Politics Videos - The Documentary Network

The collapse of Venezuela, explained

Documentary.net staff — Fri, 25 Aug 2017 14:05:50 +0000

The collapse of Venezuela and President Maduro's rise to dictatorship. Venezuela was once the richest country in Latin America. It has the largest known oil reserves in the world. And its democratic government was once praised world wide. But today, Venezuela’s democratic institutions and its economy are in shambles. The country has the highest inflation in the world, making food and medicine inaccessible to most Venezuelans. Over the last four years, its GDP has fallen 35%, which is a sharper drop than the one seen during the Great Depression in the US. The country’s murder rate has surpassed that of the most dangerous cities in the world. These conditions have sparked months of protests against the president, Nicolas Maduro. And it’s easy to see why: the country has become measurably worse since his election in 2013.

Rebranding White Nationalism: Inside Richard Spencer’s Alt-Right

Documentary.net staff — Mon, 14 Aug 2017 09:03:52 +0000

Richard B. Spencer greeted an audience of more than 200 at an alt-right conference in Washington D.C. last month with the cry, “Hail Trump, hail our people, hail victory!” He was met with enthusiastic cheers and Nazi salutes, and The Atlantic’s clip made headlines. In this documentary, we go further inside Spencer’s ethnocentric worldview to understand what his plans are for the so-called alt-right—namely, to bring white nationalism out of the shadows. "I don't see myself as a marginal figure who's going to be hated by society. I see myself as a mainstream figure,” he said. Spencer and other alt-right leaders see Donald Trump’s rise as the first step towards a whites-only state. "Our lived experience is being a young, white person in 21st century America, [and] seeing your identity be demeaned,” Spencer said. “I’ve lived in this multicultural mess for years and I’m trying to get out of it." Author: Daniel Lombroso

The Happiest People on Earth. North Korea: Rulers, citizens & official narrative

Documentary.net staff — Mon, 03 Jul 2017 05:28:23 +0000

North Koreans say they’re the happiest people in the world. Their great leader is like a father who takes care of them and all their needs. They’re told that he’s made their country the most powerful and economically developed on the planet. A quick look at the World Wide Web or any international media might lead to a different conclusion but in North Korea, they’re banned.

Why did England’s North vote to leave the European Union?

Documentary.net staff — Wed, 06 Jul 2016 15:35:17 +0000

Outside of metropolitan cities, a majority of people in the small, disenfranchised towns in Northern England voted to leave the European Union. In the fallout from the referendum, many Remain voters have since accused those in the North of being racist or uninformed for voting Leave. We visited the town of Wigan in the North of England to speak to people about the outcome of Brexit and find out if claims of racism and bigotry informing the Leave vote were accurate.

Bangladesh – An Attack on Bloggers

Documentary.net staff — Wed, 25 Nov 2015 15:12:33 +0000

Blogging is a dangerous business in Bangladesh. Four prominent secular bloggers have been brutally murdered this year and a publisher linked to one of them was recently slashed to death. Police blame religious hardliners for the killings, and there are fears more attacks could follow. But it’s not just hardliners who are causing concern. The government too, appears to be cracking down on free speech. Some bloggers are now leaving Bangladesh while others have gone into hiding. In this edition of 101 East, we meet people whose lives are in peril because of the opinions they share online. Are the attacks on bloggers a sign of a deeper problem in Bangladesh?

The Rise of Political Clickbait Farms

Documentary.net staff — Sat, 25 Jul 2015 06:44:12 +0000

A brief documentary showing the growing problem of left and right manipulation of the easily influenced masses, controlled through the use of relatively new technology and advertising methods.

The devastating truth about Qatar’s world cup bid – Part 1 on Qatar 2022

Documentary.net staff — Mon, 08 Jun 2015 11:37:10 +0000

In Qatar, 4000 workers will die to put on the 2022 Football World Cup. This staggering figure indicates the slave-like conditions the builders of football's most expensive construction project are enduring. Workers won't speak out for fear of being fired, but for some, hopelessness outweighs the fear. Qatari labourers building for the 2022 World Cup are forced into long hours on the side of roads or inside factories in the sweltering heat. Their living situations are just as trying: "We have been here for 2 months. And for 2 months we haven't been given beds." These workers entered into pseudo slavery due the loans they took to travel that they can't afford to pay back, as the hope of the income they were promised was a lie. They can't return home, and if they’re sick "the company cut their salary for going to the hospital". Take an inside look at the conditions of these impoverished and undervalued workers, who risk overworking to the point of death for fear of unemployment.

The Silly Bastard Next to the Bed

Documentary.net staff — Wed, 29 Oct 2014 15:23:07 +0000

In 1963, JFK recorded one of the most foul-mouthed telephone calls ever made from the White House. This is the story of the silly bastard who started it all. JFK places a salty call to his staff, questioning a potentially embarrassing expenditure. The blowback is hilarious… and a little haunting.

North Korean Camps

Documentary.net staff — Thu, 14 Aug 2014 05:53:32 +0000

The only escapee of North Koreas most brutal prison camp has lived to tell us a story of unspeakable horror. Starved of food and common humanity, Shin proves that gulags are still a tragic reality. We were always hungry. Shins most vivid memory of his life in the camp is the constant hunger he felt, food made me escape, even if it was going to cost me my life. The only thing that interested me was the food. Before his escape three years ago, he didnt even know that a world existed beyond the barbed wires. Until then, his life had been one of torture, hard labour and complete isolation. My mother was supposed to inform on me and me on her. He believed she deserved her fate as he witnessed her execution. I blamed her. I had no real feelings as a kid. Shin didnt know love, only violence. Once the guards beat a little girl on the head so hard, she died the next day. He eventually escaped through a gap in a high-voltage fence. His charred legs still bear the scars. As horrible as it is, Shins story is not unique. Wang, himself a former prisoner, is a prominent writer on the subject. He believes that oppression in North Korea will keep increasing: The brutality of the system has grown to the point where Kim Jong Il now fears that he will suffer the same fate as Caucescu of Romania. He simply wants to kill all his enemies.

Jon Stewart’s Story: How the Fake Newsman Won Over America

Documentary.net staff — Thu, 31 Jul 2014 13:41:11 +0000

The film profiles Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz, now Jon Stewart, from his New Jersey boyhood through the standard struggle of the stand-up comedian - part time jobs and late night gigs at New York's comedy clubs. It will shine a spotlight on his early television shows and movies, including rare video from his early career, to show his transformation into the dominant American commentator of our time.

Two Weeks in Crimea – From Ukraine to Russia

Documentary.net staff — Wed, 26 Mar 2014 18:55:21 +0000

When reporter Michael Altenhenne arrived in Simferopol in early March, Crimea was an autonomous republic in Ukraine. But then events began to unfurl rapidly. On March 18th, the journalist saw Simferopol's Lenin Square flooded with Russian flags. Officials said voters in a referendum had overwhelmingly chosen to join the Russian Federation. Vladimir Putin had effectively annexed Crimea by decree.

Ukraine Rising

Documentary.net staff — Sat, 28 Dec 2013 10:43:53 +0000

For three weeks, hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian protesters have been flooding the streets of Kiev, occupying government buildings and taking over the city's Independence Square. Initially, the demonstrators were expressing discontent at President Viktor Yanukovych's decision to pull out of a deal that would bring Ukraine closer to joining the European Union. After an initial brutal police crackdown, the protests have grown in size and are now more about toppling the government and putting an end to corruption than joining the EU. The police have tried and failed to clear the tent city that has sprung up in the Independence Square—also known as the Maidan—and the occupied city hall that has been dubbed the "Revolution HQ." Protesters remain in the streets, despite the below zero temperatures.

30% – Women and Politics in Sierra Leone

Documentary.net staff — Sat, 30 Nov 2013 16:41:14 +0000

A compelling mix of oil painted animation and live action reveals the stories of three extraordinary women as they fight to achieve fair representation for women in the governance of Sierra Leone.

Colombia’s Hidden Killers

Documentary.net staff — Wed, 17 Jul 2013 17:13:48 +0000

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, was founded five decades ago as a Marxist people's army fighting against capitalist imperialism and Colombia's often-brutal government. And they've been fighting a protracted bloody war ever since. In recent years, FARC has devolved into a guerrilla force that threatens the very people it originally sought to protect. Why? Because in order to secure their dwindling territory and lucrative coca fields, FARC has buried thousands of land mines in civilian areas. Since 1990, there have been over 10,000 land mine victims in Colombia, the second-most in the world behind Afghanistan. FARC and the government have been negotiating peace for the past six months, and FARC's potential demobilization could yield a transformative moment in Colombian history. But the scars of 50 years of conflict, and 50 years of land mines, can't be so easily erased. We traveled to Colombia to speak with land mine victims and to see first hand how around 7,000 FARC guerilla have held off over 300,000 Colombian soldiers for so many years.

Was Pakistan complicit in Bin Laden case?

Documentary.net staff — Tue, 09 Jul 2013 14:05:22 +0000

Pakistan's official report into the US raid that killed Osama Bin Laden accuses the nation's military and spy agency "negligence and incompetence". A team of Al Jazeera's Investigative Unit has obtained a copy of the Abbottabad Commission findings. It notes senior Al Qaeda member Abu Faraj al Libi lived in Abbottabad and in 2003 and the Bali bomber Umar Patek was arrested there in January 2011. According to the testimony of Maryam, the wife of Ibrahim al-Kuwaiti, on bin Laden’s two trusted bodyguards, they would make occasional visits to the local bazaar. She told investigators that on one trip their car was pulled over for speeding by a policeman, but that her husband “quickly settled the matter”. Whether the police officer was paid off or simply failed to spot the notorious passenger is not explained. So who knew about Bin Laden's presence in Pakistan? Will Jordan reports on what the dossier tells us.