Four years in the making, the third version of this mildly exciting talkie/video features newer, cleaner, re-mastered audio, a new history section, and 50 new visual shots & pieces of archive material to break up the talking heads. Includes two brand new bonus short documentaries - "Tennessee State Prison" and "Record Playerz".
A cultural analysis of what causes zine makers to tick; what the hell zines are, why people make zines, the origin of zines, the resources and community available for zine makers, and the future of zines. Interviews with about 70 zine makers, ex-zine makers, and readers from the northwest. Featuring footage of the Portland Zine Symposium, a zine bicycle tour of Portland, and activities bringing zine culture to life. An original documentary culled from over 64 hours of footage. Best suited for people with a new interest in zines, pros, and novices. The video sparks untapped creativity and new interest into zine making and reading. Artwork by Cristy Road and music by J Church and Defiance, OH! Created by Basil Shadid, Rev. Phil Sano, Nickey Robo, and Joe Biel. 51 minutes with 47 minutes of bonus material. ISBN 0-9770557-5-2*** VHS now only $2!!
*** Winner of Microcinema Fest "Best Documentary" Award!
Contact us if you are interested in setting up a screening in your town!
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A short documentary featuring 12 women speaking candidly about their abortion experiences. The women are doctors, subway workers, artists, activists, military personnel, teachers and students; they are Black, Latina, Jewish and White; some are mothers and some are not. They range in age from 19 to 54. Their stories weave together with the filmmaker's diary entries about her own abortion story to present a compelling, moving and at times surprisingly funny "dinner party" where the audience is invited to hear what women say behind closed doors about motherhood, medical technology, sex, spirituality, love, work and their own bodies. A topic no longer to be shamed! Check out the trailer!
Using powerpoint, rock anthems, and audience interaction, certified Ebay powerseller Andrew "AC" Dickson and his wife Susan aim to convince you that Ebay selling is personally lucrative, good for the country, and ultimately a meaningful step towards world peace and a better tomorrow. Blending aspects of theatre, performance art, and corporate seminar, AC Dickson: eBay Powerseller is absolutely the best hour long eBay selling education around, as well as a though-provoking examination on the social, historic, economic, and political repercussions of eBay.com. It is also highly entertaining.
Explores race identity within the punk scene. More than your everyday, Behind the Music or "black history month" documentary, this film tackles the hard questions - loneliness, exile, inter-racial dating and black power. We follow the lives of four people who have dedicated themselves to punk. They find themselves in conflicting situations, living the dual life of a person of color in a mostly white community. The style of the documentary inter-cuts interviews from scores of black punk rockers from all over the nation with scenes from our four protagonists' lives. They come from different regions, generations, genders, and sexual preferences but their stories are amazingly similar. Performances by Bad Brains, Tamar Kali, Cipher, and Ten Grand. Interviews by members of Fishbone, 247- spyz, Dead Kennedys, Candiria, Orange 9mm and TV on the Radio.
Charting the social turbulences in late 1960's Chicago, this DVD includes footage of the 1968 Democratic Convention protest and riot, a critique of the events by working class African-Americans in Chicago, and attempts by the Black Panther Party to organize poor, southern white youths on the city's north side. The directors' lo-fi approach reflects the raw energy of this upheaval. Originally released in 1969, this new digitally restored edition comes with a new booklet by Mike Gray, and a new documentary short by Mike Gray Riots To Revolution:Chicago in 1968.
Two historic time capscule documentaries on one DVD from Steven Fischler and Joel Sucher. In "Anarchism in America", they take a road trip to map anarchism as a distinctly American tradition, interviewing a diverse cast of ordinary people like truckers and factory workers as well as famous anarchists like Kenneth Rexroth, Ursula LeGuin, and Murray Bookchin.
In "Free Voice of Labor", we trace the history of the Yiddish anarchist newspaper of the same name - publishing the final issue after 87 years—as told by its now elderly, but decidedly unbowed staff. Also included is first hand accounts of the labor organizing, propaganda, educational experiments, and monumental contributions from these cherished, if largely unsung, heroes of the American anarchist movement.
A new DVD collection of short documentaries by Joe Biel about bikes, trains, dogs, patches, and the board game RISK.
"Martinis in the Bike Lane" (11 min) is a documentary short about the history of the decorated and unique bike lane markings in Portland, OR. Why does that one have a golf club or a book? Without giving too much away, it's an exciting issue that has been pondered by many and explained by few. See a fun and adventurous marking that Joe got to design. "Best Documentary Short" in the Mid-Valley Film Festival!
“Last Train out of North America” (19 min) discusses the lack of priority and funding towards passenger rail service in North America. Interviews with passengers, employees, and train obsessives tell the story of the rails being sold to cargo train companies, why the government fired David Gunn, & how each year appears to the be the last.
“Central Kansas - Canvas Central” (11 min) is a mockumentary about the obsessive nature of people with patches as a kind of media. For years we’ve tabled at bookfairs and sold primarily patches to young, excited individuals who ignored our reading material. I set out to get the inside story from this interesting set.
“Of Dice and Men” (39 min) chronicles players of the board game RISK and their obsessive behaviors. The game affects their personalities, turning anarchists and relaxed folks into conniving, manipulative, and calculated imperialists. Parallels to the patterns and habits of the US are drawn, showing how these situations, in the real world or a game, reveal human nature.
"Cowboy Hat & A Cane" (11 min) is a documentary short about America's most loved dog - Coda Bowles and her relationship with her people. Move over Lassie, this dumpster diver grew up on the mean streets of Portland after probably spending some time on a puppy farm, and was found roaming a dangerous intersection! The video focuses on Coda's history as much as it can be traced and then moves onto her daily habits and behaviors now. A fun movie for dog owners and lovers everywhere!
Contact us if you are interested in setting up screenings in your town!
ISBN 978-0-9788665-0-1
In simple language we are presented with a heavily narrated piece of agit-prop about our present day world beingbuilt on the logic of capitalism. Beginning with a look at how we treat our children and strangers - the inherent hierarchy that builds upon this common assumption that this is the best, if not only workable system. Using a kindergarten classroom as a model, this documentary explains in non-jargonised terms, the insanity of a system that places profit before human need. We are slowly introduced to the concept that capitalism is unnecessary and breeding many of the problems that it proposes to fight and solve - slavery, injustice, sexism, racism, civil unrest, selfishness, inadequate distribution of resources, mass suppression of information, and that competition is not necessary to provide us with our wants and needs. Most importantly it debunks the common myth that ownership of something equals capitalism. To the contrary, exclusive access and use of something that can be denied of others equals capitalism. Check out the trailer!
"Catching Out" is slang for riding a freight train. In three interwoven stories, this doc follows three contemporary hobos—a seasoned eco-activist named Lee (There's Something About a Train zine), a young nomad named Jessica (Transient Ways), and a tramp couple known as Switch and Baby Girl—as they navigate between the constraints of society and the freedom of the rails. The film explores Lee's intimate connection with nature and Jessica's bohemian upbringing. Meanwhile, Switch and Baby Girl confront society as they retire from the rails to raise their son Isaiah.
"Crossing the Line" tells the story a group of Richmond, CA, high school students as they learn about and attend the annual protest at Fort Benning, GA, to shut down the School of the Americas. The SOA is a training camp for foreign armies to perform acts of terrorism on their populations or to depose disagreeable politicians.
The students filmed and produced the documentary, so this is a record not only of an important political action against a terrifying dirty little military secret, but also of the students' awakening consciousness about the issue and about the nature of filmmaking. Very moving, and including interviews with line-crossers Guadalupe Chavez and Linda Aguilar, and Pete Seeger.
Follow the journey of Ryan and Jen Johnson—a deserting soldier and his young wife—as they flee across the country to seek refugee status over the Canadian border. As they move from safe house to safe house, we get to know Ryan and Jen—two, shy, small-town kids from the Central Valley who joined the military because there were no jobs, and find they must make a heroic stand in order to escape an illegal and immoral war. See one of the few happy endings this war has given us.
Special Feature: Discussion with Amy Goodman and US Army Deserter Ryan Johnson at the North American premiere of Deserter .
Buckle up for DIAL H-I-S-T-O-R-Y, the airplane hijacking documentary that eerily foreshadowed 9-11. We meet the romantic skyjackers who fought their revolutions and won airtime on the passenger planes of the 1960's and 1970's. By the 1990's, such characters were apparently no more, replaced on our TV screens by stories of anonymous bombs in suitcases.
Most interestly, the documentary investigates the sexual urges behind the hijackers as well as investigating numerous people who are thrilled and not scared to be involved in hijackings. An amazing set of footage to behold.
Director Johan Grimonprez investigates the politics behind this change, at the same time unwrapping our own complicity in the urge for ultimate disaster. Playing on Don DeLillo's riff in his novel Mao II: "what terrorists gain, novelists lose" and "home is a failed idea", he blends archival footage of hijackings with surreal and banal themes, including fast food, pet statistics, disco, and his quirky home movies. David Shea composed the superb soundtrack to this free fall through history, best described in the words of one hijacked Pepsi executive as "running the gamut of many emotions, from surprise to shock to fear, to joy, to laughter, and then again, fear."
"Exceptional for its juice, its jazzy compelling fusion of social and aesthetic issues, and its stomach-churning power." - NY Times
"A sense of urgency and a wrenching emotional attack." - The Times (London)
"Each cut turns a screw deeper until your mind hurts." - SF Bay Guardian
"An eccentric, roller coaster ride through history." - Time Out
Check out the trailer!
This film is a celebration of the underdog! FEATURING interviews with: Lydia Lunch, Ian MacKaye (Fugazi), J Mascis (Dinosaur jr.), Jim Rose (Jim Rose Sideshow), J.G.Thirlwell (Foetus), Mike Watt (Minutemen), Richard Kern (Filmmaker), Ron Asheton (Stooges), Madigan Shive (Bonfire Madigan), Dave Brockie (Gwar) and more. Spanning a whole range of media including music, film, performance art, graphic design and publishing, D.I.Y. OR DIE offers a fascinating insight into a series of characters who have motivated themselves independently of mainstream methodologies. If you have big plans for a small project then this could be just the inspiration you are looking for.
When Portland was cool, there was an amazing thing called Gracies - a collective without collectivizing, whose main objective was creating fun and absurdity. Besides a series of weekly brunches, Gracies produced three different movies. All of these "Somewhat Rapid Movie Projects" were created from concept to watchable film--in a very short period of time (48 to 72 hours!) Do You Copy was created in the Dirty Winter of 2002 in a spurt of fevered creativity.
At Copy Maker, Brian has been trying to get his order filled for weeks but their "special" machine keeps ruining his print job. Jason and Peter, despite gross incompetency, attempt to stall him while completing other print jobs, ignoring the weirdness of their clientele. They escape to fantasy worlds and fight mutant aliens on their hunt for the double sided transmutation crystals. Who is the bigger asshole, the boss or the customer?
Witness a great slice of Portland history, and a fun movie to boot. Featuring Joe Biel as a robot and some other zinesters scattered about.
Since World War II North Americans have invested much of their newfound wealth in suburbia. It has promised a sense of space, affordability, family life and upward mobility. As the population of suburban sprawl has exploded in the past 50 years, so too has the suburban way of life become embedded in the American consciousness.
Suburbia, and all it promises, has become the American Dream.
But as we enter the 21st century, serious questions are beginning to emerge about the sustainability of this way of life. With brutal honesty and a touch of irony, The End of Suburbia explores the American Way of Life and its prospects as the planet approaches a critical era, as global demand for fossil fuels begins to outstrip supply. World Oil Peak and the inevitable decline of fossil fuels are upon us now, some scientists and policy makers argue in this documentary.
The consequences of inaction in the face of this global crisis are enormous. What does Oil Peak mean for North America? As energy prices skyrocket in the coming years, how will the populations of suburbia react to the collapse of their dream? Are today's suburbs destined to become the slums of tomorrow? And what can be done NOW, individually and collectively, to avoid The End of Suburbia ?
Watch the trailer!
This amazing DIY feature film is a cross between Raymond Williams, 50's era Charles Schulz and John Waters. Great production (Looks good! Sounds wonderful!) and even better story. A group of disaffected youth are trying to survive in a small town. Shannon is the last punk, trying desperately to follow her friends out of town. Marsh is dealing with a drunk boyfriend and realizing there's a lot of stuff she's not learning in school. Dolby has retreated into music and drugs and will do anything to get high. When the highschool principal undermines both the kids' new anti-authoritarian Grilled Cheese Sandwich Club and the cafeteria worker's contract, all hell breaks loose and all of Grimsville's loveable characters get involved.
Incredibly smart, incredibly funny. If you've lived in a small town or participated in activist work this film will put a huge smile on your face and get you itchin to make politics fun again. Check out the trailer!
We get a lot of DVDs around here and I can safely say this was my favorite documentary DVD submission of 2007. Moxie walks us through the history of scrappy folks who have built boats before him, back hundreds of years and then whisks us back to the present, where he is building the "Pestilence" on the coast of Florida. His ragged crew of 3 get it ready to be ocean-faring and then hold through the Bahamas and up to New England, faring surprise storms, deadly turns around cruise ships, fishing, and dropping their anchors manually by swimming them out. It's an incredible voyage and numerous scenes were enough to make me squirm and feel like I was really living the experience. This is a must-have.
Dreamwhip's Bill Brown returns with 3 new films! The Other Side explores US/Mexico immigration issues, following activist groups that supply water and rides to people crossing the border, who are stranded or lost in the desert. At a time when border politics and immigration are all over the news, it's great to get an independent, emotional, and real piece of film about what is going on. Bill is more like a silent observer showing us what he sees and narrates in a manner that is informative without being totally detached. "Hub City" is a short about Lubbock, TX - the home of Buddy Holly and trajectories of death and small towns. AA Trailer is a goofy short about the joy of film making for The Ann Arbor Film Festival. Shot beautifully on real film, these experimental documentaries represent a hometown of past, present, or future.
The unlikely connection of three men - an ex-con biographer, a janitor turned publisher, and U.S. President George W. Bush - whose paths to power and popularity become tangled in a controversial book! In October 1999, an article appeared in the New York Times indicating that publisher St. Martin's Press had recalled Fortunate Son, the first published biography of George W. Bush, when it was revealed that the author, J.H.Hatfield, had been convicted for trying to conspire to murder a co-worker. Hatfield has previously written about pop icons and was now commissioned to do a real biography so he set out to give it his all, seeking out direct sources and doing the best journalistic effort possible. Without political inclinations, he revealed the best and worst about George Bush, which was simply unacceptable to the Bush family. At the time of its recall, the book was a bestseller, no doubt due to the book's allegations that Bush had been arrested for cocaine possession in 1972. Several weeks later, small underground imprint Soft Skull Press, led by the self-styled "punk of publishing," Sander Hicks, announced that it would re-publish the book. Set against the backdrop of the fierce 2000 presidential campaign, Horns And Halos follows Hatfield and Hicks as they battle lawyers, media, and mounting debt to get Fortunate Son back on shelves. After months of lawsuits, bad press and financial ruin, Soft Skull attempts to make a splash at the Book Expo of America, as Hatfield reluctantly reveals his sources for the book's cocaine allegations. The consequences are explosive. An essential slice of history and how money impacts it.
A frightening look at the devastating effects of corporate media retail outlets (can we even really call them bookstores?) on their independent competitors. The film focuses on the vibrant book cultures in Capitola and Palo Alto, CA, and the efforts of booksellers and readers to keep out Borders and Barnes & Noble and save the local bookstores from going under. The tenacity of the booksellers is only rivaled by the frightening conviction of the "big box" representatives, who justify their presence in the community as encouraging a "freedom of choice" for the consumer. Watch the trailer!
Two nooses are left as a warning to black students trying to integrate their playground, fights break out across town, a white man pulls a shotgun on black students, someone burns down most of the school, the DA puts 6 black students on trial for attempted murder, and the quiet town of Jena becomes the site of the largest civil rights demonstration in the south since the 1960s. The Jena 6 is the story of hidden racial inequality and violence becoming visible. It is a powerful symbol for, and example of, how racial justice works in America - where the lynching noose has been replaced by the DA's pen.
Mark Achbar (The Corporation) & Peter Wintonick take on the difficult task of documenting and breaking into accessible sound bytes America's most quoted figure - Noam Chomsky! Successful in it's intentions - this film is funny, provocative, and surprisingly accessible. Chomsky hesitantly tells the story of being a small Jewish boy on the school yard who always sticks up for the underdog - whether it's America's underprivileged or the small boy on the school yard. Manufacturing Consent explores the political life and ideas of him as a world-renowned linguist, intellectual, and political activist. Highlights include Chomsky's probing analysis of mass media and his critique of the forces at work behind the daily news.
Imagine this - a film portrait is being made of the young Black Panther Fred Hampton as his rousing teenage personality gives speeches and advice to his community. Then, Fred Hampton is murdered halfway through the shoot - a dozen violent Chicago policemen burst into his apartment and fire endless streams of bullets into the sleeping Hampton. Footage shot hours after the muder contradicted news reports and police testimony. Originally released in 1971, this new edition has been digitally restored and includes a booklet by Mike Gray and the short documentary Cicero March, which chronicled a group of civil rights protesters who defied Mayor Richard J. Daley's order to not march in the predominantly white suburb, Cicero, IL.
You can take Bill Brown out of Texas, but you can’t take the Texas out of Bill Brown. His films are vast and expansive and take you on a road trip across the back roads of forgotten places. From his award winning Confederation Park, which carefully depicts an aimless American kid setting out across the Trans-Canada Highway, to Buffalo Common, which observes the dismantling of nuclear missile silos across North Dakota, Bill’s films blur the difference between documentary and personal filmmaking and create a time-capsule of the subtle changes of the North American landscape. His films have won many awards and screened at nearly every film festival on the planet, he has received both Rockefeller and Creative Capital grants, and in November 2003, the Museum of Modern Art presented a retrospective of his work. He gets excited about blimps, elevated trains, and vegan bratwurst, but the steady tug of time passing and Hummers leave him less excited. Includes: Mountain State (2003), Confederation Park (1999), Buffalo Common (2001) and Roswell (1994).
Three excellent documentary films: pickAxe, The Miami Model, and Breaking The Spell.
PickaXe: An arsonist burns 9000 acres of protected old-growth public forest in Oregon that can not be logged unless it burns. To stop the proposed "salvage" logging of this incredible ancient forest, citizens are moved to blockade a road and keep the government out. After facing down a bulldozer and the State Police, the fort now known as the gateway to the Cascadia Free State becomes the focus for a developing community dedicated to protecting ancient forests throughout the mountains of Oregon. The film shows confrontations with disgruntled loggers, mass arrests and a 75 day hunger strike.
Breaking the Spell: Breaking the Spell is an hour-long look at the WTO and anarchists, especially those from Eugene, who went up, created a stir, and faced national media presence in the wake of the action that took place there. Featuring outstanding local musicians from folk to punk to hip-hop. Rather than attempting to cover every situation at the WTO, Breaking the Spell has several moving montage sequences combined with a few scenes that cover one or two situations in depth.
The Miami Model: Against the prescribed template of paramilitary oppression, information warfare, and profit above all values, activists converge in Miami to demonstrate grassroots resistance, creative action, and international solidarity—a clash between competing visions of globalization, soon to be known as the Miami Model. Indymedia activists shot hundreds of hours documenting the 2003 FTAA protests in Miami and shaped it into a documentary that cuts through the mass media blackout to reveal the brutal repression and assault on civil liberties that took place, as well as the inspiring alternatives to capitalist globalization that were also in full effect in Miami. [91 min.]
Five Additional Short Films:
Safetybike [3 min.]
How to Turn a Bicycle into a Record Player (includes original version and new 21st century version) [13 min.]
Auto Re-Vision (includes new commentary track by participants Mark, Etta & James) [26 min.]
Join the Resistance, Fall in Love [17 min.]
Why I Love Shoplifting From Big Corporations [5 min.]
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