Japan Inc: Lessons for North America?

Robin Schulz - The Movie

The 90-minute documentary describes the rise of DJ and producer Robin Schulz from talented newcomer to internationally acclaimed superstar and takes a look behind the scenes of our world star's life.

Why Plastic: Coca Cola/American Plastic

Whales beached after ingesting plastic, oceans soiled: a quarter of marine waste today comes from cans and plastic bottles. The drinks industry produces 470 billion single-use bottles each year, 25% of which come from Coca-Cola. Although the world's largest soft drink producer has set ambitious targets to prevent this environmental pollution, it has often failed to do so. In the 1950s, the company sold its drink exclusively in returnable glass bottles, which it washed and refilled. Two decades later, these were replaced by disposable bottles - a decision whose devastating effects still linger.

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Crocodile in the Yangtze

Crocodile in the Yangtze follows China's first Internet entrepreneur and former English teacher, Jack Ma, as he battles US giant eBay on the way to building China's first global Internet company, Alibaba Group. An independent memoir written, directed and produced by an American who worked in Ma's company for eight years, Crocodile in the Yangtze captures the emotional ups and downs of life in a Chinese Internet startup at a time when the Internet brought China face-to-face with the West. Crocodile in the Yangtze draws on 200 hours of archival footage filmed by over 35 sources between 1995 and 2009. The film presents a strikingly candid portrait of Ma and his company, told from the point of view of an “American fly on a Chinese wall” who witnessed the successes and the mistakes Alibaba encountered as it grew from a small apartment into a global company employing 16,000 staff.

Pornocracy: The New Sex Multinationals

Never before have we watched as much porn as today yet the traditional porn industry is dying. The arrival of web sites showing amateur clips has transformed the way porn is made and consumed. Behind this transformation lies one opaque multinational.

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Lobsters Unlimited

An overview of the lobster fishing industry in Nova Scotia.

Reviving Japan's Economy: Breaking Free of 3 Decades of Stagnation

Three "lost" decades of economic stagnation since the collapse of Japan's bubble era have fundamentally altered the country's global image, and spawned the term "Cheap Japan." What will it take to truly revive Japan's economy once again? In a rapidly changing world, the question of how the globe's third largest economy can avoid being left behind is perhaps more pertinent than ever. Drawing on both expert guidance and in-depth analysis of a wide range of available data, we hunt for clues that might point the way to Japan's ever-elusive economic renaissance.

Marjoe

Part documentary, part expose, this film follows one-time child evangelist Marjoe Gortner on the "church tent" Revivalist circuit, commenting on the showmanship of Evangelism and "the religion business", prior to the start of "televangelism". Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2005.

K-pop, les secrets du phénomène mondial

It's the musical phenomenon of the moment: K-Pop, short for "Korean Pop," has taken the world by storm in just a few years. But behind the powerful lyrics, elaborate choreography, and polished looks lies a ruthless industry.

The Price We Pay

A documentary on the history and present-day reality of big-business tax avoidance, which has seen multinationals depriving governments of trillions of dollars in tax revenues by harboring profits in offshore havens.

Mondo Cane

A documentary consisting of a series of travelogue vignettes providing glimpses into cultural practices throughout the world intended to shock or surprise, including an insect banquet and a memorable look at a practicing South Pacific cargo cult.

The Color of Fear 2: Walking Each Other Home

In THE COLOR OF FEAR, eight American men participated in emotionally charged discussions of racism. In this sequel, we hear and see more from those discussions, in which the men talk about about how racism has affected their lives in the United States. We also learn more about the relationships between them, and about their reactions during some of the most intense moments of that discussion.

Invisible Diplomats

The film revolves around the daily operations at a business switchboard, highlighting the interactions between Connie, Kelly, and their colleagues. Connie is excited about her boyfriend Brad's success in securing a significant deal, while Kelly shares her frustrations about the inefficiencies at the switchboard. The dialogue illustrates the importance of communication and professionalism in business, emphasizing how switchboard operators, though often unseen, play a crucial role in maintaining a positive company image and facilitating important calls. The narrative concludes with Connie preparing for a date with Brad, reflecting on the significance of their work.

California Company Town

Lee Anne Schmitt explores California's landscape and past to document the history of one-time boom towns built and abandoned by the industries that necessitated their creation. Sold as a limitless land expansive with free opportunity, California was actually, from its onset, fissured by the interwoven needs of private and public interests. Schmitt's film covers various locations through time, as the major industries of the early 20th century (mining, lumber, oil) give way to the military, eventually leading to multinational corporations, and the use of small towns as satellites for growing urban metropolises.

The Cost of Cobalt

In the cobalt mining areas of Katanga in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), babies are being born with horrific birth defects. Scientists and doctors are finding increasing evidence of environmental pollution from industrial mining which, they believe, may be the cause of a range of malformations from cleft palate to some so serious the baby is stillborn. More than 60% of the world’s reserves of cobalt are in the DRC and this mineral is essential for the production of electric car batteries, which may be the key to reducing carbon emissions and to slowing climate change. In The Cost of Cobalt we meet the doctors treating the children affected and the scientists who are measuring the pollution. Cobalt may be part of the global solution to climate change, but is it right that Congo’s next generation pay the price with their health? Many are hoping that the more the world understands their plight, the more pressure will be put on the industry here to clean up its act.

Holy Land: Startup Nations

With the most tech startups and venture capital per capita in the world, Israel has long been hailed as The Startup Nation. WIRED’s feature-length documentary looks beyond Tel Aviv’s vibrant, liberal tech epicenter to the wider Holy Land region – the Palestinian territories, where a parallel Startup Nation story is emerging in East Jerusalem, Nazareth, Ramallah and other parts of the West Bank, as well as in the Israeli cybersecurity hub of Be’er Sheva. And we will learn how the fertile innovation ecosystem of Silicon Wadi has evolved as a result of its unique political, geographical and cultural situation and explore the future challenges – and solutions – these nations are facing.

Spotlight on the Highlands

It's 1948 and hydro-electric power is transforming Scotland's Grampians.

Manufactured Landscapes

MANUFACTURED LANDSCAPES is the striking new documentary on the world and work of renowned artist Edward Burtynsky. Internationally acclaimed for his large-scale photographs of “manufactured landscapes”—quarries, recycling yards, factories, mines and dams—Burtynsky creates stunningly beautiful art from civilization’s materials and debris.

Reconstruction of Hill Street Birmingham

An engineering feat: Second city civil engineers complete a new bridge to carry traffic over New Street's tangled railway intersections.