Films

Films

Watch over 200 films curated from 140 countries around the globe, and featuring over 40 languages. SIMA Academy offers you unprecedented access on any device to authentic global perspectives and visually engaging current affairs media. Plus a constantly refreshed selection of international productions from independent distributors.

Films
  • A New Path

    19-year-old Mukesh Rajak was born into a marginalized community in an impoverished region of rural India. His childhood was marked by discrimination and social exclusion due to his status as a dalit, a member of India's 'untouchable' castes. But a chance opportunity to attend a nonprofit private ...

Extras

  • The Mahoyo Project

    The Mahoyo Project is a documentary that follows Mahoyo, a Swedish creative trio as they embark on a cultural exchange – collaborating with local artists in Johannesburg, South Africa. Together they challenge stereotypes and break down normative barriers surrounding race, ethnicity, gender and se...

  • Juanita

    A glimpse into the everyday life of Juanita, a Mayan traditional doctor, midwife, nurse and activist. Leader of "The Awakening of the Women who Heal," an organization of midwives in the Orient of Yucatan, Mexico. Juanita has dedicated her life to helping others with her gift for healing. The film...

  • Giving Hope To Drug Users in Moscow

    “People come here to inject because they can easily run away if the police show up,” says Vova, a street outreach worker with the Andrey Rylkov Foundation (ARF). There are many hotspots that outreach workers of the ARF visit every day to provide sterile injecting equipment, condoms and other form...

  • Rio Eu Amo Eu Cuido

    When the social movement "Rio Eu Amo Eu Cuido" was created it had a single purpose: make Rio de Janeiro a better place to live in. This documentary, shot between October 2014 and March 2015, shows a little of the movement's universe, projects and actions that took place with the help of volunteer...

  • Across The Tracks

    One year on from the launch of the Clean India campaign, with its ambitious target of a toilet for every household by 2019, WaterAid explores how something as simple as a toilet can help transform lives. Radha Verma, determined to protect her daughter after she narrowly escapes a physical attack,...

  • Seeding Fear

    Since Monsanto began selling their patented "Roundup Ready" genetically modified (GM) seeds they have threatened to sue hundreds of farmers for patent infringement. Their heavy-handed investigations and ruthless prosecutions have been a relentless assault on the foundations of farming practices a...

  • Reclaiming Pakistan

    A civil rights activist, Mohammad Jibran Nasir, sparks a social revolution after almost 140 children were killed in the Peshawar Army School tragedy. Narrated by Pakistani actress Fawzia Mirza, this documentary sheds light on the consequences of extreme religion and terrorism in Pakistan and offe...

  • Tea Consent *Viewer Discretion Advised*

    [Trigger Warning] Tea Consent is a humorous video about a serious topic. It addresses the issue of sexual assault and consent using the metaphor of offering people tea. Using androgynous figures, it takes the viewer through various scenarios to reinforce the idea of affirmative consent and challe...

  • Nature Needs You

    While industrial resource developments continue to put at risk our natural and cultural significance, people across Australia are standing their ground for nature. This is the story of five everyday Australians who are working with their communities to minimize the impacts of climate change on th...

  • A Thousand Suns

    A Thousand Suns tells the story of the Gamo Highlands of the African Rift Valley and the unique worldview held by the people of the region. This isolated area has remained remarkably intact both biologically and culturally. It is one of the most densely populated rural regions of Africa yet its p...

  • What Would It Look Like?

    What if the world embodied our highest potential? What would it look like? As the structures of modern society crumble, where do we find solutions that can help us build the future that serves us all? This 25-minute Global Oneness Project film retrospective asks us to reflect on the state of the ...

  • Barrio De Paz

    Set in Guayaquil Ecuador, Barrio de Paz tells the story of peace worker Nelsa Libertad Curbelo and the city's gang youth, who have left behind a life of crime to come together and provide services to their struggling community. Loved like a mother, Nelsa has helped the gangs channel their need fo...

  • Isle De Jean Charles

    This short film offers a portrait of the Isle de Jean Charles, a tiny island deep in the bayou’s of Southern Louisiana. The film explores the changes taking place on the island through the lives of two residents whose families are facing a future where rising seas, coastal erosion and storms are ...

  • Marie's Dictionary

    This short documentary tells the story of Marie Wilcox, the last fluent speaker of the Wukchumni language and the dictionary she created in an effort to keep her language alive.

    Director: Emmanuel Vaughn-Lee
    2014 | 10 min
    Canada

  • Yukon Kings

    Set in the remote Alaskan Yukon Delta, Yukon Kings follows Yup'ik fisherman Ray Waska as he teaches his grandkids how to fish during the summer salmon run. With environmental and cultural forces threatening their subsistence way of life, Ray holds onto the hope that his grandsons will one day pas...

  • The Walls

    Students from Washington State University visit the prison at Coyote Ridge in order to participate in a debate about gun control. The rest of the participants are the debate club members from the prison – a group of inmates that have been transformed and inspired by their new contact with educati...

  • Supporting Entrepreneurship: Youth To Youth Fund | Kenya

    The Youth to Youth Fund (Y2YF) component of the International Labor Organization- Youth Entrepreneurship Facility (ILO-YEF) gives youth a voice to design and implement innovative solutions to employment challenges. It is a competitive grant scheme, which offers local youth-led organizations the m...

  • Enemies To Allies

    Sometimes, innovative solutions to social challenges are born in the most unlikely places. In Kisumu, Kenya a surprising approach to HIV prevention relies on building bonds two unlikely groups: police officers and sex workers. In Kisumu, extortion and abuse were commonplace, and sex workers’ righ...

  • Barefoot

    Descalzos (Barefoot) is a documentary about a group of indigenous children from Mexico who have been gaining popularity because of their skills on the basketball court. The region that the children come from faces extreme poverty and political turmoil and the kids have found hope through their sp...

  • Cast in India

    Iconic and ubiquitous, thousands of manhole covers dot the streets of New York City. Enlivening the everyday objects around us, this short film is a glimpse of the working lives of the men behind the manhole covers in New York City.

    Director: Natasha Raheja
    2014 | 26 min
    USA | India

  • Not Anymore: A Story of Revolution *Viewer Discretion Advised*

    [Trigger Warning] The story of the Syrian revolution as told through the experiences of two young Syrians, a male rebel fighter and a female journalist, as they fight an oppressive regime for the freedom of their people.

    Director & Producer: Matthew VanDyke

    2013 | 14 min
    USA | Syria
    Language:...

  • Desmeem

    This film captures the three months of the DESMEEM project that took place in Lebanon in 2012. Designers and activists from Europe and the US traveled to Lebanon to work with local designers and activists to co-create user-centered solutions to social and environmental challenges. Each team took ...

  • Gold of Agriculture

    Gold of Agriculture is a documentary shot in the suburbs of Mozambique´s capital city Maputo. In the film, several beneficiaries of WaterAid´s project Kubabasisa Muganga share their experiences. Covering all aspects of this experiences, the film starts off with stories of how their first perceive...

  • Governance for Sustainability in Hyderabad, India

    What does urban growth in times of climate change mean to a city and its people in an emerging country? This film concentrates on one of India’s most rapid urban growth centers – Hyderabad – and gives mentionable insights on how the inhabitants cope with food security, agricultural problems, urba...