Social Justice (Documentaries)

Produced by Daybreak TV Productions.
30 minutes; released 2008.
A celebration of the life and legacy of Sr. Karen Klimczak, SSJ, who ministered to former convicts at a half-way house in Buffalo.

Directed by Isidore Rosmarin.
74 minutes; released 2007.
Digging at the truth beneath the hype and headlines of the Arab-Israeli conflict, this film features interviews with top officials from former Israeli Prime Ministers, Mideast scholars, Hamas leaders, soldiers, terrorists, and the families caught in the middle of the fighting.

Directed by Michael Moore.
127 minutes; released 2009.
In this documentary on American capitalist culture, Michael Moore investigates the effect of corporate greed on American lives and concludes that while few benefit many more suffer, experiencing job loss, home foreclosures, and poverty. Written, produced, and directed by Moore.

Produced by Scarboro Missions.
12 minutes; released 1995.
A documentary about the lay people who work with the Scarboro Missions.

Directed by John Ankele and Anne Macksoud.
32 minutes; released 2004.
The story of church workers, medical professionals, social workers, and educators who work with people living with HIV/AIDS in Kenya and Tanzania.

Produced by Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace.
14 minutes; released 2005.
An overview of the work of the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace both in Canada and overseas in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

Produced by Scarboro Missions.
25 minutes; released 1992.
A documentary about the work of the Scarboro Missions in Chiclayo, Peru.

Produced by Scarboro Missions.
18 minutes; released 1991.
A documentary about Armella Sonntag, a laywoman working with the Scarboro Missions in Chiclayo, Peru.

Directed by Peter LeDonne.
38 minutes; released 2006.
The true story of Immaculée Ilibagiza, a Rwandan woman who survived the massacre of her family in 1994.

Directed by George Torok.
27 minutes; released 1992.
A documentary about the foundress of the Catholic Worker Movement. Part of the Catholic Life in America series.

Produced by Scarboro Missions.
26 minutes; released 1989.
Father Ron MacDonnell talks about the problems faced by Brazilians, the role of the Church, and his life as a priest working among the people of the Amazon.

Produced by Maryknoll Media Productions.
22-minute episodes; released 2000.
A television series which takes viewers on a journey through three continents to show what it is like to be a missioner overseas.

Directed by Barbara Rick.
52 minutes; released 2007.
Sarah Melici's one woman play about the life of Dorothy Day, co-founder of the Catholic Worker Movement.

Produced by Scarboro Missions.
6 minutes; released 1990.
The story of Gerry Hefferman, a lay missioner who lived in Peru helping people build their own homes.

Produced by Scarboro Missions.
12 minutes; released 1995.
The story of the Ngobe indigenous community in Panama, their health program, and their ongoing struggle to retain their lands.

Produced by Scarboro Missions.
24 minutes; released 1991.
A documentary about Bishop George Marskell, a Scarboro missioner who lived for almost forty years with the Caboclos people of the Amazon in Brazil.

Produced by Scarboro Missions.
12 minutes; released 2008.
Father Lou Quinn and the Canadian Hospitallers of St. Joseph work together with the people of San Jose de Ocoa in the Dominican Republic to transform their community.

Produced by Lumen Catechetical Consultants, Inc.
28 minutes; released 2003.
A compelling overview of contemporary Catholic social teaching.

Directed by John Carlos Frey.
31 minutes; released 2007.
The story of a Catholic chapel for mostly undocumented immigrants in a San Diego neighbourhood.

Directed by John Carlos Frey.
73 minutes; released 2006.
Frey exposes the harsh realities of life for the two thousand Mexican immigrants who live in the secluded canyons of San Diego, California, and work as day labourers in the landscape, construction, agricultural, and tourism industries.

Directed by Jesse Quackenbush.
90 minutes; released 2008.
The story of a 17-year old man who was arrested for the rape and murder of an elderly nun, and then executed in spite of clear evidence of his innocence.

Directed by Gayla Jamison.
59 minutes; released 2007.
A documentary examining why immigrants are willing to risk everything - even virtual slavery - for the American dream.

Directed by Richard Payne and Stephen Payne.
47 minutes; released 2002.
An introduction to the Madonna House Apostolate - a community of lay people and priests founded by Catherine DeHueck Doherty in Combermere, Ontario.

Produced by Salt + Light Television.
30 minutes; released 2007.
This documentary follows four college students as they explore the Holy See Mission to the United Nations which fosters the civilization of love, founded on the universal values of peace, solidarity, justice, and liberty.

Produced by HTN Productions.
24-minute episodes; released 2004.
A journey to eight Latin American countries, enabling the viewer to discover the deeply held cultural, historical, and spiritual traditions of these nations.

Directed by Amy Miller.
59 minutes; released 2009.
A documentary critiquing the claims made by the Canadian military that Canada is a peacekeeping nation, that Canada's military purpose is defense, and that Canada's aid is helping people around the world.

Produced by Scarboro Missions.
24 minutes; released 2007.
A documentary about Father Lou Quinn, a member of the Scarboro Missions, working in the Dominican Republic.

Directed by John Carlos Frey.
30 minutes; released 2008.
Each year a group of Catholics comes together for a con-celebration of the Eucharist simultaneously on both sides of the United States - Mexico border.

Produced by December 2nd Productions/Ndugu Films.
52 minutes; released 2008.
An inside look at the people behind one of the largest nonviolent movements in America today: the movement to close the School of the Americas/WHINSEC, a U.S. Army school that trains Latin American soldiers.

Directed by Monique LeBlanc.
80 minutes; released 2005.
LeBlanc goes on a road-trip across the United States from a miserable neighbourhood in Detroit ravaged by crack and violence to the militarized border with Mexico, exposing the unbearable other side of the American Dream. She encounters exceptional human beings who have taken it upon themselves to help society's down-and-outs.

Directed by Les Harris.
53 minutes; released 1989.
A documentary about Father John Harvey Steele, a Scarboro missioner who founded the Inter-American Co-opeative Institute in Panama, where leaders of grassroots organizations from Latin America and the Caribbean strengthen their skills.

Produced by Human Life International.
1 videodisc; released 2006.
A production which examines how traditional family values have been attacked in Africa.

Produced by Eternal Word Television Network.
210 minutes; released 2009.
Twenty young Americans - doctors, nurses, medical students - travel to the banks of the Amazon River, where they minister to the medical needs of the Caboclos people.

Directed by John Duigan.
105 minutes; released 1989.
A feature-length movie about Oscar Romero, the archbishop of San Salvador who was assassinated in 1980. Starring Raul Julia.

Directed by Ana Carrigan and Bernard Stone.
55 minutes; released 1982.
The story of Jean Donovan, an American lay missioner working in El Salvador who was brutally murdered with three religious sisters by members of the government's security force.

Produced by Scarboro Missions.
25 minutes; released 1990.
A documentary about the Inter-American Co-opeative Institute in Panama, where leaders of grassroots organizations from Latin America and the Caribbean strengthen their skills.

Directed by Robert Richter.
18 minutes; released 1994.
An exposé of the United States Army School of the Americas which provides training to Latin American military personnel who have frequently gone on to commit human rights abuses in their own countries.

Produced by Scarboro Missions.
25 minutes; released 1993.
A documentary celebrating the 75 years spent by the Scarboro Missions evangelizing in Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean.

Produced by Scarboro Missions.
6 minutes; released 2008.
Peasant farmers in Ocoa cooperate by sharing their land with one another to finance irrigation for all.

Directed by Rebecca Cammisa & Rob Fruchtman.
88 minutes; released 2001.
In 1986, Helen Travis became a Benedictine Sister after she lost her husband and both her sons to substance abuse. Two years later she opened a halfway house for recovering male addicts. This documentary explores the love/hate relationship between this strict nun and the men who rely on her to help them overcome addiction.

Directed by Jayasri Majumdar Hart.
60 minutes; released 2006.
This PBS documentary reunites, almost 40 years later, the many nuns from around the world who participated in the 1965 votings rights protests in Selma, Alabama.

Directed by Father Bill Groody.
22 minutes; released 2003.
A reflection on immigration to the United States.