Java Films

13/12/2024

We are deeply saddened by the passing of Mazeh Al-Hamada, a brave activist who endured unimaginable suffering under the Assad regime. His resilience and determination in the face of injustice was inspiring to all.

Mazeh was powerfully featured in the documentary "Syria's Disappeared: The Case Against Assad" (directed by Sara Afshar and produced by Afshar Films) which we distribute.

Although Mazeh did not live to see the fall of the Assad regime, his legacy lives on in the impact he made and the countless lives that he touched.

The New York Times writes: “He was laid to rest on Thursday with a funeral procession in Damascus, the capital, with hundreds of chanting mourners carrying portraits of him as his coffin moved down crowded streets”.

Read more about Mazeh and his life in this article:
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/12/world/middleeast/mazen-al-hamada-syria-activist-dead.html?unlocked_article_code=1.g04.gWHE.jyU4H1lkChD4&smid=url-share

Thank you to the New York Times for sharing his story.

Mazen al-Hamada spread the word about the plight of Syrians and his own abuse in the Assad regime’s prisons. He was found dead in Syria this week.

06/12/2024

The Body Politic is distributed outside North America by Java Films

03/10/2024

We're delighted to announce that Shrouq Al Aila, the main protagonist from the documentary "Gaza: Trapped in Hell" directed by Martine Laroche-Joubert and produced by Slug News (https://javafilms.fr/film/gaza-trapped-in-hell/) has won an International Press Freedom Award from the CPJ Committee to Protect Journalists.

The CPJ awards will be presented in New York City on November 21. John Oliver, host of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, will be master of ceremonies at the event, which will be chaired by Jessica E. Lessin, founder and CEO of The Information. Now in its 34th year, CPJ’s annual International Press Freedom Awards and benefit dinner honor courageous journalists from around the world.

Shrouq Al Aila (Gaza Strip): Shrouq Al Aila is a Palestinian journalist, producer, and researcher reporting from the Gaza Strip. Al Aila took charge of Ain Media, an independent production company specializing in professional media services, after her husband – who co-founded the company – was killed in the Israel-Gaza war. She continues to cover the war and its devastating impact on Gaza’s residents despite having been displaced several times in an effort to evade Israeli attacks.

Full article here: https://cpj.org/2024/09/cpj-to-honor-formidable-journalists-with-2024-international-press-freedom-awards/

Esteemed awardees from four regions to be recognized in November New York, September 19, 2024 — The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) today announced that it will honor four exceptional journalists with its 2024 International Press Freedom Awards.  This year’s awardees, who cover Gaza, Gua...

10/07/2024

We are very pleased to announce the American Premiere of "The Forgotten Nuclear Victims" (directed by Suliane Favennec and produced by Little Big Story & Archipel Production) at Filmambiente in Brazil. Congratulations to the whole team of this outstanding documentary for this selection!
"The Forgotten Nuclear Victims" is scheduled to be shown on August 22th, at 4pm, in Rio de Janeiro. It is included in the thematic section "Environmental Racism", one of the most prominent themes today, with five other films that help us face prejudices and climate injustices.

More info on Filmambiente can be found here: https://filmambiente.com/en/filmambiente-13/

26/06/2024

Java Films President Anne Simounet was delighted to announce this morning at Sunny Side of the Doc the first ever Roch Bozino Engagement Prize. This was awarded to "Tales and Sentences" ("Des récits et des peines"), a feature-length documentary project written and directed by Alexandre Donot and produced by Valérie Montmartin for Little Big Story.
The Roch Bozino Engagement Prize is a €3,000 cash prize (paired with a mentoring session by the team at Java Films) and was awarded to "Tales and Sentences": a project that “best engages with the humanitarian issues of today or inspires us to make a difference.”
Congratulations to Alexandre Donot Valérie Montmartin Raph Pelissou Romain Gaussens & everyone involved in this project at Little Big Story !

06/05/2024

Following on from its selections earlier this year in Denmark and Norway, respectively at CPH:DOX & HUMAN International Documentary Film Festival we are thrilled to announce this new selection for the feature documentary "LIE TO ME" at the 2024 edition of Festival de Télévision de Monte-Carlo in the News & Documentaries section.
Congrats to all the team at LIE to ME - documentary Hacienda Film Norsk filminstituttt, Filmsenter, Fritt Ord,, Zefyr

Monte Carlo, here we come!
We're thrilled to announce that LIE TO ME is in competition at Festival de Télévision de Monte-Carlo for best News and Documentaries. A category which includes factual programs that cover events that have an importance at world, national or regional level.
That sounds about right! 🙂

Guess we have to sweep the dust off our tux and iron our shirts. See you in Monte-Carlo!

Norsk filminstitutt, Sørnorsk Filmsenter, Java Films, Stiftelsen Fritt Ord, Bergesenstiftelsen, mediefondet Zefyr

10/04/2024

We are absolutely thrilled to announce that our documentary DISSIDENTS will be having its worldwide premiere on the 3rd of May at the 2024 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival for its 40th edition!

27/03/2024

Java Films is proud to announce that the world-renowned, Canadian, International Documentary Film Festival IS BACK this May, with tickets for the World Premiere of our fantastic documentary The Click Trap, on sale to the public April 2nd!

Directed by , produced by and The Click Trap delves into the terrifying world of digital advertising, investigating what real world impact it is having on our societies.
To find out more, please visit...

https://hotdocs.ca/whats-on/hot-docs-festival/films/2024/click-trap

https://www.peterporta.com/

26/03/2024

"Venezuela: Country of Lost Children" directed by Juan Camilo Cruz & Marc Wiese and produced by Oliver Stoltz at Dreamer Joint Venture, has won the Millenium Award for The Best Film on Human Rights at Millenium Documentary Film Festival in Brussels !!

https://www.youtube.com/
hhtps//twitter.com/MilleniumFest

22/03/2024

Please join director Gabriel Francis Paz Goodenough and film participant Erricka Angela Bridgeford in person at our Dutch Premiere in The Hague, Netherlands, at Movies that Matter. There will be three screenings, all with Q&A: Tuesday, March 26 at 15:00, Wednesday, March 27 at 19:45, and Thursday, March 28 at 19:30. All screenings will be at the Theater Aan Het Spui. You can get tickets here: https://moviesthatmatter.nl/en/festival/film/body-politic-the/

18/03/2024

Phantom parrot has received a 4 star review in the Guardian!! ‘A compelling documentary on digital war-on-terror laws that centres on a programme that can mean prison for anyone who refuses UK police access to their smartphones’ writes Peter Bradshaw.

Click here to read the full article: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/mar/12/phantom-parrot-review-cautionary-tale-of-state-surveillance-and-the-war-on-privacy

PHANTOM PARROT explores the truth behind a secret data-gathering program (codenamed Phantom Parrot) including the explosive documents published by a journalist reporting on the case of human rights activist Muhammad Rabbani as he is prosecuted under terror laws for refusing to hand over the passwords to his electronic devices.

https://javafilms.fr/film/phantom-parrot/

11/03/2024

We are delighted to share with you the screenings for two of our films selected for the New York Premier with the Socially Film Festival.

Phantom Parrot: Sunday, March 17, 9:15pm

"Human rights activist Muhammad Rabbani campaigns against discrimination in the “war on terror”. He travels all over the world and is entrusted with highly sensitive personal information by people in precarious situations."

Click here to watch director Kate Stonehill SRFF’s ‘Meet the Filmmaker’ session:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMZc8c_zLBs&t=747s

The Mind Game: Online Screening

"They call it “the game”: the life-threatening journey that many unaccompanied minors undertake to seek protection in Western Europe."

Full program for SRFF’s 2024 Documentary Features:
https://www.ratedsrfilms.org/2024program-documentaries

04/03/2024

We are delighted to announce that CPH:DOX has selected ‘Lie to Me’ in its F:ACT Competition ‘dedicated to films between documentary filmmaking and investigative journalism.’ Screenings in Copenhagen are now available to book on the 18th and 21st March.

More details available here: https://cphdox.dk/film/lie-to-me/

‘Lie to Me’ is the story of how tech nerd and blockchain expert Bjørn Bjercke overturned the OneCoin pyramid scheme, the biggest Crypto fraud in history. But more than that, it’s also the story of how and why people keep getting scammed.

https://javafilms.fr/film/lie-to-me/

29/02/2024

We are delighted to announce World Premieres of our documentaries 'LIE TO ME' by Bår Tyrmi and 'TAX WARS" by Hege Dehli and Xavier Harel at HUMAN International Documentary Film Festival (4 to 10 March 2024) in the Norwegian Competition ! On behalf of the producers and directors of both films, we're sending our heartfelt thanks to the selection committee of HUMAN International Documentary Film Festival for these selections.

LIE TO ME: This is the story of how tech nerd and blockchain expert Bjørn Bjercke overturned the OneCoin pyramid scheme, the biggest Crypto fraud in history. It’s also the story of how and why people keep getting scammed.
https://vp.eventival.com/humanfilm/2024/film/969613

Produced by Dag Mykland (Hacienda Film)

TAX WARS: Shocked by the estimated $427 billion in tax lost every year to global tax abuse by multinationals and wealthy individuals, the directors and their team will highlight in this documentary the mechanisms, underlying trends, and forces at work in the tax
https://vp.eventival.com/humanfilm/2024/film/975016

Produced by Hege Dehli (Mechanix Film) and Fabrice Esteve (Yuzu Productions)

27/02/2024

We are delighted to announce that Grierson award-winning director Kate Stonehill's debut feature documentary Phantom Parrot is having a nationwide U.K theatrical release starting Friday March 15th in conjunction with Bertha DocHouse, Picturehouse and independent cinemas across the U.K.

Screenings will be followed by Q&As with the film team, contributors and topic relevant experts. In this nonfiction thriller, Kate Stonehill has crafted a razor-sharp analysis that unravels the threads and interrogates our privacy in the era of information.

Find out more about the UK screenings' details by clicking the link in our bio!

23/02/2024

We are delighted to announce that ‘Phantom Parrot’ by Kate Stonehill and ‘The Mind Game’ by Sajid Khan Nasiri, Eefje Blankevoor and Els Van Driel are Premiering in New York in March at SR Socially Relevant Film Festival!

https://www.ratedsrfilms.org/2024program-documentaries

PHANTOM PARROT explores the truth behind a secret data-gathering program (codenamed Phantom Parrot) including the explosive documents published by a journalist reporting on the case of human rights activist Muhammad Rabbani as he is prosecuted under terror laws for refusing to hand over the passwords to his electronic devices.

https://javafilms.fr/film/phantom-parrot/
https://www.stevenwlake.com/

THE MIND GAME explores the experience of Sajid Khan Nasiri, as a 14 year old teenager seeking protection in Western Europe after the Taliban killed his father. Hunted down by violent police and hostile civilians he finally arrives in Belgium. But his troubles aren’t yet over. This documentary deals with the psychological pressure young refugees have to face following their arrival in the host country.

https://javafilms.fr/film/the-mind-game/

16/02/2024

Another festival success! ‘The Mind Game’, directed by Sajid Khan Nasiri, Eefje Blankevoort and Els van Driel, has been selected for the Educational programme category at the FIFDH in Geneva, Switzerland taking place from 8th to 17th March 2024.

https://fifdh.org/festival/programme/2024/film/the-mind-game/

They call it ‘the game’: the life-threatening journey that many unaccompanied minors undertake seeking protection in Western Europe. For Sajid Khan Nasiri, the game started at 14 after the Taliban killed his father. Via Iran and Turkey to Eastern Europe he progressed ever closer to his destination, hunted down by violent police and hostile civilians. In clips recorded with his telephone camera, and in messages to filmmakers, he keeps track of his progress.

16/02/2024

Very exciting news! ‘Tax Wars’, directed by Hege Dehli and Xavier Harel, has been selected for the focus competition at FIFDH taking place in Geneva, Switzerland, from 8th to 17th March 2024.

https://fifdh.org/festival/programme/2024/film/tax-wars/

Shocked by the estimated $427 billion in tax lost every year to global tax abuse by multinationals and wealthy individuals, the directors and their team will highlight in this documentary the mechanisms, underlying trends, and forces at work in the tax justice battle.