Documentaries

The so-called Drug War has drastically altered life in Mexico. More than 40,000 people have been killed since President Felipe Calderon launched a military offensive in December 2006 against the country's powerful organized crime groups. Drug war-related violence has become increasingly brutal - and public. Criminals have diversified their income through activities like extortion and kidnapping. The military has taken over civilian law enforcement in many parts of the country. At least a quarter million people have been displaced.

Each year at Thanksgiving, many Americans celebrate food, family and the history of the United States. But for Indigenous people their land and sacred places continue to be threatened by American colonization. In this Thanksgiving documentary, George Lavender takes us to Lake County, California, and the site of an ongoing campaign to protect Rattlesnake Island. It’s a place sacred to the Elem Tribe and a current struggle in 500 years of Indigenous resistance.

This is Free Speech Radio News for July 4, 2011. Unprecedented pro-democracy revolutions have gripped the Middle East and North Africa since December. Popularly known as the Arab Awakenings or Arab Spring, these revolts have been led by Arab youth aged 18 to 30 who make up the largest age group in the Arab world. From the outset, these youth-driven protest movements included a strong musical component, and among the most powerful forms of music to emerge during these revolutions has been Arab hip-hop. Stay tuned for Rhymes and Revolution: Soundtrack to the Arab Spring, a special FSRN Documentary produced by Jackson Allers.

This is Free Speech Radio News for Friday, December 31, 2010. As the population of people in prison continues to grow at an exponential rate, another population is also growing: People with loved ones behind bars. Reporter Shannon Heffernan spent time with families dealing with incarceration in Illinois. The struggles these families experienced, as well as the alternative solutions being explored, reflect national trends. Where she only uses first names, it is at the request of interviewees for privacy. Today we bring you a special encore presentation of our documentary from Shannon Heffernan called, “Time on the Outside.” Special thanks to the community at Spot.Us, who helped fund this documentary.

This project was supported in part by a grant form the Soros Justice Fellowships Program of the Open Society Institute.

This is Free Speech Radio News for Thursday, December 30, 2010. Coming up on today’s program, we bring you a special half-hour documentary on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, a historic neighborhood in Canada’s third largest city and home to about 16,000 people. It's also known as Canada’s poorest postal code. The area is infamous for its high rates of poverty, drug addiction, disease, crime and mental illness...but also for community organizing and pioneering harm reduction strategies. Our reporter Zack Baddorf brings us this exclusive documentary, “Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside: Life on the Margins.”

This is Free Speech Radio News for Monday, December 27, 2010. One of the year's biggest stories was the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. After the explosion on BP's Deepwater Horizon Rig killed 11 workers in April, oil began spewing into the Gulf of Mexico from the damaged well, causing the worst oil disaster in US history. The blown-out well gushed an estimated 53 thousand barrels a day into the ocean for 87 days. The largest oil spill in US history has dramatically affected southern Lousiana's bayou communities. This summer, FSRN reporter Julia Botero traveled to Terrebonne Parish to look at how the oil and gas industry has affected fishing communities. The spill has altered the way residents see themselves and the delicate place they call home. Today, FSRN brings you a special encore presentation of our documentary, "Oil in the Bayou."

This is Free Speech Radio News for Friday, December 24, 2010.  As the population of people in prison continues to grow at an exponential rate, another population is also growing: People with loved ones behind bars. Reporter Shannon Heffernan spent time with families dealing with incarceration in Illinois. The struggles these families experienced, as well as the alternative solutions being explored, reflect national trends. Where she only uses first names, it is at the request of interviewees for privacy. Today we bring you a special documentary from Shannon Heffernan called, “Time on the Outside.” ...Special thanks to David Cohn at spot.us and all the individuals who helped fund this documentary.