George Gund

Cultures of Resistance

In 2003, on the eve of the Iraq war, acclaimed director Iara Lee embarked on a journey to better understand a world increasingly embroiled in conflict and, as she saw it, heading for self-destruction. After several years, traveling over five continents, Iara encountered growing numbers of people who committed their lives to promoting change through the arts. This is their story. From IRAN, where graffiti and rap have become tools in fighting government repression, to BURMA, where monks acting in the tradition of Gandhi take on a dictatorship, to PALESTINIAN refugee camps in LEBANON, where photography, music, and film have given a voice to those rarely heard, CULTURES OF RESISTANCE explores how art and creativity can be ammunition in the battle for peace and justice.

Battle for the Xingu

The government-planned hydroelectric Belo Monte dam would be the world's third-largest and would displace tens of thousands of indigenous people and local farmers who depend upon the Xingu tributary of the Amazon for their way of life. In 2008 over 1,000 of them assembled for a summit in Altamira to protest this proposed dam.

Modulations

Less a documentary than a primer on all electronic music. Featuring interviews with nearly every major player past and present, as well as a few energetic live clips, Modulations delves into one of electronica's forgotten facets: the human element. Lee travels the globe from the American Midwest to Europe to Japan to try to express the appeal of music often dismissed as soulless. Modulations shows that behind even the most foreign or alien electronic composition lies a real human being, and Lee lets many of these Frankenstein-like creators express and expound upon their personal philosophies and tech-heavy theories. Lee understands that a cultural movement as massive and diverse as dance music can't be contained.