Ten years after documentary filmmaker Tom Alandh started filming homeless drug addict Pia Sjögren, he makes his third and final film about her. Pia was 14 years old when she started smoking cannabis and using drugs. Then it all happened really fast. The heavier drugs, the men who beat, and years of cold nights in basements and attics. Treatment and punishment. Rehabs and prisons. Relapse. Constantly back, at the complete bottom, among shame and guilt. For ten years, Tom Alandh and photographer Björn Henriksson documented Pia's life. Two films were made, this is the third and last film, which shows how she managed to get clean against all odds.
Self
Self
Self
Self
17 Jan 2020
Survivors of violent crimes and prisoners incarcerated for murder connect to undergo astonishing transformations, liberating themselves from the debilitating constraints of trauma, and shattering preconceptions of "us and them."
03 Sep 2021
Poignant stories of homelessness on the West Coast of the US frame this cinematic portrait of a surging humanitarian crisis.
09 Oct 2003
A homeless musician finds meaning in his life when he starts a friendship with dozens of parrots.
01 Oct 1990
Explores the lives of Sara, Gigi and Giovanna, three Latino transvestites who for years have lived on the streets of Manhattan supporting their drug addictions through prostitution. They made their temporary home inside broken garbage trucks that the Sanitation Department keeps next to the salt deposits used in the winter to melt the snow. The three friends share the place known as "The Salt Mines".
01 Jan 2017
What if democracy fails citizens by not serving them all equally? What if inequality becomes the norm and the most vulnerable citizens are left behind with no money, no home, no rights, and no country of their own? In Hungary, the government has slashed social benefits and criminalized homelessness, but a group of activists, homeless and middle class, is confronting authorities to defend social justice and their right to be citizens. After the tragic death of two of its founding members, the group feels that Hungary is growing more hostile and their struggle is more important than ever. Despite all odds, their own community keeps them going—a mini-society with democracy and solidarity at its heart, an island of hope, belonging and dignity in a society gradually shifting the other way.
01 Jan 2001
We follow Roach, a 17-year-old ex-junkie and squeegee punk living on the streets of Toronto and Montreal. As part of the filmmaking process, he's been given a camera to document his world. The footage he gets is urgent, because there's a war against squeegee kids. This documentary is from the point of view of the kids themselves, in order to provide alternative voices. Roach's camera is positioned behind "enemy" lines: living in derelict buildings, squeegeeing for money, being hunted by police.
13 May 2016
Forced onto the streets in her 50s, Marie found "home" at a Santa Monica laundromat. Taking shelter there for 20 years, Mimi's passion for pink, and living without looking back, has taken her from homelessness to Hollywood's red carpets.
01 Jan 1986
This short film recreates the experience of Sylvie, a battered woman who seeks shelter in a Montréal transition house. Faced with the threat of violence, loneliness, the lack of financial resources or information about services, the victim is often understandably reluctant to seek help. Emphasizing the importance for women of speaking out, the film also points out the role of the transition house in putting victims of abuse in touch with appropriate legal and social services.
15 Oct 2024
A shocking act, its baffling legacy - the gripping true crime doc. When Mrs Bobbit cut off her husband's penis in 1993, similar cases followed. Why?
29 Sep 2015
A former federal agent takes you from Milwaukee's streets into its justice system, following Harold Sloan and six other homeless men over five years as they struggle to survive.
07 Apr 2015
AMERICAN REFLEXXX is a short film documenting a social experiment that took place in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Alli Coates filmed performance artist Signe Pierce as she strutted down a busy oceanside street in stripper garb and a reflective mask. The pair agreed not to communicate until the experiment was completed, but never anticipated the horror that would unfold in under an hour. The result is a heart wrenching technicolor spectacle that raises questions about gender stereotypes, mob mentality, and violence in America.
07 Dec 1984
This documentary about teenagers living on the streets in Seattle began as a magazine article. The film follows nine teenagers who discuss how they live by panhandling, prostitution, and petty theft.
07 Oct 2005
Every year in Quebec, 25,000 reports of children being beaten, sexually abused or abandoned are retained by the Directorate of Youth Protection. And nearly 40% of babies who die in the province to die because of the violence of their parents. This explains the fact that nearly 30,000 children are supported by the DPJ until the age of 18. But this government agency is in a position to meet the needs of young people? Journalist and documentary filmmaker Paul Arcand presents the testimonies of children and adult victims of abuse of all kinds, and interviews politicians, social workers and members of the judiciary on their perception of the problem. In addition, Arcand denounces the carelessness of a bureaucratic system that does not always seem to be concerned about the well-being of those for whom they are responsible.
01 Aug 2015
Filmmaker Amy Berg sheds light on the sexual, financial and spiritual abuses heaped upon members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by their former leader, Warren Jeffs.
13 Feb 1993
This is Vol. 1 of god’s movie. A series of interviews and performances with the chosen few that came in contact with the late Joe Cole’s mighty video 8 camera. This video is as much about Joe as it is about the people that he filmed. Joe was able to make people feel comfortable enough to let themselves go in front of his lens. I used to watch the raw footage of Joe’s hours of interview footage culled from walking the streets of cities all over. I was constantly amazed at his ability to find these totally unique people. When you watch this you will see what I’m talking about. Reminds me of a quote I have heard over the years, something that amounts to those who can see it (in) others must have some of it in themselves.
27 Aug 2024
What started for fifteen-year-old Manon as a secret holiday romance at an all-inclusive resort, slowly turned into a memory that she looks back on with less pleasure. She fell in love with Hugo, the big star of the animation team. He wrapped her up with beautiful words, that she was special to him. Although Hugo was much older than Manon, he still had sex with her. At first it felt good, but slowly it turned into a memory that she would rather not think about anymore. What happened during that holiday and how could it have happened? She goes looking for answers and comes face to face with Hugo.
01 Apr 2016
From the glitzy sidewalks of Hollywood Boulevard to the urban wasteland of Skid Row, "Forgotten" portrays the cruel reality of being homeless in Los Angeles and how these men and women cope with life on the streets of one of America's largest cities.
26 Sep 2024
From Kristin Kobes Du Mez, the creator/author of Jesus and John Wayne, comes a powerful new documentary highlighting how a culture of submission and sexual abuse in the evangelical church ties directly to the Christian nationalist quest to use the outcome of the 2024 election to deprive all American women of basic democratic rights. FOR OUR DAUGHTERS speaks to all women of faith, encouraging them to use their voices and their votes to ensure that their daughters will have the rights to health and happiness guaranteed to all Americans.
09 Mar 2019
Community First! Village is designed to lift the chronically homeless off the streets of the Austin, TX, offering them a place to call home, helping them to heal from the ravages of life on the streets, and allowing them to rediscover a purpose in their lives. This documentary explores the events that cause homelessness and the heartwarming stories of being welcomed into a nurturing environment where dignity and self-worth are restored.
18 Feb 2019
The remarkable story of Alex Skeel, a 23-year-old man from Bedford who survived an abusive relationship with his girlfriend Jordan Worth