S1.E3 ∙ Competition

The Deadly Secret of Santee Alley unveils the horrors of the illegal animal trade in downtown LA Fashion District and takes one on a ride through the labyrinth of issues ranging from animal cruelty, public safety, child labor, human trafficking, gangs, drugs, counterfeit goods, tax evasion, and more.

Karin Gramajo's life drastically changed when her teenage cousin Kelly was brutally kidnapped and murdered. Despite death threats, the single mother then decided to study to become a lawyer to make sure her cousin's death wouldn't remain unpunished, thus also helping other victims fight for justice. Astrid Elias was kidnapped and raped at the age of 14. She fled to the US where she overcame her fear to speak out abut her past, while facing deportation. LA PRENDA is a feature length documentary film about two women fighting to end the climate of impunity in Guatemala, one of the world's most violent countries.

Natural Life tells the stories of 5 youths who received the most severe sentence available for convicted adults - a sentence of life without parole (natural life). The youthful status and/or lesser culpability of these youths, their background and the circumstances leading to their crime, as well as their potential for rehabilitation, were not taken into account at any point in the charging and sentencing process. The five will never be evaluated for change, difference or growth. They will remain in prison till they die.

Little House in the Big House take you inside the gates of the Vermont State women's prison where forty-five women build a single family home from start to finish. Under the instruction of the trades women's group Vermont Works for Women, these women find the tools necessary to build a house and construct a sustainable future. Four women tell their own stories inside prison and outside after their release as they navigate through a complicated social system. Witness the significant triumphs and the harsh complications of trying to make lasting changes. Vermont songwriters and performers Anais Mitchell and Steph Pappas contribute to the soundtrack in addition to musicians Cara Hagan and Karma Mayet Johnson. Produced by Vermont artists and sisters, Tiffany Rhynard and Kim Brittenham.

A collaborative video and activism project between long-time community filmmaker Rebecca Garrett and Sanctuary, a church community drop-in, evolves into an unflinching documentary immersion into the world of police and security guard violence against people who are poor, homeless, and racialized in Toronto. 'We have to stop calling the police,' says activist Anna Willats. And the message resonates in dozens of stories collected by street pastor Doug Johnson Hatlem. Stunning testimony, images, and commentary are woven together with unique video of police assaults and previously unreleased footage from inside the 2010 G20 detention centre. Conflict erupts over nonviolent responses to overwhelming police impunity. Meanwhile, the increasing militarization of public spaces forces us all to ask: What World Do You Live In?

A poetic personal documentary about a Chinese women torture survivor in the most severe religious persecution in today's China, and a Bostonian man who unexpectedly becomes a supporter for the victims here and in China, interwoven by the filmmaker's memoir as a teenager witness since her high school.