Why Democracy?

Please Vote for Me is a 2007 documentary film following the elections for class monitor in a 3rd grade class of eight-year-old children in the Evergreen Primary School in Wuhan, China. The candidates, Luo Lei, Xu Xiaofei, and Cheng Cheng, compete against each other for the coveted role and are egged on by their teachers and doting parents. This was reported to be an interesting use of classic democratic voting principles and interpersonal dynamics.

Che Guevara died in southern Bolivia 40 years ago while trying to ignite the sparks of revolution throughout South America. His death at the hands of Bolivian Rangers, trained and financed by the US Government, marked the beginning of the cocaine era in Bolivia. Pressed by the masses who gave him a massive mandate, the first indigenous president, ex-coca leaf farmer Evo Morales has nationalised the oil industry and passed laws on agrarian reform. All the election speeches, which resulted in his landslide victory, sounded quite revolutionary, as did the iconography. But a closer look reveals that the old system is pretty much alive inside the new one. Corruption, nepotism and old-fashioned populism are at the core of this movement.

Taxi to the Dark Side is a 2007 American documentary film directed by Alex Gibney, and produced by him, Eva Orner, and Susannah Shipman. It won the 2007 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. It focuses on the December 2002 killing of an Afghan taxi driver named Dilawar, who was beaten to death by American soldiers while being held in extrajudicial detention and interrogated at the Parwan Detention Facility at Bagram air base.

In the early decades of the twentieth century Mahatma Gandhi's legacy of non-violent revolution or Satyagraha inspired a mass movement of millions of Indians to rise up against the British colonial state and successfully agitate for the establishment of a democratic and free India. In 2007, the country is preparing to celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of its existence as an independent nation. But what kind of a democracy does India have today? What does it actually mean to live in the world's largest democracy? In road-movie style the film crew travels down the famous trail of Gandhi's salt march.

Filmmakers Sabiha Sumar and Sachithanandam Sathananthan ask what democracy means in Pakistan, where its main promoter is the Chief of the Army who assumed power through a military coup, and where society often still functions according to older tribal rules for political and social life.

Documentary about Russian patriot and businessman Mikhail Morozov, who owns Durakovo - the 'Village of Fools' 100km southwest of Moscow. When people come to live in the village they pledge to obey Morozov's rules, a place where democracy is a dirty word.

When Ellen Johnson Sirleaf became Africa's first ever elected female head of state, filmmakers Siatta Scott-Johnson and Daniel Junge were there to follow her. It was the start of an extraordinary year they spent with the Liberian president as she struggled to take control of a country devastated by years of civil war. Together with her 'iron ladies' (the finance minister and police chief are also formidable females), she takes a firm hold on the government, trying to root out corruption and spend the tiny annual budget carefully. But it is not an easy task, and everything seems to be against her - even her presidential mansion burns down.

In his 2005 State of the Union address President George W. Bush cites Egypt as the country that will pave the way for democracy in the Middle East. Three women, unable to sit by while their country is on the brink of drastic change, start a grassroots movement to educate and empower the public by raising awareness about the meaning of democracy. They name their campaign Shayfeen.com, which means to “we are watching you.” This film follows the highs and lows of the first year of the movement in Egypt. Insisting that only the people can make change happen, their goal is to educate the Egyptian public on what it takes to build the most basic pillars of democracy: demanding basic human rights, freedom of speech and the establishment of an independent judiciary. Egypt: We are Watching You shows the role ordinary citizens can play in shaping and securing their democracy.

Life and livelihood were threatened when a small Danish newspaper chose to print a selection of cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad. Karsten Kjaer looks at the events that resulted and travels the world to question the protesters and explore their motivations. He considers whether the cartoons could have affected the future of free speech.

Humorous and insightful documentary in which Japanese/American filmmaker Kazuhiro Soda follows his friend Yamauchi on the campaign trail. He's been 'parachuted' in to run for the seat and has just six weeks to make an impact on the local city, but his political skills aren't quite up to the task and his political mentors become ever more worried. Things aren't looking great, but then his party leader - Prime Minister Koizumi himself - comes to town to help him out.

How do I prosecute an MP for lying? You can´t. There is no independent formal course of legal redress outside of a General Election. So we decided to introduce The Misrepresentation of the People Act - a bill to enforce honesty and accountability of our elected representatives...