As we come up on the two-year anniversary of Occupy Wall Street’, a number of documentaries serve to reconnect us to the energy and passion that sparked the movement. From the encampments to the arrests, the movement’s voices have been captured and collected in films with varying focuses. Here’s a rundown:
In Occupy: The Movie, Corey Ogilvie chose to narrow his focus to ground zero for the Occupy movement — New York City. Industry accountability, systemic corruption, government oversight, and consolidated media all are glimpsed through the lens of activists, journalists, and scholars, including iconic progressive thinkers Noam Chomsky and Cornel West. And Ogilvie doesn’t shy away from the fault lines and weaknesses within the movement itself.
99%: The Occupy Wall Street Collaborative Film
A new collaborative film from co-directors Aaron Aites and Audrey Ewell, this project enlisted the help of 99 filmmakers from around the country in order to crowdsource footage for the piece. The result hits theaters on September 6. Critics who have seen the film in its entirety — at the Sundance Film Festival or elsewhere — walked away with mixed feelings. Among the reviews, Hollywood.com called 99% “a rousing call-to-arms, regardless of feelings on the economical and political issues.”
Narrated by Lou Reed, this doc looks at the wide swath of the population burned by the economic crisis, from a 22-year-old college graduate to a 92-year-old grandmother, from a Marine veteran to a police captain. They discuss issues like health care, education, the environment, income inequality, and unemployment. Economist Jeffrey Sachs ties it all together and shows what steps could be taken to creative a sustainable future for all. Footage was sourced from numerous documentarians and includes never-before-seen clips from the police crackdown in Zuccotti Park.
An IndieGoGo campaign is currently underway in support of The 99%.
Now available on iTunes, American Autumn compiled experiences from New York City, Boston, and Washington, DC, in an effort to answer two questions: What does the Occupy movement stand for? And what are the movement’s demands? Among the luminaries included are Naomi Klein, Michael Moore, and Cornel West
Any other docs you’ve seen? List ’em in comments.
