Scrooge (1935)

Not quite so highly rated at 6.5/10, this is the first sound version of the Charles Dickens' story. Seymour Hicks plays the title role in the first sound version of the Dickens classic about the miser who's visited by three ghosts on Christmas Eve. This British import is notable for being the only adaptation of this story with an invisible Marley's Ghost and its Expressionistic cinematography. This is the uncut 78 minute version.

IMDB page

The Man Who Planted Trees (1987)

This is a beautiful French story that was made into an animation directed by Frédéric Back. It is the story of one shepherd's long and successful singlehanded effort to re-forest a desolate valley. Very moving, it is appropriate for both children and adults.

IMDB page (8.8/10)



This version is narrated in English.

Click here for the French version, which also has many other languages subtitled.

All Quiet On The Western Front (1930)

This is a classic of the cinema, now in the public domain. Adapted from a novel by German author Erich Maria Remarque, the film follows a group of German schoolboys, talked into enlisting at the beginning of World War 1 by their jingoistic teacher. The story is told entirely through the experiences of the young German recruits and highlights the tragedy of war through the eyes of individuals. As the boys witness death and mutilation all around them, any preconceptions about "the enemy" and the "rights and wrongs" of the conflict disappear, leaving them angry and bewildered.

IMDB page (8.1/10)

Who Wrote the Bible?

Who Wrote the Bible? Is the Bible the Word of God? Why is the Bible full of Contradictions? This documentary explores questions at the heart of the great Christian faith in a fair open-minded fashion. It is NOT meant to be inflammatory but informative. It is led by a Christian theologian, Robert Beckford, who goes on a mission to investigate the book that he was brought up with.

IMDB page 7.4/10

Man With A Movie Camera (1929)

This film is famous for the range of cinematic techniques Vertov invents, deploys or develops, such as double exposure, fast motion, slow motion, freeze frames, jump cuts, split screens, Dutch angles, extreme close-ups, tracking shots, footage played backwards, animations, and a self-reflexive style(at one point it features a split screen tracking shot; the sides have opposite Dutch angles).

IMDB page (8.3/10)

Peak Oil (2006)/ The Power of Community (2006)

This is not strictly a film or documentary but a presentation by Richard Heinberg. I've posted this because "The End of Suburbia" is unavailable online but this covers the same kind of ground. It is about the fact that peak oil production is happening right now and all the research behind it. Don't ever believe anything that the oil companies tell you, what the American media or politicians tell you about it not running out. It is... those people have a lot of money at stake, independent researchers don't. So watch this, it's less than an hour and then watch the other video below to see that it does not actually spell impending doom for the planet.



The Power of Community

When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1990, Cuba's economy went into a tailspin. With imports of oil cut by more than half – and food by 80 percent – people were desperate. This film tells of the hardships and struggles as well as the community and creativity of the Cuban people during this difficult time. Cubans share how they transitioned from a highly mechanized, industrial agricultural system to one using organic methods of farming and local, urban gardens.

IMDB page 8.4/10

The Take (2004)

There is a now a new section in the genres list of "current affairs". This is to include the many recent public licence documentaries that have been made and are about analysing the past and present and proposals for the future. Already Zeitgeist and Home will be found under that category. This one, The Take, I have watched and recommend it to show how the capitalist system can be replaced.

In suburban Buenos Aires, thirty unemployed auto-parts workers walk into their idle factory, roll out sleeping mats, and refuse to leave. All they want is to re-start the silent machines. With The Take, director Avi Lewis, one of Canada's most outspoken journalists, and writer Naomi Klein, author of the international bestseller No Logo, champion a radical economic manifesto for the 21st century. But what shines through in the film is the simple drama of workers' lives and their struggle: the demand for dignity and the searing injustice of dignity denied. http://thetake.org/

IMDB page 7.4/10