My top must-see documentaries in recent years

"Rather than love, than money, than fame-

give me truth."

Henry David Thoreau

Decided to do a small collection of some of the documentaries that have affected me in a profound way in recent years. Some of these movies enraged me, disgusted me, made me cry, but for me truth at this evolutionary stage of human consciousness is not only desirable, but necessary. Anger is there for a good reason and has a powerful, transformative energy behind it, which can help us free ourselves, become healthy and self-sufficient, and most of all- responsible and socially conscious beings. These films only scratch the surface of course and I already know I will forget to mention some, comments as for the omissions very welcome!  

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Irena Salina’s award-winning documentary investigation into what experts label the most important political and environmental issue of the 21st Century – The World Water Crisis. Salina builds a case against the growing privatization of the world!s dwindling fresh water supply with an unflinching focus on politics, pollution, human rights, and the emergence of a domineering world water cartel. Interviews with scientists and activists intelligently reveal the rapidly building crisis, at both the global and human scale, and the film introduces many of the governmental and corporate culprits behind the water grab, while begging the question can anyone really own water?! Beyond identifying the problem, Flow also gives viewers a look at the people and institutions providing practical solutions to the water crisis and those developing new technologies, which are fast becoming blueprints for a successful global and economic turnaround. 

Watch "Flow: For the love of water."

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Examines the role of the bottled water industry and its effects on our health, climate change, pollution, and our reliance on oil. The documentary is well structured and presents an overwhelming amount of evidence which will change the way anyone thinks about bottled and municipal water.

Both the “manufacture” of the water itself, and also where the bottles come from, where they go after use and how they influence our lives while they’re with us. The willful absence of major companies such as Coke, Pepsi and Nestle is extremely telling in light of all the material presented.

One can only hope that the small voice of this film will be heard over the huge booming commercial machine that these and other companies represent in the popular media. If you haven’t seen this movie, simply watch it. It’s that good and the information is something everyone should know.

Watch "Tapped"

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With nutritionally-depleted foods, chemical additives and our tendency to rely upon pharmaceutical drugs to treat what's wrong with our malnourished bodies, it's no wonder that modern society is getting sicker. Food Matters sets about uncovering the trillion dollar worldwide 'sickness industry' and gives people some scientifically verifiable solutions for overcoming illness naturally.

"With access to better information people invariably 

make better choices for their health..."

Watch "Food Matters"

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Food, Inc. lifts the veil on our nation's food industry, exposing how our nation's food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, the
livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and our own environment. Food, Inc. reveals surprising and often shocking truths about what we eat, how it's produced and who we have become as a nation. 

Watch "Food.Inc."

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EARTHLINGS is a feature length documentary about humanity’s absolute dependence on animals (for pets, food, clothing, entertainment, and scientific research) but also illustrates our complete disrespect for these so-called “non-human providers.”

Watch "Earthlings"

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How much outrage can a single multinational corporation inspire? How much damage can they inflict? The breathtaking new film, The World According to Monsanto, features a company that sets the new standard. From Iowa to Paraguay, from England to India, Monsanto is uprooting our food supply and replacing it with their patented genetically engineered creations. And along the way, farmers, communities, and nature become collateral damage.

The Gazette says the movie “will freeze the blood in your veins.” The Hour says it’s a “horrifying enough picture” to warrant “fury.” But most importantly, this critical film opens our eyes just in time.

Watch "The World According to Monsanto"

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AIDS, Inc. is a film about the multi-billion dollar AIDS industry, and how it profits from continuing fears and misconceptions about the disease. While AIDS grabs the headlines and raises billions of dollars with celebrity endorsements and billionaire endowments, we are no closer to finding a cure than when the scourge first appeared 30 years ago.

Could it be that after so many years of research, and so much money being spent, that the entire orthodox medical establishment has been wrong about AIDS, or even worse, has sought to profit on a system that it knew was flawed from the beginning? Doctor Robert Gallo who discovered the HIV virus said that there is no legitimate dissent when it comes to AIDS.

But there are more than 5,000 physicians, microbiologists, journalists and activists who disagree and say that we have been misled about the real causes of AIDS and the nature of its treatment. The mainstream media has chosen not to provide an outlet for their opinions.

In this important film, documentary filmmaker and health expert Gary Null, traveled to more than 30 countries over an eight year period to seek them out and get their interviews. This is the first film on AIDS that brings the most compelling of their arguments together in one place. Dr. Null blows the lid off the wealthy AIDS industry and shows how greed and corruption have prevented any real progress in fighting the epidemic or its underlying causes.

Watch "Aids.Inc"

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Evolution is a term to define only one organism and that's the self. The self is the universe, the self is the alpha and omega, god, and infinity, and that's the only thing that evolves because we are all part of the self. Nothing goes through an evolutionary process alone or without direct benefit to the whole.

So when you begin to think that there's this controlling elite, this controlling hand behind the curtains leading the planet to destruction. When you think the end is near, the apocalypse, Armageddon, and when you think we as a species are doomed, it is not they, it is you that brought this about, and for a very good reason. You are evolving. Stop blaming everybody and everything else. Quit panicking about global tyranny and natural disaster and pay attention, because the world is telling you something; it's tell you exactly what is wrong with you and how to fix it. 

Watch "Kymatica"

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Startling and powerful, Control Room is a documentary about the Arab television network Al-Jazeera's coverage of the U.S.-led Iraqi war, and conflicts that arose in managed perceptions of truth between that news media outlet and the American military. Egyptian-American filmmaker Jehane Noujaim (Startup.com) catches the frantic action at Al-Jazeera headquarters as President Bush stipulates his 48-hour, get-out-of-town warning to Saddam Hussein and sons, soon followed by the network's shocking footage of Iraqi civilians terrorized and killed by invading U.S. troops. Al-Jazeera's determination to show images and report details outside the Pentagon's carefully controlled information flow draws the wrath of American officials, who accuse it of being an al-Qaida propagandist. (The killing of an Al-Jazeera reporter in what appears to be a deliberately targeted air strike is horrifying.) Most fascinating is the way Control Room allows well-meaning, Western-educated, pro-democratic Arabs an opportunity to express views on Iraq as they see it--in an international context, and in a way most Americans never hear about. --Tom Keogh

Watch "Control Room"