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Africa Adio Africa Ado known in the US
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as Africa Blood and Guts is one of the
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most controversial documentaries ever
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made. Directed by Italian filmmakers
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Gualtier Hakopeti and Franco Prosper.
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The film shows the violent period after
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European countries ended their colonial
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rule in Africa. Over 3 years, the
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directors filmed scenes of revolutions,
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civil wars, animal poaching, and
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massacres, some of which remain the only
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known footage of those events, such as
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the killings during the Zanzibar
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Revolution, and fighting in the Congo.
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It includes extremely graphic scenes:
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Arab civilians being executed on mass,
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bodies left floating in rivers, baby
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elephants killed with grenades by
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poachers, and prisoners being shot on
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camera. In Rwanda, the film reports that
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18,000 Watusi were killed in just 2
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months. In the Congo, rebels murdered,
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burned, and even ate their victims. The
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filmmakers often film these moments from
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helicopters or uplose with a narrator
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describing events in a cold, emotionless
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tone. While the film was praised for its
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rare and powerful footage, it has been
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heavily criticized for being racist and
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exploitative. Many viewers and critics
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felt it showed African people as violent
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and savage without proper historical
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context. The American version cut out
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much of the background information,
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leading Jakopedi to call it a betrayal.
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At one point, he was even arrested
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because authorities believed he filmed a
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real execution just for the film, but he
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was later found not guilty. Critics like
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Roger Eert called the film racist and
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offensive, and some accused the
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directors of staging scenes, though
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Jaceti and Prosper denied this. Children
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Underground. Children Underground,
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directed by Edit Bellsburg, is a
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heartbreaking documentary about homeless
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children living in the subway tunnels of
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Bucharest, Romania after the fall of
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communism. The film follows five kids,
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Christina, Macarina, Mihi, Anna, and
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Marian as they try to survive in a world
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filled with poverty, addiction, and
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violence. There is no voice over or
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commentary. The camera quietly watches
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as the children beg for money, fight
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with each other, sniff Orlac, a toxic
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substance used to get high, and sleep on
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cold concrete floors. Christina, age 16,
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is the group's leader. She dresses like
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a boy for protection and has become
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tough after years in a violent
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orphanage. Macarina, 14, is extremely
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fragile, addicted, confused, and
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disconnected from her past. Mihi, just
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12, is thoughtful and hopes for a better
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life. The film shows their pain and
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trauma without trying to shock the
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viewer. Instead, it gives an honest look
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at how these children have been
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forgotten by society. Sadly, what
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happened to the children after the film
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is just as tragic. Christina remained
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addicted and lost her children.
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Macarina's fate is mostly unknown. Mihi
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had a brief period of stability, then
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returned to the streets, and Marion was
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placed in a shelter and judged able to
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recover. The Gift, The Gift, directed by
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Louise Hoggarth, is a disturbing
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documentary that looks into the hidden
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world of bug chasing, a practice where
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some gay men deliberately try to get
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infected with HIV. The film follows two
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men, Doug and Kenboy, who openly talk
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about their decision to seek what they
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call the gift of HIV. Doug speaks
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emotionally about feeling unwanted in
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the gay community. He says he had
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unprotected sex just to feel accepted
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and loved. Kenboy, in contrast,
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describes his experiences calmly, saying
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he felt free after getting HIV because
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he no longer had to worry about catching
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it. He talks about living in an LA sex
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house where large group sex parties were
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held and condoms were discouraged. He
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even says that the danger made it more
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exciting. The film also interviews older
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men who became HIV positive during the
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early AIDS crisis. They never had a
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choice and many lost friends and
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partners to the disease. They talk about
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the lifelong health problems they got,
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and many say they are shocked and
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heartbroken that some young men now seem
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to glamorize HIV. The Gift also
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criticizes how public health campaigns
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have changed. Instead of showing the
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serious risks, some ads focus on
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healthylooking, happy people, making HIV
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seem less dangerous than it really is.
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Sound of Torture. Sound of Torture is a
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2013 documentary that captures one of
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the most underreported human rights
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crises in recent times. Directed by
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Israeli filmmaker Karen Shao, it follows
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Marina Stephanos, an Iritrian journalist
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and human rights activist, as she uses
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her Stockholm-based radio program,
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Voices of Itrian refugees to expose the
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brutal kidnapping and torture of
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Aritrian refugees. These refugees
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fleeing the dictatorship in Aratria and
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crossing through Sudan into the Sinai
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desert are often intercepted by
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traffickers, many affiliated with
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Bedawin smugglers. Held in torture
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camps, the victims are forced to call
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their families using cell phones
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provided by their captors, pleading for
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ransom amounts between $15,000 and
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$40,000. Estanos receives and records
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some of these calls, airing them live to
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the world. What listeners here are not
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just voices, but the actual sounds of
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people being tortured as they cry,
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scream, and beg in real time. Three
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Identical Strangers. Three Identical
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Strangers is a documentary about three
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men, Edward Galland, David Kelman, and
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Robert Chaffron, who were separated at
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birth and adopted by different families
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without ever knowing they had brothers,
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directed by Tim Wardle. The story begins
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in 1980 when Robert starts college and
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is greeted by students who call him
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Eddie. Within hours, he learns he has an
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identical twin. When the story reaches
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the news, a third man, David, comes
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forward, and the twins discover they are
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actually triplets. At first, their
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reunion is joyful. The three men are
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shocked by how much they have in common.
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The same favorite foods, habits, and
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even childhood struggles. They become
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close, move in together, appear on talk
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shows, and even open a restaurant called
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triplets. But as the film goes deeper,
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it reveals a disturbing truth. The
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triplets were part of a secret
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psychological experiment led by Dr.
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Peter Nobower. Each baby was placed in a
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family from a different social class,
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one poor, one middle class, and one
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wealthy as part of a study on nature
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versus nurture. The adoptive parents
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were never told the real reason for the
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regular check-ins and tests. The results
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of the study were never published, and
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the records are sealed until 2065. The
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documentary uses real footage,
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interviews, and dramatic reenactments to
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uncover this dark chapter in science.
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The film also touches on mental health.
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All three brothers faced emotional
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struggles, and Eddie tragically died
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byside in 1995. Our father directed by
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Lucy Jordan. It's a shocking true crime
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documentary that tells the disturbing
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real story of Dr. Donald Klene, a
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fertility doctor from Indiana. For
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years, Klene secretly used his own sperm
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to inseminate female patients without
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their knowledge or consent. His actions
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only came to light when people began
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using atome DNA tests and discovered
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they were part of a growing group of
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half siblings. One of them, Jacob
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Ballard, became the lead voice in the
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documentary, helping uncover the truth.
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So far, at least 94 children have been
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confirmed as fathered by Klene. The
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Soviet story. The Soviet story is a
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controversial documentary by Latvian
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filmmaker Edvin Snore. It argues that
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the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany were
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not just similar in their brutality, but
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also worked together before 1941. The
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film claims both regimes committed
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similar crimes such as mass killings,
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forced deportations, and political
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purges, and even helped each other carry
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them out. It was supported by the Union
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for Europe of the Nations in the
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European Parliament. The documentary
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features interviews with historians,
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former Soviet dissident, survivors, and
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members of the European Parliament. It
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combines these with rare footage and
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documents to show the scale of Soviet
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crimes. Topics include the Holodomore
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famine in Ukraine, mass executions under
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Lenin and Stalin, the Gulag labor camps,
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and the secret police cooperation
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between the Gestapo and Nazi Germany,
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and the NKVD in the Soviet Union during
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the Molotov Ribbentrop pact. A key
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message of the film is that while
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Germany has faced its Nazi past, modern
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Russia continues to celebrate its Soviet
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legacy. The film points to rising
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nationalism and quotes President
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Vladimir Putin calling the fall of the
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Soviet Union the greatest geopolitical
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catastrophe of the 20th century. It ends
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with a dedication to the over 20 million
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victims of Soviet terror. Reactions to
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the film were divided. Supporters
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praised it for exposing Stalinist
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crimes. Critics, however, said the film
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was politically biased, overly dramatic,
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and simplified history. Some historians
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featured in the film, such as Borisov,
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later said they disagreed with how their
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words were used. Others criticized the
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film for blaming marks for modern
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genocide. The reaction in Russia was
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extreme. Progovernment groups condemned
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the film, burned effiges of the
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director, and even made threats against
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him. Despite this, the Soviet story
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reached many viewers across Europe.
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Mondo Kaine. Mondo Kaane is the film
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that created the Mondo genre, a type of
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shock documentary made to disturb and
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surprise viewers by showing strange or
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taboo cultural practices from around the
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world. It moves from pigs being beaten
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in Papua New Guinea to geese forcefed
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for fuagra in France. Although shown as
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a documentary, many scenes were staged
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or exaggerated to create a stronger
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emotional reaction. That's because the
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film focuses more on shock than on
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explaining what is happening. This can
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also be said because of the crazy
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contrasts in the film. One moment shows
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a peaceful pet cemetery in California.
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The next shows women in New Guinea being
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forcefed to gain weight. The soundtrack,
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especially the theme song more by Riz
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Ordelani and Nino Olivierro, became
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famous around the world. Its calm,
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beautiful sound is in contrast with the
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often disturbing images on screen,
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making it even more disturbing. Mondo
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Kain was a big success and inspired many
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similar films over the next decades, but
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it also caused a lot of controversy.
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Critics said it was racist, fake, and
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exploitative, especially in the way it
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showed non-western people and cultures.
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