This is the story of how the world’s biggest polluter could become its greatest saviour.

Because it knows what is at stake, China has embarked upon an extraordinary transformation, one that requires long-term thinking to crush the patterns of short-term gain.

The country’s aim? To dominate the emerging green technology industry and, in so doing, win the race to become the world’s pre-eminent superpower - safeguarding China’s environment and ensuring the legitimacy of communist party rule.

Set against the ticking clock of environmental catastrophe, its government is attempting to set a billion lives on the pathway to sustainability.

In this race for technology in which environmental stability and economic supremacy are the prize, we ask: Can China really do this in time?

And is the West’s own resource security now resting on the success of its greatest rival?

The Copenhagen Summit has focused the world’s attention on China’s role in environmental change, but only Green China Rising will  show the  outside world what’s really going on. The series will feature key decision makers, access to the best locations, and knowledge of the most compelling stories.

In each episode, Green China Rising’s story will be told through the experiences of two or three characters. Mixed with these personal stories will be voice-over led sequences illustrating macro-scale issues and addressing deeper questions. Motion and awe will be the emphasis rather than talking heads. Innovative techniques utilising computer animation and live-action compositing will bring the reality of China’s vast scale to life, both visually and emotionally.

This fascinating portrait uses Efimov’s words, drawings, and rarely seen footage to illustrate his complex relationship with the Russian state and with Stalin in particular. For behind his titanic career, was what Efimov called “a wound that does not heal”: the execution by Stalin of his older brother, the prominent journalist Mikhail Koltsov.

Stalin Thought of You is a vivid, whistlestop tour through some of the darkest moments of 20th century Russian history as seen through the eyes of its greatest propagandist.

Kicking, spitting, stone-throwing and abuse are part of the daily routine. Bazaars and places of congregation are being cordoned off and Palestinians are being evicted from their homes.

Featuring interviews with members of the Israeli parliament and prominent Haaretz journalists, This Is My Land… Hebron expertly lifts the lid on the destruction of the Palestinian way of life in old Hebron.

The film pits wealthy, ultra-competitive choirmaster Hadji Bucks against Kaatji Davids, a struggling house painter who is trying to assemble a choir for the first time. Old rivalries come to the fore and Bucks attempts to sabotage the fledgling group. After that it’s a riveting, rollercoaster ride to see who will be crowned champion.

Festivals & Awards:

Winner

Special Jury Prize: Dubai International Film Festival 2009
Best South African Documentary : Durban Int. Film Festival 2009
Best South African Documentary: Tri Continental Film Festival 2009
Best Cinematography: South African Film & Television Awards, 2010

Times & locations;

Friday, Feb. 26 / 9:30PM / Windsor Cinema
Saturday, Feb. 27 / 3:30PM / Blue Note

Sweden’s Public service broadcaster Swedish Educational Broadcasting Corporation and Taiwan’s Public Television Service Foundation have acquired Antoine a sensitive portrait of a blind five year-old boy which won acclaim after its festival outings at Hot Docs and Sheffield Doc/Fest. Also in Sweden SVT has licensed Oil Spill: The Exxon Valdez Disaster. Additional European sales have been agreed with Finland’s YLE and Polish broadcaster TVP. Both have acquired the IDFA hit - The Invention of Dr. NakaMats. This humorous doc from Danish director Kaspar Astrup Schröder follows the world’s most prolific inventor on his mission to live until he is 144. Finally in Europe, Dutch broadcaster HG TV have acquired The Putin System and Runners High.

Israeli channel DBS have picked up three new Mercury titles ahead of their launch at Mipdoc. The Philosopher Kings (1 x 70’’) – reveals the lives of US College janitors American Radical (1 x 88″) focuses on controversial Jewish academic Norman Finklestein. The third title in the package is Dr NakaMats

In Australia, Foxtel network have acquired The Soviet story (1 x 55’’), and Pride and Privilege (3 x 60) - An observational peek into Scotland’s most exclusive Public school ‘Glenalmond’. And In the US, doc specialists Link TV have picked up Hair India (1 x 75″) and The Unwinking Gaze (1 x 74″).

In Latin America, TBS has acquired a package of 6 films including: Loose Change American Coup, Pig Business, Where The Water Meets The Sky, Barack Obama : Peoples President, PetroApocalypse Now, and MAMA.

And in the In-flight space, Mercury has struck a deal with Spafax channel to show The Street Stops Here (1 x 83″), the latest Basketball epic from Chicago based Teamworks Media. The film debuts on British Airways and Emirates airlines, alongside its premiere on PBS in the US.

MercuryMedia’s Head Of Sales Patricia Hickey comments: ‘There is increased demand for quality docs and Mercury has the films that broadcasters want. Our ability to attract the best titles is matched by our skills in finding homes for them across the globe’

MercuryMedia Contacts:

Sales & Acquisitions
Patricia Hickey
patricia@mercurymedia.org
T: 44 20 7221 7221

Plunder opens with the conviction of Ponzi King Bernie Madoff, whose acknowledged criminality drove a $65 billion dollar pyramid scheme. It argues that the wrongdoing committed by a few individuals distracts from the real story - the criminal intent of the financial world’s most respected institutions in profiting from fraudulent sub-prime lending.

This shared culture of deceit is now being investigated by the FBI as part of a probe into what it calls a “fraud epidemic.”

Plunder shows how these organisations created special securities to repackage and resell these dubious loans after they were re-rated as Triple A. These firms then bet against many of these “toxic” assets with credit default swaps and other insurance scams. By leveraging these investments, they recklessly put trillions of dollars and the world economy at risk.

Schechter speaks with those who know the real story: bankers, respected economists, insider experts, top journalists, and even convicted white-collar criminal Sam Antar, who blows the whistle on intentionally dishonest practices.

Take Árpád Pusztai - while working at the Rowett Research Institute in Scotland, he conducted a series of experiments using rats in order to determine the long-term effects of GM food.  His findings were shocking. The animals suffered from decreased metal capacity, shrunken genitalia and severely compromised immune systems. Having verified his findings, he published a damning paper which for two days made him a hero in the scientific community.  Then U.S. President Bill Clinton allegedly called the head of the institute and Pusztai was sacked after 30 years of distinguished service. Pusztai watched in horror as his cowed colleagues began to publish placatory paper after placatory paper in order to soften the impact of the politically damaging story.

Legislation allowing GM food to be developed and sold was duly passed worldwide.

As a consequence, huge corporations like Monsanto, who’s pesticides cover a large proportion of the Unites States’ agricultural production, are being allowed to subject us to products whose effects have not been fully tested, or have even been found to be harmful.

Scientists under Attack: Science in the Magnetic Field of Money persuasively argues that the future of scientific freedom is under threat. Today, 95% of research into genetic engineering is paid for by industry interests and objectivity, supposedly the very core of scientific discipline, is a likely casualty.

So can we, the public, still trust our scientists?

Festivals & Awards

Official Selection: IDFA International Film Festival, 2009