OCPS Stellar Awards

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.

In 2011, Syria's Bashar al-Assad answered his nation's demands for freedom by launching a brutal war against his own people. While the U.S. drew red lines for intervention, Assad ramped up the attacks, starving and killing civilians and children, including the use of chemical weapons, leveling cities, targeting journalists and blocking humanitarian aid to millions of victims. Abandoned by the outside world, individual activists stepped in to fill the roles of banned journalists, international aid agencies and feckless foreign governments. Red Lines tells the story of two such activists, who despite overwhelming obstacles, attempt to establish democratic enclaves in their devastated homeland.

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.

After starting a painting business right before the housing crash, a filmmaker drives over 35,000 miles to track down the people who saw it coming and look back at the causes of not just this bubble, but the great depression and 1970's.

The life and work of North Korean defector turned political pop artist Sun Mu.

Behind the walls of a forbidden city, the only thing more dangerous than its secrets is the truth.