S41.E21 ∙ Material Matters

A future archivist looks at old footage from the year 2008 to understand why humankind failed to address climate change.

A look behind the barricades of the besieged city of Homs, where for nineteen-year-old Basset and his ragtag group of comrades, the audacious hope of revolution is crumbling like the buildings around them.

No Safe Spaces contends that identity politics and the suppression of free speech are spreading into every part of society and threatening to divide America.

Set against the backdrop of ISIS attacks on Kurdistan, the film tells the story of Shndar, a young boy with Thalassemia disease. Forced to flee his homeland due to ethnic and religious persecution, Shndar finds himself in a refugee camp in Kurdistan, his struggle to access life-saving treatment while navigating the harsh realities of life as a refugee. Through his eyes, we witness the daily routines and challenges faced by those living in the camp, both within its confines and venturing outside. A poignant character study that explores universal themes of life, death, war, peace, and the enduring power of human resilience.

Exposing her role behind the camera, Kirsten Johnson reaches into the vast trove of footage she has shot over decades around the world. What emerges is a visually bold memoir and a revelatory interrogation of the power of the camera.

The Weight of Chains is a Canadian documentary film that takes a critical look at the role that the US, NATO and the EU played in the tragic breakup of a once peaceful and prosperous European state - Yugoslavia. The film, bursting with rare stock footage never before seen by Western audiences, is a creative first-hand look at why the West intervened in the Yugoslav conflict, with an impressive roster of interviews with academics, diplomats, media personalities and ordinary citizens of the former Yugoslav republics. This film also presents positive stories from the Yugoslav wars - people helping each other regardless of their ethnic background, stories of bravery and self-sacrifice.