Ten Films to See Before You Vote

Before you vote, take a look at these documentaries first.

1. Taxi to the Dark Side (2007); Directed by Alex Gibney
On December 1, 2002, a Kabul taxi driver named Dilawar took three passengers for a ride, and never returned to his home. Four days later, he arrived at the U.S. military detention center at Bagram Air Base. Five days after that, he was dead. This riveting documentary murder mystery explores how and why this Afghan civilian died while in U.S. custody.

2. Pete Seeger: The Power of Song (2007); Directed by Jim Brown
Pete Seeger grew up believing that song has the power to change the world, and every phase of his life since has been proof of that principle. Seeger was the child of a musical family; his parents took him on the road in the late ’20s and early ’30s to bring music to the people. What Seeger’s father learned, and taught his son, is that across the country, people were making their own music, just as important as the music he hoped to bring them. And when Seeger heard the five-string banjo for the first time while on these trips, the high priest of folk music was born.

3. China Blue (2005); Directed by Micha Peled
China Blue takes us on a poignant journey inside a blue-jeans factory, where the working conditions Jasmine and her teenage friends must endure are harsh beyond imagination. They are also unlawful by international standards, and tensions in the factory are running high. So when the factory owner strikes a deal with a Western client and demands around-the-clock production to meet the deadline, a confrontation becomes inevitable.

4. Lockdown, USA (2006); Directed by Rebecca Chaiklin and Michael Skolnik
Lockdown, USA is a feature documentary set on the front lines of the dramatic campaign to end the War on Drugs and repeal the Rockefeller Drug Laws. The film follows Wanda Best, whose husband was sentenced fifteen years to life as a first time non-violent drug offender. She is now raising five children on her own.