KDocsFF 2023: People. Places. Power.

A double feature with DƏNE YI'INJETL: The Scattering of Man or how some corporations have violently disrupted the lives and lands of Indigenous people, and Wochiigii lo: End of the Peace, an essential viewing and a timeless reminder that one should never trust a politician in a hard hat.

Since 2012, 64 reporters have been killed in Mexico, making the country the most dangerous place in the world for the press. The documentary follows the reporters from 25 international media outlets that come together to shed light on this murder.

Occupying the lush Amazon rainforest in what is now the Brazilian state of Rondônia, the Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau people have lived in balance with the world for millennia. When the tribe made first contact with outsiders in the early 1980s, disease quickly decimated their numbers.

When the opioid crisis in BC escalated to the heights of a public emergency in 2016, OPS set up a tent in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. Love in the Time of Fentanyl witnesses the exhausting but essential work required to keep the site running.

The Patagonia region of Argentina harbors a dark secret. Home to the world's fourth largest shale oil reserve and second largest shale gas reserve, the people living here have suffered the impacts of fracking in quasi-total obscurity, ignored by both Argentinian and global media.

In August 2020, Alexei Navalny was poisoned and could only be rescued within inches of his life. The film follows Putin's opponent while he tries to find the perpetrators. A must-see film about a charismatic leader, who is presently detained in a penal colony.

Returning Home is a revelatory testament to strength and resilience, with Phyllis Jack-Webstad, the survivor who founded the Orange Shirt Day movement. The Doctrine of Recovery is a powerful reminder of how the roots of so many tragic issues impacting First Nations' communities today began in 1493.

The Shadow of Gold takes an unflinching look at how the heavy metal is extracted from the earth. The film explores both sides of the industry: the big-time companies that dig deep and lop off mountaintops to extract gold, and the small-time miners often producing just enough to survive.

The Southern Resident Orca population of the Pacific Northwest is facing extinction due to a multitude of reasons. Directors Gloria Pancrazi and Elena Jean draw on their personal fascination of the iconic orca to show its interconnectedness between its natural ecology and the human environment.

Dewayne Johnson suffered from rashes in 2014. As his health deteriorated, Johnson became the face of a David-and-Goliath legal battle to hold a corporation accountable for a product with allegedly misleading labelling: Roundup. By acclaimed director Jennifer Baichwal.

Rebellion brings you behind-the-scenes with Extinction Rebellion (XR), as the group confronts the climate emergency. And as internal tensions rise within the group. A reminder to question white Western environmentalism that ignores structural racism and oppression.

The straightforward notion of work has been hijacked by senseless jargon, endless meetings about nothing, and activities that appear to go against the possibility of a satisfying workday. Provocative and frequently hilarious, the film is a white-collar call-to-arms.

A Story of Bones shines a pensive light on the contrast between whom we place importance on and the legacy of colonial rule on an island still governed from Britain, the island of St. Helena.

The Monopoly of Violence interrogates the just limits state police powers through raw and sometimes graphic footage of clashes between police and protestors. Focusing on three journalists in exile in Canada, The Cost of Freedom confronts one of the most compelling human rights challenges: the threat to journalists.

When South African runner Caster Semenya burst onto the world stage in 2009, her championship was not celebrated but marred by doubt, with her personal medical records leaked to international media. The film exposes an industry controlled by men who put women's lives at risk.

There's more than dollars and yen at stake as data flows from TikTok back to Chinese server parks. A film about the invisible influence of social media, and what to do about it. The question is, what does Tiktok do with the endless amounts of data it collects from the app?

Unarchived surveys the inspiring work of community archives across British Columbia that work on history from multiple viewpoints. Writing With Fire shows how the women journalists of India's all-female Khabar Lahariya ("News Wave") newspaper risk it all to cover the news.