Unit One: Global Citizenship
The Yes Men Fix the World: is a screwball true story about two gonzo political activists who, posing as top executives of giant corporations, lie their way into big business conferences and pull off the world's mostoutrageous pranks.
Big River Man: Follows Martin Strel as he attempts to cover 3,375 miles of the Amazon River in what is being billed as the world's longest swim.
Unit Two: Historical Globalization
Rabbit Proof Fence: In 1931, three aboriginal girls escape after being plucked from their homes to be trained as domestic staff and set off on a trek across the Outback.
Amazing Grace: The idealist William Wilberforce maneuvers his way through Parliament, endeavoring to end the British transatlantic slave trade.
Black Robe: Set in 1634 (in the period of conflicts known as the Beaver Wars), the film begins in the tiny French settlement that will one day become Quebec City. Jesuit missionaries are trying to encourage the local Algonquin Indians to embrace Christianity, with thus far only limited results. Samuel de Champlain, founder of the settlement, sends Father LaForgue, a young Jesuit priest, to find a distant Catholic mission in a Huron village.
The Deceivers: takes place in 1825 India. The country is being ravaged by Thuggees, a Kali-worshiping cult also known as "Deceivers," who commit robbery and ritualistic murder. Appalled by their activities, English Captain William Savage undertakes a dangerous mission in which he disguises himself, and infiltrates the Thugee cult. At constant risk of betrayal and vengeance, Captain Savage undergoes a disturbing psychological transformation, experiencing the cult's insatiable bloodlust for himself.
Mangal Pandey: The Rising (Indian title) or The Rising: Ballad of Mangal Pandey (international title) (released in India on 12 August 2005) is an Indian biographical historical filmbased on the life of Mangal Pandey, an Indian soldier who is known for his role in the Indian Mutiny of 1857.
The Mission: 18th century Spanish Jesuits try to protect a remote South American Indian tribe in danger of falling under the rule of pro-slavery Portugal.
Indian Horse: an important drama that sheds light on the dark history of Canada’s boarding schools or Indigenous Residential Schools and the indomitable spirit of aboriginal people.
Unit Three: Social Globalization
Gringo Trails: raises urgent questions about one of the most powerful global industries of our time: tourism. With stunning footage from Bolivia, Thailand, Mali, and Bhutan, the film follows the well-worn 'gringo trail' travel route in Latin America and beyond, revealing a complex web of relationships between cultures that collide yet need one another.
The Linguists: David and Greg are "The Linguists," who document languages on the verge of extinction. In the rugged landscapes of Siberia, India, and Bolivia, their resolve is tested by institutionalized racism and violent economic unrest.
The Cup: is based on a true story about Tibetan monks, refugees living in a Buddhist monastery in the foothills of the Himalayas. Fourteen-year-old Orgyen, obsessed with Brazilian soccer star Ronaldo, is determined to bring television to his monastery in time for a World Cup soccer game.
Children of Heaven: Nine-year-old Ali, the usually responsible son of a poor Tehran family, accidentally loses his sister Zahra's only pair of shoes, and the children know that their parents cannot afford new ones. This film explores the growing economic and cultural divide between the traditional family living in the older, poorer section of Tehran and a wealthier family whose lifestyle has been transformed by Western-style modernization.
The Way Home: a seven-year-old South Korean boy accustomed to the comforts and conveniences of modern Seoul is left temporarily with his grandmother in a traditional village. Born and raised in Seoul, he must learn to live in a tiny community, and he is even forced to live without his video games when his batteries run out.
Schooling the World: If you wanted to change an ancient culture in a generation, how would you do it? You would change the way it educates its children.
Elder in the Making: Canadian! Inspired by the work of the Making Treaty 7 Cultural Society, a group of artists, musicians, playwrights, elders, and technicians trying to bring the stories of aboriginal and settler relationship to the forefront.
Elder in the Making (Official Trailer) from Chris Hsiung on Vimeo.
The Oka Legacy: http://www.cbc.ca/firsthand/episodes//the-oka-legacy
Unit Four: Economic Globalization
Capitalism: A Love Story: An examination of the social costs of corporate interests pursuing profits at the expense of the public good.
No Logo: In the age of the brand, logos are everywhere. But why do some of the world's best-known brands find themselves on the wrong end of the spray paint can # the targets of anti-corporate campaigns by activists and protestors? No Logo, based on the best-selling book by Canadian journalist and activist Naomi Klein, reveals the reasons behind the backlash against the increasing economic and cultural reach of multinational companies.
The Corporation: Documentary that looks at the concept of the corporation throughout recent history up to its present-day dominance.
Walmart: The High Cost of Low Prices: What is behind the low prices at your neighborhood Wal-Mart? "Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price" is a feature length documentary that uncovers a retail giant's assault on families and American values.
China Blue: China Blue takes us inside a blue-jeans factory, where Jasmine and her friends are trying to survive a harsh working environment. When the factory owner agrees to a deal with his Western client that forces his teenage workers to work around the clock, a confrontation becomes inevitable. Shot clandestinely in China, under difficult conditions, this is a deep-access account of what both China and the international retail companies don't want us to see - how the clothes we buy are actually made.
Life and Debt: focuses on the role of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Jamaica, but it's much more than that. It weaves together interviews with the IMF deputy director, farmers, workers, scholars, a former Prime Minister (Michael Manley).
Roger and Me: chronicles Michael Moore's long quest to confront Smith with the human consequences of his business decisions on Moore's hometown of Flint, Michigan, where GM eliminated 30,000 jobs.
Unit Five: Globalization and the Environment
Flow: Water is the very essence of life, sustaining every being on the planet. 'Flow' confronts the disturbing reality that our crucial resource is dwindling and greed just may be the cause.
Darwin's Nightmare: An edible Nile perch was introduced into Lake Victoria in order to make money. Though this goal was accomplished, something went horribly wrong. This film discusses the complex issues of fisheries and how they interact with local ecology. This film puts the fisheries in context from a social economic standpoint within the struggle of globalization.
Forks Over Knives: Examines the profound claim that most, if not all, of the degenerative diseases that afflict us can be controlled, or even reversed, by rejecting our present menu of animal-based and processed foods.
Unit Six: Globalization and Human Rights
Blood Coltan: The West’s demand for Coltan, used in mobile phones and computers, is funding the killings in Congo. Under the close watch of rebel militias, children as young as ten work the mines hunting for this black gold. ‘Blood Coltan’ exposes the web of powerful interests protecting this blood trade. Meet the powerful warlords who enslave local population and the European businessmen who continue importing Coltan, in defiance of the UN.
Bitter Seeds: India has more farmers than any country in the world, and they are in a crisis that is unprecedented in human history. Every 30 minutes a farmer in India kills himself in despair. In a village at the center of the suicide epidemic, a farmer and his family struggle to keep his land and a teenage girl makes her first steps to become a journalist and tell the world about the crisis. Bitter Seeds raises questions about the human cost of genetically-modified agriculture and the future of how we grow things.
Earth to Mouth: Filmed at the Wing Fong Farm in Ontario, this documentary follows the tilling, planting and harvesting of Asian vegetables destined for Chinese markets and restaurants. On 80 acres of land, Lau King-Fai, her son and a half-dozen migrant Mexican workers care for the plants. For Yeung Kwan, her son, the farm represents personal and financial independence. For his mother, it is an oasis of peace. For the Mexican workers, it provides jobs that help support their children back home.
The Coca-Cola Case: Columbia is the trade union murder capital of the world. Since 2002, more than 470 workers’ leaders have been brutally killed, usually by paramilitaries hired by private companies intent on crushing the unions. Among these unscrupulous corporate brands is the poster boy for American business: Coca-Cola.
The Dark Side of Chocolate: exposes the continued allegations of child trafficking and labour in the international chocolate industry. In 2001 the world were outraged to discover that child labour, slavery, trafficking, and other abuses existed on cocoa farms in the Ivory Coast, which produces nearly half the world's cocoa.
You may present your answer to these questions using any medium you choose.
1. What is the principle subject of this documentary/film?
2. What is its principle purpose of the documentary/film?
3. What are the main arguments of the film?
4. What kind of impact does it seek to achieve with - and upon - its intended audience?
