Michael Franti Movies
- 2005
911 Power to the Peaceful Festival '05 documents a music festival designed to spread information about a variety of political issues. Among the musicians and notable personalities who spoke or performed were Woody Harrelson, Angela Davis, and Michael Franti. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Franti, Spearhead, (more)
Michael Apted (Gorillas in the Mist) directed this Walter Mosley script adaptation of Mosley's short story collection, Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned. Ex-con Socrates Fortlow (Laurence Fishburne) returns to L.A., looks for work, becomes friends with Right Burke (Bill Cobbs), is told he's too old for a construction job, helps youngster Darryl (Daniel Williams), and romances cafe-owner Iula Brown (Natalie Cole). Socrates provides a moral uplift to the neighborhood, while Burke's voiceover narration has a Sunset Boulevard twist. The TV movie premiered March 21, 1998 on HBO. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Laurence Fishburne, Bill Cobbs, (more)
- 1994
This British documentary observes the socio-cultural, and political influences of rap and raggea (a combination between reggae and rap) music upon black pop culture and vice versa. The film has a special focus upon the increasing tendency for the songs to express anti-gay sentiments. Included are interviews, and clips from music videos. The filmmaker, Isaac Julien stays relatively objective as he presents his overview. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
This history and culture of hip-hop, as rapping, street dancing, and graffiti art grew from a local phenomenon in the South Bronx to an art form embraced around the world, are examined in this documentary from filmmaker Paul Kell. Focusing on the more intelligent and "conscious" side of hip-hop rather than the more commercial and exploitive direction of many top-selling artists, Five Sides of a Coin traces hip-hop back to its origins in the hard-hitting musical poetry of Gil Scott-Heron and the Last Poets and the block-party musical innovations of Kool DJ Herc and Afrika Bambaataa, while featuring the thoughts of a number of leading artists and offering a look at the hip-hop in Japan, Europe, and the United Kingdom. Five Sides of a Coin includes interviews with KRS-One, Biz Markie, Q-Bert, Jeru, Michael Franti, DJ Spooky, and more. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- DJ Spooky, Michael Franti, (more)
Documentary filmmaker Ron Mann joined Hollywood actor/hemp activist Woody Harrelson as the thespian traveled up the West Coast preaching the merits of natural, organic living, the result of which is Mann's 2003 film, Go Further. In 2001, Harrelson and a group of friends and other like-minded individuals hopped on bicycles -- accompanied by a psychedelically decorated bus converted to run on hemp-seed oil -- and thus created the SOL (Simple Organic Living) Tour. Along the way, the actor made many stops which ranged from speaking at college campuses to meeting up with 1960s counter-culture guru Ken Kesey (who died not long after). The SOL group encountered a number of people that also lead pro-ecological ways of life, as well as some other folks that were just as skeptical or hostile toward the neo-hippies. Go Further premiered at the 2003 South by Southwest Film Festival. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Woody Harrelson, Ken Kesey, (more)
- 2004
- NR
Did the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, allow certain Republican leaders to put policies and legislation into effect that they knew would be rejected by their colleagues and constituents at nearly any other time? That's the question posed by this documentary, which offers a detailed look at the thoughts and deeds of a number of figures close to the George W. Bush administration. During Ronald Reagan's presidency, a number of neo-conservative theorists proposed that the United States should abandon its support of certain international treaties, take a more aggressive approach in taking military action against nations deemed uncooperative with U.S. interests, enact legislation that would curtail civil liberties at home, and increase military budgets by a massive margin. In the wake of the 9/11 attacks, George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and others were able to bring about these changes, either in whole or in part. But was all of this in the best interests of the American public, has the risk of terrorist attacks truly been curtailed, and what will the long-term effects of these actions be? Narrated by Julian Bond, Hijacking Catastrophe: 9/11, Fear and the Selling of American Empire features interviews with Norman Mailer, Noam Chomsky, Scott Ritter, Lt. Col. Karen Kwiatowski, William Hartung, and Jody Williams. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Julian Bond
- 2005
Musician and political activist Michael Franti journeys to the Middle East to learn about the human costs of political occupation in this documentary. Franti, who has recorded with the groups Spearhead and the Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy, took a small camera crew to Iraq with the goal of finding out "what it's like to live under foreign military rule," and with his guitar in hand Franti interacts with Iraqi civilians, chatting with people on the street, speaking with folks in their homes, and joining in for performances with local musicians as he interviews them about the differences between life before and after the American invasion of their nation. Franti also visits American forces stationed in Iraq, wanting to know how the war and occupation has impacted their lives. Later Franti journeys to Israel, speaking to ordinary people and military figures as well as Palestinians in search of similar insights on this long simmering conflict. I Know I'm Not Alone was Franti's debut as a film director. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
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Follow along on a musical journey through occupied Iraq and war-torn Israel and Palestine as musician Michael Franti sets out with an acoustic guitar and a video camera to share his songs with the families, soldiers, and doctors of the region while probing to explore the high price paid by average citizens during wartime. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
This 85 minute yoga program hosted by filmmaker and activist Michael Franti stresses how the practice of yoga can help inspire peace and unity. Joined by yoga teachers David Life and Sharon Gannon Franti sets the yoga program to his own, inspirational music. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide
Activist filmmakers Richard Rowley and Jacqueline Soohen offer an eyeball-to-eyeball look at the people's battle against the growing global empire in this documentary. Compiled from footage shot in Mexico, South America, Korea, Palestine, Argentina ,and Iraq, The Fourth World War abandons the concept of "embedded journalists" offering a stage-managed image of war in favor of filming in the midst of revolutionary forces who fight for their own freedom and survival against long odds. Sharing a common desire to throw off government forces following the political and/or corporate backing of the United States and its allied powers, the subjects of The Fourth World War position themselves on the frontline in a series of separate but related battles of people struggling to retain control of their destiny. The Fourth World War received its North American premier at the 2004 Santa Barbara Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 2000
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In 1999, representatives from some of the world's largest and most powerful economic forces met in Seattle, WA, for the World Trade Organization summit. They were met by a diverse group of activists, ranging from youthful peace-punks to veteran trade union members, who intended to publicly air their concerns about issues of economic justice, Third World labor policies, and environmental safety that were being ignored by many of the WTO's affiliates. Police soon clashed with the protesters, the vast majority of which were gathered peacefully and had obtained permits for their gatherings. While Seattle authorities attempted to portray the protesters as a violent rabble in statements to the media, a number of activists armed with film and video cameras were on hand to document the protests, who then used the Internet and independent media outlets to bring their side of the story to the public. This Is What Democracy Looks Like was compiled by directors Jill Friedberg and Rick Rowley from material shot by more than a hundred "media activists" who captured a side of the WTO protests largely ignored by the mainstream news media. This Is What Democracy Looks Like is narrated by actress Susan Sarandon and Michael Franti, leader of the leftist hip-hop group Spearhead; radical rock band Rage Against the Machine also appears in the film. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Franti, Susan Sarandon, (more)
- 2000
During the infamous World Trade Organization protests in Seattle in November 1999, TV viewers around the world were treated to explosive footage of small bands of would-be anarchists smashing Starbucks windows and engaging in confrontations with the police. Trade Off, Shaya Mercer's documentary about the protests, gives audiences an alternate and well-balanced view of what happened. Most importantly, Mercer chooses to focus on the months of planning that proceeded the protests, shedding light on the diversity and intelligence of the organizers behind the event. College students, Teamster boss Jim Hoffa, representatives of French farmers' unions, and documentary filmmaker Michael Moore are all given screen time, as are the Seattle citizens who question the protests, and the police who nervously prepare to come face to face with rioters. As a kind of epilogue to the action, the smaller but no less passionate WTO protests that occurred the following April are shown, leaving viewers with the sense that Mercer is intent on giving us the message that this is an issue that will not simply evaporate. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Moore, Jello Biafra, (more)
