fellas Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci to tell the…
- Loudest Voice, The (TV Mini-series) (2019)
- Dir. Jeremy Podeswa, Kari Skogland, Stephen Frears
Feat. Russell Crowe, Sienna Miller, Annabelle Wallis…
- A seven–part series revealing the final years of media consultant Roger Ailes as he devises his most potent political weapon, Fox News, over…
- Soldiers Without Guns (2019)
- Dir. Will Watson
- A quite remarkable tale of a team of coalition soldiers who, in 1997, landed into the heat of a 10–year civil war on the Pacific Island of…
- While at War (2019)
- Dir. Alejandro Amenabar
Feat. Karra Elejalde, Eduard Fernandez, Santi Prego
- From Alejandro Amenabar, acclaimed director of THE SEA INSIDE, comes this drama set in Spain in 1936 on the cusp of the Spanish Civil…
- A Very English Scandal (TV Mini-series) (2018)
- Dir. Stephen Frears
Feat. Hugh Grant, Ben Whishaw
- 3–part BBC miniseries set in the 60's and 70's depicting the evolution of the "Jeremy Thorpe Scandal", in which the leader of the Liberal Party…
- Black Earth Rising (TV Series) (2018)
- Feat. John Goodman, Michaela Coel, Tamara Tunie
- Political thriller series about the prosecution of war criminals, with Michaela Coel playing a Rwandan–born British legal investigator whose…
- Clinton Affair, The (TV Mini-series) (2018)
- The Bill Clinton impeachment scandal of 1998 is methodically detailed in this Alex Gibney–produced six–part documentary series, with full…
- Divine Order, The (2018)
- Dir. Petra Biondina Volpe
Feat. Marie Leuenberger
- A passionate drama set in Switzerland, following a mother and housewife who campaigns for a referendum on the right of women to vote – in 1971…
- Fahrenheit 11/9 (2018)
- Dir. Michael Moore
- Filmmaker Michael Moore examines the current state of American politics, particularly the Donald J. Trump presidency and gun violence, while…
- Front Runner, The (2018)
- Dir. Jason Reitman
Feat. Hugh Jackman, Vera Farmiga, J.K. Simmons…
- Hugh Jackman leads a strong ensemble cast as charismatic Democrat Senator Gary Hart, whose 1988 U.S. presidential campaign was derailed when he was…
- Loro (2018)
- Dir. Paolo Sorrentino
Feat. Toni Servillo, Elena Sofia Ricci, Riccardo Scamarcio…
- The director of THE GREAT BEAUTY returns with another tale of Italian decadence and corruption, this time based on the life and times of the infamous…
- Matangi/Maya/M.I.A. (2018)
- Dir. Stephen Loveridge
- A uniquely textured portrait of innovative Sri Lankan–English pop star and activist Maya Arulpragasm, drawn from a cache of personal tapes shot…
- Meeting Gorbachev (2018)
- Dir. Werner Herzog, André Singer
- Werner Herzog directs this candid documentary based on three interviews with Mikhail Gorbachev, the eighth and last leader of the Soviet Union. With…
- Midnight Oil 1984 (2018)
- A passionate portrait of Australia's iconic rock band Midnight Oil during the year 1984, in which they embarked on a tour promoting their politically…
- RBG (2018)
- Dir. Julie Cohen, Betsy West
- U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is the worthy subject of this documentary exploring her life and career, successfully fighting gender…
- Vice (2018)
- Dir. Adam McKay
Feat. Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Steve Carell…
- Christian Bale provides another stunningly transformative performance, playing the insidious and power hungry Dick Cheney, Vice President to George…
- Watergate (TV Mini-series) (2018)
- Dir. Charles Ferguson
- Definitive and thoroughly detailed documentary TV miniseries about one of the biggest criminal conspiracies in modern politics, The Watergate Scandal.
- An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power (An Inconvenient Truth 2) (2017)
- Dir. Jon Shenk, Bonni Cohen
- The heroic and haggard Al Gore continues his crusade to make the world stop destroying itself in this timely update of his seminal 2006 climate…
- Beatriz at Dinner (2017)
- Dir. Miguel Arteta
Feat. John Early, Salma Hayek, John Lithgow…
- A holistic healer (Salma Hayeck) is an unplanned guest at a dinner party for members of California's privileged elite, in this Trump–era satire…
- Chappaquiddick (2017)
- Dir. John Curran
Feat. Jason Clarke, Kate Mara, Ed Helms…
- Sombre drama exploring the incident known as the Chappaquiddick incident, in which Senator Ted Kennedy drove his car into a lake in 1969, killing his…
- Darkest Hour (2017)
- Dir. Joe Wright
Feat. Gary Oldman, Kristin Scott Thomas, Ben Mendelsohn…
- Gary Oldman embodies Winston Churchill to Oscar–winning effect in this rousing and roundly effective historical drama set during the early days…
- Death of Stalin, The (2017)
- Dir. Armando Iannucci
Feat. Steve Buscemi, Simon Russell Beale, Paddy Considine…
- Outrageous "comedy of terrors" from the creator of IN THE LOOP and VEEP, set in Moscow in 1953, where Stalin has just dropped dead and his cronies…
- Final Year, The (2017)
- Dir. Greg Barker
- A detailed insiders' account of President Barack Obama's foreign policy team throughout 2016, their last year in office. Director Greg Barker has…
- Guerrilla (TV Mini-series) (2017)
- Feat. Idris Elba, Freida Pinto, Babou Ceesay…
- 6–part Miniseries set in 1970's London, where a politically active couple have their relationship and values tested after forming a radical…
- House of Cards - Season 5 (TV Series, US) (2017)
- Feat. Kevin Spacey, Robin Wright, Patricia Clarkson…
- The Emmy and Golden Globe winning political drama returns for its anticipated fifth season. Frank and Claire Underwood continue to juggle their…
- Insult, The (2017)
- Dir. Ziad Doueiri
Feat. Adel Karam, Kamel El Basha
- An exchange on a Beirut street between a Palestinian construction worker and a Lebanese Christian escalates into a passionate dispute that opens…
- My Year With Helen (2017)
- Dir. Gaylene Preston
- With unique access to high–ranking candidate Helen Clark, filmmaker Gaylene Preston casts a wry eye on proceedings as the United Nations turns…
- Post, The (2017)
- Dir. Steven Spielberg
Feat. Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Sarah Paulson…
- The story of The Washington Post's attempt to publish The Pentagon Papers is given the Spielberg treatment. A riveting political thriller with…
- Salvation (TV Series) (2017)
- Feat. Santiago Cabrera, Jennifer Finnigan, Charlie Rowe
- Sci–fi suspense series about a grad student whose self–designed app discovers a giant asteroid is hurtling toward the planet and the…
- Young Karl Marx, The (2017)
- Dir. Raoul Peck
Feat. August Diehl, Stefan Konarske, Vicky Krieps…
- Biopic following the revolutionary figurehead Karl Marx in his 20's, as he emerges as a political theorist and meets Friedrich Engels, with whom the…
- All Governments Lie (All Governments Lie: Truth, Deception and the Spirit of I. F. Stone) (2016)
- Dir. Fred Peabody
- Documentary about independent journalism inspired by iconoclastic rebel journalist I. F. Stone, offering a timely critique of American mainstream…
- Chasing Asylum (2016)
- Dir. Eva Orner
- A hotly topical documentary exposing the real impact of Australia's offshore detention policies and explores how 'The Lucky Country' became one where…
- Coming War on China, The (2016)
- Dir. John Pilger
- The chilling history and nature of the US military's presence in the Pacific is explored by John Pilger in a way the mainstream media won't –…
- Elvis & Nixon (Elvis and Nixon) (2016)
- Dir. Liza Johnson
Feat. Michael Shannon, Kevin Spacey, Alex Pettyfer…
- Kevin Spacey and Michael Shannon square off in this entertaining account of rock 'n' roll icon Elvis Presley's journey to the White House to request…
- Hail Caesar! (2016)
- Dir. Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Feat. Josh Brolin, George Clooney, Alden Ehrenreich…
- Light yet dazzlingly bright comic outing from the Coen Bros follows real life Hollywood 'fixer' Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin) as he frantically tries to…
- House of Cards - Season 4 (TV Series, US) (2016)
- Feat. Kevin Spacey, Robin Wright, Kate Mara
- Further episodes in the shadowy revival of the classic BBC political series, with Kevin Spacey (perfectly cast) as a machiavellian congressman…
- Jackie (2016)
- Dir. Pablo Larrain
Feat. Natalie Portman, Peter Sarsgaard, Greta Gerwig…
- A portrait of Jackie Kennedy following the assassination of her husband John F. Kennedy. Natalie Portman provides an intimate and sensitive portrayal…
- LBJ (2016)
- Dir. Rob Reiner
Feat. Woody Harrelson, Rob Reiner
- Absorbing biopic set during the tumultuous era when JFK is assassinated, and his democratic political rival Lyndon Johnson is suddenly thrust into…
- Neruda (2016)
- Dir. Pablo Larrain
Feat. Gael Garcia Bernal, Luis Gnecco, Mercedes Morán
- Universally acclaimed biographical drama about poet and communist senator Pablo Neruda, who was forced into hiding with his artist wife when the Cold…
- Risk (2016)
- Dir. Laura Poitras
- The director of CITIZENFOUR focuses on another political dissident, Julian Assange, whom she followed for six years through controversies and…
- Snowden (2016)
- Dir. Oliver Stone
Feat. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Shailene Woodley, Zachary Quinto…
- The ever–polemical Oliver Stone dramatises the remarakble story of whistleblower Edward Snowden, the polarizing figure who was forced into…
- Southside with You (2016)
- Dir. Richard Tanne
Feat. Tika Sumpter, Parker Sawyers
- A tender and thoughtful romantic drama that chronicles the summer afternoon when a young Barack Obama wooed his future First Lady on an epic first…
- Versus: The Life and Films of Ken Loach (2016)
- Dir. Louise Osmond
- A revealing tribute to the life and career of one of Britain's most eminent film–makers and socially–conscious artists, whose prolific…
- War Dogs (2016)
- Dir. Todd Phillips
Feat. Jonah Hill, Miles Teller, Ana de Armas…
- Pointed political comedy with Jonah Hill and Miles Teller striking it rich when they land a contract to arm the Afghanistan army.
- Weiner (2016)
- Dir. Josh Kriegman, Elyyse Steinberg
- Shockingly funny all–access doco that exposes the machinations of a political campaign following former congressman Anthony Weiner's earnest…
- Accidental Love (Nailed) (2015)
- Dir. David O. Russell
Feat. Jessica Biel, Jake Gyllenhaal, Catherine Keener…
- Political satire written by Kristin Gore (Al's daughter) about a small town waitress who gets a nail accidentally lodged in her head causing…
- Best of Enemies (2015)
- Dir. Robert Gordon, Morgan Neville
- Riveting account of the frequently explosive televised debates between the liberal Gore Vidal and conservative William F. Buckley that transfixed…
- Black Panthers, The: Vanguard of the Revolution (2015)
- Dir. Stanley Nelson Jr
- Well–crafted doco that examines the rise and fall of the Black Panther Party, one of the 20th century's most alluring and controversial…
- Death in Leon (TV Mini-series) (Muerte en Leon) (2015)
- Dir. Justin Webster
- A non–fiction series about the murder of Isabel Carrasco, a controversial politician and president of the Provincial Council of Leon, Spain.…
- Emperor's New Clothes, The (2015)
- Dir. Michael Winterbottom
Feat. Russell Brand
- Russell Brand and Michael Winterbottom team up to present this angry, but also blackly funny, examination of the growing disparity between different…
- House of Cards - Season 3 (TV Series, US) (2015)
- Feat. Kevin Spacey, Robin Wright, Kate Mara
- Further episodes in the shadowy revival of the classic BBC political series, with Kevin Spacey (perfectly cast) as a machiavellian congressman…
- Look of Silence, The (2015)
- Dir. Joshua Oppenheimer
- Devastating sequel to the acclaimed THE ACT OF KILLING examines the genocide from the victim's perspective, following a family of survivors as they…
- Occupied (TV Series) (2015)
- Feat. Ane Dahl Torp, Henrik Mestad
- Exciting Norwegian political thriller from the pen of Jo Nesbo that posits a future Norway taken over by Russia in a bid to increase oil production.
- Our Brand is Crisis (2015)
- Dir. David Gordon Green
Feat. Sandra Bullock, Billy Bob Thornton, Anthony Mackie…
- Thorny comedy examines the role of American 'political consultants' in foreign elections. Sandra Bullock is sent to Bolivia to help re–elect a…
- Requiem for the American Dream (2015)
- Dir. Peter D. Hutchison, Kelly Nyks
- A bracing encapsulation of Professor Noam Chomsky's political and philosophical views, focusing particularly on the damaging effects of inequality in…
- Show Me a Hero (TV Mini-Series) (2015)
- Dir. Paul Haggis
Feat. Oscar Isaac, Peter Riegert, Alfred Molina…
- Extraordinary true story of the political fight to build public housing in white middle–class neighbourhoods in 1980's New York. From the…
- Truth (2015)
- Dir. James Vanderbilt
Feat. Cate Blanchett, Robert Redford, Topher Grace…
- A multi–layered and incrementally tense newsroom docudrama that captures the controversy that befell Dan Rather and CBS after they broadcast an…
- Welcome to Leith (2015)
- Dir. Michael Beach Nichols, Christopher K. Walker
- A living nightmare unfolds for the townsfolk of the North Dakota town of Leith (pop. 24) when a notorious white supremacist moves in with a nefarious…
- Where to Invade Next (2015)
- Dir. Michael Moore
- A good–natured comic polemic from film–maker Michael Moore, who this time "invades" a host of European nations in pursuit of progressive,…
- Zipper (2015)
- Dir. Mora Stephens
Feat. Patrick Wilson, Lena Headey, Ray Winstone…
- Political drama about a federal prosecutor whose sexual promiscuity threatens to destroy his political future and his life.
- Blue Eyes (TV Series) (2014)
- Feat. Linus Wahlgren, Sven Nordin, Louise Peterhoff
- A chief of staff at the Swedish justice department goes missing in the weeks leading up to the national election, and her replacement uncovers a…
- Green Prince, The (2014)
- Dir. Nadav Schirman
- Absorbing account of how a son of a founding leader in the Palestinian organization, Hamas, became a spy for the Israelis.
- Honourable Woman, The (TV Mini-series) (2014)
- Feat. Maggie Gyllenhaal, Stephen Rea, Lubna Azabal…
- A rigorous, fast–paced thriller with Maggie Gyllenhaal as a woman who inherits her father's arms business, and finds herself in a international…
- House of Cards - Season 2 (TV Series, US) (2014)
- Feat. Kevin Spacey, Robin Wright, Kate Mara…
- Further episodes in the shadowy revival of the classic BBC political series, with Kevin Spacey (perfectly cast) as a machiavellian congressman…
- Interview, The (2014)
- Dir. Evan Goldberg, Seth Rogen
Feat. Seth Rogen, James Franco, Lizzy Caplan…
- The highly controversial comedy that sparked a political crisis has a tabloid reporter recruited by the CIA to murder North Korean dictator Kim…
- Madam Secretary (TV Series) (2014)
- Feat. Tea Leoni, Tim Daly, Keith Carradine…
- Tea Leoni stars in this astute political drama that looks at the personal and professional life of a Secretary of State as she tries to balance her…
- Merchants of Doubt, The (2014)
- Dir. Robert Kenner
- The director of FOOD INC. takes on corporate titans once again, here exposing their duplicitous agenda to mislead consumers on climate change using…
- Selma (2014)
- Dir. Ava DuVernay
Feat. David Oyelowo, Carmen Ejogo, Tim Roth…
- Stirring chronicle of Martin Luther King's campaign to secure equal voting rights via an epic march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama in 1965.
- Welcome to New York (2014)
- Dir. Abel Ferrara
Feat. Gerard Depardieu, Jacqueline Bisset
- Gerard Depardieu stars in Abel Ferrara's divisive drama based on the sexual misconduct allegations made against French diplomat Dominique…
- Aim High in Creation (2013)
- Dir. Anna Broinowski
- With ambitions to stop a new gas mine from being established near her Sydney home, director Anna Broinowski (FORBIDDEN LIES) goes to North Korea to…
- Borgen - Series 3 (TV Series) (2013)
- Feat. Sidse Babett Knudsen, Birgitte Hjort Sørensen, Pilou Asbæk
- Further episodes from the Bafta–winning Danish political drama in which an idealistic prime minister's rise to power brings with it a web of…
- Broken City (2013)
- Dir. Allen Hughes
Feat. Mark Wahlberg, Russell Crowe, Catherine Zeta-Jones…
- In this serviceable political thriller, Mark Wahlberg plays a New York private eye who is recruited by the city mayor (Russell Crowe) to expose his…
- Butler, The (2013)
- Dir. Lee Daniels
Feat. Forest Whitaker, Oprah Winfrey, Mariah Carey…
- A stagy but sincere history of post–war Black America from the point of view of a White House servant (played by Forest Whitaker). It works as…
- Death of a Pilgrim (TV Mini-Series) (2013)
- Feat. Rolf Lassgard
- Fascinating Scandi–conspiracy thriller centred on the assassination of Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme in 1986, a murder that to this day…
- French Minister, The (Quai d'Orsay) (2013)
- Dir. Bertrand Tavernier
Feat. Thierry Lhermitte, Niels Arestrup, Julie Gayet…
- A cutting political satire set in the world of French diplomacy, about the relationship between a young speechwriter and the Minister of Foreign…
- Gore Vidal: United States of Amnesia (2013)
- Dir. Nicolas D. Wrathall
- Stimulating portrait of the one of the 20th century's most iconoclastic commentators drawing on a wealth of archival material and candid interviews…
- Hot Air (2013)
- Dir. Abi King-Jones, Alister Barry
- Is it possible for a small democratic nation to address the greatest political challenge of the age? That is the question posed by this timely…
- House of Cards - Season 1 (TV Series, US) (2013)
- Dir. David Fincher
Feat. Kevin Spacey, Robin Wright, Kate Mara…
- A deep, shadowy revival of the classic BBC political series, with Kevin Spacey (perfectly cast) as a machiavellian congressman manipulating his way…
- Killing Lincoln (2013)
- Dir. Adrian Moat
Feat. Billy Campbell
- Bill O'Reilly's novel about the assassination of President Lincoln from the point of view of John Wilkes Booth is the basis for this uneven but…
- Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom (2013)
- Dir. Justin Chadwick
Feat. Idris Elba, Naomie Harris, Tony Kgoroge
- Idris Elba portrays the late Nelson Mendela from his childhood rural upbringing through to his inauguration as the first democratically elected…
- Parkland (2013)
- Dir. Peter Landesman
Feat. Marcia Gay Harden, Zac Efron, Paul Giamatti…
- A suspenseful account of the chaotic events that occurred directly in the aftermath of JFK's assassination.
- Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer (2013)
- Dir. Mike Lerner, Maxim Pozdorovkin
- A galvanizing portrait of the all–female punk rockers whose headline–grabbing music and performance art continues to bring Putin's…
- Spirit of '45, The (2013)
- Dir. Ken Loach
- In this illuminating documentary, Ken Loach movingly celebrates the radical changes during postwar Britain under the new Labour government, which…
- Stuart Hall Project, The (2013)
- Dir. John Akomfrah
- Personalised portrait of cultural theorist Stuart Hall, who is regarded as one of the founding figures of the New Left and a key architect of…
- Trials of Muhammad Ali, The (2013)
- Dir. Bill Siegel
- Excellent, illuminating profile of Muhammad Ali's trials outside of the boxing ring, in particular his fight against being conscripted into the US…
- Unknown Known, The (2013)
- Dir. Errol Morris
- Controversial former United States Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, discusses his career in Washington D.C. from his days as a congressman in…
- We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks (2013)
- Dir. Alex Gibney
- Prolific documentarian Alex Gibney rigorously investigates the creation of the controversial WikiLeaks website and its conspicuous founder, Julian…
- Act of Killing, The (2012)
- Dir. Joshua Oppenheimer
- A staggering human rights documentary that elicits (and re–stages) boastful confessions of Indonesia's surviving death squad members, whose…
- After May (Something in the Air) (2012)
- Dir. Olivier Assayas
Feat. Lola Créton, Clément Métayer
- Hatched from dir. Olivier Assayas' personal experiences, this bittersweet evocation of the leftist fervour that caught hold of young Europeans in the…
- Campaign, The (2012)
- Dir. Jay Roach
Feat. Will Ferrell, Zach Galifianakis, Jason Sudeikis…
- A naive political lackey is handpicked to run against a bumbling North Carolina congressman in this demented satire of the American electoral process.
- Dictator, The (2012)
- Dir. Larry Charles
Feat. Sacha Baron Cohen, Anna Faris, Jason Mantzoukas…
- Sacha Baron Cohen returns with this sweet 'n' vulgar satire as a ruthless Middle Eastern tyrant who's diplomatic visit to New York doesn't go…
- Dirty Business - How Mining Made Australia (2012)
- An insight into the riches and turmoil behind Australia's nickname of "the lucky country", and how the mining of its vast natural resources has…
- Game Change (2012)
- Dir. Jay Roach
Feat. Julianne Moore, Woody Harrelson, Ed Harris…
- Julianne Moore is uncanny as John McCain's notorious 2008 presidential running mate in this revealing biopic of Alaska Governor turned right wing…
- Gatekeepers, The (2012)
- Dir. Dror Moreh
- Six former heads of Israel’s Shin Bet secret service agency open up about their work and the state of the Israel–Palestine divide in this…
- House I Live In, The (2012)
- Dir. Eugene Jarecki
- The definitive documentary on the 'war on drugs' to date, this canvases the people and the stories on both sides of the law to reveal the profound…
- Hyde Park on Hudson (2012)
- Dir. Roger Michell
Feat. Bill Murray, Laura Linney, Olivia Colman…
- Pleasant chronicle of the affair between President Roosevelt (Bill Murray) and his distant cousin, Daisy (Laura Linney), which comes to light during…
- Lincoln (2012)
- Dir. Steven Spielberg
Feat. Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, David Strathairn…
- Daniel Day–Lewis portrays the famed U.S. President between 1861 and 1865 as he dealt with personal demons and politics during the Civil War in…
- No (2012)
- Dir. Pablo Larrain
Feat. Gael Garcia Bernal, Alfredo Castro
- Gael Garcia Bernal plays an ad executive who conceives a campaign to defeat Augusto Pinochet in Chile's 1988 referendum in this unique celebration of…
- Political Animals (TV Mini-Series) (2012)
- Feat. Sigourney Weaver, Carla Gugino, James Wolk…
- Meaty White House drama with Sigourney Weaver, in a clear nod to Hillary Clinton, playing a divorced former First Lady now making waves as Secretary…
- Scandal (TV Series) (2012-2016)
- Feat. Kerry Washington, Columbus Short, Tony Goldwyn
- Kerry Washington plays a 'professional fixer' whose former life as a White House staffer draws her back into the world of political…
- Shadow Dancer (2012)
- Dir. James Marsh
Feat. Clive Owen, Andrea Riseborough, Gillian Anderson…
- Andrea Riseborough plays a staunch IRA revolutionary who is apprehended by British intelligence and forced to become a double agent in this…
- Shadow Men, The (Spin; Les Hommes De L'Ombre) (2012)
- Feat. Nathalie Baye, Philippe Magnan, Bruno Wolkowitch…
- Political drama series follows the actions of a group of spin doctors who each advance their own cause after the assassination of the French…
- Shahid (2012)
- Dir. Hansal Mehta
Feat. Rajkummar Rao, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Kay Kay Menon
- Indian biopic about the life of lawyer and human rights activist Shahid Azmi, who was assassinated in 2010 by four right wing assailants.
Known…
- Untold History of the United States, The (TV Series) (2012)
- Dir. Oliver Stone
- Oliver Stone is the voice and reasoning behind this fascinating, if contentious revisionist Cold War history through American foreign…
- Veep (TV Series) (2012)
- Feat. Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Anna Chlumsky, Matt Walsh
- THE THICK OF IT creator Armando Iannucci successfully transplants the formula of his hit British political satire to the White House in this winning…
- What Really Happened: Votes for Women (2012)
- Feat. Sara Wiseman, Craig Hall, Stephen Lovatt
- Another edifying take on a key turning point in New Zealand history (following What Really Happened: Waitangi), this Sunday Theatre commission…
- Beginning of the Great Revival (The Founding of a Party) (2011)
- Dir. Sanping Han, Jianxin Huang
Feat. Andy Lau, Chow Yun-Fat, Daniel Wu…
- In the tradition of unashamedly jingoistic cinema comes this state–sanctioned celebration of ninety years of Chinese Communist Party rule.…
- Borgen - Series 2 (TV Series) (2011)
- Feat. Sidse Babett Knudsen, Birgitte Hjort Sørensen, Pilou Asbæk
- Further episodes from the Bafta–winning Danish political drama in which an idealistic prime minister's rise to power brings with it a web of…
- Boss (TV Series) (2011)
- Feat. Kelsey Grammer, Connie Nielsen
- In this tough political series, Kelsey Grammer is magnetic as a gritty Chicago mayor fighting for his city and his seat in office despite the onset…
- How to Start a Revolution (2011)
- Dir. Ruaridh Arrow
- The remarkable story of Nobel Peace Prize nominee Dr Gene Sharp, the elderly, softly spoken man whose writings concerning the way to wage a…
- Ides of March, The (2011)
- Dir. George Clooney
Feat. George Clooney, Ryan Gosling, Philip Seymour Hoffman…
- Ryan Gosling plays an idealistic campaign worker forced to play dirty in a battle between opposing sides in a Democratic primary campaign in this…
- If a Tree Falls (2011)
- Dir. Marshall Curry
- Part coming–of–age tale, part cops–and–robbers thriller, this extraordinary documentary tells the story of Daniel McGowan,…
- Iron Lady, The (2011)
- Dir. Phyllida Lloyd
Feat. Meryl Streep, Jim Broadbent, Iain Glen…
- Meryl Streep's Oscar–winning incarnation dominates this stylized biography of Margaret Thatcher, the conservative British Prime Minister who…
- Julian Assange - A Modern Day Hero? (Inside the World of WikiLeaks) (2011)
- Fascinating, if patchy insight into the media whirlwind created when whistle–blowing website WikiLeaks published the Afghan War documents in…
- Kennedys, The (TV Mini-Series) (2011)
- Dir. Jon Cassar
Feat. Greg Kinnear, Barry Pepper, Katie Holmes…
- The latest in a long line of dramatizations around the Kennedy legacy in US politics, shaded as always by tragedy and scandal.
While the…
- Lady, The (2011)
- Dir. Luc Besson
Feat. Michelle Yeoh, David Thewlis, Benedict Wong
- Luc Besson directs this stirring biopic of Burmese pro–democracy activist turned political prisoner Aung San Suu Kyi.
- Minister, The (2011)
- Dir. Pierre Schöller
Feat. Olivier Gourmet, Michel Blanc, Zabou Breitman…
- Nuanced political drama follows the daily process of governance from the vantage point of of the French Transport Minister as he negotiates the…
- Operation 8: Deep in the Forest (2011)
- Dir. Errol Wright, Abi King-Jones
- Cohesive and compelling documentary that gives credible voice to the Maori sovereignty and peace activists who were targeted in police raids and…
- Promise, The (TV Series) (2011)
- Dir. Peter Kosminsky
Feat. Claire Foy, Christian Cooke, Itay Tiran…
- Intelligent, finely balanced drama alternates between storylines set in 1940s Palestine and present day Israel in its address of the contentious…
- Rage (Rage1981) (2011)
- Dir. Danny Mulheron
Feat. Maria Walker, Ryan O’Kane, Paul Harrop…
- Vividly–realised telemovie depicting a star–crossed romance against the turbulent and controversial 1981 Springbok Rugby Tour of New…
- Rebellion (2011)
- Dir. Mathieu Kassovitz
Feat. Mathieu Kassovitz, Iabe Lapacas, Malik Zidi…
- A proficient, airtight geopolitical thriller from dir. Kassovitz, who also stars as the captain of a counterterrorist division sent to New Caledonia…
- Sarah Palin: You Betcha! (2011)
- Dir. Nick Broomfield
- Renowned documentarian Nick Broomfield journeys to the devoutly evangelical, crystal meth capital of Alaska, in pursuit of Sarah Palin. Interviewing…
- Triangle Wars (2011)
- Dir. Rosie Jones
- Absorbing study of local politics as a community rallies together as developers threaten to convert a prime slice of land into 180 shops.
- Whatsoeverly (Qualunquemente) (2011)
- Dir. Giulio Manfredonia
Feat. Antonio Albanese, Sergio Rubini
- Irrepressibly Italian satirical comedy film starring comedian Antonio Albanese as his famous character Cetto La Qualunque – a corrupt…
- Borgen - Series 1 (TV Series) (2010)
- Feat. Sidse Babett Knudsen, Birgitte Hjort Sørensen, Pilou Asbæk
- Bafta–winning Danish political drama in which an idealistic prime minister's rise to power brings with it a web of consequences, sacrifices and…
- Casino Jack (2010)
- Dir. George Hickenlooper
Feat. Kevin Spacey, Barry Pepper, Jon Lovitz…
- A cracking script that favours comedy through absurdity over a heavyweight statement on American politics energises this dramatization of the scandal…
- Casino Jack and the United States of Money (2010)
- Dir. Alex Gibney
- Another compelling take on high–level corruption from dir. Alex Gibney (ENRON, TAXI TO THE DARK SIDE), this time delivering a weighty account…
- Chasing Madoff (2010)
- Dir. Jeff Prosserman
- Infamous for the 'Ponzi scheme' that defrauded thousands of investors of billions of dollars, Bernie Madoff is put to the sword in this fascinating…
- Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer (2010)
- Dir. Alex Gibney
- Scandal–laden follow–up to dir. Gibney's excellent doco on Jack 'Casino Jack' Abramoff takes an in–depth look at former New York…
- Draquila - Italy Trembles (2010)
- Dir. Sabina Guzzanti
- Sabina Guzzanti returns once more to do battle with Silvio Berlusconi in this incendiary doc that examines his administration's handling of the…
- Elite Squad: The Enemy Within (Elite Squad 2) (2010)
- Dir. José Padilha
Feat. Wagner Moura, Andre Ramiro
- This riveting sequel to dir. Padilha's blockbuster policier features a more politically engaged storyline, with plenty of new angles on the…
- Four Lions (2010)
- Dir. Chris Morris
Feat. Kayvan Novak, Riz Ahmed, Nigel Lindsay…
- Explosive comedy of folly and idiocy that follows four would–be Jihadists as they bicker and blunder towards their intended target.
Perhaps…
- Ghost Writer, The (2010)
- Dir. Roman Polanski
Feat. Ewan McGregor, Pierce Brosnan, Olivia Williams…
- A cracking yarn in unapologetic Hitchcock mould has Ewan McGregor hired to complete the memoirs of a Tony Blair–like former British prime…
- God in America (2010)
- Ambitious PBS series tackles more than 500 years of the American religious experience, from the voyage of Christopher Columbus to the 2008…
- Green Zone (2010)
- Dir. Paul Greengrass
Feat. Matt Damon, Amy Ryan, Brendan Gleeson…
- Action ace Paul Greengrass deploys Bourne leading man Matt Damon in this frenetic, politically pointed thriller focused on the hunt for Weapons of…
- Inside Job (2010)
- Dir. Charles Ferguson
- Enraging and comprehensive analysis of the global financial crisis of 2008, which at a cost over $20 trillion, caused millions of people to lose…
- Money Wars (2010)
- Dir. Richard Houston, Dragana Kalezic
- Scathing examination of the post–war U.S. financial system that chronicles the bail–outs, the corruption, the takeovers and the gradual…
- My Perestroika (2010)
- Dir. Robin Hessman
- A playful and positive sense of nostalgia permeates through this enthralling documentary on the lives of five Moscow youngsters who grew through the…
- Names of Love, The (2010)
- Dir. Michel Leclerc
Feat. Jacques Gamblin, Sara Forestier, Zinedine Soualem…
- Witty cocktail of sex and politics about an extroverted left–wing activist who sleeps with her political opponents to convert them to her cause.
- Potiche (2010)
- Dir. Francois Ozon
Feat. Catherine Deneuve, Gerard Depardieu, Fabrice Luchini…
- Bubbly satire has 60–something Catherine Deneuve transform from trophy wife to a strong–headed businesswoman after her chauvinist husband…
- Special Relationship, The (2010)
- Dir. Richard Loncraine
Feat. Michael Sheen, Dennis Quaid, Hope Davis…
- The third in the trilogy of 'Tony Blair' movies scripted by Peter Morgan (following THE DEAL and THE QUEEN), this one examines the complex dynamics…
- Waiting for Superman (2010)
- Dir. Davis Guggenheim
- Disheartening look at the state of U.S. education follows several children as they navigate their way through the increasingly poor public school…
- Afghan Star (2009)
- Dir. Havana Marking
- Islamic fundamentalism and pop music commericalism make uneasy bedfellows in this vital, eye–opening documentary that follows the fortunes of…
- Balibo (2009)
- Dir. Robert Connolly
Feat. Anthony LaPaglia, Oscar Isaac, Nathan Phillips…
- Searing political thriller based on the death of five Australian–based journalists (one, a Kiwi) who, upon covering the occupation of East…
- Burma VJ (2009)
- Dir. Anders Ostergaard
- Enterprising guerrilla documentary shows how members of the Democratic Voice of Burma are using miniature handycams to record and disseminate raw…
- Capitalism - A Love Story (2009)
- Dir. Michael Moore
- Doco legend Michael Moore comes full circle after detouring with US gun culture (BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE), foreign policy (FAHRENHEIT 9/11), and health…
- End of America, The (2009)
- Dir. Anne Sundberg, Ricki Stern
- A one–woman rally–cry based on the New York Times bestseller, this film embellishes author Naomi Wolf's live lectures around her book's…
- Endgame (2009)
- Dir. Peter Travis
Feat. William Hurt, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jonny Lee Miller…
- South Africa's fraught history is tackled in this solid, involving account of President P.W. Botha’s segregationist regime, and his secretive talks…
- Five Minutes of Heaven (2009)
- Dir. Oliver Hirschbiegel
Feat. Liam Neeson, James Nesbitt, Anamaria Marinca
- Northern Ireland's troubled past is tackled in a contemporary spirit of "truth and reconciliation" in this fictional drama in which James Nesbitt…
- Founding of a Republic, The (Jian guo da ye) (2009)
- Dir. Sanping Han, Jianxin Huang
Feat. Guoqiang Tang, Guoli Zhang, Qing Xu…
- The People’s Republic of China rolls out the big guns for this 60th anniversary epic, chronicling in big, sweeping gestures, the uprising of Mao…
- High School Revolution (The Trotsky) (2009)
- Dir. Jacob Tierney
Feat. Jay Baruchel, Domini Blythe, Emily Hampshire…
- Smart teen comedy with Baruchel taking the lead as an intensely politicised high–schooler convinced he's the reincarnation of Leon Trotsky.
- Hitler's Bodyguard (TV Series) (2009)
- 13–part documentary series offering a thorough, at times incredible, examination of the men who protected Adolf Hitler against numerous…
- Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel (2009)
- Dir. Brigitte Berman
- Entertaining documentary that purports to show the other side of flamboyant founder of the Playboy editor. Focusing on his philanthropic endeavours…
- In The Loop (2009)
- Dir. Armando Iannucci
Feat. Tom Hollander, Peter Capaldi, Gina McKee…
- Crushingly sharp political satire set in the hubbub of Whitehall and Washington, where petty political games are hilariously played out while the…
- Mexican Border Wars (TV Series) (2009)
- National Geographic series about American customs agents, whose job it is to curb illegal immigration and narcotics trafficking for a country…
- Most Dangerous Man In America, The (Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers) (2009)
- Dir. Rick Goldsmith, Judith Ehrlich
- Galvanizing portrait of whistle blower Daniel Ellsberg, a former military analyst and aide to Robert McNamara who leaked classified Pentagon papers…
- Move On: Storming the Gate (The MoveOn.org Story) (2009)
- Dir. Scott Stevenson
- Partisan documentary examines the revolutionary history and importance of one of the biggest progressive grass–roots movements in U.S.…
- Paris 1919 (Un traité pour la paix) (2009)
- Dir. Paul Cowan
Feat. David Lowe, Paul Bandey, Yan Brian
- History–drenched docudrama merging archival footage with live action, examining the tricky negotiations that led to the signing of the Treaty…
- Shock Doctrine, The (2009)
- Dir. Michael Winterbottom, Mat Whitecross
- A fast and loose overview of Naomi Klein's contentious "alternate history" of Western economics, which argues how "disaster capitalism", in feeding…
- Soundtrack for a Revolution (2009)
- Dir. Bill Guttentag, Dan Sturman
- Joss Stone, John Legend, Wyclef Jean, and The Roots, among others, perform tribute covers of freedom songs from the American Civil Rights movement in…
- State Of Play (2009)
- Dir. Kevin MacDonald
Feat. Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams…
- With excellent political thriller credentials, this accomplished remake (from the BBC mini–series) transposes its conspiracy–laden scoop…
- Storm (2009)
- Dir. Hans-Christian Schmid
Feat. Kerry Fox, Anamaria Marinca, Stephen Dillane
- Accomplished international courtroom drama sees a determined prosecutor (Fox) risk life and limb in order to prove that the former commander of the…
- William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe (2009)
- Filmmakers Emily and Sarah Kunstler explore the life of their father, the late radical civil rights lawyer. In the 1960s and 70s, William Kunstler…
- Yes Men Fix the World, The (2009)
- Dir. Andy Bichlbaum, Mike Bonanno
- The activist pranksters of documentary THE YES MEN direct and star in their own follow–up, which chronicles their continuing adventures as…
- 10 Conditions Of Love, The (2008)
- Dir. Jeff Daniels
- Controversial documentary slammed by the Chinese government focused on Rebiya Kadeer, a tireless campaigner for human rights who has been punished at…
- A Year in Tibet (TV Series) (2008)
- A momentous and timely series filmed inside the mountainous region of Tibet focusing on the Tibetan people and how they manage to live under imposed…
- Baader Meinhof Complex, The (2008)
- Dir. Uli Edel
Feat. Martina Gedeck, Moritz Bleibtreu, Johanna Wokalek…
- A big–budget, pulse–pounding account of terrorism and political protest in 1960s and 70s Germany, centred on the notorious Red Army…
- Barack Obama: His Story (2008)
- Topical documentary tracking the life of the newly elected president of the United States Barack Obama, from meagre beginnings to his steady rise…
- Barack Obama: Yes We Can (2008)
- Significant documentary outlining the incredible story of Barack Hussein Obama, a man with an American mother and Kenyan father who became a national…
- Behind Closed Doors: Stalin, The Nazis and The West (2008)
- Six–episode BBC/PBS documentary series on the role of Joseph Stalin and German–Soviet relations before, during, and after World War II…
- Blair (2008)
- Dir. Richard Sanders
- A revealing post–Labour confessional from Britain's former Prime Minister Tony Blair, focused on world crises during his tenure, and…
- Boogie Man - The Lee Atwater Story (2008)
- Dir. Stefan Forbes
- Gripping political documentary revealing the life of ruthless right–wing political strategist and musician Lee Atwater, who was instrumental in…
- Bulletproof Salesman (2008)
- Dir. Petra Epperlein, Michael Tucker
- This documentary provides a different slant on the business of war as it introduces us to Fidelis Cloer – a German armoured vehicle salesman…
- Bush's War (2008)
- Dir. Michael Kirk
- Extensive two–part documentary chronicling the Iraq War from the post 9/11 murmurings and "Weapons of Mass Destruction" allegations through to…
- Che: Part One (The Argentine) (2008)
- Dir. Steven Soderbergh
Feat. Benicio Del Toro, Julia Ormond, Rodrigo Santoro…
- An epic undertaking by dir. Steven Soderbergh, this two part resurrection of the Che Guevara legend (played charismatically by Benicio del Toro)…
- Che: Part Two (Guerilla) (2008)
- Dir. Steven Soderbergh
Feat. Benicio Del Toro, Rodrigo Santoro, Demian Bichir…
- An epic undertaking by dir. Steven Soderbergh, this two part resurrection of the Che Guevara legend (played charismatically by Benicio del Toro)…
- Chevolution (2008)
- Dir. Luis Lopez, Trisha Ziff
- Cuban revolutionary history is examined through photographer Alberto Korda’s iconic portrait of Che Guevara – now a ubiquitous and exploited…
- Chris Rock: Kill The Messenger (2008)
- Feat. Chris Rock
- Live from New York, Johannesburg and London, Chris Rock is on fine form as he spouts risque, albeit familiar, observations on interracial and sexual…
- CSNY Deja-Vu (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young) (2008)
- Dir. Bernard Shakey
Feat. Neil Young
- Riveting, candid and politically charged documentary from Neil Young (pseudonym Bernard Shakey), filmed as Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young crisscross…
- Definitely, Maybe (2008)
- Dir. Adam Brooks
Feat. Ryan Reynolds, Isla Fisher, Rachel Weisz…
- Ryan Reynolds explains his 'complicated' romantic history to his young daughter (Breslin) in this agreeable romantic comedy set against a backdrop of…
- Flow: For Love Of Water (2008)
- Dir. Irena Salina
- Imperative documentary investigating the impending World Water Crisis due to the privatization of water supplies and greed of major corporations.…
- Frost/Nixon (2008)
- Dir. Ron Howard
Feat. Frank Langella, Michael Sheen, Sam Rockwell…
- Terrific adaptation of the Peter Morgan stageplay providing a dramatic retelling of the story behind the famous interviews between ex–President…
- Good (2008)
- Dir. Vicente Amorim
Feat. Viggo Mortensen, Jason Isaacs, Jodie Whittaker…
- Based on the acclaimed stageplay by C.P. Taylor, Viggo Mortensen sports a convincing English accent to portray a German academic who is reluctantly…
- Hollow Men, The (2008)
- Dir. Alister Barry
- Seasoned documentarian Alister Barry distills Nicky Hager's hot potato expose of National Party leader Don Brash into a confronting, election year…
- Hunger (2008)
- Dir. Steve McQueen
Feat. Michael Fassbender, Stuart Graham
- Combating harrowing subject matter with formal brilliance, this masterful examination of extreme resistance concerns the 1981 IRA hunger strike and…
- I.O.U.S.A. (2008)
- Dir. Patrick Creadon
- Cogent, accessible doco on the nightmare of US fiscal irresponsibility that lets the expert heads and engaging graphics do the talking.
It…
- Il Divo (The Deity) (2008)
- Dir. Paolo Sorrentino
Feat. Toni Servillo, Anna Bonaiuto, Flavio Bucci
- Dazzling, high–end political intrigue from dir. of CONSEQUENCES OF LOVE speculates on the years following Giulio Andreotti’s seventh term as…
- India Reborn (2008)
- Fascinating and disturbing doco series that looks at India as the next superpower, and the juxtapositions to its mighty wealth that cloud its future…
- Indonesia - A Reporter's Journey (2008)
- Feat. Mike Carlton
- The complex relationship between Australia and its oft–misunderstood Northern neighbour is explored by journalist and radio broadcaster Mike…
- Jihad for Love, A (2008)
- Dir. Parvez Sharma
- Revealing documentary on homosexuality and the Islamic faith, filmed in secret over 5 and a half years under the Muslim government radar. Although…
- John Adams (2008)
- Dir. Tom Hooper
Feat. Paul Giamatti, Laura Linney, Sarah Polley…
- Acclaimed miniseries on the life of America's second president and founding father John Adams. Simultaneously epic and intimate this is compulsory…
- John Pilger's Australia (Documentaries that Changed the World Vol. 2) (2008)
- Feat. John Pilger
- Across 3 discs, seasoned political commentator John Pilger turns the focus to Australia, providing a detailed critical analysis of Australian…
- Margaret Thatcher - The Long Walk to Finchley (2008)
- Dir. Niall MacCormick
Feat. Geoffrey Palmer, Andrea Riseborough
- Appealing political drama focused on Margaret Thatcher's younger years as she attempts to enter parliament despite opposition from the British…
- Milk (2008)
- Dir. Gus Van Sant
Feat. Sean Penn, Emile Hirsch, Josh Brolin…
- Saying it proud but not too loud, this dramatized biopic of the first openly–elected gay official fittingly tributes the legacy of San…
- Miracle of Berlin (Das Wunder von Berlin) (2008)
- Dir. Roland Suso Richter
Feat. Kostja Ullmann, Karoline Herfurth, Veronica Ferres
- Ambitious telemovie set in Berlin, 1988, where a rebellious young man is forced by his father – a high–ranking Stasi officer – to…
- Nothing But The Truth (2008)
- Dir. Rod Lurie
Feat. Kate Beckinsale, Matt Dillon, Angela Bassett…
- Solid political drama 'inspired' on a true story focused around a young journalist who faces imprisonment after outing a CIA agent and refusing to…
- Obama: All Access (2008)
- A two–year compendium of landmark CBS News coverage, chronicling Barack Obama’s historic road to the White House and beyond. Includes…
- Religulous (2008)
- Dir. Larry Charles
Feat. Bill Maher
- 'Good' and 'Evil' are turned on their head (and in their graves) in this provocative docu–comedy following comedian and commentator Bill Maher…
- Standard Operating Procedure (2008)
- Dir. Errol Morris
- To see or not to see: that is the question posed by acclaimed director Errol Morris as he attempts to understand what took place inside the walls of…
- Swing Vote (2008)
- Dir. Joshua Michael Stern
Feat. Kevin Costner, Kelsey Grammer, Dennis Hopper…
- Undemanding political comedy based around the idea of a dropkick father whose polling booth blunder means he holds the 'swing vote' that will decide…
- Tony Manero (2008)
- Dir. Pablo Larrain
Feat. Alfredo Castro, Paola Lattus, Héctor Morales
- Unsettling drama set against the Pinochet regime in Chile in 1978, where a psychopathic disco fan steals and kills in an effort to become the…
- Traitor (2008)
- Dir. Jeffrey Nachmanoff
Feat. Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Said Taghmaoui…
- Don Cheadle stars as a Semtex racketeer selling to the highest bidder – be he CIA or Jihadist – and finds himself a pawn on the twin…
- Tudors, The (TV Series) (2008)
- Feat. Johnathon Rhys-Myers, Jeremy Northam, Sam Neill…
- Top–rating British costume drama brings to noughties audiences the rollicking, bed–hopping, head–lopping early years of the court…
- W. (Bush) (2008)
- Dir. Oliver Stone
Feat. Josh Brolin, Richard Dreyfuss, James Cromwell…
- Oliver Stone examines the leadership of former U.S. President George W. Bush in this wayward, if strangely compelling account of the Texan’s…
- Waltz With Bashir (Vals Im Bashir) (2008)
- Dir. Ari Folman
- This striking hybrid animation is an audacious attempt to recall, through anecdote, dream, and documentary, the 1982 Israeli–Lebanon war.…
- XIII: The Conspiracy (TV Mini-Series) (2008)
- Feat. Val Kilmer, Stephen Dorff
- Intriguing mini–series set around the premise that the first female President of the United States has been assassinated by an unknown sniper…
- A Civilised Society (2007)
- Dir. Alister Barry
- Documentarian Alister Barry concludes his loose trilogy on New Right economic policies with this impassioned plea for the standards of public…
- Axe in the Attic, The (2007)
- Dir. Ed Pincus, Lucia Small
- Two British filmmakers, horrified by the devastation to New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, embark on a 60–day pilgrimage from…
- Battle In Seattle (2007)
- Dir. Stuart Townsend
Feat. Martin Henderson, Michelle Rodriguez, Woody Harrelson…
- Seattle’s infamous 1999 World Trade Organisation protests are analysed in this fictional, yet vivid recreation of events, shot admirably from both…
- Breach (2007)
- Dir. Billy Ray
Feat. Chris Cooper, Ryan Phillippe, Laura Linney
- A first–rate dramatic thriller that pits spy against spy on the American homefront, based on the true story of the FBI's internal investigation…
- Burn Notice (TV Series) (2007)
- Feat. Jeffrey Donovan, Gabrielle Anwar, Bruce Campbell…
- Polished spy series following the fate of a "burned" spy let go by the USA government who returns to his hometown of Miama to freelance and uncover…
- Charlie Wilson's War (2007)
- Dir. Mike Nichols
Feat. Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Philip Seymour Hoffman…
- Tom Hanks spearheads this crisp, ever–timely political sideswipe, about a real–life Texas congressman who, together with the financial…
- Chicago 10 (2007)
- Dir. Brett Morgen
- Unique documentary that splices together archival footage and motion–capture animation to recreate the infamous trial of anti–war…
- Cowboys and Communists (Cowboys & Communists) (2007)
- Dir. Jess Feast
- Engaging culture documentary centred on a risque East Berlin bar and eatery (known as White Trash Fast Food), operated by an ex–pat 'cowboy'…
- Darling! The Pieter-Dirk Uys Story (2007)
- Dir. Julian Shaw
- Moving doco focused on the litigious cross–dressing South African satirist Pieter–Dirk Uys, whose life's work included stirring…
- Day Zero (2007)
- Dir. Bryan Gunnar Cole
Feat. Elijah Wood, Jon Bernthal, Chris Klein…
- A 'what if scenario' study of three New Yorkers facing the draft in an alternate post–9/11 reality.
There's embattled Ivy Leaguer Chris…
- Dengue Fever - Sleepwalking Through the Mekong (2007)
- Dir. John Pirozzi
- Political rockumentary follows LA–based band Dengue Fever on their recent journey to Cambodia to perform 60s and 70s Cambodian rock n' roll in…
- Devil Came on Horseback, The (2007)
- Dir. Anne Sundberg, Ricki Stern
- Urgent, eye–opening documentary on the Darfur genocide, which follows US Marine Captain Brian Steidle's assignment as a neutral observer of the…
- Disengagement (2007)
- Dir. Amos Gitai
Feat. Juliette Binoche, Jeanne Moreau, Liron Levo
- Juliette Binoche plays a French–Israeli settler in Gaza who must return to the West Bank following Israel’s pullout from the occupied…
- Katyn (2007)
- Dir. Andrzej Wajda
Feat. Maja Ostaszewska, Artur Żmijewski, Pawel Malaszynski
- Andrzej Wajda cements himself as Poland’s greatest director with this late–career triumph, a war story addressing the eradication of some…
- La Verdad? (The Truth?) (2007)
- Dir. Helen Smyth
- Whilst in Cuba, Kiwi journalist and mother–of–two Helen Smyth and husband Tim Rose (of Havana Coffee Works) inadvertently delve into its…
- Lions for Lambs (2007)
- Dir. Robert Redford
Feat. Robert Redford, Meryl Streep, Tom Cruise
- A contemporary 'hot potato' issue is tackled from political, academic, militaristic and journalistic viewpoints, drawing an ultimately powerful…
- Manufacturing Dissent (2007)
- Dir. Debbie Melnyck, Rick Caine
- Not just another debunking of Michael Moore, this thoughtful, well–considered essay on the left winger’s political documentaries exposes…
- Mrs Ratcliffe's Revolution (2007)
- Dir. Billie Eltringham
Feat. Catherine Tate, Iain Glen, Brittany Ashworth
- 60s–era Brit comedy following the middle–class Ratcliffe family, who move from their comfortable Yorksire home to East Germany in live…
- My Brother Is An Only Child (Mio Fratello è Figlio Unico) (2007)
- Dir. Daniele Luchetti
Feat. Elio Germano, Riccardo Scamarcio, Angela Finocchiaro…
- The struggle between popular Communist and Fascist groups in 60's Italy is the stage for this tale of hot–headed sibling and filial conflict.…
- Obscene (2007)
- Dir. Daniel O'Connor, Neil Ortenberg
- The definitive film biography of Barney Rosset, the influential publisher of Grove Press and the Evergreen Review, this charts his tumultuous career…
- Oswald's Ghost (2007)
- Dir. Robert Stone
- This intelligent investigative doco focusing on the chain of events leading up to John F. Kennedy's assassination and the impact it had on America is…
- Persepolis (2007)
- Dir. Marjane Satrapi, Vincent Paronnaud
- Exceptional black–and–white animated feature for adults based on the autobiographical graphic novel by Marjane Satrapi, who grew up in…
- Pretender, The (TV Series) (2007)
- Feat. Bob MacLaren
- Acclaimed Kiwi mocko series centred on a self–serving New Zealand MP weaselling his way from the overlooked bank bench into second in charge of…
- Sand and Sorrow (2007)
- Dir. Paul Freedman
- A sobering, all–encompassing document of the Darfur genocide that, while not subtle, powerfully informs of the atrocities committed, as well as…
- Senator Obama Goes to Africa (2007)
- Dir. Bob Hercules
- Succinct documentary following Barak Obama's emotional journey with his family to Africa in 2006 in the wake of becoming the newly elected U.S.…
- Send A Bullet (Manda Bala) (2007)
- Dir. Jason Kohn
- Unsettling doco exposing the corrupted underbelly of Sao Paulo, Brazil, where abduction, political fraud and torture runs rife.
A protege of…
- Shoot on Sight (2007)
- Dir. Jag Mundhra
Feat. Naseeruddin Shah, Greta Scacchi, Om Puri…
- Not so much hot potato as lukewarm, this political thriller bases its story on the real–life shooting of an innocent Brazilian man gunned down…
- Sicko (2007)
- Dir. Michael Moore
- Documentary icon Michael Moore's latest broadside utilizes his tried–and–true one–man approach to expose the inherent 'malpractice'…
- Slacker Uprising (Captain Mike Across America) (2007)
- Dir. Michael Moore
- Footage from Michael Moore's political crusade in 2004 to convince the masses of young non–voters – aka slackers – to give voting a…
- Strange Culture (2007)
- Dir. Lynn Hershman-Leeson
Feat. Thomas Jay Ryan, Tilda Swinton, Peter Coyote
- Topical and important docu–drama focusing on the charges of bio–terrorism brought against acclaimed artist Steve Kurtz after his wife's…
- Strangers (2007)
- Dir. Guy Nattiv, Erez Tadmor
Feat. Patrick Albenque, Lubna Azabal, Mila Dekker
- Balancing hopeful romanticism with political realism, this fatalistic drama brings together an Israeli and Palestinian in Paris during the frenzy of…
- Trap, The (The Trap: What Happened to Our Dream of Freedom?) (2007)
- Dir. Adam Curtis
- Ambitious treatise on the concept of freedom sees Curtis overreaching somewhat, and a certain arbitrary focus tends to lend this one a conspiratorial…
- Trumbo (2007)
- Dir. Peter Askin
Feat. Joan Allen, Michael Douglas, Donald Sutherland…
- Prominent blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo – the most famed of the alleged Communist sympathising ‘Hollywood 10’ – is the honoree of…
- Walker, The (2007)
- Dir. Paul Schrader
Feat. Woody Harrelson, Kristin Scott Thomas, Lauren Bacall…
- Woody Harrelson plays against type as a sharp–witted blueblood socialite who tries to solve the mystery of a murder he's framed for after…
- War / Dance (War Dance) (2007)
- Life–affirming Oscar–nominated doco investigates the lives of a group of war–torn Ugandan child refugees on their path towards…
- War on Democracy, The (2007)
- Dir. John Pilger, Chris Martin
- John Pilger continues his crusade against U.S foreign policy with this informative, persuasively polemical documentary about the manipulation and…
- Abduction: The Megumi Yokota Story (2006)
- Dir. Patty Kim, Chris Sheridan
- This startling, blow–by–blow account of a notorious Japanese abduction reveals a staggering conspiracy at the heart of a…
- All The King's Men (2006)
- Dir. Steven Zaillian
Feat. Sean Penn, Jude Law, Anthony Hopkins…
- A heavyweight, if not entirely functional adaptation Robert Penn Warren's political novel about a failed idealist turned corrupt, powermongering…
- Amazing Mrs Pritchard, The (TV Series) (2006)
- Feat. Jane Horrocks, Steven Mackintosh, Jodhi May…
- Excellent UK drama focused on supermarket manager Ros Pritchard (Horrocks) who decides to sort out Britain's political climate by running for Prime…
- Blame it on Fidel! (La Faute à Fidel!) (2006)
- Dir. Julie Gavras
Feat. Nina Kervel-Bey, Julie Depardieu, Stefano Accorsi
- A warm, wise and wryly observed evocation of a child's accelerated maturation in the midst of early 1970s social and political upheaval, Nina…
- Blood Diamond (2006)
- Dir. Edward Zwick
Feat. Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Connelly, Djimon Hounsou…
- Robust action film with a political conscience, Leonardo DiCaprio gamely sustains a South African accent and an amoral toughness as a…
- Bobby (2006)
- Dir. Emilio Estevez
Feat. Laurence Fishburne, Heather Graham, Anthony Hopkins…
- In the sprawling, overlapping traditional of Robert Altman, dir. Emilio Estevez time capsules the hours leading up to Robert F. Kennedy's…
- Caiman, The (Il Camino) (2006)
- Dir. Nanni Moretti
Feat. Nanni Moretti, Margherita Buy, Jasmine Trinca…
- Unflinching Italian film–within–a–film concerning a producer attempting to make a film about former Italian prime minister Silvio…
- Catch a Fire (2006)
- Dir. Phillip Noyce
Feat. Tim Robbins, Derek Luke
- Sturdy, serious–minded political thriller from the steady hand of dir. Phillip Noyce, couched in the turbulence of South Africa’s Apartheid…
- Crossing the Line (2006)
- Dir. Daniel Gordon
- Documentary on the extraordinary defection of James Dresnok, an American military deserter to North Korea in 1962, who now resides permanently in the…
- Cuba - A Lifetime Of Passion (2006)
- Dir. Glenn Gebhard
- With unprecedented access on either side of the Florida Straits, this comprehensive, and beautifully shot documentary highlights the complexity of…
- Death of a President (2006)
- Dir. Gabriel Range
- An audacious faux–documentary that contrives an utterly convincing scenario around the fictional assassination of President George W.…
- Eureka (TV Series) (2006)
- Feat. Colin Ferguson, Greg Germann, Joe Morton…
- Novel sci–fi series focused on a stranded U.S. Marshall who uncovers a remote hamlet populated by a community of hand–picked scientists…
- Fast Food Nation (2006)
- Dir. Richard Linklater
Feat. Greg Kinnear, Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke…
- A grave, caustic expose of industry malpractice and greed in the fast food business, told from the dramatic perspective of multiple characters…
- Flock of Dodos (2006)
- Dir. Randy Olson
- A humourous take on the great American evolution vs 'intelligent design' debate, this doco pits talking heads from both sides against each other to…
- Freedom's Fury (2006)
- Dir. Colin K. Gray, Megan Raney
- Sport and politics mix in this gripping account of a hotly contested water polo semifinal between Hungary and the Soviet Union during the 1956…
- Global Haywire (2006)
- Dir. Bruce Petty
- Unruly political doco by celebrated Australian cartoonist and moviemaker Bruce Petty, that seeks to answer why the East and West have reached crisis…
- Hacking Democracy (2006)
- Dir. Simon Ardizzone
- Alarming expose of America’s electronic voting system, which was disastrously shown–up in the 2000 US Presidential election.
Casting its…
- Hero's Journey, A (2006)
- President Xanana Gusmao presides over this documentary portrait of East Timor, its Resistance war against Indonesian occupation, and its current…
- Idiocracy (2006)
- Dir. Mike Judge
Feat. Luke Wilson, Dax Shepard, David Herman…
- A dumb comedy for smart people, this follows the likes of TEAM AMERICA and BORAT as another shrewd post–9/11 satire in which Americans take a…
- Infinite Justice (2006)
- Dir. Jamil Dehlavi
Feat. Kevin Collins, Raza Jaffrey
- Following in the footsteps of A MIGHTY HEART, this vigorous political thriller inspired by the Daniel Pearl case follows an investigative journalist…
- Jesus Camp (2006)
- Dir. Heidi Ewing, Rachel Grady
- A disturbing guided tour of extremist 'Jesus Camps' in the US, run by politically–aligned Evangelical Christian groups intent on indoctrinating…
- Journey From the Fall (2006)
- Dir. Ham Tran
Feat. Kieu Chinh
- Emotionally charged, stylishly filmed historical drama follows the twin fortunes of an incarcerated Vietnamese man and his refugee family forced to…
- Listening, The (2006)
- Dir. Giacomo Martelli
Feat. Michael Parks
- Visually fetching spy thriller centred on a NSA officer on a mission to disable spy technology that enables the U.S. government to use phones as live…
- Lives of Others, The (2006)
- Dir. Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
Feat. Ulrich Mühe, Sebastian Koch, Martina Gedeck…
- Compelling dramatisation of the political tensions between artists and authorities in 80's East Germany, this widely celebrated arthouse hit won the…
- Man of the Year (2006)
- Dir. Barry Levinson
Feat. Robin Williams, Christopher Walken, Laura Linney…
- Played for quick laughs, this political satire suitably casts Robin Williams as an affable, late–night talk show host who runs for President…
- Noam Chomsky: Imperial Grand Strategy (The Conquest of Iraq and the Assault on Democracy) (2006)
- Feat. Noam Chomsky
- Excellent compendium of Noam Chomsky lectures, with the elder activist contesting America's occupation of Iraq, 'Patriot Acts', dubious…
- Running with Arnold (2006)
- Feat. Arnold Schwarzenegger
- One–sided political doco following the ascent of muscle–head actor Arnie through the ranks of right–wing government to become the…
- Sentinel, The (2006)
- Dir. Clark Johnson
Feat. Michael Douglas, Kiefer Sutherland, Eva Longoria…
- A political conspiracy thriller with plenty of gun–cocked posturing involves veteran secret service agent Michael Douglas, implicated in a…
- Shut Up and Sing (2006)
- Dir. Barbara Kopple, Cecilia Peck
- Politics ("shut up") and music ("sing") find themselves reluctantly linked in this portrait of country superstars, "The Dixie Chicks", and the…
- State Within, The (TV Series) (2006)
- Dir. Daniel Percival
Feat. Jason Isaacs, Ben Daniels, Sharon Gless
- Gripping political series centred on the British Ambassador to Washington who finds himself entangled in the midst of political scandal after a plane…
- US vs. John Lennon, The (2006)
- Dir. David Leaf, John Scheinfeld
- Compelling exposition of the political persecution of outspoken, anti–war Beatle, John Lennon by the Nixon–led US government.
While…
- When the Levees Broke - A Requiem in Four Acts (2006)
- Dir. Spike Lee
- Powerful, enraging chronicle of this century’s first great natural disaster, and the man–made catastrophe that unfolded post–Hurricane…
- Wind That Shakes the Barley, The (2006)
- Dir. Ken Loach
Feat. Cillian Murphy, Liam Cunningham, Gerard Kearney
- Thoroughly gripping Cannes winner from "kitchen sink" exponent Ken Loach, retelling with parochial force Ireland's tumultuous twenties, where the…
- American Dad (TV Series) (2005)
- More politically–inclined satire from the creator of THE FAMILY GUY (Seth MacFarlane), set around a CIA operative with a very strange family…
- Archangel (TV Mini-Series) (2005)
- Dir. Jon Jones
Feat. Daniel Craig, Yekaterina Rednikova
- Biting thriller based on the Robert Harris novel, with Daniel Craig taking on the role of an academic thrust into darkest post–war Russia to…
- Breakfast on Pluto (2005)
- Dir. Neil Jordan
Feat. Cillian Murphy, Stephen Rea, Brendan Gleeson…
- Cillian Murphy glitters in this whimsical drama as an Irish transgender escort during the social and political upheaval of the 70s.
Despite the…
- Churchill's Bodyguard (2005)
- Imposing, unprecedented memoir of the life and times of Winston Churchill, adapted from the diaries of his stoic bodyguard, Walter H.…
- Commander in Chief (TV Series) (2005)
- Feat. Geena Davis, Donald Sutherland, Bruce Boxleitner…
- Excellent WEST WING–style political drama has Geena Davis depict an imagined first woman President of the USA, an independent senator who is…
- Excellent Cadavers (2005)
- Dir. Marco Turco
- The hush–hush war between Sicily’s mafia and the prosecutors who slept with the fishes is recounted in this fascinating documentary, an ideal…
- Girl in the Cafe, The (2005)
- Dir. David Yates
Feat. Bill Nighy, Kelly MacDonald
- Richard Curtis (LOVE ACTUALLY) penned this second–chances romance with a mild political streak, where an aging civil servant strikes up an…
- Interpreter, The (2005)
- Dir. Sydney Pollack
Feat. Nicole Kidman, Sean Penn, Catherine Keener…
- A topical thriller embroiled in the thorny issues of African politics (with obvious allusions to Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe), this is a slick,…
- Munich (2005)
- Dir. Steven Spielberg
Feat. Eric Bana, Daniel Craig, Mathieu Kassovitz…
- Compelling, if occasionally muddily–overearnest thriller based around the aftermath of the massacre of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich…
- Oil Factor, The (2005)
- Dir. Audrey Brohy, Gerard Ungerman
- Another addition to the panoply of anti–Iraq War documentaries, this attempts to draw the links between the Western World's over–reliance…
- Sometimes in April (2005)
- Dir. Raoul Peck
Feat. Debra Winger, Idris Elba, Oris Erhuero
- A worthy HBO dramatisation of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, in which around one million ethnic 'Tutsis' were slaughtered by ethnic 'Hutu' military and…
- State of Play (TV Mini-series) (2005)
- Dir. David Yates
Feat. David Morrissey, John Simm, Bill Nighy…
- Politics, journalism and murder collide in this dynamic British thriller, which snowballs from two seemingly unrelated deaths into a riveting,…
- Stephen Poliakoff's Gideon's Daughter & Friends and Crocodiles (2005)
- Dir. Stephen Poliakoff
Feat. Bill Nighy, Miranda Richardson
- Two BBC dramas from commended writer–director Stephen Poliakoff – 'Friends and Crocodiles' confronts the changing power balance between a…
- Street Fight (2005)
- Dir. Marshall Curry
- Director Marshall Curry's (IF A TREE FALLS) first film is this Oscar–nominated political documentary detailing the 2002 mayoral campaign of…
- Syriana (2005)
- Dir. Stephen Gaghan
Feat. George Clooney, Matt Damon, Jeffrey Wright…
- Fierce and dense exploration of the machinations and consequences of the global oil industry in the form of a multiple–storyline drama (from…
- Thick of It, The (TV Series) (2005)
- Dir. Armando Iannucci
Feat. Chris Langham, Peter Capaldi, Chris Addison…
- Coruscating political satire examines the bumbling drones who work inside government as they blunder their days away under the watchful eye of the…
- This Divided State (2005)
- Dir. Steven Greenstreet
- Ground–hugging documentary follows the alarmingly extreme response in conservative Utah when filmmmaker Michael Moore (FARENHEIT 9/11) is…
- Time to go John - The Awful Truth About John Howard (2005)
- A collage of left–wing animations, comedies, dramas and documentary fragments compiled before the re–election of Australian PM John…
- Viva Zapatero (2005)
- Dir. Sabina Guzzanti
- Confronting Italian documentary made by comedian Sabina Guzzanti in response to her satirical TV show being axed after her scathing imitation of…
- Warm Springs (2005)
- Dir. Joseph Sargent
Feat. Kenneth Branagh, Cynthia Nixon, David Paymer…
- Typically smooth and competent HBO biopic, which dramatises Franklin D. Roosevelt's (Branagh) pre–presidency years, especially the period from…
- Who Killed the Electric Car? (2005)
- Dir. Chris Paine
- The promise of electric–powered transport and its subsequent demise is playfully detailed as a faux ‘murder mystery’ in this engaging…
- Bill Hicks - Live (2004)
- Feat. Bill Hicks
- An essential showcase of three live shows from the legendary stand–up comedian and ferocious left–wing commentator, Bill Hicks, who died…
- Edukators, The (The Educators) (2004)
- Dir. Hans Weingartner
Feat. Daniel Bruhl, Julia Jentsch, Stipe Erceg
- A compulsive slice of German youth angst about rebels struggling with their cause, this arthouse smash–hit concerns a trio of youthful…
- End of Suburbia, The (Oil Depletion and the Collapse of the American Dream) (2004)
- Dir. Gregory Greene
- Boldly spelled out in its full title, this provocative (and possibly profound) documentary convincingly mounts a thesis around the issue of "Peak…
- Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)
- Dir. Michael Moore
Feat. Michael Moore
- In his gravest comedy yet, the fearless Michael Moore dissects the credibility of the Bush administration since the election controversy of 2000 and…
- Fahrenhype 9/11 (2004)
- An interesting riposte from the political right to the incendiary documentary FAHRENHEIT 9/11, that makes credible (if not ultimately convincing)…
- George W. Bushisms (2004)
- Dir. Elizabeth Reeder
Feat. Brian Unger
- A smirkingly hilarious compilation of some of US President George W. Bush's worst manglings of the English language during speeches and…
- Going Upriver - The Long War for John Kerry (2004)
- Dir. George Butler
- Potent, if late–in–the–day study of unsuccessful 2004 US Presidential nominee John Kerry and his Vietnam War experiences.
A…
- Good Night, and Good Luck (2004)
- Dir. George Clooney
Feat. George Clooney, Robert Downey Jnr., Patricia Clarkson…
- An astutely–judged freezeframe of an important symbolic moment in 20th century American history, when CBS television presenter Edward Murrow…
- Hotel Rwanda (2004)
- Dir. Terry George
Feat. Don Cheadle, Nick Nolte, Sophie Okonedo…
- A deeply affecting expose of the Rwandan conflict of the early 1990s that matches its political conscience with vivid staging and terrific…
- How Arnie Won the West (2004)
- Dir. Alex Cooke
Feat. Arnold Schwarzenegger
- A beguiling account of Arnold Schwarzenegger's transformation from Hollywood star into Republican Governor of California, through a 2004 state recall…
- Hunting Of The President, The (2004)
- Dir. Nikolas Perry
- The amazing story of an attempted political lynching by rich right–wing supporters who never forgave the democrat's for their part in bringing…
- In My Country (Country of my Skull) (2004)
- Dir. John Boorman
Feat. Samuel L. Jackson, Juliette Binoche, Brendan Gleeson
- One of the first stabs at dramatising the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings in South Africa, here used as a grueling backdrop for romance…
- Iron Jawed Angels (2004)
- Dir. Katja von Garnier
Feat. Hilary Swank, Anjelica Huston, Frances O’Connor…
- Fairly inventive telemovie concerning the rise of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, which had the aim of gaining voting and other…
- John Pilger's Stealing a Nation (2004)
- Dir. John Pilger
- Activist journalist John Pilger relates the alarming story of the deportation of all natives from Diego Garcia – a small island in the Indian…
- K Street (TV Series) (2004)
- Dir. Steven Soderbergh
Feat. John Slattery, Mary McCormack, Roger Guenveur Smith
- A cutting–edge political satire from Steven Soderbergh, which attempted to capture the immediacy and unpredictability of current affairs…
- Letters to Ali (2004)
- Dir. Clara Law
- Devastating story of a 15–yr old Afghani boy refugee, 'detained' for several years in Australia under its harsh immigrant regime in a remote…
- Looking for Fidel (2004)
- Dir. Oliver Stone
- Oliver Stone revisits Fidel Castro – the subject of his 2003 documentary COMMANDANTE – in an effort to address some of more questionable social…
- Machuca (2004)
- Dir. Andres Wood
Feat. Ariel Mateluna, Matias Quer
- Observing the onset of Augusto Pinochet's bloody coup d'etat in Chile in 1973, through the eyes of two boys who become friends across the…
- Manchurian Candidate, The (2004)
- Dir. Jonathan Demme
Feat. Denzel Washington, Meryl Streep, Liev Schreiber…
- Slickly modernised version of the Cold War classic, tailors its twisted fable of political paranoia into a complex speculation on military, political…
- Mondovino (2004)
- Dir. Jonathan Nossiter
- A sobering documentary about the effects of globalisation on the wine industry, which travels to various vineyards, villages and offices to quaff a…
- Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism (2004)
- Dir. Robert Greenwald
- Hot off the press, and of scorching topicality in the run up to the 2004 American Elections, this cogent piece of agit–prop convincingly argues…
- Persona Non Grata (2004)
- Dir. Oliver Stone
- Dir. Stone's second documentary in a proposed trilogy about world leaders (after COMMANDANTE) has the frazzled American attempt to gain an interview…
- Peter, Paul and Mary - Carry it On (2004)
- Documentary about the New York folk music trio who "carried it on" from their socially–conscious forebearers like Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger…
- Poster Boy (2004)
- Dir. Zak Tucker
Feat. Karen Allen, Michael Lerner, Jack Noseworthy…
- A campaigning right–wing senator conscripts his closeted gay son to play happy families for the public, but the stakes are raised when the son…
- Power of Nightmares, The (2004)
- Dir. Adam Curtis
- Another provocative documentary from dir. Curtis, this time out he examines how political parties have created and used fears in order to maintain…
- President Versus David Hicks, The (2004)
- Dir. Curtis Levy
- Timely, if 'difficult' documentary which follows the efforts of the father of 'Australian Taliban' fighter David Hicks, to free his son from US…
- Red Dust (2004)
- Dir. Tom Hooper
Feat. Hilary Swank, Chiwetel Ejiofor
- A boldly straightforward courtroom drama set during the Truth and Reconciliation Commission era of post–Apartheid South Africa, where a former…
- Shake Hands With the Devil (The Journey of Roméo Dallaire) (2004)
- Dir. Peter Raymont
- Arresting account of the deplorable Rwandan genocide, told through the eyes of one of the most controversial figures surrounding the 1994 massacre,…
- Silver City (2004)
- Dir. John Sayles
Feat. Chris Cooper, Danny Huston, Daryl Hannah…
- Oddly tangled satire of Bush–era American politics in which a George Dubya soundalike (Cooper) goes on the campaign trail in Colorado, while…
- State of Mind, A (2004)
- Dir. Daniel Gordon
- An astonishing effort from British dir. Gordon, who documents life in the closed society of North Korea from the perspective of two young girls…
- Take, The (2004)
- Dir. Avi Lewis, Naomi Klein
- A feisty documentary about the aftermath of Argentina's disastrous economic 'crash' in 2001 and how a group of unemployed workers attempt to occupy…
- Team America - World Police (2004)
- Dir. Trey Parker
Feat. Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Kristen Miller…
- The most fully–realized and funniest creation yet from the SOUTH PARK boys, who hit the bullseye (and a raw nerve or two) by brilliantly…
- Unconstitutional: The War on our Civil Liberties (2004)
- Dir. Nonny de la Pena, Robert Greenwald
- The third in a series of Robert Greenwald–produced 'public interest' docos – this one examines American civil liberties and what became…
- Uncovered: The Whole Truth about the Iraq War (2004)
- Dir. Robert Greenwald
- Born out of a personal "rage" against the Bush administration's justification for the pre–emptive war in Iraq, film–maker Robert…
- World According to Bush, The (2004)
- Dir. William Karel
- A familiar, if bracingly emotive European broadside on the presidency of George W. Bush, covering the 1000 days of from the 9/11 attacks to the midst…
- Yes (2004)
- Dir. Sally Potter
Feat. Joan Allen, Simon Abkarian, Sam Neill…
- Love and politics are brilliantly and inextricably entwined in this daringly original drama that sees a middle–aged American woman fall out of…
- Absolute Power (TV Series) (2003)
- Feat. Stephen Fry
- With its cynical heart in the right place, this BBC comedy has a cunning Stephen Fry running a shameless PR firm, who act as spin doctors to the…
- Basque Ball (2003)
- Dir. Julio Medem
- A dizzying documentary journey through the history and politics of the troubled Basque region of northern Spain, which for centuries has been…
- Best of Youth, The (La Meglio gioventù) (2003)
- Dir. Marco Tullio Giordana
- Sprawling and heady Italian saga tracks the lives of two brothers through the idealistic dreams of the 1960s and the long messy aftermath of…
- Commandante (2003)
- Dir. Oliver Stone
- A unique, if rather–too–adoring, portrait of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro by political maverick dir. Oliver Stone (JFK,…
- Corporation, The (2003)
- Dir. Mark Achbar, Jennifer Abbott
- In a modern world where corporate power has come to exceed political power, this in–depth documentary defines a growing popular concern about…
- Deal, The (2003)
- Dir. Stephen Frears
Feat. Michael Sheen, David Morrissey, Dexter Fletcher
- Billed as the prequel to the 2006 hit THE QUEEN, this entertaining telepic chronicles the infamous meeting between Labour party heavyweights Tony…
- Fog of War, The (2003)
- Dir. Errol Morris
- A perfectly–formed, Oscar–winning documentary about the life and career of Robert S McNamara, who served as Secretary of Defense under…
- Goodbye Lenin! (2003)
- Dir. Wolfgang Becker
Feat. Daniel Bruhl, Katrin Sass, Chulpan Khamatova
- This comedy of concealment set around the fall of the Berlin Wall was a justifiable success around the world, with a bittersweet mood of political…
- Head of State (2003)
- Dir. Chris Rock
Feat. Chris Rock, Bernie Mac, Lynn Whitfield
- Likeable comedian Chris Rock makes his directorial debut with this middling yet prescient political comedy with a then–humorously unlikely…
- Honourable Wally Norman, The (2003)
- Dir. Ted Emery
Feat. Kevin Harrington
- A fairly biting political satire sees a rural meatworker (Harrington) accidentally stumbling into the local electoral race for MP and soon he is…
- Imagining Argentina (2003)
- Dir. Christopher Hampton
Feat. Antonio Banderas, Emma Thompson, Ruben Blades…
- A controversial adaptation of Lawrence Thornton's award–winning novel, set in the Argentine dictatorship of the mid–1970s.
Thompson is…
- Noam Chomsky: Rebel Without a Pause (2003)
- Dir. Will Pascoe
Feat. Noam Chomsky
- A modest, though vitalising portrait of intellectual activist Noam Chomsky made following 9/11, but before the US invasion of Iraq.
Captures…
- Orwell Rolls in his Grave (2003)
- Dir. Robert Kane Pappas
- Although made on a shoestring, this documentary about the state of Western media holds its own with FAHRENHEIT 9/11 and OUTFOXED in terms of bleak…
- Osama (2003)
- Dir. Siddiq Barmak
Feat. Marina Golbahari
- Though nothing to do with a certain infamous terrorist, this first Afghani film made since the rise and fall of the Taliban also happens to be a…
- Power Trip (2003)
- Dir. Paul Devlin
- This edge–of–your–seat documentary tells the real–life story of the devastating impact a huge American power company has had…
- Reagans, The (TV Mini-series) (2003)
- Dir. Robert Allan Ackerman
Feat. James Brolin, Judy Davis, Zeljko Ivanek
- Biographical drama about U.S. President Ronald Reagan and his family, spanning the time period 1949–1989, with James Brolin as Ronald Reagan…
- Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe (2003)
- Dir. Michael Raeburn
- A cogent reference point on the plight of Zimbabwe, dir. Raeburn documents his personal experiences as a former Rhodesia once in support of Robert…
- Yes Men, The (2003)
- Dir. Chris Smith, Sarah Price, Dan Ollman
- Riding a wave of highly successful feature docos from the political left, this one has the honour of being the funniest and perhaps most…
- Ali G In Da House (2002)
- Dir. Mark Mylod
Feat. Sacha Baron Cohen
- Sacha Baron Cohen and his wildly successfully small–screen alter–ego take to the feature film narrative like a duck to water in this…
- Amandla! (A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony) (2002)
- Dir. Lee Hirsch
- A moving tribute to the role of protest music in the struggle against apartheid in South Africa from 1948 to 1994 – slowly put together by dir.…
- Berlusconi's Mousetrap (2002)
- Dir. Aaron Rip
- Eye–witness, partisan account of the G8 summit in Genoa, Italy, which led to serious clashes between police and protesters (leaving one dead…
- Century of the Self, The (2002)
- Dir. Adam Curtis
- An expertly assembled wealth of archival footage helps tell the complex story of the growth of the mass–consumer society and the role played by…
- Drowned Out (2002)
- Dir. Franny Armstrong
- A forerunner, and now excellent companion piece to the much vaunted UP THE YANGTZE, this captures in sobering close–up the plight of an Indian…
- Fidel and Che (TV Mini-series) (Fidel) (2002)
- Dir. David Attwood
Feat. Victor Huggo Martin, Gael Garcia Bernal
- Fairly balanced exploration of the Cuban Revolution as told through the rise of Fidel Castro, from revolutionary fighter, to popular leader and…
- Georgie Girl (2002)
- Dir. Annie Goldson
- The unique and quite remarkable life story of Georgina Beyer, born George, a Maori transsexual and former sex–worker, who recently was elected…
- Horns and Halos (2002)
- Dir. Michael Galinsky, Suki Hawley
- A fascinating sidebar to the controversial American Presidency of George W. Bush, involving the struggle for author J.H. Hatfield to publish an…
- In a Land of Plenty (2002)
- Dir. Alister Barry
- Described as ‘the story of unemployment in New Zealand,’ this serves as a strong companion piece for SOMEONE ELSE'S COUNTRY, dir. Barry’s…
- Inner Tour, The (2002)
- Dir. Ra'anan Alexandrowicz
- An Isreali documentary that sparked controversy in the Israeli press for its sympathetic portrayal of Palestinians, this is simply a portrait of…
- Noam Chomsky: Distorted Morality (2002)
- Feat. Noam Chomsky
- Renowned political thinker Noam Chomsky ruminates on America's 'War on Terror' in this raw and lively Harvard 'Q & A'.
Analyzing the official…
- Noam Chomsky: Power and Terror In Our Times (2002)
- Dir. John Junkerman
Feat. Noam Chomsky
- A no–frills TV documentary (made in Japan) in which arch–media critic and philosopher Noam Chomsky, examines the post–9’11 world,…
- Rosa Parks Story, The (2002)
- Dir. Julie Dash
Feat. Angela Bassett, Cicely Tyson, Peter Francis James
- A drama based on the life of Mrs. Rosa L. Parks from director Julie Dash (DAUGHTERS OF THE DUST).
In America in 1955, her courageous act of…
- Trials of Henry Kissinger, The (2002)
- Dir. Alex Gibney, Eugene Jarecki
- A corrosive yet robust investigation that alleges a misuse of power amounting to 'war crimes' by controversial US diplomat Henry Kissinger –…
- Unprecedented: The 2000 Presidential Election (2002)
- Dir. Richard R. Perez, Joan Sekler, Robert Greenwald
- Astute examination of the controversial battle for the presidency in Florida from an unabashed pro–Democrat viewpoint that asserts that the…
- Weather Underground, The (2002)
- Dir. Sam Green, Bill Siegel
- A stimulating, incisive look back at the angry workings of "The Weathermen", a radical splinter faction of the protest movement who were responsible…
- Wire, The - Season 1 (TV Series) (2002)
- Feat. Dominic West, Idris Elba, Wood Harris…
- Tough, patient HBO TV policier (from David Simon, creator of HOMICIDE: LIFE ON THE STREETS) follows the Baltimore drug scene from both the police and…
- Blind Spot: Hitler's Secretary (2001)
- Dir. Othmar Schmiderer, Andre Heller
- The astonishing true story of Hitler's private secretary, Traudl Junge, who at the age of 80 comes to terms with working alongside unspeakable evil…
- Crooked Earth (2001)
- Dir. Sam Pillsbury
Feat. Temuera Morrison, Lawrence Makoare, Nancy Brunning
- Vivid action–melodrama uses the dispossession of East Coast Maori to prime its tale of tribal succession, with SAS soldier Temuera Morrison…
- Culturejam: Hijacking Commercial Culture (2001)
- Dir. Jill Thorpe
- Fun but ultimately serious expose of various pranksters who subvert the advertising and retail industries of the US.
Featuring conversations with…
- Facing the Music (2001)
- Dir. Bob Connolly, Robin Anderson
- Art and commerce clash in corridors of academia at Sydney University, as budget cuts compromise the integrity and possible viability of the music…
- In Shifting Sands (2001)
- Dir. Scott Ritter
Feat. Scott Ritter
- A pertinent, compelling though rather schizophrenic film–diary directed by the former Chief UN weapons inspector in Iraq.
Exploring the…
- Invisible Circus, The (2001)
- Dir. Adam Brooks
Feat. Cameron Diaz, Jordana Brewster, Christopher Eccleston…
- Even–toned, detached political thriller that follows the disappearance of free–spirit Cameron Diaz in the late 1960s and the search by…
- Life and Debt (2001)
- Dir. Stephanie Black
- A scathingly political look at the "new world order" from the point of view of Jamaican workers and farmers, as well as government and policy…
- Party's Over, The (Last Party 2000) (2001)
- Dir. Philip Seymour Hoffman
Feat. Philip Seymour Hoffman, Noam Chomsky, Michael Moore
- A pre–9/11 political doco that still resonates loudly in the George W. Bush era, actor and “concerned citizen” Phillip Seymour Hoffman…
- Thirteen Days (2001)
- Dir. Roger Donaldson
Feat. Kevin Costner, Bruce Greenwood, Dylan Baker
- The thirteen tense days of the Cuban Missile Crisis – the 1962 showdown between Kennedy and Krushchev – are invested with heroic intensity by…
- Tunnel, The (2001)
- Dir. Roland Suso Richter
Feat. Heino Ferch, Nicolette Krebitz
- An extended though by no means deep excavation of German Cold War history, in which an East German swimmer (Ferch) defects to West Berlin in 1961 and…
- A Huey P. Newton Story (2000)
- Dir. Spike Lee
Feat. Roger Guenveur Smith
- An award–winning stageplay about the co–founder of the Black Panther Party, translated into cinema with considerable verve by dir. Spike…
- Contender, The (2000)
- Dir. Rod Lurie
Feat. Joan Allen, Gary Oldman, Jeff Bridges…
- Strongly performed political thriller centred around the confirmation of Vice–Presidential candidate Joan Allen, whose enemies try every trick…
- Diplomat, The (2000)
- Dir. Tom Zubrycki
- Panorama of East Timor’s struggle to regain independence from Indonesia following the 1975 invasion, expressed through the 24 year exile of former…
- Dirty Pictures (2000)
- Dir. Frank Pierson
Feat. James Woods, Craig T. Nelson
- Based on the true–story of how the Chicago Arts Centre was prosecuted in 1990 for obscenity over an exhibition of Robert Mapplethorpe's…
- Harlan County War (2000)
- Dir. Tony Bill
Feat. Holly Hunter, Stellan Skarsgard, Ted Levine…
- Based on the famous (and deadly) Union–vs–Company showdown in a Kentucky coalmine in 1976, this TV docudrama is an Emmy–nominated…
- Harrison's Flowers (2000)
- Dir. Elie Chouraqui
Feat. Andie MacDowell, David Strathairn, Adrien Brody…
- Andie MacDowell searches for her photojournalist husband (David Strathairn), presumed dead in the 1991 Serbian siege of Vukovar, with the aid of…
- JFK's Women (2000)
- Revealing, if tabloid–esque expose of philandering in the White House: not Bill Clinton, but John F. Kennedy, whose affairs with four women may…
- John Pilger's No Middle Ground in the Middle East (Paying the Price: Killing the Children of Iraq; Palenstine is Still the Issue; Breaking the Silence: Truth and Lies in the War on Terror) (2000-2003)
- Dir. John Pilger, Alan Lowery
Feat. John Pilger
- Three of journalist John Pilger’s most recent and cogent illustrations of the plight of the Middle East, with Iraq, foreign policy, Israel and…
- Lumumba (2000)
- Dir. Raoul Peck
Feat. Eric Ebouaney
- A strident and fittingly uncompromising biopic about an African political icon, Patrice Lumumba, who liberated the Congo from Belgium in the late…
- Most Fertile Man in Ireland, The (2000)
- Dir. Dudi Appleton
Feat. Kris Marshall, Kathy Kiera Clarke, Bronagh Gallagher
- Kris Marshall is the Irishman with the high sperm–count, who is recruited by Catholics and Protestants alike to boost their numbers.…
- North Korea (Three Documentaries on the Despotic Regime of Kim Jong-Il) (2000-2003)
- Topical and timely companion of three documentaries on the ostracised state of North Korea:
‘Nuclear Nightmare: Understanding North…
- Rebels with a Cause (2000)
- Dir. Helen Garvy
- Straight–up look at the 'Students for a Democratic Society', the student group that began as pro–civil rights organization concerned with…
- Arlington Road (1999)
- Dir. Mark Pellington
Feat. Jeff Bridges, Tim Robbins, Hope Davis…
- Intelligent terrorist thriller, seemingly inspired by events at Waco and Oklahoma City, weaves a complex tale of deception and paranoia around…
- Awful Truth, The (TV Series) (1999)
- Dir. Michael Moore
Feat. Michael Moore
- Find out what's really going on in America with merciless media activist Michael Moore, fighting for the common man against the evil–doers of…
- Big Brass Ring, The (1999)
- Dir. George Hickenlooper
Feat. William Hurt, Nigel Hawthorne, Irene Jacob…
- Curiosity–piece that updates a dusty Orson Welles script from 1980. William Hurt plays a US presidential candidate, whose murky past is being…
- Campaign (1999)
- Dir. Tony Sutorius
- Close–up account of the cracking political contest for the marginal seat of Wellington Central during the 1996 general election, given a…
- Cradle Will Rock (1999)
- Dir. Tim Robbins
Feat. John Cusack, Bill Murray, John Turturro…
- Caught between government paranoia and unionist principles in depression–era New York, a theatre troupe voice their dissent by attempting to…
- Dick (1999)
- Dir. Andrew Fleming
Feat. Kirsten Dunst, Michelle Williams
- A political satire as faux–history lesson, this kitsch–nostalgic pageant proffers two teenage girls as the mysterious informants known as…
- Faith Of The Century - A History Of Communism (1999)
- Using fascinating, never–before–seen footage from the national archives of many countries including Russia and France, this documentary…
- Punitive Damage (1999)
- Dir. Annie Goldson
- Emotive documentary about the ordeal of an ordinary New Zealand mother, Helen Todd, who ultimately sued an Indonesian general for punitive damages…
- West Wing, The - Season 1 (TV Series) (1999)
- Dir. Various, Michael Lehmann, Thomas Schlamme
Feat. Martin Sheen, Rob Lowe, Moira Kelly…
- One of the most popular (and lauded) US TV–series of recent years, set in a White House presided over by Martin Sheen and his staff. With…
- Ambassador, The (1998-1999)
- Feat. Pauline Collins, Tom Connolly, Denis Lawson
- An intriguing series examines the pitfalls of the diplomatic life with Pauline Collins as England's Ambassador to Ireland. Continually under fire the…
- Boxer, The (1998)
- Dir. Jim Sheridan
Feat. Daniel Day-Lewis, Emily Watson
- Former IRA man Daniel Day–Lewis is released from 14 years behind bars to set up a non–sectarian community boxing club while private wars…
- Bulworth (1998)
- Dir. Warren Beatty
Feat. Warren Beatty, Halle Berry, Don Cheadle…
- Disillusioned Democrat senator Warren Beatty warrants his own assassination, then stirs up a storm of controversy by fearlessly speaking his mind at…
- Cold War (1998)
- Dir. Various
- With encyclopedia–like detail, this lengthy documentary series analyses every aspect of the Cold War, from the onset of frosty relations…
- Earth (1998)
- Dir. Deepa Mehta
Feat. Maia Sethna, Nandita Das, Kitu Gidwani
- The director of FIRE takes on another controversial element of modern India with the second in her (proposed) trilogy – a humanistic view of…
- McLibel (1998)
- Dir. Franny Armstrong
- The true story of England's most protracted court case that witnessed the all–powerful McDonalds hamburger empire file a libel suit against two…
- Men with Guns (1998)
- Dir. John Sayles
Feat. Frederico Luppi
- Criminally denied a theatrical release, this masterful study of Third World realities is arguably prolific indie dir. John Sayles most accomplished…
- Primary Colors (1998)
- Dir. Mike Nichols
Feat. John Travolta, Emma Thompson, Billy Bob Thornton…
- In charting the rise of a controversial Southern Governor through the US Democratic primary campaign, John Travolta rises admirably to his most…
- Waking the Dead (1998)
- Dir. Keith Gordon
Feat. Billy Crudup, Jennifer Connelly
- A curious, intriguing drama in which congressional candidate Billy Crudup is haunted by a woman (Jennifer Connelly) from his past, who he thought had…
- Windhorse (1998)
- Dir. Paul Wagner
Feat. Dadon, Jampa Kelsang, Richard Chang
- Shot on digital video under the noses of Chinese authorities in Tibet, this fiercely moral drama follows the fortunes of a family in contemporary…
- Big One, The (1997)
- Dir. Michael Moore
Feat. Michael Moore
- Just as smart and witty though with less focus than his watershed doco ROGER AND ME, this intervening 'video diary' sets the format for his popular…
- Carla's Song (1997)
- Dir. Ken Loach
Feat. Robert Carlyle, Oyanka Cabezas, Scott Glenn
- Another not–so–average tale from Dir. Ken Loach, concerning a Glaswegian bus–driver getting involved with Nicaraguan politics.…
- Devil's Own, The (1997)
- Dir. Alan J. Pakula
Feat. Harrison Ford, Brad Pitt
- Sensitive cop Harrison Ford discovers his befriended border (Brad Pitt) has devout connections to the IRA. Moral conundrums ensue as Ford wrestles…
- Mandela and De Klerk (1997)
- Dir. Joseph Sargent
Feat. Sidney Poitier, Michael Caine
- The political backdrop to Nelson Madela's release in 1991 from a South African prison is solidly dramatised in this telemovie. Stars Sidney Poitier…
- Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997)
- Dir. Clint Eastwood
Feat. John Cusack, Kevin Spacey
- John Cusack and Kevin Spacey convene for Clint Eastwood's moody adaptation of John Berendt's fact–based novel – a complex, atmospheric…
- Port Djema (1997)
- Dir. Eric Heumann
Feat. Jean-Yves Dubois, Nathalie Boutefeu, Christophe Odent…
- A Paris surgeon gets into the thick of dangerous politics at an East African colonial port as he traces the footsteps of a murdered friend. Won Best…
- Second Civil War, The (1997)
- Dir. Joe Dante
Feat. Denis Leary, James Earl Jones, James Coburn
- Fairly realistic speculation of an American Civil War, occurring when present–day Idaho cedes from the Union, painted over with the lighter…
- Waco - Rules of Engagement (1997)
- Dir. William Gazecki
- The disastrous FBI siege of the Branch Davidian Sect compound at Waco, Texas in 1993 is pulled to pieces in this acclaimed documentary, revealing a…
- Wag the Dog (1997)
- Dir. Barry Levinson
Feat. Robert De Niro, Anne Heche, Dustin Hoffman
- A Clinton–inspired political satire, coincided with the Lewinsky scandal on release (and then Iraq), sees Whitehouse spin–doctor Robert…
- Absolute Power (1996)
- Dir. Clint Eastwood
Feat. Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Judy Davis…
- Cat–burglar Clint Eastwood witnesses the US President murder his friend's wife after a bout of infidelity, and is hunted down by a deadly…
- Burma (1996-2006)
- Dir. Evan Williams, Mark Stucke
- South East Asian hot–point Burma is the subject of this diptych examining the country’s military dictatorship, harsh oppression, and student…
- City Hall (1996)
- Dir. Harold Becker
Feat. Al Pacino, John Cusack, Bridget Fonda
- Good old–fashioned ethics melodrama with fine perfs from Al Pacino and John Cusack lending the required lustre to plot intricacies involving…
- Evita (1996)
- Dir. Alan Parker
Feat. Madonna, Antonio Banderas
- The Broadway Extravaganza, complete with Madonna, wall–to–wall songs and political melodrama, is bravely swallowed whole by Hollywood. …
- Inside Burma - Land of Fear (1996)
- Dir. John Pilger
- Ever–pertinent John Pilger expose of Burmese plight and terror, revealing corporations, foreign investors and tourists as complicit in…
- Libertarias (1996)
- Dir. Vincente Aranda
Feat. Victoria Abril, Ana Belen, Miguel Bose…
- Examining the Spanish Civil War from a left–wing point–of–view, this passionate war drama focuses on a trio of women – a…
- Michael Collins (1996)
- Dir. Neil Jordan
Feat. Ian Hart, Julia Roberts, Liam Neeson
- Persuasive biopic of the martyred hero who negotiated Ireland's break from the UK charts the impact of one charismatic individual while engaging how…
- My Fellow Americans (1996)
- Dir. Peter Segal
Feat. Jack Lemmon, James Garner, Dan Aykroyd
- Fanciful political comedy supposes two foul–mouthed, grumpy old ex–Presidents (Jack Lemmon, James Garner) framed and on the run from…
- Rats in the Ranks (1996)
- Dir. Bob Connolly, Robin Anderson
- Bruising political doco follows the squabbles in a Sydney suburb between mayor and city councillors. The filmmakers gained an extraordinary degree of…
- Someone Else's Country (1996)
- Dir. Alister Barry
- Controversial account of the 'rise of the New Right revolution in New Zealand' was refused television broadcast on account of its 'left wing bias'.…
- Spin City (TV Series) (1996)
- Feat. Michael J. Fox, Carla Gugino, Richard Kind…
- Michael J. Fox fronted this zippy workplace sitcom about the political staff running the New York City Mayoral office. Pretty conventional in terms…
- Too Late (Prea Târziu) (1996)
- Dir. Lucian Pintilie
Feat. Razvan Vasilescu
- Bleak, unflinching examination of Romanian society from dir. Pintilie focuses on an inexperienced investigator who discovers a myriad of corruption…
- Trilogy of Films by Alister Barry, A (Someone Else's Country, In a Land of Plenty, A Civilised Society) (1996-2007)
- Dir. Alister Barry
- Alister Barry's trilogy of 'New Right' economic policy documentaries, available together in one set.
- American President, The (1995)
- Dir. Rob Reiner
Feat. Michael Douglas, Annette Bening, Martin Sheen…
- Appealing romantic comedy in which Michael Douglas, in refreshingly light mode, plays a widowed Mr. President looking for a partner who'll love the…
- Churchills, The (1995)
- Dir. Greg Lanning
- Composed primarily of archival footage, this profiles Winston Churchill and the role his family played during his time as the nation's leader.…
- Cry, The Beloved Country (1995)
- Dir. Darrell Roodt
Feat. James Earl Jones, Richard Harris, Tsholofelo Wechoemang…
- Dignified modern adaptation of Alan Paton's moving novel about a black South African priest and the wealthy father of a murdered white activist.…
- Infiltrator, The (1995)
- Dir. John Mackenzie
Feat. Oliver Platt, Arliss Howard, Alex Kingston…
- Israeli journalist Oliver Platt infiltrates the modern–day German neo–Nazi movement to his considerable peril. Made all the more gripping…
- Moruroa - The Big Secret (1995)
- Dir. Michel Daeron
- A damning indictment of French nuclear testing program in the South Pacific. A French team investigate the impact of the tests on the neighbouring…
- Nixon (1995)
- Dir. Oliver Stone
Feat. Anthony Hopkins, Joan Allen, Ed Harris…
- With almost Shakespearian gravitas, Anthony Hopkins portrays a flawed but fully–rounded Richard Nixon. Instead of the anticipated whitewash,…
- Truman (1995)
- Dir. Frank Pierson
Feat. Gary Sinise
- Gary Sinise stars in this biographical tribute to the humble American president who had the misfortune of having to give the order to drop the…
- White Man's Burden (1995)
- Dir. Desmond Nakano
Feat. John Travolta, Harry Belafonte, Kelly Lynch
- In an alternative America, blacks are members of social elite, and whites inhabit the urban ghettos. John Travolta plays a humble white factory…
- Beyond Rangoon (1994)
- Dir. John Boorman
Feat. Patricia Arquette
- The tragedies mount for a young doctor taking a recuperating holiday in late eighties Burma, on the eve of a violent crackdown by the ruling…
- Burnt By the Sun (1994)
- Dir. Nikita Mikhalkov
Feat. Oleg Menshikov, Nikita Mikhalkov, Ingeborga Dapkunaite
- Oscar–winning drama contrasts sunlit Chekhovian lyricism with the dark undercurrents of Stalinist Russia during the "Great Purge", when…
- Clear and Present Danger (1994)
- Dir. Phillip Noyce
Feat. Harrison Ford, Willem Dafoe, Anne Archer…
- Vulnerable hero Jack Ryan again in meatier, superior follow–up to PATRIOT GAMES that masterfully stages its action around a credible, complex…
- Guarding Tess (1994)
- Dir. Hugh Wilson
Feat. Nicolas Cage, Shirley Maclaine
- Federal bodyguard Nicolas Cage is unable to escape his duties to the former First Lady (Shirley Maclaine) unwitting that there are a few apron…
- Tracking Down Maggie (1994)
- Dir. Nick Broomfield
- Classic Broomfield, in which the persistent Brit spends the entire film trying to secure an interview with former PM Margaret Thatcher, who at the…
- Blue Kite, The (1993)
- Dir. Tian Zhuangzhuang
Feat. Tian Yi, Wenyao Zhang, Xiaoman Chen
- Emotive and honest account of the realities of daily life under chairman Mao's regime as witnessed by one Beijing family from the 1950s through…
- Bopha! (1993)
- Dir. Morgan Freeman
Feat. Danny Glover, Malcolm McDowell, Alfre Woodard
- Danny Glover plays a loyal police sergeant in 1980 South Africa who comes under fire from his militant son. Examines the less visible conflicts that…
- Burning Season, The (1993)
- Dir. John Frankenheimer
Feat. Raul Julia, Carmen Argenziano, Sonia Braga…
- Raul Julia stars as Chico Mendes, the activist who lost his life protesting the destruction of the Brazilian rain forests. The continued volatile…
- Dave (1993)
- Dir. Ivan Reitman
Feat. Kevin Kline, Sigourney Weaver
- Kline makes a few policy changes as an average Joe presidential lookalike who gets a shot as president after the real McCoy has a stroke. Thoroughly…
- Fatherland (1993)
- Dir. Christopher Menaul
Feat. Rutger Hauer, Miranda Richardson
- Ambitious film posits an alternative history in which Germany controls Europe and is locked in a cold war with the U.S. twenty years after winning…
- In the Line of Fire (1993)
- Dir. Wolfgang Petersen
Feat. Clint Eastwood, John Malkovich, Rene Russo…
- Clint Eastwood's ageing, guilt–ridden bodyguard plays a dangerous cat–and–mouse game with a chameleonic assassin (John Malkovich)…
- In the Name of the Father (1993)
- Dir. Jim Sheridan
Feat. Daniel Day-Lewis, Pete Postlethwaite, Emma Thompson
- Daniel Day–Lewis gives a devastating performance in this powerhouse re–creation of the tragedy that beset Jerry Conlon, his family and…
- JFK: Reckless Youth (1993)
- Dir. Harry Winer
Feat. Patrick Dempsey, Claire Forlani, Loren Dean…
- Credible bio–pic dramatising the first 30 years of JFK's life by concentrating on the childhood and teenage events that eventually shaped John…
- La Scorta (1993)
- Dir. Rick Tognazzi
Feat. Ennio Morricone
- Bold dramatic thriller draws from real events surrounding the indictment of Mafia collaborators with the focus on the four bodyguards of a maverick…
- Malcolm X (1993)
- Dir. Spike Lee
Feat. Denzel Washington
- Epic bio of the black–American minister and human rights activist from his beginnings as a Harlem crook to his 1965 assassination. Breezes…
- Sarafina! (1993)
- Dir. Darrell James Roodt
Feat. Whoopi Goldberg
- Screen version of the anti–apartheid stage musical posits Whoopi Goldberg as a Soweto school–teacher who liberates an impressionable…
- Seven Songs for Malcolm X (1993)
- Dir. John Akomfrah
- A tribute to the revolutionary activist compiles interviews with people that knew him and those that know much about him as well as authentic footage…
- Stalin (1993)
- Dir. Ivan Passer
Feat. Robert Duvall, Maximilian Schell, Joan Plowright
- Robert Duvall embodies the full–blooded treachery of the Soviet dictator in this mini–series biography shot on location in Moscow.
- War Room, The (1993)
- Dir. Chris Hegedus, D.A. Pennebaker
- Going behind the scenes with the men behind Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign reveals there to be an exact science beneath the media…
- Bob Roberts (1992)
- Dir. Tim Robbins
Feat. Tim Robbins, Giancarlo Esposito, Alan Rickman…
- Bob Dylan meets Ronald Reagan in this 'Spinal Tap' of politics. Robbins stars in this own scathing send up of the U.S. political system and…
- Citizen Cohn (1992)
- Dir. Frank Pierson
Feat. James Woods
- James Woods plays Joseph McCarthy's crooked lawyer, Roy Cohn – a role meaty enough to sustain every ounce of his frustrated energy. The…
- Damage (1992)
- Dir. Louis Malle
Feat. Jeremy Irons, Juliette Binoche, Miranda Richardson
- Jeremy Irons plays a Tory cabinet minister who becomes entangled, (especially physically) with his son's fiancee – a chic,…
- Distinguished Gentleman, The (1992)
- Dir. Jonathan Lynn
Feat. Eddie Murphy
- Perennial con–man Eddie Murphy wangles his way to Washington and discovers his petty untruths are small potatoes compared to the corruption…
- Hoffa (1992)
- Dir. Danny De Vito
Feat. Jack Nicholson
- An earnest attempt to redress the life of the controversial union leader who vanished without a trace in 1975. Jack Nicholson is near unrecognizable…
- Incident at Oglala (1992)
- Dir. Michael Apted
- A compelling case is made for the innocence of a native American accused of murdering two FBI agents in 1976, though it's sense of social injustice…
- JFK: Assassination Tapes (1992)
- Dir. John Barbour
- Largely a basis for Oliver Stone's opus, Jim Garrison himself speaks frankly about his investigation into the alleged cover–up surrounding the…
- Manufacturing Consent (1992)
- Dir. Achbar, Peter Wintonick
Feat. Noam Chomsky
- Important film presents the theories of Noam Chomsky on the media and its mainstream bias which may have a far–reaching political agenda. What…
- Oak, The (Balanta) (1992)
- Dir. Lucian Pintilie
Feat. Maia Morgenstern, Razvan Vasilescu, Victor Rebengiuc
- Provocative director Pintilie strikes the perfect balance of surreal comedy and powerful realism as he examines the progressive disillusionment of a…
- Panama Deception, The (1992)
- Dir. Barbara Trent
- Oscar–winning film is unabashedly activist attempt to uncover some truths about the propaganda used to sanitise the U.S. Government's invasion…
- Ruby (1992)
- Dir. John Mackenzie
Feat. Danny Aiello
- The story of the man who shot the man who shot JFK, with Danny Aiello perhaps too likeable in the title role. Worthy slant on an increasingly…
- Sinking of the Rainbow Warrior, The (1992)
- Dir. Michael Tuchner
Feat. Sam Neill, Jon Voight, Tony Barry…
- Telemovie enactment of the French–sponsored bombing of the Greenpeace vessel ' Rainbow Warrior' in 1984. Solidly dramatised with Neill and…
- Stepping Razor Red X (1992)
- Dir. Nicholas Campbell
- A vivid, disturbing portrait of politically–minded reggae–singer Peter Tosh, who after many turbulent years in Jamaica was killed in…
- At Play in the Fields of the Lord (1991)
- Dir. Hector Babenco
Feat. Tom Berenger, John Lithgow, Daryl Hannah…
- Tom Berenger, John Lithgow, Darryl Hannah, Aidan Quinn, Kathy Bates and Tom Waits endured the two–year location shoot of Peter Matthiessen's…
- City of Hope (1991)
- Dir. John Sayles
Feat. Vincent Spano, Stephen Mendillo, Chris Cooper
- 36 principals weave in and out of this sprawling, warts–and–all take on class, crime and corruption in working–class New York. The…
- Closet Land (1991)
- Dir. Radha Bharadwaj
Feat. Madeleine Stowe, Alan Rickman
- Madeleine Stowe and Alan Rickman comprise the entire cast of this dramatic exercise that consists solely of an alleged subversive children's author…
- December Bride (1991)
- Dir. Thaddeus O'Sullivan
Feat. Saskia Reeves
- A rain–soaked melodrama set in '30s rural Ireland in which Saskia Reeves endures Catholic prejudice after giving birth out of wedlock. This is…
- G.B.H (TV Mini-series) (1991)
- Feat. Robert Lindsay, Michael Palin, Dearbhla Molloy…
- Dynamite Channel 4 mini–series from the pointed pen of tele–writer Alan Bleasdale plays out the battle of wits between a mad Labour Party…
- Guilty by Suspicion (1991)
- Dir. Irwin Winkler
Feat. Robert De Niro
- Robert De Niro portrays a film–maker victimised by the communist witch–hunts of the '50s. A powerful examination of the dilemma faced by…
- Inner Circle, The (1991)
- Dir. Andrei Konchalovsky
Feat. Tom Hulce, Bob Hoskins, Lolita Davidovich
- A naive Muscovite (Tom Hulce) is initiated into a world of privilege as Stalin's projectionist. True–life saga of Soviet life under iron rule…
- JFK (1991)
- Dir. Oliver Stone
Feat. Oliver Stone, Kevin Costner
- Oliver Stone's gripping, technically dazzling opus is both convincing propaganda and marvellous entertainment, with Kevin Costner leading a large and…
- Leader, the Driver and the Driver's Wife, The (1991)
- Dir. Nick Broomfield
- Both scary and hilarious, this look at the Afrikaner Resistance Movement and its leader Eugene Terreblanche, sees Nick Broomfield honing his…
- Making Sense of the Sixties (1991)
- Fulsome documentary overview of the turbulent sixties, specifically in context with America, where John F. Kennedy, civil rights, the Vietnam War,…
- Rebels in Retrospect (1991)
- Dir. Russell Campbell
- An inquiry into the aims, methods and achievments of the Progressive Youth Movement, Kiwi political activists in the turbulent '60s.
- Storyville (1991)
- Dir. Mark Frost
Feat. James Spader, Joanne Whalley, Jason Robards Jr.…
- The directing debut from TWIN PEAKS' co–creator. Upstart political candidate James Spader becomes involved in illicit activity. A gumbo of red…
- True Colours (1991)
- Dir. Herbert Ross
Feat. John Cusack, James Spader, Imogen Stubbs…
- Political drama in which John Cusack and James Spader's law school friendship turns to sour grapes when they graduate to Washington's corridors of…
- Berkeley in the Sixties (1990)
- Dir. Mark Kitchell
- A lively, dense study of 1960s counter–culture in microcosm, this chronicles the rise and fall of the student movement in a Californian campus…
- Gravy Train, The (TV Mini-series) (1990-1991)
- Dir. David Tucker, James Cellan Jones
Feat. Ian Richardson, Alexei Sayle, Francesca Annis…
- Intriguing political TV Mini–series based around a scheming Director of European Economic Community and his naive assistant travelling across…
- House of Cards, The (TV Series) (1990-1993)
- Dir. Paul Seed
Feat. Ian Richardson
- A sardonic and blackly humourous look at British politics, with a reptilian Ian Richardson plotting and blackmailing his way into power in three…
- Maria's Story (A Portrait Of Love And Survival In El Salvador's Civil War) (1990)
- Dir. Monona Wali, Pamela Cohen
-
- Roger and Me (1990)
- Dir. Michael Moore
Feat. Michael Moore
- A brilliantly irreverant personal odyssey by the film–maker who, equipped with a mic and a camera, endeavours to extract comment from General…
- Blaze (1989)
- Dir. Ron Shelton
Feat. Paul Newman, Lolita Davidovich, Richard Jenkins
- Paul Newman plays flamboyant Southern governor Earl Long, who was scandalized over a love affair with an exotic dancer (Lolita Davidovich, in a…
- Cat Chaser (1989)
- Dir. Abel Ferrara
Feat. Peter Weller, Kelly McGillis, Charles Durning…
- The director atypically sidesteps controversy in adapting Elmore Leonard's political novel about a Miami hotel owner who courts danger when he…
- Clarke and Dawe (The Full Catastrophe) (1989-2009)
- Feat. John Clarke, Bryan Dawe
- Comprehensive compilation of mock interviews from Aussie comic Bryan Dawe and true–blue Kiwi John Clarke (aka Fred Dagg), whose collective…
- Eight Men Out (1989)
- Dir. John Sayles
Feat. John Cusack, Michael Rooker, Christopher Lloyd…
- True story of the Chicago White Sox baseball team who conspired with gamblers to lose the World Series in 1919. Finely detailed topical drama with an…
- Fellow Traveller (1989)
- Dir. Philip Saville
Feat. Ron Silver, Hart Bochner
- A classy political thriller concerning the traumas of a blacklisted writer exiled in London during the McCarthy era.
- Music Box (1989)
- Dir. Costa-Gavras
Feat. Jessica Lange, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Frederic Forrest…
- Jessica Lange plays the attorney daughter of a Hungarian immigrant (Mueller–Stahl), now accused of WW2 war crimes. Her quest for the truth…
- Open Doors (1989)
- Dir. Gianni Amelio
Feat. Gian Maria Volente, Ennio Fantastichini, Renato Carpentieri
- A resonant political drama set in corrupt fascist Italy about a juror's attempt to save a political murderer from the gallows.
- Romero (1989)
- Dir. John Duigan
Feat. Raul Julia, Richard Jordan
- Provocative political drama details the story of Salvadorian Archbishop Oscar Romero, who was assassinated in 1980 by representatives of an…
- Scandal (1989)
- Dir. Michael Caton-Jones
Feat. John Hurt, Joanne Whalley, Bridget Fonda…
- Polished dramatisation of events that led to the downfall of politician John Profumo, who engaged in an liaison with a controversial call–girl.
- A Very British Coup (1988)
- Dir. Mick Jackson
Feat. Ray McAnally, Alan MacNaughtan, Keith Allen…
- Old–school Labourite Ray McAnally is elected Prime Minister of Great Britain, an event displeasing to various high–placed civil servants…
- John Pilger's Return Ticket (South Africa: Apartheid Did Not Die; Frontline: In Search Of Truth In Wartime; Vietnam: The Last Battle) (1988-1995)
- Dir. Alan Lowery, David Munro
Feat. John Pilger
- John Pilger revisits the remnants of war, stained politics, and social injustice in this fifth volume of his hard–hitting documentary…
- Milagro Beanfield War (1988)
- Dir. Robert Redford
Feat. Ruben Blades, Richard Bradford, Sonia Braga…
- A New Mexican farmer triggers a feud with corporate developers keen to exploit his land. A spirited, simple fable – Redford lovingly directs a…
- Running On Empty (1988)
- Dir. Sidney Lumet
Feat. Judd Hirsch, River Phoenix, Christine Lahti…
- A married couple, on the run for activist crimes in the 1960s, come to terms with their childrens' right to be free.
A moving story, handled with…
- World Apart, A (1988)
- Dir. Chris Menges
Feat. Barbara Hershey
- True account of a teenage girl's isolated upbringing in aparteid–torn South Africa, whose obsessed mother is jailed for political activism in…
- Cry Freedom (1987)
- Dir. Richard Attenborough
Feat. Denzel Washington, Kevin Kline
- Potent political cinema based on the story of black South African activist Steve Biko (Denzel Washington), whose suspicious death was investigated by…
- New Statesman, The (TV Series) (1987-1991)
- Dir. Geoffrey Sax
Feat. Rik Mayall
- Rik Mayall plays British Tory MP Alan B’Stard in this fairly amusing sift through the sleazy, corrupt corridors of Westminster.
All four series…
- Swimming to Cambodia (1987)
- Dir. Jonathan Demme
Feat. Spalding Gray
- Recounting his experiences in Thailand, while acting in THE KILLING FIELDS, arch–raconteur Spalding Gray whips up a verbal storm, with Laurie…
- T. Dan Smith (1987)
- Dir. Amber Film Collective
- Docu–drama chronicles of events leading to the imprisonment of a maverick Newcastle councillor. Made in collaboration with Smith himself, it…
- American Way, The (Riders of the Storm) (1986)
- Dir. Maurice Phillips
Feat. Dennis Hopper, Michael J. Pollard, James Aubrey
- Varied political satire following a group of Vietnam vets on a quest to reveal the shady nature of a new electoral candidate by taking over TV…
- Comrades (1986)
- Dir. Bill Douglas
Feat. Keith Allen, Dave Atkins
- A compelling epic exposing the hypocrisy and inequality facing the Tolpuddle Martyrs, the 1830s Dorset farmers who were deported to Australia after…
- Half Moon Street (1986)
- Dir. Bob Swaim
Feat. Michael Caine, Sigourney Weaver
- Michael Caine and Sigourney Weaver play British diplomat and call–girl who become locked in escalating political intrigue.
- Kangaroo (1986)
- Dir. Tim Burstall
Feat. Judy Davis, Colin Friels
- Thinly veiled autobiographical account of novelist D.H. Lawrence features Colin Friels as 'a British writer' in Australia who gets unintentionally…
- Salvador (1986)
- Dir. Oliver Stone
Feat. James Woods, James Belushi
- A potent dramatisation of a journalist's experiences in El Salvador, with Woods in his usual dynamic form. Never one for fence–sitting, the…
- Yes, Prime Minister (TV Series) (1986-1987)
- Feat. Paul Eddington, Nigel Hawthorne, Derek Fowlds
- The splendid sequel to the much–loved British political satire, with 'Minister' Eddington graduating, much to his surprise, to the top job,…
- Broken Rainbow (1985)
- Dir. Victoria Mudd
- This 1985 Oscar–winning documentary, narrated by Martin Sheen, deals with the forced relocation of the Desi (Navajo) people from their…
- Defence of the Realm (1985)
- Dir. David Drury
Feat. Gabriel Byrne, Greta Scacchi, Denholm Elliott…
- Atmospheric nuclear conspiracy thriller of the old–school.
- Islands of the Empire (1985)
- Dir. Alister Barry, Rod Prosser, Russell Campbell
- Documentary from Wellington production company Vanguard Films (SOMEONE ELSE'S COUNTRY) offering a valuable examination of military relationships…
- Mussolini and I (1985)
- Dir. Alberto Negrin
Feat. Bob Hoskins, Anthony Hopkins, Susan Sarandon…
- The last days of Il Duce as embodied by Bob Hoskins in this strong Italian miniseries.
- Official Story, The (1985)
- Dir. Luis Puenzo
Feat. Hector Alterio, Norma Aleandro, Chunchuna Villafane
- The heart–wrenching official story of a woman who discovers her adopted daughter was stolen at birth by the then military dictatorship. This…
- John Pilger's The New Rulers of the World (The New Rulers of the World; War By Other Means; Burp! Pepsi v Coke in the Ice Cold War) (1984-2001)
- Dir. David Munro, Alan Lowery
Feat. John Pilger
- Three more essential documentaries from journalist John Pilger, with the emphasis on big business, globalisation, and the plight of the Third…
- Last Bastion, The (1984)
- Dir. Chris Thomson
Feat. Bill Hunter, Ray Barrett, Robert Vaughn…
- Australia's involvement in World War II is explored from behind closed doors in this dramatisation of the decisions made by politicians and generals…
- Secret Honor (1984)
- Dir. Robert Altman
Feat. Philip Baker Hall
- A fictionalized monologue adapted from the stage by playwrights Donald Freed and Arnold M. Stone, with the great Philip Baker Hall as former…
- Gorky Park (1983)
- Dir. Michael Apted
Feat. William Hurt, Lee Marvin, Brian Dennehy…
- William Hurt plays a brooding Russian detective investigating horrific murders in Moscow. Meaty, convincing thriller.
- Patu! (1983)
- Dir. Merata Mita
- The 1981 protests against the South African Rugby tour of New Zealand are documented here by M?ori director Merita Mita, providing a landmark in…
- Black Wax - Gil Scott-Heron (1982)
- Dir. Robert Mugge
- Fusing interviews, poetry recitations and live concert footage, this is a compelling portrait of black American musician/activist Gil…
- Family Ties (TV Series) (1982-1989)
- Feat. Michael Gross, Meredith Baxter-Birney, Michael J. Fox…
- Perhaps the quintessential 80's family sitcom, based around the 'politically–correct' ex–hippie parents who find themselves in the…
- Missing (1982)
- Dir. Costa-Gavras
Feat. Jack Lemmon, Sissy Spacek, Melanie Mayron…
- Jack Lemmon goes in search of his missing son in volatile Latin America (based on Chile), where even the American representives seem to be concealing…
- Nancy Astor (TV Mini-series) (1982)
- Dir. Richard Stroud
Feat. Lisa Harrow, Pierce Brosnan
- Rags–to–riches biography of the life of Nancy Astor, the first woman to hold a seat in the house of commons.
- Woman Called Golda, A (1982)
- Dir. Alan Gibson
Feat. Ingrid Bergman, Ned Beatty, Judy Davis…
- Much–praised biopic in which Ingrid Bergman gives her final performance as Israeli Prime Minister and so–called "mother of Israel', Golda…
- Man of Iron (1981)
- Dir. Andrzej Wajda
Feat. Jerzy Radziwilowicz, Krystyna Janda, Marian Opania
- Angry sequel to MAN OF MARBLE covers much the same ground with an alcoholic journalist sent to cover the Polish Solidarity strike and to discredit…
- Reds (1981)
- Dir. Warren Beatty
Feat. Warren Beatty, Diane Keaton, Jack Nicholson
- A provocative political saga about an American journalist's involvement with communism, the Russian revolution and the love of a like–minded…
- Being There (1980)
- Dir. Hal Ashby
Feat. Peter Sellers
- A middle–aged gardner, reared in solitude and exclusively educated through his television, is mistaken for a political genius. Profound and…
- Return of the Secaucus 7 (1980)
- Dir. John Sayles
Feat. Bruce MacDonald, Maggie Renzi, Adam LeFevre…
- In his feature debut, writer–director John Sayles demonstrates a wisdom way beyond his years with this ‘do–it–yourself’…
- Yes Minister (TV Series) (1980-1982)
- Dir. Sydney Lotterby
Feat. Paul Eddington, Derek Fowlds, Nigel Hawthorne
- The excellent, mildly pointed satire on British politics in Whitehall, with aristocratic bureaucrats Nigel Hawthorne and Derek Fowlds gently guiding…
- Cuba (1979)
- Dir. Richard Lester
Feat. Sean Connery
- Political adventure set at the end of the Batista regime concerning a mercenary mixing business with pleasure in the revolution–torn state.
- Ike (TV Mini-series) (1979)
- Dir. Boris Sagal, Melville Shavelson
Feat. Robert Duvall, Lee Remick, Dana Andrews…
- Robert Duvall is expectedly good in this three–part miniseries detailing the life of Dwight D. Eisenhower, who commanded American forces during…
- Norma Rae (1979)
- Dir. Martin Ritt
Feat. Sally Field, Ron Leibman, Beau Bridges
- Sally Field won the 1979 Best Actress Oscar for her portrait of a feisty textile factory worker in North Carolina who becomes involved in the labour…
- Third Generation, The (Die Dritte Generation) (1979)
- Dir. Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Feat. Hanna Schygulla, Margit Carstensen, Eddie Constantine…
- A scathing black comedy about terrorism, one of the final films of German provocateur Rainer Werner Fassbinder.
A hilariously indiscriminate plot…
- Winter Kills (1979)
- Dir. William Richert
Feat. Jeff Bridges, John Huston, Anthony Perkins…
- Low–key but satisfying 'redux' of the Kennedy assassination posits a parallel scenario where the half–brother of an assassinated…
- China Syndrome, The (1978)
- Dir. James Bridges
Feat. Jane Fonda, Michael Douglas, Jack Lemmon
- Jane Fonda and Michael Douglas pair as TV journalists who become involved in the cover–up of a major malfunction at a nuclear power plant.…
- Disraeli (TV Mini-series) (1978)
- Dir. Claude Whatham
Feat. Ian McShane, Rosemary Leach, Mary Peach…
- Detailed biopic of the remarkable life of the author turned British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli. Talky and visually limited this is more than a…
- F.I.S.T. (Fist) (1978)
- Dir. Norman Jewison
Feat. Sylvester Stallone, Rod Steiger, Peter Boyle…
- Earnest union drama with Stallone as a Jimmy Hoffa type union leader whose idealism is gradually corrupted. Curious misfire is worth a watch with a…
- Citizen Smith (1977-1980)
- Dir. Ray Butt
Feat. Robert Lindsay
- Mischievous TV comedy about self–styled 'urban guerilla' Wolfie Smith (Lindsay) who tries to spark a socialist revolution from the London…
- Domino Principle, The (1977)
- Dir. Stanley Kramer
Feat. Gene Hackman, Candice Bergen, Richard Widmark…
- A thoroughly minor entry in the 1970s cycle of 'conspiracy thrillers', with Hackman playing an ex–Army marksman who is, sprung from prison by…
- Frost/Nixon Watergate Interviews (1977)
- Dir. Jorn Winther
Feat. David Frost, Richard Nixon
- The legendary 28 hour interview between the charismatic David Frost and former President Richard Nixon is touted as the greatest political interview…
- Washington: Behind Closed Doors (Mini-Series) (1977)
- Feat. Cliff Robertson, Jason Robards Jr., Stefanie Powers…
- Sharply written mini–series inspired by the Nixon administration tells the story of a power–hungry U.S. President, and the men he…
- All the President's Men (1976)
- Dir. Alan J. Pakula
Feat. Dustin Hoffman, Robert Redford
- Chilling account of events that led to the publicising of the Watergate scandal, as uncovered by two reporters. A key film of the 1970s.
- Absence of Malice (1975)
- Dir. Sydney Pollack
Feat. Sally Field, Paul Newman
- Reporter Sally Feild smears innocent Paul Newman in this solid examination of ethics, power and corruption in the US media.
- Mother Kuesters Goes to Heaven (1975)
- Dir. Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Feat. Brigitte Mira, Ingrid Caven, Karlheinz Bohm…
- A furiously witty political black comedy from New German Cinema iconoclast Rainer Werner Fassbinder, heavily inspired by the melodramas of Douglas…
- Wilby Conspiracy, The (1975)
- Dir. Ralph Nelson
Feat. Sidney Poitier, Michael Caine, Nicol Williamson…
- Activists Poitier and Caine are stalked by a sadistic policeman in this Apartheid–era suspenser, in which thrills take precedence over politics.
- Conversation, The (1974)
- Dir. Francis Ford Coppola
Feat. Gene Hackman, John Cazale, Allen Garfield…
- Absorbing account of a bugging–device expert who develops a conscience and slowly uncovers a political scandal in a seemingly normal…
- General Idi Amin Dada (A Self Portrait) (1974)
- Dir. Barbet Schroeder
- General Idi Amin Dada’s narcissism is serviced willingly by an intrigued Barbet Schroeder, focusing his camera on the lunatic dictator during his…
- Parallax View, The (1974)
- Dir. Alan J. Pakula
Feat. Warren Beatty, Hume Cronyn, Paula Prentiss
- Intelligent, stylish paranoia thriller with Warren Beatty as a renegade reporter investigating an unfolding political conspiracy involving a covert…
- Day of the Jackal (1973)
- Dir. Fred Zinnemann
Feat. Edward Fox, Terence Alexander, Michel Auclair…
- Taut, clinical adaptation of Frederick Forsyth's best–seller with Edward Fox as the icy hit–man who meticulously prepares for the…
- Swastika (1973)
- Dir. Lutz Becker, Phillipe Mora
- Consisting solely of startling archival footage, this documentary portrait of the era of Adolf Hitler's domination of Nazi Germany, eschews narration…
- Wattstax (1973)
- Dir. Mel Stuart
- A little–seen yet significant concert film of the 'Wattstax' festival in Los Angeles in 1972, organised to commemorate the 7th anniversary of…
- Way We Were, The (1973)
- Dir. Sydney Pollack
Feat. Robert Redford, Barbra Streisand
- A rich–kid aspiring novelist and a political activist go through the pleasure and pain of courtship and marriage through three decades.…
- Candidate, The (1972)
- Dir. Michael Ritchie
Feat. Robert Redford
- Incisive political satire sees idealist Robert Redford run for the Senate, but finds his good intentions usurped by the system and the needs of…
- State of Siege (1972)
- Dir. Costa-Gavras
Feat. Yves Montand, Renato Salvatori, Maurice Teynac
- Influenced by the rise to power of Uruguay's 1970s dictatorship, Costa–Gavras's gritty drama follows the kidnapping and interrogation of U.S.…
- Tout Va Bien (Everything’s All Right) (1972)
- Dir. Jean-Luc Godard, Jean-Pierre Gorin
Feat. Yves Montand, Jane Fonda, Anita Caprioli
- Radical political drama from Nouvelle Vague luminary Jean Luc–Godard and frequent collaborator Jean–Pierre Gorin, set during a wildcat…
- Bananas (1971)
- Dir. Woody Allen
Feat. Woody Allen
- A bizarre storyline lands Woody in the middle of a South American revolution.
- Punishment Park (1971)
- Dir. Peter Watkins
- Extraordinary, 'fictionalised' docu–drama from the unique and largely unheralded talent of British director Peter Watkins, portraying the…
- Confession, The (L'Aveu) (1970)
- Dir. Costa-Gavras
Feat. Yves Montand, Simone Signoret, Gabriele Ferzetti…
- A high–ranking government official in Communist Czechoslovakia is taken prisoner and forced to confess to treason he never committed.
- Conformist, The (Conformista, Il) (1970)
- Dir. Bernardo Bertolucci
Feat. Jean-Louis Trintignant, Stefania Sandrelli, Gastone Moschin…
- Dazzling images and a potent brew of sex and politics merge seamlessly in this milestone of cinema about a submissive Italian Fascist recruited to…
- John Pilger's Documentaries That Changed the World (The Quiet Mutiny; Do You Remember Vietnam?; Year Zero; Death of a Nation) (1970-1994)
- Dir. David Munro, John Pilger
Feat. John Pilger
- Four of journalist John Pilger's most important documentaries, that exemplify his fiercely humanist perspective which makes few concessions to…
- Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer, The (1970)
- Dir. Kevin Billington
Feat. Peter Cook, John Cleese, Harold Pinter…
- Follow the meteoric rise of one Michael Rimmer, an entry–level ad exec. who turns a fledging agency into an industry heavyweight, graduates to…
- Che! (1969)
- Dir. Richard Fleischer
Feat. Omar Sharif, Jack Palance
- Made barely two years after his death, this Che Guevara biopic boasts the reputable acting talents of Omar Sharif and Jack Palance and picks up where…
- Medium Cool (1969)
- Dir. Haskell Wexler
- Filmed against the backdrop of the Democratic National convention in 1968 Chicago, this remarkable directorial effort by renowned cinematographer…
- One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band, The (1968)
- Dir. Michael O'Herlihy
Feat. Walter Brennan, Buddy Ebsen, Lesley Ann Warren…
- A rambunctious Disney musical in which the large Bower family band sets off to the 1888 Democrat Party convention in St. Louis to support Grover…
- Rocky Road to Dublin (1968)
- Dir. Peter Lennon
- Ex–Guardian reporter Lennon recruited French New Wave lensman Raoul Coutard to film this scathing Irish postcard, exposing wayward politics and…
- Z (1968)
- Dir. Costa-Gavras
Feat. Yves Montand, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Irene Papas
- Pioneering conspiracy thriller based on the true story of the murder of a doctor and the raw sore of Greek political corruption it exposes. Oscars…
- La Chinoise (1967)
- Dir. Jean-Luc Godard
Feat. Jean-Pierre Leaud, Anne Wiazemsky, Juliet Berto…
- Five Parisian students dabble in the possibilities of enacting a Mao–ist revolution in the West, in one of dir. Godard's more overt flirtations…
- President's Analyst, The (1967)
- Dir. Theodore J. Flicker
Feat. James Coburn
- Madcap comedy suspense tracking a hapless guy awarded the task of being the president's assistant, who then must deal with bribes and death threats…
- Privilege (1967)
- Dir. Peter Watkins
Feat. Paul Jones, Jean Shrimpton
- Paul Jones (one–time vocalist for the Manfred Mann group) fronts a government–sanctioned brainwash as a rock idol whose music is being…
- Battle of Algiers, The (1965)
- Dir. Gillo Pontecorvo
Feat. Brahim Haggiag
- Gripping account of the Muslim uprising which led to the withdrawal of France from Algeria was shot merely four years after the revolution, and as…
- Stand Up, Nigel Barton/Vote, Vote, Vote for Nigel Barton (1965)
- Dir. Gareth Davies
Feat. Keith Barron, Jack Woolgar, Janet Henfrey
- Formative Dennis Potter chronicles the bumpy political rise of one aspiring Nigel Barton, from Oxford to Cabinet. Sharply autobiographical,…
- Best Man, The (1964)
- Dir. Franklin J. Schaffner
Feat. Henry Fonda, Cliff Robertson, Edie Adams…
- Bitter political satire finds Fonda and Robertson competing against each other in a bid to win the presidency. The two foes soon find themselves…
- Four Days in November (1964)
- Dir. Mel Stuart
- An unbiased view of events surrounding the death of JFK taken from more than eight million feet of newsreel footage encompassing joyous Kennedy…
- Seven Days in May (1964)
- Dir. John Frankenheimer
Feat. Kirk Douglas, Burt Lancaster
- Kirk Douglas stumbles upon a conspiracy led by General Burt Lancaster, to bring down the US President (who goes and signs treaties with the…
- Crisis (1963)
- Dir. Robert Drew
- Tense account of a key battle in the American Civil Rights movement with President Kennedy locked in a tense negotiation with Alabaman Governor…
- Hands Over the City (Le mani sulla città) (1963)
- Dir. Francesco Rosi
Feat. Rod Steiger, Salvo Randone, Guido Alberti
- An astute and ever–pertinent story of political corruption in post–World War II Italy starring Rod Steiger as a ruthless developer and…
- Ugly American, The (1963)
- Dir. George Englund
Feat. Marlon Brando, Arthur Hiller, Sandra Church
- Featuring one of Marlon Brando’s more interesting choices of roles, this political thriller dramatises the American–vs–Communist…
- Advise and Consent (1962)
- Dir. Otto Preminger
Feat. Henry Fonda, Charles Laughton, Don Murray…
- Political thriller–fable set in the corridors and committee rooms of Washington DC, where the fundamentally decent Senator, Henry Fonda, learns…
- Le Combat Dans L'île (1962)
- Dir. Alain Cavalier
Feat. Romy Schneider, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Henri Serre…
- French drama exploring the tension between right and left wing politics in the early 60's, through the romantic conflict faced by a woman (Romy…
- Manchurian Candidate, The (1962)
- Dir. John Frankenheimer
Feat. Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Janet Leigh…
- Politically–charged nail–biter with Frank Sinatra experiencing post–war paranoia about a fellow soldier who may have been…
- Salvatore Giuliano (1962)
- Dir. Francesco Rosi
Feat. Salvo Randone, Frank Wolff, Frederico Zardi
- An epic Italian political drama, charting in a non–linear fashion the true story of Sicilian bandit Salvatore Giuliano, a criminal and…
- Mein Kampf (1961)
- Dir. Erwin Leiser
- Based on the infamous diary of Adolf Hitler, this is an impressive, prudent chronicle of his life, from his formative years through the horrors of…
- No Love for Johnnie (1961)
- Dir. Ralph Thomas
Feat. Peter Finch, Stanley Holloway, Donald Pleasence…
- Peter Finch excels as a British MP whose desire for career advancement threatens his personal life.
- Primary (1960)
- Dir. Robert Drew
- Landmark documentary captures the charismatic JFK as he contests the Wisconsin Democratic Primary with Hubert Humphrey.
One of the first films of…
- I'm All Right Jack (1959)
- Dir. John Boulting
Feat. Ian Carmichael, Peter Sellers, Terry-Thomas…
- Brilliant satire of labour and class relations, makes a glorious mockery of unions and management alike as upperclass twit Ian Carmichael joins the…
- Face in the Crowd, A (1957)
- Dir. Elia Kazan
Feat. Andy Griffith, Patricia Neal, Walter Matthau…
- Pungent social commentary on American mass culture outlays the rags–to–riches trajectory of a hick nobody (Griffith) whose rapid rise to…
- Salt of the Earth (1954)
- Dir. Herbert J. Biberman
Feat. Rosaura Revueltas, Will Geer
- An incendiary tale of racial prejudice, big business greed and feminist uprising that pushed plenty of buttons in the fifties, making it first of its…
- Suddenly (1954)
- Dir. Lewis Allen
Feat. Frank Sinatra, Sterling Hayden
- Frank Sinatra impresses in an unsympathetic role: a sneering, cynical war–veteran out to practice his marksmanship on the President of the…
- All the King's Men (1949)
- Dir. Robert Rossen
Feat. Broderick Crawford, John Ireland, Mercedes McCambridge
- Broderick Crawford brilliantly plays a well intentioned but bullheaded Southern senator whose thirst for power sets him on the road to ruin. Fine…
- We Were Strangers (1949)
- Dir. John Huston
Feat. Jennifer Jones, John Garfield, Pedro Armendariz…
- Adventure drama with Jennifer Jones playing a woman who joins the Cuban Underground and helps devise a plot to bring down the country's corrupt…
- State of the Union (1948)
- Dir. Frank Capra
Feat. Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy, Angela Lansbury
- An idealistic industrialist is urged to run for President, but finds uncomfortable compromises are required on both a political and marital level.…
- Farmer's Daughter, The (1947)
- Dir. H.C. Potter
Feat. Loretta Young, Joseph Cotten, Ethel Barrymore…
- Congressman Joseph Cotton's maid, Loretta Young, decides to run against him in the next election. A perceptive comedy that won an Oscar for Young.
- Trial at Nuremberg (1947)
- Dir. Jack Kaufman
- Actual footage of the historic war crime hearings in which Goering, Hess and 19 other SS Nazi leaders would be brought to trial over 217 days at the…
- Years Between, The (1946)
- Dir. Compton Bennett
Feat. Michael Redgrave, Valerie Hobson, Dame Flora Robson
- Michael Redgrave plays a British MI6 officer who returns home after working for the French Resistance to find that his wife, who had presumed him…
- Native Land (1942)
- Dir. Leo Hurwitz, Paul Strand
- Impassioned and authentic, this landmark film call for social revolution in Depression–era America blends vivid re–anactments with actual…
- Meet John Doe (1941)
- Dir. Frank Capra
Feat. Barbara Stanwyck, Gary Cooper, Walter Brennan…
- Always partial to a ripe political parable, dir. Capra has Barbara Stanwyck leading hickster Gary Cooper around by the nose on a national goodwill…
- Great Dictator, The (1940)
- Dir. Charles Chaplin
Feat. Charles Chaplin
- Chaplin's brave subversive satire in which he inhabits dual roles – dictator Adenoid Hynkle and a Jewish barber – for his damning…
- Great McGinty, The (1940)
- Dir. Preston Sturges
Feat. Brian Donlevy, Akim Tamiroff, William Demarest…
- The first film with Preston Sturges both scripting and directing, this dryly wacky political satire sees cynical bum Donlevy rise to the heights of…
- Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
- Dir. Frank Capra
Feat. James Stewart, Jean Arthur
- Another brilliant comic parable from Frank Capra, in the wake of MR. DEEDS. The endearing Jimmy Stewart plays a young idealist who discovers the…
- Young Mr. Lincoln (1939)
- Dir. John Ford
Feat. Henry Fonda, Alice Brady, Marjorie Weaver…
- A fresh–faced Henry Fonda gives credence to the formative years of Abraham Lincoln, seen here as a country boy–turned–lawyer…
- Marseillaise, La (1938)
- Dir. Jean Renoir
Feat. Pierre Renoir, Lisa Delamare, Leon Larive…
- Renoir's classic depicts events leading up to the French revolution in the 18th Century, electing to extract history from the heart of the common…
- Triumph of the Will (1935)
- Dir. Leni Riefenstahl
- The famous official document of the Nazi rally at Nuremberg, 1934, shot in stunning geometric compositions. This manages to stagger the senses, while…
- October : 10 Days That Shook the World (1928)
- Dir. Sergei Eisenstein
Feat. Nikandrov , N. Popov, Boris Livanov
- A brilliant reconstruction of the momentous events of 1917, when revolutionary soldiers overthrew the provisional Government bringing Lenin and the…
- End of St. Petersburg, The (1927)
- Dir. Vsevolod Pudovkin
Feat. Vera Baranovskaya, Aleksandr Chistyakov
- The tensions that exploded with the 'October Revolution' in Russia, 1917 are schematised here using understated characterisations (of workers and…
- Strike (1924)
- Dir. Sergei Eisenstein
Feat. Grigori Alexandrov
- Eisenstein's first feature is a depiction of a violent factory strike in Czarist Russia, filmed with a protoform version of his 'montage' theories in…
- Day the Wall Came Down
- Chronicle of events that led to the falling of the Berlin Wall and the re–integration of East and West Germany.