Movie Library

Movies have been chosen for their specific relevance to issues connected with our everyday purchases, or issues that affect our world and our understanding of our place in the world.

Movie_iconMany are available for borrowing by ECG members to show in their home with a group of friends.

See Hosting a Meal & Movie night for how to run a session.

With the help of a Community Grant from the Maribrynong City Council we’ve been able to set up this Movie Library.maribgrnong

 

About Movie format, permission and borrowing

Movie format, permission and borrowing

How to borrow a movie:

  1. Contact us to become an ECG Member. There is a $40 annual membership fee. This will be used as a movie deposit. If the movie is not returned, your membership will be cancelled and the $40 used to replace the movie.
  2. Contact Nick to order a movie. Payment of $5 for postage is required before the movie can be sent out. This can be deposited into our Bendigo Bank account BSB: 633-000; Account Number: 139 528 517; Account Name: Ethical Consumer Group. Please place the VID number plus your name or organisation name in the ‘to account’ description so we can match receipt of payment with your order. Included will be a pre-paid return envelope for returning of the movie.

There is no limit on the number of movies that can be borrowed in a year, however only one movie can be borrowed at a time. Duration of loan is 3 weeks. Movies need to be returned no later than 3 weeks after borrowing.

Format – Movies are commonly in NTSC DVD format which is common in the USA. This format will play on most modern DVD players sold in Australia. An alternative is to play them on a personal computer and screen using a data-projector.

Permission – There is no general exemption allowing non-profit organisations to screen DVDs in public without permission, even if no charge is made for admission. Some film-makers encourage free use, other may request a licence fee to run a ‘public screening’. While our format – showing movies in a home – does constitute a ‘domestic setting’, this does not specifically exempt one from the need for permission. Information on copyright can be found here.

That said, Amalgamated Movies Non-Theatrical Film Distributors, who manage distribution for Sony, Columbia, TriStar Pictures and Madman Entertainment, said when we asked permission, “We only cover films when they are played outside the home.This (our format) still comes under home entertainment. Only if the group of 15 viewed a film outside the private residence would you need to license it with us.”
And Roadshow Public Performance Licencing said “Private viewings at home are obviously fine, for people to borrow your DVDs, but if anyone organises a public screening in a public place, they must get permission from us first and pay the licence fee.”

We have sought permission from distributors to screen movies in this way (in a home to a small group of between 5 and 15 people), and have noted where permission has been granted, and the responses to our request.

We encourage you to seek clarity on permission from the distributor if you think it is warranted.

Some distributors have requested a screening fee, identified with the “$” logo, with details on amounts. We appreciate you supporting the film makers in this way. If borrowing these movies, we suggest you charge a small amount per head to cover this.

An alternative to borrowing the movie is to download the u-tube trailer (see links below) or the full movie as a flash file. Many are available at Top Documentary Films, Free Documentaries or Movie Watch List. They’re pretty poor quality but worthwhile none-the-less.

Resources and study guides – there are links to some resources below and lots more at the Film Education UK database.

The List

(please note, links below to themes are no longer active)

A Convenient Truth: Urban Solutions from Curitiba, Brazil

There is hope! This inspirational documentary shows a city where urban solutions are not just theory, but a reality. The film shows innovations in the areas of transportation, recycling, social benefits (affordable housing), parks, and the great philosophy behind the successful leaders that transformed Curitiba in a model green city.

Year: 2006
ID Number: VID00001
Distributor: Paramount > contact
> Trailer

Themes: Access To Land, Alternative Transportation, Beyond Oil Dependancy, Food Security, Housing, Relocalisation

A Crude Awakening

OilCrash tells the story of how our civilizationâ??s addiction to oil puts it on a collision course with geology. Compelling, intelligent, and highly entertaining, the film visits with the worldâ??s top experts and comes to a startling, but logical conclusion â?? our industrial society, built on cheap and readily available oil, must be completely re-imagined and overhauled.Year: 2006
Duration: 01:30:00
ID Number: VID00002
Distributor: Madman Films/Amalgamated Movies > contact
Permission: Response: “We only cover films when they are played outside the home. This still comes under home entertainment. Only if the group of 15 viewed a film outside the private residence would you need to license it with us”. Steven Snell, Amalgamated Movies – who distribute Sony/ Columbia/ TriStar & Madman

> Website  > Trailer  > Resource

Themes: Beyond Oil Dependancy, Peak Oil

Age of Stupid

A future archivist looks at old footage from the year 2008 to understand why humankind failed to address climate change.Year: 2009

Duration: 01:29:00
ID Number: VID00003
Distributor: Spanner Films > contact
Permission: Response 

Presenlty in discussion with distributor regarding a licencing fee

> Website  > Trailer  > Resource

Themes: Access To Resources, Beyond Oil Dependancy, Big Picture, Climate Change, Peak Oil , Personal Story

An Inconvenient Truth

A documentary on Al Gore’s campaign to make the issue of global warming a recognized problem worldwide. Year: 2006
Duration: 01:40:00
ID Number: VID00004
Distributor: Paramount
> Website
> Trailer
> ResourceThemes: Climate Change, Environmental Impact

Birth of Civilization

Relive mankind’s defining moments through the ages and witness the challenges and incremental advancements that gave birth to civilization as we know it.ID Number: VID00005
> Trailer

Black Gold

An in-depth look at the world of coffee and global trade. Year: 2006
Duration: 01:18:00
ID Number: VID00006
Distributor: Madman > contact
Permission: Response 

“We only cover films when they are played outside the home.This (our format) still comes under home entertainment. Only if the group of 15 viewed a film outside the private residence would you need to license it with us.” Steven Snell – Amalgamated Movie

> Website
> Trailer
> Resource

Themes: Coffee, Exploitation, Fairtrade & Labour, Global Trade

Blood Diamond

A fisherman, a smuggler, and a syndicate of businessmen match wits over the possession of a priceless diamond. The title refers to blood diamonds, which are diamonds mined in African war zones and sold to finance conflicts, and thereby profit warlords and diamond companies across the world. Set during the Sierra Leone Civil War in 1996-1999, the film shows a country torn apart by the struggle between government soldiers and rebel forces. Year: 2006
Duration: 02:23:00
ID Number: VID00007
Distributor: Warner Bros. / Roadshow > contact
Permission: Response 

(Roadshow Films has contracts to distribute movies from Warner Bros – Village-Roadshow website). “Private viewings at home are obviously fine for people to borrow your DVDs, but if anyone organises a public screening in a public place, they must get permission from us first and pay the licence fee.” Annisa Zainal, Roadshow Public Performance Licencing

> Website
> Trailer
> Resource, Resource, Resource

Themes: Child Soliders, Diamonds

Blue Gold: World Water Wars

In every corner of the globe, we are polluting, diverting, pumping, and wasting our limited supply of fresh water at an expediential level as population and technology grows. The rampant overdevelopment of agriculture, housing and industry increase the demands for fresh water well beyond the finite supply, resulting in the desertification of the earth. Corporate giants force developing countries to privatize their water supply for profit. Wall Street investors target desalination and mass bulk water export schemes. Wars of the future will be fought over water as they are over oil today, as the source of human survival. Year: 2008
Duration: 01:30:00
ID Number: VID00008
Distributor: Shock > contact
> Website
> Trailer
> Resource, ResourceThemes: Privatisation, Water

Capitalism: A Love Story

Capitalism: A Love Story examines the impact of corporate dominance on the everyday lives of Americans. The film centers on the financial crisis of 2007â??2010 and the recovery stimulus, while putting forward an indictment of the current economic order in the United States and capitalism in general. Topics covered include Wall Street’s “casino mentality”, for-profit prisons, Goldman Sachs’ influence in Washington, DC, the poverty-level wages of many workers, the large wave of home foreclosures, corporate-owned life insurance, and the consequences of “runaway greed”. The film also features a religious component where Moore examines whether or not capitalism is a sin and if Jesus would be a capitalistYear: 2009
Duration: 02:07:00
ID Number: VID00009
Distributor: Paramount > contact
> Website
> TrailerThemes: Consumerism, Corporate Control, Exploitation, Fairtrade & Labour, Society

Crash Course

‘The next twenty years are going to look very different from the last twenty. I want you to understand why’. Chris Martenson explains how our economy, energy systems and environment face increasing challenges, and explores likely implications for the future. Build Resilience into your life and community, and connect with other concerned citizens.ID Number: VID00010
Permission: Response 

“Nick, it is absolutely fine for you to use the Crash Course in a lending library. What a good idea! Thank you for asking, and best of luck with your project.” Amanda Witman ChrisMartenson.com

> Trailer

Themes: Access To Land, Access To Resources, Beyond Oil Dependancy, Finance & Superannuation, Peak Oil , Relocalisation

Crude

The story of lawsuit by tens of thousands of Ecuadorans against Chevron over contamination of the Ecuadorean Amazon. The inside story of the infamous Amazon Chernobylâ case, Crude is a real-life high stakes legal drama, set against a backdrop of the environmental movement, global politics, celebrity activism, human rights advocacy, the media, multinational corporate power, and rapidly-disappearing indigenous cultures. Year: 2009
Duration: 01:45:00
ID Number: VID00011
> Website
> TrailerThemes: Exploitation, Oil

Crude Impact

An examination of the interconnection of human domination of the planet and the use of petroleum, and offers solutions for how we can stop our progression down this destructive path.Year: 2006
Duration: 01:37:00
ID Number: VID00012
Permission: Response 

“Please accept this email as authorization to use the film Crude Impact in the manner you have outlined below. Thanks for promoting the ideas in the film and thanks for the work you do.” James Wood

> Website
> Trailer

Themes: Beyond Oil Dependancy, Peak Oil

Dirt! The Movie

A look at man’s relationship with Dirt. Dirt and humans couldn’t be closer. We started our journey together as stardust, swirled by cosmic forces into our galaxy, solar system, and planet. We are made of the same stuff. Dirt has given us food, shelter, fuel, medicine, ceramics, flowers, cosmetics and color –everything needed for our survival. We still depend on dirt, but now we abuse and ignore it. We are destroying our last natural resource with our agriculture, our mining, and our paving over the planet for cities. We turned dirt into something “dirty.”Year: 2009
Duration: 01:26:00
ID Number: VID00013
Permission: Response 

“Private viewings at home are fine for people to borrow your DVDs, but if anyone organizes a public screening in a public place, they must get permission and/or a public license from us first by emailing dirtthemovie@gmail.com

> Website
> Resource, Resource

Themes: Environmental Impact, Food Security

Earthlings

Using hidden cameras and never-before-seen footage, EARTHLINGS chronicles the day-to-day practices of the largest industries in the world, all of which rely entirely on animals for profit. EARTHLINGS is a powerful and informative documentary about societyâ??s treatment of animals, narrated by Joaquin Phoenix with soundtrack by Moby. Year: 2005
Duration: 01:35:00
ID Number: VID00014
> Website
> TrailerThemes: Animal Welfare, Factory Farming

End of the Line

The worldâ??s first major documentary about the devastating effect of Overfishing. It examines the imminent extinction of bluefin tuna, brought on by increasing western demand for sushi; the impact on marine life resulting in huge overpopulation of jellyfish; and the profound implications of a future world with no fish that would bring certain mass starvation. Filmed over two years, The End of the Line follows the investigative reporter Charles Clover as he confronts politicians and celebrity restaurateurs, who exhibit little regard for the damage they are doing to the oceans. One of his allies is the former tuna farmer turned whistleblower Roberto Mielgo â?? on the trail of those destroying the world’s magnificent bluefin tuna population. ID Number: VID00015
Distributor: Ovation Entertainment > contact
> Website
> Trailer
> ResourceThemes: Fish, Overfishing

Energy Crossroads

As our global population and its appetite for energy rise drastically, resource depletion and global warming have become the most pressing issues facing humanity today. Most experts agree that global peak oil production, when demand exceeds supply, will occur within the next 15 years and will drastically change the very fabric of our industrialized world. This documentary exposes the problems associated with our energy consumption. It also offers concrete solutions for those who want to educate themselves and be part of the solutions in this decisive era. ID Number: VID00016
> Website
> TrailerThemes: Beyond Oil Dependancy, Energy, Environmental Impact, Peak Oil

Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room

A documentary about the Enron corporation, its faulty and corrupt business practices, and how they led to its fall. The 2001 collapse of the Enron Corporation, which resulted in criminal trials for several of the company’s top executives; it also shows the involvement of the Enron traders in the California electricity crisis. The film features interviews with McLean and Elkind, as well as former Enron executives and employees, stock analysts, reporters and the former Governor of California Gray Davis.Year: 2005
Duration: 01:50:00
ID Number: VID00017
Distributor: Icon > contact
> Trailer
> ResourceThemes: Corporate Control, Corporate Fraud, Corporate Responsibility, Corporate Social Responsibility, Finance & Superannuation

Escape From Suburbia

Suburbia, and all it promises, has become the American Dream. With brutal honesty and a touch of irony, The END of SUBURBIA explored the American Way of Life and its prospects as the planet enters the age of Peak Oil.ID Number: VID00018
> Website
> TrailerThemes: Beyond Oil Dependancy, Consumerism, Peak Oil , Relocalisation

Flow: For Love of Water

How did a handful of corporations steal our water? Water is the very essence of life, sustaining every being on the planet. ‘Flow’ confronts the disturbing reality that our crucial resource is dwindling and greed just may be the cause. Year: 2008
Duration: 01:33:00
ID Number: VID00019
Distributor: Ovation Entertainment > contact
Permission: Response 

“Sure go ahead….” Irena

> Website
> Trailer
> Resource

Themes: Corporate Control, Privatisation, Water

Food Beware: The French Organic Revolution

â??Food Bewareâ?� takes a look at a small village in the mountains of France, where – in opposition to powerful economic interests – the town’s mayor has declared that the school lunchroom will serve mostly local food, grown by organic methods. Featuring interviews with children, parents, teachers, health care workers, journalists, farmers, elected officials, scientists and researchers, we learn about challenges and rewards of their stand – the abuses of industry as well as the practical solutions at hand. What will it take to save our food supply? Language: french
ID Number: VID00020
> TrailerThemes: Food Security, Nutrition, Organics , Pesticides

Food, Inc.

An unflattering look inside America’s corporate controlled food industry. The film examines corporate farming in the United States, concluding that agribusiness produces food that is unhealthy in a way that is environmentally harmful and abusive of both animals and its employees. The film is narrated by Michael Pollan and Eric Schlosser.Year: 2008
Duration: 01:34:00
ID Number: VID00021
Distributor: Roadshow Entertainment > contact
Permission: Response 

“Private viewings at home are obviously fine for people to borrow your DVDs, but if anyone organises a public screening in a public place, they must get permission from us first and pay the licence fee.” Annisa Zainal, Roadshow Public Performance Licencing

> Website
> Trailer
> Resource

Themes: Animal Welfare, Corporate Responsibility, Environmental Impact, Factory Farming, Food Security, Genetic Engineering, Industrial Food System, Labelling, Nutrition

Garbage Warrior

Imagine a home that heats itself, that provides its own water, hat grows its own food. Imagine that it needs no expensive technology, that it recycles its own waste, that it has its own power source. And now imagine that it can be built anywhere, by anyone, out of the things society throws away. Garbage Warrior tells the story of maverick US architect Michael Reynolds and his fight to introduce radically sustainable housing. A tale of triumph over bureaucracy, Garbage Warrior is an intimate portrait of an extraordinary individual and his dream of changing the world.Year: 2007
Duration: 01:26:00
ID Number: VID00022
Distributor: Roadshow > contact
Permission: Response 

“Private viewings at home are obviously fine for people to borrow your DVDs, but if anyone organises a public screening in a public place, they must get permission from us first and pay the licence fee.” Annisa Zainal, Roadshow Public Performance Licencing

> Website
> Trailer

Themes: Housing, Waste

Garbage!

Garbage! The Revolution Starts at Home is a documentary about how the family household has become one of the most ferocious environmental predators of our time. Concerned for the future of his new baby boy Sebastian, writer and director Andrew Nisker takes an average urban family, the McDonalds, and asks them to keep every scrap of garbage that they create for three months. He then takes them on a journey to find out where it all goes and what it’s doing to the world.ID Number: VID00023
Permission: Response 

“$20 per screening is requested to support this independent film maker (equal to $2 each with 10 people attending).”

> Website
> Trailer

Themes: Household Waste, Personal Trial, Waste

Guns, Germs, and Steel

A PBS documentary concerning Jared Diamond’s theory on why there is such disparity between those who have advanced technology and those who still live primitively. He argues it is due to the acquisition of guns and steel and the changes brought about by germs. Year: 2005
ID Number: VID00024
Distributor: http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/contact
> Trailer
> ResourceThemes: Civilisation, Food Security

Inside Job

‘Inside Job’ provides a comprehensive analysis of the global financial crisis of 2008, which at a cost over $20 trillion, caused millions of people to lose their jobs and homes in the worst recession since the Great Depression, and nearly resulted in a global financial collapse. Through exhaustive research and extensive interviews with key financial insiders, politicians, journalists, and academics, the film traces the rise of a rogue industry which has corrupted politics, regulation, and academia.Year: 2010
Duration: 02:00:00
ID Number: VID00025
Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics > contact
Permission: Response 

“We only cover films when they are played outside the home. This still comes under home entertainment. Only if the group of 15 viewed a film outside the private residence would you need to license it with us.” Steven Snell, Amalgamated Movies – who distribute Sony/ Columbia/ TriStar & Madman

> Website
> Trailer
> Resource

Themes: Finance & Superannuation, Society

King Corn

King Corn is a feature documentary about two friends, one acre of corn, and the subsidized crop that drives our fast-food nation. In King Corn, Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis, best friends from college on the east coast, move to the heartland to learn where their food comes from. With the help of friendly neighbors, genetically modified seeds, and powerful herbicides, they plant and grow a bumper crop of America’s most-productive, most-subsidized grain on one acre of Iowa soil. But when they try to follow their pile of corn into the food system, what they find raises troubling questions about how we eat-and how we farm ID Number: VID00026
> Website
> Trailer
> ResourceThemes: Farming Story, Genetic Engineering, Industrial Food System, Personal Story, Road Movie

Meat your Meat

Meet Your Meat is a documentary about factory farming created by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), narrated by Alec Baldwin. The documentary explores the treatment of animals in modern animal agriculture (factory farming).Year: 2007
Duration: 01:22:00
ID Number: VID00027
> Website
> TrailerThemes: Animal Welfare, Factory Farming

No Impact Man

Follow the Manhattan-based Beavan family as they abandon their high consumption 5th Avenue lifestyle and try to live a year while making no net environmental impact. Year: 2009
Duration: 01:33:00
ID Number: VID00028
Distributor: Oscilloscope > contact
> Website
> TrailerThemes: Behaviour Change, Household Waste, Personal Trial, Relocalisation, Waste

One Man, One Cow, One Planet

A films about the farming revolution in India and one man, out to save the world.Year: 2007
ID Number: VID00029
Permission: Response 

“$75 requested per screening. (equal to $5 per head with 15 people attending).”

> Website
> Trailer

Themes: Biodynamics, Organics , Personal Story, Relocalisation

Our Daily Bread

This documentary is an unblinking, often disturbing look at industrial food production from field to factory. â??Our Daily Breadâ?� can be extremely difficult to watch, but the filmâ??s formal elegance, moral underpinning and intellectually stimulating point of view also make it essential. You are what you eat; as it happens, you are also what you dare to watch.Year: 2005
Duration: 01:32:00
ID Number: VID00030
> Website
> TrailerThemes: Corporate Control, Factory Farming,

Queen of the Sun

Bees are a barometer of the health of the world, and with the current Colony Collapse Disorder, we are in a state of emergency. Once a sacred partnership, the bond between humans and bees has become a profit-driven exploitation. Here, the unsung heroes dedicated to the survival of bees are highlighted: from poets and philosophers to scientists and shamans, from political activists to biodynamic beekeepers. In 1923, he predicted that the continued practice of artificial queen bee-breeding would bring about the demise of the honeybee. Now, pesticides, herbicides, and genetically engineered plants exacerbate the problem, and the current bee crisis confirms Steiner’s dire predictions. Year: 2010
Duration: 01:23:00
ID Number: VID00031
> Website
> TrailerThemes: Food, Agricultre, Animals