Mette Hoffman Meyer

Tokyo Idols

This exploration of Japan's fascination with girl bands and their music follows an aspiring pop singer and her fans, delving into the cultural obsession with young female sexuality and the growing disconnect between men and women in hypermodern societies.

The Secret Slaves of the Middle East

How are unskilled workers being trapped and trafficked in the Middle East? Mary Joy Dao-Ay is a Filipino maid who used to be a domestic worker in Lebanon. She left her 3 children in the Philippines, planning to pay for their education by earning a higher salary working in the Middle East. Instead, she was forced to flee for her own safety, and got stuck in Lebanon seeking refuge at a shelter. THE SECRET SLAVES OF THE MIDDLE EAST is the story of Mary Joys’ desperate struggle for justice, in a country with no labour laws protecting foreign domestic workers, and where the special Arab Kafala System renders it impossible for an unskilled worker to leave the country or change their employer. It is the story of how poverty leads unprivileged women from developing countries to be deceived and trafficked into slavery.

God Loves Uganda

A powerful exploration of the evangelical campaign to infuse African culture with values imported from America's Christian Right. The film follows American and Ugandan religious leaders fighting sexual immorality and missionaries trying to convince Ugandans to follow biblical law.

Smash and Grab: The Story of the Pink Panthers

The Pink Panthers have stolen over £270m in diamonds in more than 241 robberies in cities from Paris to Tokyo. The film explores the rise of the group during the 1990s Balkan conflict when economic sanctions imposed on Serbia fueled illegal activities. The criminals reveal an underworld driven by fast wealth and paranoia, while the detectives and inspectors, who are working with Interpol, are on a mission to stop their crime spree with growing success.

Education, Education

Documentary about Chinese higher education: the pressure to get into state-sponsored schools, and the marketing of private colleges that may not provide the education they promise.

Stealing Africa

Zambia's copper resources have not made the country rich. Virtually all Zambia's copper mines are owned by corporations. In the last ten years, they've extracted copper worth $29 billion but Zambia is still ranked one of the twenty poorest countries in the world. So why hasn't copper wealth reduced poverty in Zambia? Once again it comes down to the issue of tax, or in Zambia's case, tax avoidance and the use of tax havens. Tax avoidance by corporations costs poor countries and estimated $160 billion a year, almost double what they receive in international aid. That's enough to save the lives of 350,000 children aged five or under every year. For every $1 given in aid to a poor country, $10 drains out. Vital money that could help a poor country pay for healthcare, schools, pensions and infrastructure. Money that would make them less reliant on aid.

The Red Chapel

Two Danish comedians join the director on a trip to North Korea, where they have been allowed access under the pretext of wanting to perform a vaudeville act.

Taxi to the Dark Side

An in-depth look at the torture practices of the United States in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, focusing on an innocent taxi driver in Afghanistan who was tortured and killed in 2002.

Campaign

Can a candidate with no political experience and no charisma win an election if he is backed by the political giant Prime Minister Koizumi and his Liberal Democratic Party? This cinema-verite documentary closely follows a heated election campaign in Kawasaki, Japan, revealing the true nature of "democracy."

Please Vote for Me

At Evergreen Primary School in Wuhan, China, a Grade 3 class learns what democracy is when an election for class monitor is being held. Three children are chosen by the teacher as candidates and they have a few days to campaign and convince their classmates to vote for them. The little candidates are seen at school and at home, where their parents do their best to make sure their child will win the election.

The Liberace of Baghdad

Held up in a heavily fortified Baghdad hotel, Iraq's most famous pianist Samir Peter tries to survive the "peace" of post-war Iraq as he waits for his visa that will grant him a new life in America.

Why We Fight

Is American foreign policy dominated by the idea of military supremacy? Has the military become too important in American life? Jarecki's shrewd and intelligent polemic would seem to give an affirmative answer to each of these questions.

Control Room

A chronicle which provides a rare window into the international perception of the Iraq War, courtesy of Al Jazeera, the Arab world's most popular news outlet. Roundly criticized by Cabinet members and Pentagon officials for reporting with a pro-Iraqi bias, and strongly condemned for frequently airing civilian causalities as well as footage of American POWs, the station has revealed (and continues to show the world) everything about the Iraq War that the Bush administration did not want it to see.