“...an engaging rendering of a placid community enlivened by political action… The filmmaker Micha Peled follows a tradition of social-minded documentarians, dutifully presenting all sides, including Wal-mart’s, though his heart is clearly with the protesters…” – Julie Salamon, The New York Times

This one-hour documentary follows the conflict that polarizes a small town when Wal-Mart wants to build a mega-store there. It is the story of Ashland, VA, population 7200, where the grocery store allows charge accounts and the doctor makes house calls. School bus drivers and morticians serve on the Town Council and residents are fiercely proud of their small-town character.

“A crucially important documentary for our times. Told from the inside, this is an account of modern slavery in a global market…” – Jury President, International Documentary Festival of Amsterdam (IDFA)

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.

Awards

• Official Selection – Toronto Film Festival
• Best Documentary – Film Festival of Mar Del Plata, Argentina
• Honourable Mention – Vermont International Film Festival
• Hugo Award – Chicago Film and Television Festival
• Visual Anthropology Award of Excellence – American Association of Anthropologists
• Audience Award – PBS/Independent Lens

Dir: Micha X. Peled
Year: 2011
Dur: Documentary, 88 Minutes
USA

“BITTER SEEDS masterfully weaves a rich tapestry of compelling human stories and subplots, that allows you to enter a world that is both personal and profound...” – Jury President, IDFA 2011

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 centre 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.
Courtesy of www.teddybearfilms.com

Awards

• Green Screen Award – IDFA, Amsterdam
• Global Justice Award – Oxfam Novib
• Official Selection – Telluride Film Festival

• Store Wars
• China Blue
• Darwin's Nightmare
• Silent Snow
• Big Boys Gone Bananas